Chapter 36 - It's the Small Things That Can Kill You! - Unfinished Business

 Chapter 36 – Unfinished Business

Looking back at the events of that Saturday night over fifty years ago, it is hard for me to believe that they even happened.  I stood in a pasture about a mile outside of town with my friend Rico, his uncle Jerry and agent John Farrow, accompanied by nearly five hundred spirits of the dead.

Agent Farrow was not a shy man. He asked the dead to provide answers concerning the deaths of James Cody, Billy Touche, and Zachary Coleman as well as the contracted assassin known simply as “Cutter”. Farrow spoke through Jerry. I didn’t know why the dead seemed to disregard direct questioning by others, but they seemed to only be responsive to Jerry Gonzales. Rico remained quiet during the entire line of questioning. I think it traumatized him. I couldn’t blame him. At the time, I believed that all of us were headed for prison. A scary place to end up when you’re in your twenties.

In the end, however, that didn’t happen to any of us. Agent Farrow told us that nobody would believe the answers that he received. The witnesses and informants were ghosts. While many people believe that ghosts exist, fewer believe that they speak to the living. Fewer still are willing to believe that they always speak the truth. Speaking the truth is something that is a big ask of even the living.  

There were no credible informants except the dead left to talk to. Zach “the Hack's” partner Artie Best had vanished. The Bureau looked for him for a year and then his portion of the file was considered another cold case. No one at Happy Meadows would supply any further information. Agent Murrey remarked that they all acted as if they had been paid to maintain silence about the homicide of Zach Coleman and other matters regarding what happened in the lobby that Saturday night in September.

When questioned about Joey Farnell, the residents said they had never heard the name before. The truth was that it had been a long time since anyone had. Joey Flowers was a “mob name” Frank had suggested Joey take up. Joey’s actual name was Farnell. Joey Farnell never fell off the government radar. He always had a public presence. Joey Farnell was squeaky clean. He had savings and checking accounts in five different cities, always paid his taxes and was officially affiliated with the Accardo crime family as a currier.

When Tony needed an enforcer to make a lethal statement, Joey Flowers did the deed. At Frank’s suggestion, Joey always left flowers at the crime scene before the police arrived. Joey Flowers became a boogieman that nobody had ever laid eyes on. The very mention of his name would stop conversation at Accardo organizational gatherings.

The report that Agent Farrow eventually turned in was a speculative one. The line of questioning Farrow forwarded that night was answered in a straightforward fashion. The unvarnished truth was what he was offered and the testimonies depicted Joey’s presence in Kildeer as an investigator/currier for the Accardo family, not as a gun for hire.

During questioning, the dead would all speak in unison once to Jerry. Jerry would then clarify what was said to Farrow. It was eerie and hard to listen to. Kind of like a “call-response” chant in an old blues song. But Farrow hung in for an entire two-hour period.

The dead declared Joey’s actions surrounding the homicide of both James Cody and Billie Touche were motivated by self-defense. There were no witnesses, except the dead. The homicide of Zach Coleman was regarded similarly. An act of self-defense. No one in Happy meadows was talking.  Farrow only had the word of two dozen disembodied citizens of our little town.

There was both an investigation and a preliminary hearing concerning the multiple homicides of several of Tony Accardo’s personnel. The Accardo family lawyers got involved and successfully muddied the waters to the point that the investigation was dropped. A lieutenant in the organization named Bobby Moretti was thrown under the bus by Tony himself. Bobbi spent five years in prison for his collusion and efforts to eliminate Frank Calabrese, who was unable to attend the proceedings. Bobby Moretti died in prison. Presumably an act of homicide. Someone had poisoned his food. A bouquet of flowers was found in his cell when Moretti's body was discovered.

The explosive devices in front of Happy Meadows were believed to have been planted by Officers Jennings and Davidson since evidence existed that proved they were in possession of C- 4. No motive was established to explain the explosion. A resident of Happy Meadows, Mrs. Phyliss Altmire, came forward and volunteered information about the incident. “I did it and would do it again. The guy had an ice pick!” Phyllis explained.

Mrs. Altmire’s testimony was disregarded. The court’s opinion was that she was an unreliable witness having reported several incidents of violence in Happy Meadows that seemingly she herself had initiated. One of the incidents involved a rather large switch blade knife. The explosion that Saturday night was deemed an unfortunate accident.

Officers Jennings and Davidson were dismissed from the Kildeer Police Force by Chief Buddy Marx. This left the small town of Kildeer somewhat lighter for law enforcement personnel for about a year. Quite frankly nobody noticed the difference. Fenton started a citizen’s watch on his side of town with Mickey Bevins. They both received a favorable write up in the local newspaper.

Joey Farnell received quite a bit of positive recognition in the press in the following year. Apparently, Joey had saved a huge sum of money during his clandestine career as Joey Flowers. Joey kept his promises to Clara. He was true to his word, and to her delight, Joey took a job managing Windy’s Casino in Chicago. He took Sal with him to help handle casino security. He established shuttle bus services to and from the casino to Happy Meadows once a month.

Joey Farnell became a patron of the town of Kildeer and an investor in Happy Meadows. He revived a struggling bowling alley that was about to close with his own money. The next year he broke ground to build the town its first movie theater with two screens. This created jobs that the downtown area desperately needed. It also provided entertainment for the residents of Happy Meadows. Later Joey joined the board of directors of Happy Meadow. Carmen became the new manager and even Clara worked part time at the reception desk on the weekends.  

As you might imagine, triple homicides rarely happen in small towns like Kildeer. Let alone in such a short time. The town continued to speculate about the murders long after they were no longer considered newsworthy in the newspapers. Since Frank was already a high-profile criminal when he came to town, occasionally someone will mention the name Frank Calabrese.

The name still takes me back to that Saturday night in September. Farrow questioned Billy Touche about the fact that he was in possession of a sniper rifle. Farrow wanted the ghost to confess his intent. What was the weapon for?

Suddenly there was a rumble in the heavens. Although it did rain later that night, this noise was supernatural in nature. A large sphere of ball lightning appeared and took the form of Frank Calbrese. His body was covered with scars and naked. He looked with menace at the ghost of Billy Touche. Billy vanished. Then he looked at agent Farrow with the same scowl. At that moment dawn broke, and the multitudes of spirits began to vanish. In the end Frank went with them.

I knew then that Frank had not made it to the hospital. I knew that he would forever be a part of the community of Kildeer.

                                                     *      *      *

It took a lot out of me helping Clara get over the death of Frank. She eventually came to trust Joey’s presence in her life as well as mine. She finished her undergraduate degree and then pursued graduate studies in criminal justice and forensics. One of her papers that she wrote for a seminar involved Frank’s old cellmate Sterling Hoffman. Hoffman was released from prison the year after Frank was.

In doing research for her paper Clara found out that Sterling died of a heart attack in his sleep screaming Frank’s name on the same night that Frank died.

I returned to Dr. Knivens therapy group after some encouragement from Lisa and my dad. One of the issues that still turned up now and then was whether everyone had a mental list of people they would like to do away with. This was inspired by the triple homicides of the contract killers. The question “Do all people have lists?” would come up time and again. Knivens usually would shut these conversations down.

I know now Frank had a list. He didn’t let a little thing like his own death stop keep him from his unfinished business. Frank could be gentle with people like Clara and Joey. But he was incapable of letting go of certain grievances. After that Saturday night in September there were more people in Kildeer that believed in ghosts. I suppose I do too now. Memories are ghosts in a way. Frank’s memories were slipping away from him but “his list” must have been quite strong to have remained with him the night he died.

Clara and Joey continued to be special people in my life. Unlike me, they were complex. I remember the way Clara wanted to play a role in the criminal justice machine but also somehow changed Joey and was compassionate towards Frank when his health was failing.  They both were in my life for many years. Joey remained fiercely protective of Clara. I felt the same way back then. I still do. When I first met her, she always struck me as smart and studious but small and fragile. I later learned from Clara and Joey that appearances can be deceiving…that it’s the small things that can kill you.

Thank you for taking this journey with me, readers, family and friends. I hope you enjoyed reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it!