39
SO WHAT can I do for you, Candace?” ADA Sullivan asked.
“You can confirm for me that you’re about to indict Jack Pellettieri on homicide charges,” Candace replied.
Sullivan’s eyes narrowed in surprise. They’d met up at Mustang Sally’s, a bar a couple of blocks south of Madison Square Garden. Candace figured Sullivan didn’t want her coming anywhere near his own office, risk anyone seeing him talking to a reporter.
Sullivan had already been there when she’d arrived just after seven, seated at a small table in the front corner of the bar, his back against the wall, a glass of clear liquid in front of him. Candace wondered idly whether it was alcohol. Sullivan had found the most isolated spot in the room, a place where he couldn’t be overheard and from which he could keep an eye on everyone else. Paranoid, perhaps, but as head of the Manhattan DA’s Rackets Bureau, Sullivan no doubt had plenty of enemies in low places.
“Grand jury proceedings are secret, as I’m sure you know,” Sullivan finally said.
Candace smiled. “So you’re presenting Pellettieri to a grand jury?”
“Did I say that?” Sullivan replied, mock innocent. “We need some ground rules here. No using my name, no direct quotes.”
“The Aurora accident would never have been referred to you if it wasn’t for my reporting.”
Sullivan offered a slight nod. “Why do you think I’m sitting here?” he said.
“I’m hoping you’re here to tell me what your game plan is on prosecuting it.”
Sullivan smiled dryly, the fingers of his right hand dancing across the table. “And why would I want to do that?”
“I’ve got things to trade, plus you’d have a forum. You’re going up against people who know how to get their voices heard.”
“My arena’s the courtroom,” Sullivan said stubbornly.
“Sure, but I think we both know how the world works,” Candace replied. “Is Pellettieri the only person you’re looking to indict?”
“I read your article on Councilwoman Serran the other day,” Sullivan said. “I hear the attorney general’s office is opening an investigation. Think she’ll survive?”
“My guess is no,” Candace said. “Are you trying to change the subject?”
Sullivan shrugged, looking around the room. “Do we have an understanding as to the terms of our conversation?”
“On background,” Candace offered. “Senior law enforcement with knowledge of the investigation.”
Sullivan nodded, an old hand at this. “Pellettieri’s the first person I’m looking to indict. You build a prosecution one brick at a time, and you start with the case you’re sure you can make.”
“So you think other people were involved?”
“I think it’s worth finding out,” Sullivan said. “Especially given past sins.”
“Meaning you think his company’s still connected?”
“I prosecuted his brother, you know. Back then Pellettieri Concrete was deep into no-shows, skimming, double billing—all the ways the mob likes to bleed the construction industry. All things I’m seeing at the Aurora too.”
Candace realized that Sullivan suspected organized crime was behind the Aurora. She thought he was on the wrong track, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. “Why’d you leave the company standing the first time?” she asked instead.
“They were a real concrete company too, and we didn’t have anything on Jack. Doesn’t mean there wasn’t anything there, but I didn’t find it.”
“Are you looking into whether people above Pellettieri at the Aurora knew what he was up to?”
Sullivan seemed surprised by the question. “Pellettieri wasn’t the lowest bid on concrete for the Aurora, which was a red flag. But that also just happens—somebody’s owed a favor, the contractor doesn’t trust the low bidder to get the job done, whatever. There’s no reason for Omni to let a sub get away with shit like that. My bigger concern is whether the mob was pulling Pellettieri’s strings.”
Sullivan gave her a look, Candace guessing he was hoping she’d offer up some confirmation that organized crime had been involved. “Are you’re hoping to flip Pellettieri?” she asked.
“Premature to speculate about that,” Sullivan said. “So maybe now’s a good time for you to tell me something.”
Candace didn’t like helping law enforcement actually make their case—it put her too close to them—but she also knew sometimes you had to give information to get it. “Has your investigation looked at Sean Fowler at all?”
Candace had half expected Sullivan to already have Sean Fowler in his sights, but the prosecutor looked blank. “Who’s that?”
“He was a security guard at the Aurora. He’s also been murdered.”
Sullivan frowned, the drumming of his fingers increasing in intensity. “He was involved with Pellettieri?”
“I was hoping you could tell me,” Candace replied, not wanting to say more than she had to. “But I’ve heard whispers, yeah.”
“Has there been an arrest in his murder?”
Candace nodded. “A project teenager.”
Sullivan frowned. “Are you suggesting this Fowler’s death connects to the Aurora in some way?”
“I’m nowhere near being able to prove that,” Candace said. “But it might not be a bad idea for you to take a look.”
“What’s the connection between Fowler and Pellettieri?”
“The money that Pellettieri was moving,” Candace said. “I’m hearing he didn’t keep it all. Fowler may have been the conduit. Have I earned my keep now?”
“You’re saying that I’ve got a dead bagman on my hands?” Sullivan said. “I’m not hearing that.”
“Maybe you haven’t asked the right questions,” Candace replied.