Concert Debut
By Mark Reasoner
Magdalena Estrada, Spanish-born prodigy and concert pianist, walked on stage to great applause. She acknowledged the ovation, shook hands with the maestro, and took her seat at the piano. It was the start of her American debut concert.
Just as the maestro raised his baton to begin Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, there was a commotion high above the stage and a strangled cry, followed immediately by a man falling from the lights. The man crashed onto the piano, destroying the two-million-dollar Steinway concert grand. Ms. Estrada screamed, as did several members of the audience seated near the stage. She stood quickly and moved away from the now-wrecked piano. Several Violinists and Violists also tried to move away.
As the crowd began to panic, those seated in the first rows stood and rushed toward the rear exits. Two men dressed in tuxedos headed toward the stage. One, with a mostly bald head, climbed the steps at stage right, walked up to Ms. Estrada, and enfolded her in his arms. The second came up the steps on the opposite side and strode directly to where the man lay unmoving amid the broken wood, wire, and ivory.
“No one touches anything,” this man said loudly. He pushed through the gathered musicians, knelt down, and felt the fallen man’s neck for a pulse.
“Deceased,” he said. He took out his phone to call it in. A man clad in all black and wearing a headset asked him who he was.
“I’m Deputy Chief of Police, Howard Workman,” the man said. “This is now my crime scene.”
“How do you know there’s been a crime?” the black-clad man asked.
“Do you work here?” Workman replied. The man nodded.
“A man falls from up above,” Workman said, “And he’s dead right here. Unless he was supposed to be up there, I think it’s safe to assume something isn’t right. Was anyone supposed to be up on the catwalks?”
“No,” the black-clad man said.
Three other people walked onto the stage. One was a man in a suit who approached Workman.
“I am Oscar Fenton,” he said. “I’m the orchestra’s artistic director. As such, I am in charge. What is going on?”
“Deputy Chief Workman and I am in charge until it’s proven there was no crime.”
The other two people were women who also walked up to Workman.
“Can we help, Chief?” One woman asked.
“Sorry, but I don’t recognize you,” Workman answered. “Who are you?”
“Detective Jane Makowski, 11th squad,” the first woman said.
“Detective Sam Gleason, 21st,” the second said.
“Great. This is now your case,” Workman said. “Do you have your gear?”
Makowski nodded. “I’ll have to go get it.” She left.
“I called it in before you two came up,” Workman said. “So the M.E. and the CSIs are on their way. I’ll hold down the fort here. You go up to where the lights are and check out that scene.”
While waiting for Makowski to return, Workman approached the pianist and the man with her.
“Ma’am, I know this is tough, but I must ask. Did you see anything before the man landed on the piano?”
Before she could answer, the man spoke.
“My daughter is very shook up,” he said. “I seriously doubt you’ll get anything from her.”
“You are her father?” Workman asked.
“Yes, sir,” the man answered. “I’m Admiral Terrill T. Hannigan. My daughter goes by Maggie.”
Workman gave the two a questioning look.
“It’s complicated,” the woman said. “My full name is Magdalena Consuela Hannigan y Estrada. I used my mother’s name professionally.”
“I get it,” Workman said. “But my question remains, did you see anything?”
“No, I didn’t,” Ms. Estrada said. “I was focused on the keyboard and hitting the right notes to begin the piece.”
At that moment, Detective Makowski, the Medical Examiner’s team, and the CSI team all walked on stage. The techs immediately went to the body and the wreckage.
“What do you need, Chief?” Makowski asked Workman.
“Get statements from all the musicians and the conductor,” Workman answered, “and from any audience members still here.”
Workman’s phone buzzed. Caller ID showed Detective Gleason.
“What did you find?” Workman asked.
“You’d better get up here, Chief,” Gleason answered. “You won’t believe it unless you see it.”
“On my way.”
Leaving the stage in Makowski’s care, Workman climbed up the long vertical ladder mounted on the stage wall to reach the catwalk where Gleason and a stagehand were. He carefully walked across the narrow metal grating to where the others waited. Also present was a young woman dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, handcuffed to the back rail of the walkway.
Workman walked up and stopped short.
“You were right, Detective,” he said. “I don’t believe it.”
The woman stared back at Workman. She was literally the same young woman he’d just talked to on the stage with her father.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“Who do you think?” the woman snarled. “I’m Maggie Estrada Hannigan, and I’m supposed to be performing on stage right now!”
“Oh, brother!” Workman said. “This is going to change everything.”
“Can you get me out of these?” Ms. Hannigan asked. “They are cutting off the circulation in my hands.”
Gleason took out her handcuff key and used it to open the cuffs. Most police-issued handcuffs could use the same key. The four then descended the ladder and walked onto the stage. Detective Makowski was still taking statements from people, but the M.E.’s people had left with the body. Estrada and her father were also gone.
“Where are Ms. Estrada and her father?” Workman asked.
“He took her back to her dressing room,” Makowski said. “She said she was feeling faint.”
“Alright,” Workman said. “When you finish with the musicians, go get them and take them to Main HQ. We’ll set up there for the investigation. Before we go, though, take a look at this.”
He motioned to where Gleason was standing with “Ms. Hannigan.”
“Holy crap! You have got to be kidding me!” Makowski said. “I was just talking to her while you were gone.”
“Yep, this is going to be the first problem we have to solve,” Workman said. “When you get to HQ, put the pianist in an interrogation room, and put her father somewhere else. I’ll have Gleason put the woman we found up top in a different room. Get DNA Swabs from each, though I don’t know if that will do any good.”
***
At Main Police Headquarters, Workman went to talk to the admiral as the two detectives put the women into separate rooms. They made sure the two did not see each other.
Workman entered the empty office where Admiral Hannigan paced the floor.
“What is the meaning of this?” he said. “Why are you treating my daughter like a suspect? She’s been through a traumatic experience and needs to rest and re-focus.”
“Well, sir,” Workman said. “There seems to be a bit of a problem. Come with me.”
Workman led the admiral to the observation room attached to interrogation, where the woman from the stage sat at the table. The chief asked Hannigan if he was sure that was his daughter.
“Of course it is,” Hannigan said. “I think I know my own daughter.”
“Okay, follow me,” Workman said. He took Hannigan to the observation room attached to the other interrogation room. Here sat the woman Detective Gleason discovered up with the lights.
“Are you sure this isn’t your daughter?” Workman asked.
The admiral couldn’t speak for several seconds.
“Oh my God!” he said finally. “What in hell is going on?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Workman said. “We discovered this woman handcuffed up above the stage where the man fell. Either these two are identical twins, separated at birth, or the experts are right and we all really do have a doppelganger somewhere on the planet.”
“Can’t you take DNA?” Hannigan asked. “Maggie’s sequence would be in the military database like all dependents.”
“We’ve already taken swabs, but results could take a while,” Workman replied. “Besides, if they are actually twins, DNA won’t help because they would have the same result.”
“So what do you need from me?” Hannigan asked.
“Well, you said you should know your own daughter, so is there something you could ask each of them to prove which one truly is Magdalena, and which one isn’t?”
Hannigan thought for a second. “There are plenty of things I can ask.”
“Give me one,” Workman said.
Hannigan thought for a moment. “Ask each of them why she named our second dog ‘Sarah’?”
Workman nodded and relayed the question to the detective in interrogation. He kept the intercom open to hear the answer.
“We got the dog the day after you took me to see Sarah Brightman in concert for my birthday,” the woman replied.
“That’s the right answer,” Hannigan told Workman. “Let’s ask the other one.”
“Let’s hope they haven’t compared notes,” Workman said.
“You think they might be in on this together?” the admiral asked.
“I think anything is possible right now,” Workman said.
The men returned to the first observation room and relayed the question to the detective in interrogation.
“You are trying to trick me,” that woman said. “We never had a dog.”
“We have a winner,” Admiral Hannigan said to the chief in the observation room. “The other woman is Maggie.”
“Okay. Now we can start to find out who this woman is and what this is all about,” Workman said. “I’m going to put them together and see what happens.”
“That ought to be fun,” Hannigan said.
Workman located a conference room they could use, and told the two detectives to bring the women there. He escorted the admiral. Workman was starting to think of the two as ‘Ms. Estrada’ for the pianist from the stage, and ‘Ms. Hannigan’ for the woman found up with the lights. He told the detectives to bring them by separate paths and stairways.
Gleason arrived with Ms. Hannigan first. Before she could react to seeing her father, Makowski brought Ms. Estrada into the room.
The reaction was fast.
“Who the hell is this?” Ms. Hannigan asked. “What is going on?”
Estrada lunged toward Ms. Hannigan, screaming as she did.
“You are fake! An impostor!”
Detective Makowski grabbed an arm as Estrada began speaking louder in rapid-fire Spanish. Workman wasn’t fluent but knew enough to understand the words were ugly.
Ms. Hannigan began replying the same way. After about fifteen seconds of this, Admiral Hannigan screamed.
“All hands on deck!”
Ms. Hannigan immediately drew herself erect and went silent. Ms. Estrada kept speaking but quieted down when she realized everyone else was silent.
“If you needed more proof, there you have it,” the admiral said. “Maggie knew what to do when I hollered. That one didn’t.”
“Care to explain?” Workman said.
“That’s how he would get my friends and me to quiet down when we got too loud playing,” Ms. Hannigan replied. “It worked because we were all Navy kids.”
He walked over and stood behind Ms. Hannigan.
“Sweetie,” he said. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I have no doubt you are the girl I raised.”
“Now that we have that established, everyone take a seat,” Workman said.
“So the questions now are who, you are,” he continued, pointing to Ms. Estrada, “and how and why Ms. Hannigan ended up in the rafters. Since the admiral has determined who his real daughter is, I’m going to call her ‘Ms. Hannigan,’ and call you “Ms. Estrada.’ Unless you want to give us your real name.”
“I have nothing to say,” Ms. Estrada snarled. “I want a lawyer. I am entitled.”
“You can have one,” Workman said, “But you’re not under arrest. Yet. All you’re guilty of so far is impersonating a piano player.”
Ms. Estrada stood up, leaned over the table, and screamed. “I am the great pianist! She is the fake!”
“That’s enough! Sit down!” Workman said. “We’ve already established who the real Magdalena is. We’ll get around to you later.”
He turned back to Ms. Hannigan. “Okay. Can you tell us what happened?”
“There were two of them,” Ms. Hannigan said. “They took me out of my dressing room, tied my hands, gagged me, and led me to the ladder up to the lights. One pulled me along by the rope tying my hands, and the other trailed. When we got up there, one guy left, and the other handcuffed me to the railing.”
“How did that man end up falling?” Workman asked. “Did he slip somehow?”
Ms. Hannigan shook her head. “No, I kicked him over.”
“How in the world did you do that?”
“You saw how narrow that catwalk was. When the concert started, he went over to the other side to look down and watch. I scooted over and used both feet to kick up at him. I caught him right under his butt, pushed up, and over he went.”
“You go, girl,” Detective Gleason said quietly.
“That’s my Maggie,” Admiral Hannigan added, smiling.
“What happened then?”
“I was still gagged, so I couldn’t scream,” Ms. Hannigan continued. “The next thing was when the officer found me.”
“Did you see their faces?” Workman asked. “Could you identify the second man? We already know what the first man looks like.”
Ms. Hannigan nodded. “Oh, yes.”
“Great. Now all we have to do is find him.”
Workman turned to Ms. Estrada. “Alright, now it’s your turn. Let’s start with who you really are, then why you were trying to replace Ms. Hannigan.”
Ms. Estrada crossed her arms. “I will not tell you anything.”
There was a knock on the conference room door. Makowski was standing closest to it, so she answered. The M.E. was standing there.
“I need to see the Chief,” the M.E. said.
Makowski told Workman he was needed. The two officers stepped outside the room, closing the door behind them.
“I don’t normally like working the night shift, but sometimes there are advantages,” Dr. Jim Farris said. He handed the chief two files.
“What do you mean?” Makowski asked.
“Quicker results for one,” Farris answered. “Systems aren’t bogged down as much, and a request with this address seems to get folks moving fast.”
“What do you have?” Workman asked.
‘We got an ID on the dead guy,” Farris said. “His prints flagged him as being on the no-fly list. He is wanted by Interpol. It’s all in the file. I called Brussels and got all the information. These are normal business hours for them.”
“That’s great,” Workman said. “Who is he?”
“His name is Ramon Sanchez-Segura,” Farris replied. “He is a Spanish radical of some sort, a terrorist. He’s wanted for a couple of bombings. He also has a running buddy named Jaime Cammero. His data is there too, but no picture.”
“This will help,” Workman said. “What’s in the second file?”
“DNA results,” Farris said. “You need to read those. The Admiral was right; the woman’s DNA was in the military system. However, there are a couple of problems. First off, those two are identical twins, so their DNA matches each other.”
“I expected that,” Workman said. “What’s the other problem?”
“Read the second page,” Farris said. “You’re not going to believe it.”
Workman read the file. “You’re right, I don’t believe it. Are you sure about this?”
“The test doesn’t lie,” Farris said.
“Wonderful. This case keeps getting better and better.”
He handed the dead man’s file to Makowski. “Have the Admiral step outside and join me.”
Makowski went back into the room, and a few seconds later, Admiral Hannigan came out.
“What’s going on?” Hannigan asked.
“DNA results,” Workman answered, handing him the file. “Read the second page.”
Hannigan did, then closed the file and handed it back.
“What about it?”
“You already knew?”
“Since the beginning,” Hannigan said. “Maggie doesn’t, though, and I’ve wanted to avoid telling her.”
“Don’t think you have a choice now,” Workman said.
“You’re right,” Hannigan said. “I just hope it doesn’t destroy her.”
They went back into the conference room, and Workman went back to the head of the table.
“We have new information, and you might want to start talking, Ms. Estrada, or you just might need that lawyer because I am very close to arresting you on terrorism charges.”
“What?” Estrada exclaimed. “That’s ridiculous! I am not a terrorist.”
Workman took a photo out of one file and placed it in front of Ms. Estrada.
“That character is,” he said. “He’s one of the men who kidnapped Ms. Hannigan, and he is a known terrorist. His name is Ramon Sanchez-Segura. What’s your connection to him?”
“He is our cousin,” Ms. Estrada said quietly. “I do not know what you are talking about when you say he’s a terrorist. He was just helping me take my rightful place.”
“Does he have a colleague? Workman asked.
Ms. Estrada nodded. “Yes. Another cousin named Jaime.”
“Wait a minute,” Ms. Hannigan said. “You said ‘our cousin.’ I don’t have any cousins or any other family.”
“Yes, you do,” Ms. Estrada said. “You have many cousins. You just don’t know about them.”
“That’s not possible,” Admiral Hannigan said. “I was an only child, and her mother’s sisters never had children. Maggie can’t have any cousins.”
“Yes, she can,” Ms. Estrada said. She looked directly at Ms. Hannigan. “You have a sister, too. I am your sister, and have many cousins.”
“No!” Ms. Hannigan exclaimed.
“Yes!” Ms. Estrada answered. “Our father has many brothers, and they have children.”
She pointed at the admiral.
“He is NOT our father!”
There was silence for several seconds. Ms. Hannigan turned to her father.
“Daddy? Is this true?”
“Yes, it is,” Hannigan said quietly. “I’m not your biological dad, though I am your father in every other way. I legally adopted you through both the Spanish and American courts. I’ll show you the paperwork. And I did raise you as a single parent, though I did have a lot of help.”
“But what happened?” Ms. Hannigan implored. “Who is my real father, and how do I have a sister?”
“It’s a long and ugly story,” Hannigan said. “I’m not even sure about part of it. But I know someone who does.”
“Chief,” he continued. “If I can have some privacy, I’ll make a couple of phone calls and learn the whole story.”
“Come on, Admiral,” Workman said. “It’s getting toward midnight. Don’t go waking people up this late.”
“It isn’t midnight where I’m calling,” Hannigan replied.
“Okay, just go find an empty office. Cell service is solid everywhere in the building.”
The admiral left the room.
“Let’s carry on while he’s gone,” Workman said. “Ms. Estrada, it’s time you told us who you are, and what this is all about. If you don’t, I will arrest you, and I doubt you can make a deal with the D.A. It’s time to help yourself.”
Ms. Estrada let out a deep sigh. “My real name is Angelina Sophia Segura y Estrada. I grew up in a village about thirty kilometers from the one where we were born. I was raised by adoptive parents who told me my mother died when I was born, and that my father abandoned me.”
“That’s crazy,” Ms. Hannigan interrupted. “There is no way my dad would ever abandon a child.”
Admiral Hannigan walked back into the room in time to hear his daughter’s last statement.
“Maggie, you do not know how happy I am to hear you say that,” Hannigan said. “You’re right, I wouldn’t do that.”
“You lie!” Ms. Estrada exclaimed. “My people told me the story. They said you only wanted one child and you chose her!”
“Look, lady,” Hannigan said. “I didn’t know you even existed until a few hours ago. How could I have abandoned you? I just learned the whole story, by the way, from someone who was there.”
“Who did you talk to?” Ms. Hannigan asked.
“Your aunts, Tia Roseanna and Tia Violetta.”
“Are they well?”
“Yes, they are, but your Abuela is not. We should visit soon.”
“You want to fill us in, Admiral?” Workman asked.
“Okay,” Hannigan answered. “But like I told you earlier, it is not pretty.”
He sat down at the table.
“I have to backtrack. I first met Maria, your mother, when I was fresh out of Annapolis and on my first assignment. I was on a destroyer in the Med, homeported in Rota. Pretty much everyone there spent leave and liberty over in Cadiz, and that’s where we met. It was pretty much love at first sight for both of us, and I would spend every available moment with Maria. After about a year, just before my ship was to deploy to the Persian Gulf for six months, I asked your mother to marry me. She said yes, and took me to her home village to meet her family. They all liked me and approved of the marriage, except for her grandfather.”
“What was his problem?” Workman asked.
“He wasn’t just Maria’s grandfather, he was also the village elder,” Hannigan said. “It seems their village had been feuding and fighting with another village about thirty clicks away for decades. Maria’s grandfather and the village’s elder reached a peace agreement, and the old man promised Maria to the other elder’s grandson to seal the deal.”
“Maria, her mother, and her sisters were having none of that,” Hannigan continued. “There was a full-scale family feud going on. I just told Maria I would be back, and that we WOULD get married.
“Unfortunately, that six-month deployment turned to thirteen. I wrote letters, but Maria stopped answering after a while. I had no idea what had happened, so I went to her village as soon as we hit port. That’s when things really got ugly.”
“What happened?” Ms. Hannigan asked.
“Are you sure you want to hear this?” the admiral replied. Maggie nodded.
“Okay, here goes. Just after I left, Maria was viciously attacked, beaten, and raped by the other elder’s grandson and some friends. He told everyone it was his right to do so since she was promised to him. Maria was left bloody, broken, and pregnant, as it turned out.
“When it came time to give birth, the grandson showed up again, and as soon as the baby was born and breathing, he grabbed her and took off.”
“That was you,” he continued, pointing to Ms. Estrada. “You’re the elder twin. What that joker didn’t know was about twenty minutes later, a second child was delivered.”
“You,” he said, pointing to Ms. Hannigan.
“Oh my god,” Ms. Hannigan gasped. “We really are twin sisters.”
“Yes, you are,” Hannigan said, “But I didn’t know at the time, or after. Sadly, because of a hard labor and delivering two babies, Maria didn’t survive. She died the next morning. I showed up about four months later.
“The women only told me Maria was raped and became pregnant. They said she died giving birth, but the baby survived. They’d named you Magdalena Consuela. I fell in love with you the first time I held you, and of course, I wanted to adopt you. You were all there was left of your mother.”
The admiral had to take a moment to keep his composure.
“It was hard going through the adoption process over there, but my C.O., base command, and fleet command helped a lot. Before I had to leave Rota again, you were officially my daughter. And off we went for one hell of an adventure.”
“Ms. Estrada?” Workman said, “Or should I call you Ms. Segura? That’s a lot different than the story you were telling. Care to amend it?”
“It is true,” Ms. Estrada said. “But my father told me that man abandoned me. We didn’t know about my twin for years. It was not until we started seeing and hearing about your success. My father told me it should have been me, that I should be the one having that life. I have the talent, I can play the piano.”
“Are you telling me this is all about jealousy?” Workman asked. “What were you planning on doing? Taking Ms. Hannigan out and replacing her?”
“Exactly,” Ms. Estrada said. “Even if I was ever found out, I thought I was good enough. I wanted the glory. And even if I couldn’t have it, I would have still destroyed you.”
“But that doesn’t make sense,” Admiral Hannigan said. “Your father said I abandoned you, that I chose her, but he actually stole you from your mother right after you were born. Did he ever say anything about that?’
“He told me I belonged to him,” Ms. Estrada said, “Not to our mother. He said I was with him to punish her family and village for my mother not marrying him as was promised.”
“This is starting to sound like something out of Romeo & Juliet,” Makowski told Gleason, standing along the wall.
“More like the Hatfields and McCoys,” Gleason said, “Or the Sunni and the Shia.”
Makowski nodded.
“Alright, let’s get back to the original issue,” Workman said. “What about the second kidnapper? The first one’s dead, but we still need to find the other guy, Jaime. The file says his last name is Cammero. What do you know about him, Ms. Estrada? Where can we find him?”
“I don’t know,” Ms. Estrada said. “He is another cousin, and they told me they would take Magdalena and get rid of her.”
“Can you at least describe him?” Workman asked. “It would help us.”
Ms. Estrada said nothing.
“Okay, everyone,” Workman said. “Unless anyone has something else, we’re done. It’s late, and I bet we could all use some sleep.”
No one spoke.
“Alright, that’s it. Admiral, you and your daughter are free to go. I’m sure you have lots to talk about. Ms. Estrada, you are under arrest for conspiracy and attempted kidnapping. You’re going to need that lawyer.”
He motioned to one of the uniformed officers to cuff Ms. Estrada and take her for processing. The officer read Ms. Estrada her Miranda rights as they left the room.
Workman then asked the detectives to stay.
“Okay,” he told them after the others were gone. “Get some sleep, but be back in my office by 10:00 AM tomorrow. We still have a bad guy to catch.”
“What about our regular assignments?” Gleason asked.
“I’ll square it with your C.O.s,” Workman answered. “The three of us are going to see this through.”
“If I may ask,” Makowski said. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, Chief?”
Workman smiled. “I haven’t really worked a case in years. Yes, I’m enjoying it. See you tomorrow.”
***
The Deputy Chief was finishing a phone call when the detectives arrived the next morning.
“Thanks for everything,” he said, motioning for the woman to sit down. “Keep me updated. I still have my tickets, and my wife and I do want to attend.”
“That was the symphony office,” he said. “The maestro and the musicians are pretty shook up, but they all agree the show must go on. They want to reschedule the concert for next week, if Ms. Hannigan is able and willing. They’re going to honor the original tickets, and even add an extra piece to the program.”
“That’s great,” Gleason said. “I want to hear her play.”
“Me too,” Makowski said. “The question is whether Ms. Hannigan is up for it.”
“I’ll find out later,” Workman said. “But we’ve got a more important issue. We need to find and corral this Jaime Cammero character before he makes another run at Ms. Hannigan.”
“Do you think he will, sir?” Gleason asked.
“What do you think?” Workman asked.
“Well, by now Cammero knows his partner is dead, and he hasn’t been able to contact the twin, Ms. Estrada, since she’s in custody. If he has any brains, he’ll be long gone. That’s what I’d do.”
“That’s because you are thinking about self-preservation, Sam,” Makowski said. “I don’t think our boy would think that way. I think he’ll want to see this through and correct the mistake. He doesn’t want to fail.”
“I think Makowski’s right,” Workman said, “That’s why I’ve already assigned a team to stand watch over Ms. Hannigan’s hotel room. If the concert does happen, I’ll have a team backstage and people at all the exits watching for Cammero.”
“We don’t know what he looks like?” Gleason said.
“Ms. Hannigan can describe him, as can Ms. Estrada,” Workman said. “That’s where you two come in. I want you to go to her hotel room and get a description. After that, I want one of you inside her room, and accompanying her everywhere she goes. No one gets to see her except her father, the three of us, or the maestro. Work out the schedule yourselves.
Ms. Hannigan was able to provide a good description of Jaime Cammero, and the detectives got the sketch out to all precincts to be watching out for the man. Ms. Estrada also provided a description after Workman told her it was about the only way left to help herself out.
***
Nothing happened for the next five days. Ms. Hannigan was more than willing to perform as it allowed her to focus on her music again, rather than on all the things she’d learned. She spent hours talking to her father over those days, remembering past adventures. Since one of them was always present, the detectives heard the stories too. Ms Hannigan also practiced for three hours each day.
Workman assembled his team for the concert night. All the officers were dressed in plain dark clothes, and after checking in with the stage manager and the house manager, they began to wander around looking for Jaime Cammero.
“Don’t you think he would have changed his appearance?” Gleason asked Workman and Makowski as they began looking around backstage.
“It is quite possible,” Workman said. “But the sketch is all we have to go on. We’ll also have to look for someone acting suspicious.”
All the officers were wearing earpieces and using wrist microphones to stay in communication. Things proceeded normally during the time before the concert began. Musicians wandered on stage, the stage manager checked in with his people by their own comm system, and the officers wandered around looking for anything or anyone out of the ordinary,
As the start time grew close, Workman was hanging around stage right, where people would enter the stage. He checked with the stage manager for the third time.
“Everything good?” he asked.
“Everything’s good.”
“Are all your people accounted for?”
“Present, accounted for, and doing their jobs.”
The lights dimmed, and the announcer welcomed the audience.
“On behalf of our guest artist and the entire symphony organization, welcome to this special make-up performance. We are extremely happy you could all be with us tonight. Please enjoy the show.”
The stage manager cued the concertmaster’s entrance. When she finished leading the orchestra in tuning up, the maestro and Ms. Hannigan would enter.
As the two waited for the stage manager’s cue, Workman noticed a man dressed in all black like a stagehand move toward where the two performers waited. The chief had observed this man loitering around the area doing nothing for the past fifteen minutes or so. Workman moved quickly toward the man, pulling his small .38 caliber ‘Chief’s Special’ revolver from its waist holster.
He grabbed the man by the left arm and spun him around. The man had a knife in his right hand. Workman pointed his gun at the man’s face.
“Drop it now!” Workman said quietly but emphatically, just as the stage manager cued Ms. Hannigan and the maestro to enter the stage.
“You are not going to hurt anyone, Mr. Cammero.”
Workman forced Cammero across the backstage area to the outer wall. He used his right arm to hold the man against the wall and spoke into his wrist mic.
“I’ve got him. I need someone to cuff him and get him out of here.”
Within two minutes, two officers and both detectives joined the chief. He explained how he caught Cammero before Ms. Hannigan could be hurt. Two officers handcuffed Cammero and took him away.
“Nice job, chief,” Makowski said. “But how did you know he was the right guy?”
Workman laughed. “Ask the stage manager. He’ll know.”
“What are you talking about?” Gleason asked.
Workman motioned for the stage manager to join them.
“Hey, boss, how many crewmembers do you need for any given show?”
“The number differs for every show,” the stage manager said. “But basically, I can always use one more than I have.”
“There you go,” Workman said. “Cammero wasn’t doing anything, and hadn’t been. He didn’t belong.”
***
A standing ovation greeted Magdalena Hannigan y Estrada when she finished Rhapsody in Blue. She left the stage, and the orchestra finished the first half with a waltz by Strauss.
In the second half, Magdalena played Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto #2, and received a louder and longer standing ovation. She had to take three bows and a second curtain call before the audience quieted enough for her to play her encore.
Before she did, she took the microphone and spoke to the crowd.
“I grew up a Navy brat, so my dad and I lived in many different places over the years. The one thing that was constant was music. My dad loved all kinds of music and introduced me to everything from Mozart to Motown, Beethoven to the Beatles, and Elgar to the Eagles. It didn’t matter. We listened to it all.
“But there was one song that was our favorite. Whenever we were together and this song came on, we would drop whatever we were doing and sing along as loud as we could.
“So I’m going to end the show tonight with that song. Daddy, this is for you.”
In the front row, Admiral Hannigan tried to slouch lower in his seat.
“Oh no,” he muttered to himself.
Magdalena went to the piano and played an eight-chord riff with the last four descending the scale. She paused, and the percussionist, now sitting at a trap set, raised his sticks and clicked them together in a four-count beat.
Then she repeated the riff, grabbed the mic, and she and the orchestra launched into a raucous rendition of Bob Seger’s Old Time Rock & Roll.
