Night Watchman

Why not? All it took was nosiness and nerve, and she had both. She called the number. A man’s voice said, “Hello?”

“My name is Cherryly

“What did you say?”

She repeated her question.

“Of course not. What are you selling?”

“I’m not selling anything.”

“Well, quit bothering people. I’m in the middle of changing diapers.”

“So sorry…” was all she got out before the line went dead.

I guess I could do that two hundred more times, she thought, but that would be no fun. What if Bert Haggarty had moved to Mi

Back to Carlos Pancera? She consulted Google again and had much better luck. He had been on the Board of the Latin American Cultural Society and had attended a gala given by Caribbean Freedom touted as a “Cuba Libre and Lime Night,” music by Bodega Brass, tickets $250. He was an elder of the St. Agapius Catholic Church. He had received an honorary degree from Loyola University in recognition of his contributions to cultural understanding, presented by the Dean of the College of Social Sciences.

Now that was an interesting lead. Cherryly

“Oh, hi, Cherryly

He said he didn’t mind talking to her on a Saturday, and, yes, he knew who Pancera was. There was a lot to the man’s story, more than could be covered on the phone, and anyway Oliver was busy at the moment.

But, as it turned out, he would be free later. He was in fact in his office all day, catching up on some research. He could see her in the evening, on campus. She was so satisfied with this outcome that she hummed a tune to herself while checking her hair in a pocket mirror.

She was on a roll. She figured that Officer Sandoval would not be working today, since the Police Records office was undoubtedly closed, but she did have his cell number.

“Yeah?” His voice was as brusque as she remembered it. Just like a cop should sound.

“Hi, Officer. This is Tubby Dubo

“Yeah?” he said again, but his voice seemed to soften a little.

“I did appreciate your finding that old file for us, but there really wasn’t much in it.”

“You got all there was.”

“I don’t suppose there is anyplace else you could look?”

“Not a chance. I don’t know much about how records were kept back then. I was just a young man myself.”

“One of the names in the report was Carlos Pancera. Is it possible that there would be some material about him?”

“I don’t know the man.”

“Oh, I wasn’t suggesting that you did. I just wondered if you might look.”

“You think I’m a librarian for a living? I’m a cop, and right now I’m frying catfish for a bunch of people.”

“I know you’re a policeman, and I know you are stuck in a job below your skills, but if there is any way you can help me I’d be really grateful.”

“Maybe,” he said grudgingly. “I’ll look on Monday.”

“Thank you so much. Shall I spell the name?”

“No. I got it. Bye.” He hung up.

XXIII

Professor Prima’s office was on the second floor of the Academic Building, and it wasn’t big. He was sitting behind a very neat desk reading a small red book, which for no reason Cherryly

“Ah, Miss Resilio,” he began. The professor was thin and metro in all ways. He was meticulously clean-shaven, and his black hair was neatly combed above his ears. He had on a loose-fitting blue Northface V-neck sweater, which revealed the hint of a silver necklace on his chest.

“Hi, Oliver,” she said, sitting down. “Thanks for taking time to see me.”

“I keep office hours almost every day, though I think you are the first student I’ve ever seen on a Saturday. Did you say you were interested in Señor Pancera?”

“Yes. I saw that he got an honorary degree here last year, and I thought maybe you could tell me something about him.”

“Why the interest?” The professor closed his red book and swiveled around in his chair to put it in the bookcase built below the window. Cherryly

“His name came up in a case my boss, Tubby Dubo

“Don’t guess I know him.” Mister Prima spun back around. He gave her a bright smile. “Does the case have anything to do with Cuba?”

“Not that I know of. I think it is a homicide that happened a long time ago. Carlos Pancera probably had nothing to do with it. His name was just written on the inside of a file.”

“Really.” The professor inspected his fingers. “Pancera is a prominent Cuban refugee who has been very generous to the Catholic church and to this university. In fact, he is a big contributor to our department.”

“How does he make his living?”

“I think he owns real estate.”

“So, nothing shady in his background?”

“Nothing has ever been proven though years ago there were lots of myths and rumors about him— about our entire refugee community in fact.”

“What sort of rumors?” Cherryly

“They’ve all been debunked, but do you know who Lee Harvey Oswald was?”

“Of course. The man who assassinated President Ke

“Exactly. Did you know he lived in New Orleans?”

“I may have heard that, but I don’t really remember. I wasn’t born then.”

“Naturally not. I wasn’t either, but it is an important part of American history.”

Chagrined, Cherryly

“While he was here in New Orleans,” Prima continued, “he was active in what was called ‘The Fair Play for Cuba Committee.’ Some people speculated that, if indeed Oswald killed the president, his motive may have been his outrage over the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Ke

“What does that have to do with Mister Pancera?”

“Probably nothing, except that if Oswald had any supporters or financial backers, one might speculate that those sponsors could possibly have been found in a community passionate about Cuba, including the anti-Castro community.”

“Wow.”

“Yes, but that theory, in fact all theories, were rejected by the Warren Commission.”

Cherryly

Mister Prima shrugged. “A lot of those Bay of Pigs fighters came from New Orleans, and a number of businessmen in this city paid good money to flight-train the Bay of Pigs pilots in Central America. They even provided an airfield in Nicaragua. I’m just saying there were a lot of serious hombres with military experience and violent attitudes in our fair city in those days. Their anger at being abandoned by the federal government got blended together with their hatred of the Civil Rights movement, which many of our local New Orleans community leaders believed to be Communist-led. There was fury and bloodlust aplenty in that period, and it wasn’t even below the surface. It was the philosophy of the people who counted.”