The Briefcase, Chapter 89

May I be thunderstruck!  Almost two years ago the Pondit added a post to this blog on the subject of his frustration with a fickle aberration of nature, the trumpet vine.  In that post (http://dickersonpondit.blogspot.com/2008/08/strumpet-vines.html ) I lamented that it had been five years since I planted two of the vines near my patio area and was still waiting for the first flower to appear on these rapidly growing plants.  I vowed to burn the vines in the fall of 2008 if they did not yield a flower that summer.  Alas, it was just a paper threat.  I waited all summer of 2009 and now have given up hope for 2010 since I have seen other trumpet vines in the area with flowers from the end of June.  What do I do?  I feel as badly as Patty Finnegan:  see chapter 89 below.

Lo and behold!

Here is a link to the first chapter of The Briefcase posted on my blog:

[ http://dickersonpondit.blogspot.com/2009/08/author-author.html ]

Chapter 89

Patty Finnegan was devastated.  It was now an hour and a half after his call with Janet Grissom and Bob Walsh.  Patty was sitting in a darkened bar about six blocks from the DEA office.  He was staring into a shot of Jameson trying to unravel the events of the past several months.  What was most baffling in this case were the number of leads the DEA had and the fact that almost all of them lead to nowhere.  In fact, following what ended up as blind leads, consumed most to the energy expended on the case.  Patty was not in all his faculties and he realized this.  But in the back of his mind he wished he could take large model of the tracking transmitter and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine in the anatomy of the entire DEA technical team.  How many hours did he and his team spend tracking that transmitter just to have it stop its signal just when it was most needed?  It was like the devil himself was turning it on and off.

Patty ordered another shot of Irish whiskey and then let his mind drift off to Connecticut.  What in the world did Anthony Costanzo and the Mafia have to do with this case?  Sure there were marked bills found in Mystic and at the Foxwoods but did that trail actually lead back to Miguel Rivera?  And he was totally perplexed by Ernesto and Pablo; all that time in the tomato fields of Immokalee and not a “marked” dollar to show for it?  Why were they hiding from Miguel, if they did not have the money? 

These were baffling events but not nearly as eerie as what happened in Santa Anita – one million dollars of DEA money winding up at the race track during the Breeder’s Cup.  How did the money get there?  Who brought the money there?  And what was the purpose of wagering that money at the racetrack?  Although still convinced that there was some inside hanky-panky going on at the track that day, the chances of uncovering that connection was getting slimmer and slimmer.  What seems so obvious and neatly packaged had completely unraveled for Patty and his team.  Life wasn’t fair and the Jameson was helping him confirm that observation.

Patty ordered another Jameson with a Smithwick’s chaser.  He now had to make a career decision.  He knew he could not let this case just drop.  In fact, he could not even imagine how easily Janet Grissom was letting this go.  That woman did not have a heart.  No wonder she had earned the nickname, the Ice Queen.  But Patty was very aware that Janet would be watching him.  She knew as well as anyone that this case was under Patty’s skin.  He had to be careful if he wanted to continue on the case.  He did want to do that.  He had no choice. He had to continue.  He decided to dedicate his Saturday mornings to the case.  He would not involve anyone else at the agency.  He pushed away the last half of his ale.  He realized he had only the rest of the day to work on the case in an official manner and knew he had to make some requests for information that would be consuming his next several Saturday mornings.

Turning to the bartender, Patty asked, “Sean, can you get me a cheese sandwich and a large mug of black coffee?”

Sean turned toward Patty, “It is about time.  I thought you were going to drown in your whiskey.  I guess I do not have to ask how things are going at work.”  Sean chucked and walked off toward the kitchen area.  In the morning, He was both bartender and cook.

Reaching inside his jacket pocket for his notebook and pen, Patty started yet another list:

•       Copy of betting records at Santa Anita
•       Copies of video of counting area in the betting pit
•       Copies of videos of at least two of the betting windows at the track
•       Log of all times the briefcase transmitter was active
•       Copies of the videos with Anthony Costanzo at Foxwoods

If he could get these copies today, he will be able to review this evidence outside the prying eyes of Janet Grissom.  They had to have missed something that was in these pieces of evidence.  Patty was also considering some field trips he might take.  One would be to the Grand Caymans to check out those private banks.  Another trip might be to confront Miguel Rivera in Cali.  Obviously this last idea was either desperation or the Jameson doing the talking.  Visiting Cali would be a suicide mission and not a side trip!  Whatever, but Patty knew that Miguel Rivera would know his name before long.  No one kills one of Patty’s agents, steals his money and gets away with it.

Patty ate his sandwich and had two mugs of coffee.  One long visit to the men’s room and he was headed back to his office with his list in his pocket. 

(S)Trumpet Vines

We have a nice patio off to the side of an English garden overlooking Dickerson Pond. We have planted and care for some perennials around the patio area. We have a trellis to one side with climbing roses at the center and Campsis radicans, commonly known as trumpet vine growing up both sides of the trellis. We purchased the two trumpet vines four years ago in September after seeing one with a multitude of orange blossoms at a local nursery. These would be perfect for setting apart the roses and to help attract and feed additional hummingbirds that share the patio area with us in the summer.

Each morning I go out to the trellis and examine both vines for flower buds. Each morning I walk back to our front door disappointed. We have pampered these vines for almost four years and they have not returned our kindness with a single bloom. Last fall, we were about to rip them out and only relented after talking to a local nursery owner who said to give them another year. It is getting toward the end of that year! The past few months I have done a little research on trumpet vines. They are not native northeast flora. Considering their southern "bad girl" reputation, "Trumpet vine, Campsis radicans is fast growing and sometimes considered invasive in warmer climates," we thought we could control them in New York. What fools we are.

Perhaps it is the pampering that is at the root of our troubles. I found this posting recently, "For best blooming, give it full sun, well drained soil and low moisture and no fertilizer. If it doesn't bloom well chances are that you are pampering it too much. Prune it in early spring to shorten and remove dead wood. To control aggressive growth cut it back to the ground and it should resprout. The orange tubular flowers which attract hummingbirds and bees are produced on current season's growth." Whoa, here I am watering these (s)trumpet vines each day and placing fertilizer spikes at their bases and I realize now that it is tough love that these vines need. I found another posting that recommended hitting the trunk of the vine with a board to shock the vines into bloom. I took my Pro Prince tennis racket a weapon I mainly use to whack cicada hornets [read the August 6^th posting Modern Day Pterodactyls], and gave each vine several good forehands. I am also withholding as much water as possible and actively prune the vine to help let it know I am the boss. If I get a positive ruling from the Supreme Court and the water deprivation does not work, I might try to water board the vines into compliance.

I do have my fears about this approach. Another posting I found is giving me cause for worry,

When I moved into this house 18 years ago as a renter, I inherited a trumpet
vine - campsis radicans. I have learned that it was the last plant to leaf out in the spring and the first to lose its leaves in the fall. Here's my horror story and what I've learned about this vine. Over time the vine began to bloom and pop up everywhere in the yard. I would pull the sprouts only to find more year after year. When it pops up in the lawn it can just be mowed. After 13 years we purchased the house and had to cut down 5 trees and regrade the land due to overplanting and flooding. When we dug up the stumps from the trees and regraded we discovered roots of the vine 3' to 4' deep in the soil, up to 30' from the parent plant and as large around as my wrist! We dug and dug and, well you get the point. A year later we still had sprouts coming up from bits of roots that we'd missed.´

What if the vines turn on me? I do have some WMD I have gleaned for other postings that I can use if the (s)trumpet vines change their behavior from merely withholding their blooms to an outright invasion of the entire garden area. [I cannot reveal these methods at this time since I am composing this post only feet from the vines and I have suspicions that they can hear and unscramble my keystrokes.]

So I sit and wait patiently. Over three years of waiting are already in the books and I see little hope of any blooms this year. Do I give them another year? But how do I handle news like this one from another posting?

Q: My trumpet vine never blooms. Why?

A: These can be finicky to get blooming, especially for the first time. Like wisteria and climbing hydrangea vines, it's not unusual for trumpet vines to go five years before their maiden bloom.

Part of the reason is that woody vines like these tend to want to extend their arms sufficiently before thinking about reproduction. You may be able to speed up the first bloom a little by pruning back the leaders to encourage more side shoots, where the flowers are going to occur. Otherwise, it's a matter of waiting. I've even heard of people waiting for up to 10 years before they got their first trumpet vine flowers.

There will be no "ten year" wait in my garden. When I purchased these vines, I assumed I also purchased their reproductive rights. It will be five years and out. If there are no blooms next year, we will be enjoying one fine bonfire next fall. Let me type this one more time slowly and with emphasis and hope that the vines are paying attention, we will be enjoying one fine bonfire next fall. Wait, I saw a movement high on the trellis. Perhaps tomorrow, I will see the first bud. Forever the optimist!