Turns out this story is gonna be 4 chapters instead of 3
End of the Rainbow (2/4)
Chin walked hurriedly into Steve's office, a large stack of papers in his arms. " I asked the folks in New Jersey to send us everything they have on the missing mobsters," he said. "Not just their disappearance but anything they had on them prior to that."
"I'm not sure we have enough room to stack that much paperwork in here," Danny said. "Those guys were into everything. If it could turn a buck, their fingerprints were all over it."
"I think you're right." Chin dropped the papers onto the coffee table. "This is just one of the guys, and it only covers five years."
"See if Duke can spare a few guys to help us get through all these files," Steve suggested.
"Will do," Chin replied. "Everything we know about the location where the gold bar was found is right here." He plucked a piece of paper off the top of the pile and passed it to Steve.
"What have we got so far?" Kono asked as she entered the office, freshly back from a morning of testifying in an extortion case from several years earlier that had finally made it to trial. "Catherine texted me the basics."
Before anyone could see anything they heard a deep voice grumbling in the bullpen. "I thought when I moved to the land of eternal sunshine I was gonna be rid of all this mobster nonsense." Lou Grover made his way to Steve's office, his imposing presence filling the doorframe. " I am gonna take it as a personal affront if these fools sully this island because they think they can disappear in the sun and sand."
"I ran into Lou when I stopped at HPD to pick up the statements of the people who found the gold bar," Catherine explained. "I asked him if he'd ever heard anything about the missing men and he said had. So I asked him to come over and fill you guys in if he had the time."
"There were a lot of rumors going around right after these guys disappeared that they were hiding out in Chicago. One of them had lived there previously and a couple of them had family in the area. We turned over every rock looking for them but never found anything. But there were a few people who I was sure knew more than they were saying. If you want, I can make some calls and see if the passage of time has loosened any lips."
"That'd be great," Steve said. "Thanks."
"I've uploaded everything we have so far," Chin said as the team, along with Catherine and Grover, made their way to the smart table. "These are the missing men." Chin powered up the table and swiped the first picture onto the overhead screen. "Gianni Bertolini. He was thirty years old when he disappeared. As far as we can tell he was the leader of the group. He'd fought his way up to third in command of the Capprizzi family in less than ten years. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer but definitely the most ruthless."
"Sounds like a real charmer," Catherine said.
"Also missing is his brother Enzo Bertolini. He's the one who was most likely the brains of the group. "Then we have Roberto Rinaldi, Casimiro Razza, and Felix Furnari. All young. All looking to make a name for themselves. Razza turned up dead in San Diego ten years ago. He was the victim of a hit and run. The SDPD put it down as an accident but it might be worth looking into. Furnari died last year in Dallas. Natural causes."
"How can we be sure they aren't the two who escaped and the other three guys aren't all dead and buried under a parking garage somewhere in Jersey?" Kono asked.
Danny shook his head. "Arturo Capprizzi was the head of the mob family that ruled that area of New Jersey back in the 90's. When he dropped dead of a heart attack unexpectedly there was a power vacuum. He had two sons and a nephew all fighting for control. Eventually his youngest son, Marco, took over. But there was a lot of doubt as to whether he was strong enough to hold onto power."
"From what we know," Chin said, "Gianni Bertollini strongly backed Marco's older brother Rufino. Apparently he'd been offered the underboss position if Rufino came out on top."
"They needed to make a big move to get people's attention," Danny picked the story back up. "They planned a bank heist without the knowledge or permission of Arturo Capprizzi. Which was a big no-no. As the head of the family he should have had the final say. When Arturo found out he was livid. He knew Gianni must be planning to use the money to help Rufino grab the top spot. So he put a hit out on the Bertollini brothers and their associates. If he'd managed to catch up with them he wouldn't have hidden the bodies. He would have wanted everyone to know."
"I guess that makes sense," Kono said.
"Ok, Chin," Steve said, "You and Kono start working your local contacts. Find out if anyone knows anything about a supposed stash of hidden gold bars. The one that turned up at the beach clean up had to have come from somewhere."
"We're on it," Chin said.
"Lou, let us know if anyone back in Chicago has any ideas where these guys might be."
"You got it," Grover said.
"Danny and I are gonna start digging through these guys' lives for any connection they might have to Oahu," Steve said.
"I'll see what I can dig up on the accident that killed Casimiro Razza," Catherine said. "But it'll have to wait until after my meeting with the travel department about the governor's trip to the mainland next month. Keep me informed and I'll let you know if I find anything new."
She kissed Steve on the cheek and then headed towards the door with Lou.
"It can't be very easy for a guy from Jersey to blend in here on the island," Danny said. "I speak from experience. Someone has to know something."
"Maybe no one ever asked the right questions," Steve said. "Let's change that."
For almost a week the team tapped every source they could think of looking for information and came up empty. No one knew anything, or if they did they weren't willing to say.
They got sidetracked by a 48 hour hostage standoff and the murder of a local businessman, both of which took precedence over the cold case.
Just about the time they were wondering if the gold bar that had washed up was unrelated to the missing men, one of Chin's most long-standing informants called in a lead.
"He's never steered me wrong," Chin told the rest of the team and they gathered in Steve's office to strategize where to go next.
"What exactly did he say again?" Danny asked.
"Rumor has it that a mysterious man with a Newark accent was a regular at a little place up in the mountains," Chin said. "A lot of the moonshiners hang out there. It's definitely the kind of place where people don't ask questions."
"So why are people talking now?" Steve asked.
"Apparently the guy has disappeared," Chin said. "Just stopped turning up one day. A couple of guys went to the cabin they were pretty sure he lived in but there was no trace of him. My informant said it's not the kind of thing you can ask too many questions about without arousing suspicion. So he didn't have much else to share."
Danny took a sip of his coffee, wincing slightly at the heat. "So, what's the plan, here?"
Kono finished the last of her coffee. "I'll go check it out," she offered. "Ask around. See what I can find out. They might be more willing to talk to a woman. The sooner we get in there, the sooner we can start digging."
"I'll go with you," Chin said and stood. "That doesn't sound like the kind of place you should go alone."
"I agree," Steve said. "Take Chin along and both of you be careful. Let us know what you find out."
When Chin and Kono finally arrived at the bar, after a trip over quite a bit of rugged terrain, they found that the dimly lit interior was in stark contrast to the brightness outside. As they crossed the threshold, the smell of stale beer and cigarettes enveloped them. The only two patrons in the place at this hour of the morning were seated at a round table in the corner. They glanced at Kono and Chin suspiciously, their curiosity piqued by the presence of two people they recognized immediately as Five-0 team members.
Kono's eyes scanned the room, assessing any potential areas of concern, before finally landing on an older man behind the bar. His face spoke of a lifetime of keeping other people's secrets.
Approaching him, Chin cleared his throat and flashed his badge. "Excuse me, sir. I'm Detective Kelly and this is Lieutenant Kalakaua with the Five 0 task force. We have a few questions for you."
The man shrugged, fixing his gaze on the cousins. "I ain't done nothin' wrong, promise. Everything here is completely above board."
Even though he was doing his best to appear casual his knuckles gripping the edge of the bar gave away the man's building tension.
Chin stepped forward, conveying every bit of his characteristic charm. "You can relax, we just want to talk." He took a seat on a barstool and seconds later Kono slid onto the one next to him. They were both doing their best to put the man at ease while at the same time keeping an eye on the pair in the corner. "We're investigating a cold case related to an old capo from New Jersey. Word on the street is, he used to frequent this place."
"You should know the word on the street is unreliable," the man growled.
"Not always." Chin crossed his hands in front of him on the bar. "Listen, I know the last thing you want is cops crawling all over this place. That would be bad for business. I get it. So I think you should look at it like this. The quicker we get what we came for the quicker we leave. And you can get back to business as usual."
The man's eyes darted nervously. "I may know who you're talkin' about."
Kono smiled while never taking her eyes off the men in the corner. "Excellent," she said. "Because we need some answers."
The man wiped the bar in front of him. "I think I know who you're talking about. I've been here for twelve years and he was already a regular when I got here. He used to come in a couple of times a week. I called him 'The Boss'." The man chuckled lightly. "To myself that is. Never to his face."
"Why's that?" Chin asked.
"Didn't seem like he had much of a sense of humor," the bartender said. "Kind of no nonsense if you know what I mean."
Chin nodded.
"He'd always come in late at night, sit over there near the back with the same few guys. But that was a while ago. He stopped coming so suddenly a few months back, I actually thought he was dead."
Chin's eyes narrowed in thought. "What can you tell me about the guys he was with?"
The man hesitated before answering, his voice barely a whisper. "I remember one guy. He always wore a gold chain like the boss's. Acted like he was the guy's best friend."
Kono leaned in, her voice gentle yet persistent. "What happened to these guys? Did they disappear, too?"
The man shook his head. "Nah, they just stopped coming around. People said they moved on to bigger things. But the boss… he vanished. Seemed like he didn't want to be found, or like I said, I thought maybe he died."
Kono exchanged a glance with Chin who asked, "Do you remember anything else? Anything that could help us find these guys?"
The man squinted, digging deep into his memory. "There was a book…" He trailed off, his voice becoming distant.
"A book." Chin glanced at Kono. "Do you remember anything else about it?"
The man shook his head. "No, but it's here." He stood and moved behind the bar. "The last time he was in it looked like he was distracted. He went back and forth to the toilet a couple of times. Finally he paid his tab and headed out. When I went to clear his table the book was laying right there. I kept it behind the bar to give to him the next time he came back, but he never did." He passed them an old volume. "Keep it. I never understood why, but he seemed obsessed with it."
" should be all we need from you. We won't be coming back."
The man breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks."
Chin took the book, turned and headed back outside. When they got back into the sunlight he looked closer at the front cover.
"'The High Window' by Raymond Chandler," he read. He flipped the book over and scanned the back cover. "Apparently part of the story is about a missing gold coin."
"Very subtle," Kono said as Chin turned the book back over and opened the front cover revealing a stamp that read, Patterson, NJ Public Library.
She grinned. "This could be the break we need."
TBC Wednesday in Chapter 3
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