Copp In The Dark, A Joe Copp Thriller (Joe Copp Private Eye Series) by Don Pendleton Page B

He—"
           "I know. I've seen it on the news."
           "Your dad hasn't discussed the case with you?"
           She made a face. "Never once in my whole life, not any case, even the very subject is taboo."
           I said, " DiCenza has organized crime ties. He's considered to be one of the West Coast bosses."
           "Yes, I've heard that."
           "All the pundits are saying that he is going to buy some hard time this time. Your dad has been called a hanging judge."
           She nodded. "Dad has always been tough on professional criminals."
           "Have you been keeping up with the case?"
           Judith replied, "From a distance, yes. I'm always interested in my dad's court cases. But that trial is over, it's been over for weeks. It's in the sentencing phase now."
           I told her, searching my own memory of recent newspaper stories, "He's hearing defense motions this week. There are rumors of a deal. A light sentence in exchange for DiCenza's cooperation in other cases involving some highly placed politicians."
           She was giving me a perplexed look. "So?"
           "So Dobbs and Harney work out of the Central District Court of California. They could be working for your dad."
           She turned her face into half-profile and sent me a crackling gaze from that angle. "What could Craig have to do with the DiCenza case?"
           I looked away from those eyes to say, "Probably nothing whatever."
           "So why would they be... ?" Her voice trailed off, she left her chair and walked once around the table, murmured, "Just a minute," and went into the bedroom.
           She came back a minute later fully dressed and said to me, "You'd better take me back to the theater, Joe. It's getting late, and we do have a show to stage tonight."
           I told her, "Don't be crazy."
           She told me, "Don't you be crazy."
           "Show must go on?"
           She nodded. "Short of an earthquake, sure."
           I sighed and went to get into my clothes. She was a tough lady. But Vin DiCenza was a very tough hood. And the tough get tougher when the situation is desperate.
           Sure. There had already been an earthquake—or its equivalent—for five people very close to the judge's daughter.
           I was beginning to think of each of those as a messenger, carrying their own message.
    And I had already begun to experience a lot of sympathy for Larry Dobbs and Jack Harney.
     
    I stalled Judith long enough to quietly call Art Lahey and ask him to meet me at the theater. He agreed, and he was waiting in his car when we arrived. I drove slowly past him and gave him a little sign to let him know that I'd spotted him then I pulled into a red zone at the curb near the stage door and walked Judith inside.
    "You can't stay, Joe," she protested. "I have a hundred things to do."
    "I know," I said. "Just want to check it out before I leave you."
    The lady was no dummy; she knew what I meant and she didn't give me an argument. It was only mid-afternoon, five hours before showtime —but the room would begin to fill up at about six. They drew from the entire L.A. basin for these shows and probably half of every audience was composed of senior citizens groups who came by bus and van—and the old move deliberately on very loose schedules, so most of those were on hand when the doors opened at six o'clock.
    We'd talked in the car coming down and Judith had told me that she wanted to contact each surviving member of the cast and get them in at least an hour early. The changes she'd made the night before would hold up okay but since then she'd also lost her female lead and they'd already been limping without Susan Baker in the lineup.
    I suggested that perhaps it would be more fitting and certainly more seemly to simply close the show and stay dark for the remainder of the run, considering the tragedies. Judith would