Capt. Ryan assigned Dara and me to the Frank Costa murder case. Dara was away the last couple days so after a short conversation with the two police officers that were at the scene of the crime, I drove up to Marcus Gavrey Park in Harlem. I wanted to speak to the one woman that told the police officers she saw the shooting.
I entered the address they gave me, a flat at 601 124th street. Walked up one flight and knocked on the door of apartment 2A. Mrs. Mancini invited me inside and gave me a glass of iced tea as we talked.
She was very helpful, showing me the window where she watched the shooting. She said she knew the victim, Frank Costa quiet well, that he lived across the hall in 2B. They often sat together on that park bench and chatted. Luckily, she wasn't down there yet when those two men drove up in a white van, got out, argued with Frank then shot him.
She told me the name of the woman she said they abducted, Madison Cirillo. I never blinked at the name but it did concern me. I knew that Domenic Cirillo, The Quiet Don, had retired and moved back to Sicily. If this woman was a relative, this case just changed.
Mrs. Mancini said that Maddie often stopped by to talk to Frank, even brought him little gifts. She had offered him money but he refused. That was her little Miata still parked in the street. I knew that Jeff Mallard was checking the license plate on the Miata .
She said that Frank wasn't a druggie, but she did say he liked to bet on the NBA games. Maybe they were trying to collect a losing bet. It sounded like they only grabbed Madison because she saw the killing. For all we know she's already dead.
I knew Jeff had already checked out Frank Costa's apartment. I could talk with him later. Mrs. Mancini said with her bad eyes she might not recognize the two killers, but agreed to come dowm for a line up if we ever caught them.
