Death and Disappearance (A Fina Fitzgibbons Brooklyn Mystery Book 5) Read online

  Lorraine, who had a big dose of intuition, told me to stop imagining.

  “Lake killed Benny?” Willoughby asked.

  “Where were you when I talked about the similarity of the wounds?” Jane could wield knives of her own.

  “Lake must have seen Stephen and Benny together in the park, the two men enjoying a moment of peace, unaware of their impending doom. I can see it now, Lake stopping in amazement, staring at the two men laughing on the bench, thinking Benny knew more than he did.”

  Benny did know a lot. For instance, he knew where I could find Karen Cojok and knew about deliveries to the Lai Tai. But he must have known more about Stephen than he told me.

  As if misreading my thoughts, Willoughby said, “We ought to go to the Lai Tai for dinner sometime.”

  “Can’t. It’s closed,” Jane said. “Boarded up.”

  “And besides, I’m on a strict diet for the next four months,” I said.

  Lorraine looked at me. “I forgot to ask. You saw the doctor yesterday. Everything all right?”

  I waited a beat before I made my announcement. “I miscalculated my due date. I’m twenty-six weeks gone.”

  Denny beamed. “And we’re having twins, a boy and a girl.”

  Clancy and Frank didn’t hear the news—they were still talking cars. Cookie jumped up and put her arms around me. Jane did her happy dance, sashaying around the table, fingers clicking, her arms high in the air. Lorraine and I cried.

  The End

  Characters

  Fina Fitzgibbons, twentysomething private investigator (protagonist)

  Carmela Fitzgibbons, Fina’s mother, deceased

  Padric Fitzgibbons, aka Paddy, Fina’s father

  Fina’s gran, unnamed and deceased

  Denny McDuffy, her boyfriend, NYPD patrolman

  Sparta, Denny’s NYPD partner

  Lorraine McDuffy, Denny’s mother

  Robert McDuffy, Denny’s father, deceased

  Frank Rizzo, a butcher and Lorraine’s lover

  Jane Templeton, NYPD detective

  Willoughby, Jane’s partner, an NYPD detective

  Cookie, Fina’s lifelong friend and sidekick

  Mrs. Scarpanella, Cookie’s mother

  Clancy, Cookie’s husband, NYPD patrolman

  Mr. Baggins, Fina’s cat

  Minnie, office manager at Lucy’s

  Tig Able, FBI agent and Fina’s friend

  Brandy Liam, fifteen, intern at Fina Fitzgibbons Detective Agency

  Trisha Liam, her mother, a lawyer

  Stephen Cojok, the victim

  Henry Cojok, Stephen’s father

  Cinderella, Henry Cojok’s dog

  Karen Cojok, Henry Cojok’s estranged wife, Stephen’s mother

  Al, Stephen’s former boss; owner of Al’s Auto Body

  Benny Stanhope, Stephen Cojok’s ship passing in the night

  Rennart Bigelow, Benny’s partner

  Ina O’Neill, Lake’s mother

  Lake Cojok, his wife

  Jake Thompson, their landlord

  Hilda Natchon, a tenant in Lake’s apartment building

  Stella, Karen Cojok’s downstairs landlady

  Moses Longfellow, art dealer who owns Augustus Gallery on Manhattan’s Upper East Side

  Various gallery workers

  Deirdre Maccabee, art dealer who owns Henry Hudson Fine Arts

  Brandy’s Friends, Billy and Johnny, also interns at the detective agency

  Zizi Carmalucci, reporter; Denny’s erstwhile girlfriend

  Places

  Fina Fitzgibbons Detective Agency, Fina’s fictional agency; shares space with Lucy’s

  Lucy’s Cleaning Service, Fina’s fictional cleaning establishment in Brooklyn Heights

  Brooklyn General, fictitious hospital close to Vinegar Hill

  Elaine’s, fictitious soda shop where Brandy and her friends hang out

  Packer Collegiate, Fina’s & Cookie’s K thru 12, Brooklyn Heights

  Vinegar Hill, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Fina and Denny live

  Brooklyn Heights, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Fina grew up; location of Lucy’s; location of Trisha Liam’s law firm

  The Promenade, Brooklyn Heights overlook

  Cobble Hill, a neighborhood in Brooklyn

  Carroll Gardens, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Lorraine McDuffy lives

  Dumbo, aka DUMBO, “Down Under the Manhattan & Brooklyn Bridge Overpasses” a light industrial and loft neighborhood in Brooklyn fronting the East River, close to the Fulton Ferry Landing.

  84th Precinct, Gold Street, downtown Brooklyn where Jane Templeton and Willoughby are assigned

  Bay Ridge, Brooklyn neighborhood where Stephen Cojok grew up

  Al’s Auto Body, fictitious shop where Henry Cojok used to work

  Vinegar Hill House, a restaurant in Vinegar Hill

  Teresa’s, a coffee shop in Brooklyn Heights

  Henry’s End, a restaurant in Brooklyn Heights

  Lai Thai Restaurant, fictitious restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

  Liam, Trueblood & Wolsey, Trisha Liam’s fictitious law firm in Brooklyn Heights

  Smith, Jasper & O’Leary, fictional Court Street law firm where Lorraine was a paralegal for twenty-five years

  Brooklyn Daily Eagle, local paper

  Augustus Gallery, fictitious fine arts gallery on Manhattan’s Upper Eastside owned by Moses Longfellow

  Henry Hudson Fine Arts, fictitious gallery in Rhinebeck

  Farm in Rhinebeck, NY, home of Deirdre Maccabee