by B R Snow
“Over here.”
“Come on out,” Rooster said.
“Where are you?”
“It looks like somewhere in the home and garden section,” he said. “Just follow my voice.”
I climbed to my feet grimacing from the leg cramp as I limped my way back toward the stacks. I found Rooster and Detective Renfro standing over a very groggy Commissioner who was on the floor with his legs splayed and his hands cuffed behind his back.
“What happened to him?” I said.
“I hit him with a coffee table book,” Rooster said.
“Are you sure it wasn’t the coffee table?” I said, staring at the lump on the back of the Commissioner’s head.
Rooster tossed the thick book on the floor, and it landed with a thud.
“I guess those things just aren’t for show,” he said, laughing.
“You came in through the back door?” I said, glancing back and forth at them.
“We did,” Detective Renfro said. “We were hiding out in the children’s section.”
“Were you able to hear our conversation?”
“Oh, yeah,” Detective Renfro said. “Loud and clear.”
“Including the part about how he was planning on setting Ramon and me on fire?”
“We heard it all,” Rooster said.
“We just took Ramon into custody. The idiot was parked right behind the library. And the Jensens will be landing later tonight,” Detective Renfro said. “I’m betting they’ll roll over and try to cut a deal.”
“I wish them luck with that,” I said, frowning. “Conspiracy to commit murder at a minimum, right?”
“Yeah, that would be a good start,” Detective Renfro said. “What do you say, Commissioner? Do you think you’ll end up in prison down here, or will the Brits want you serving your sentence back in the home country? Personally, I think some of the folks you’ve put away here would love to have you as a roommate.”
“This isn’t over, Detective,” the Commissioner said.
“Relax, Commissioner,” I said. “Just think about all the time you’ll have to catch up on your reading.”
Chapter 28
On our way into the police station, we passed Officer Jones heading the other way. I beamed at him and chirped a pleasant greeting, but he only managed a cold stare and did his best to hide his still bandaged hand from view. I guess he’ll be holding the grudge awhile. I gave him a wave as he headed out the door, but he ignored me and climbed into the passenger seat of a police car and studiously avoided making eye contact with me.
“He’s still taking quite a ribbing,” Detective Renfro said. “Don’t worry, he’ll get over it.”
“When?” I said, staring at the police car that was making its way up the street.
“Probably after he has another chance to arrest you,” he said, laughing. “Or at least give you a couple traffic tickets.”
“When can I talk to the Jensens?” I said, following the detective down the hall.
“You can’t,” Detective Renfro said. “You’re lucky I agreed to let you two even tag along.”
“Well, excuse me for solving the case,” I said, pouting. “At least give me a few minutes with them so I can find out what they want to do with their dog.”
“Maybe,” Detective Renfro said. “After I’m done with them.”
“Whatever you say…Commissioner,” I said, grinning at Rooster.
“Shhh,” the detective said, glancing around to check if there were other people within earshot. “Don’t start with that.”
“Yeah, we don’t want to jinx it, right?” I said, veering left and playfully bumping up against his shoulder.
“She decides to spend the winter down here, and you make the conscious choice to follow her?” Detective Renfro said to Rooster.
“I know,” Rooster said. “But she’s still a better option than dealing with that weather.”
“Remind me never to visit,” Detective Renfro said, coming to a stop. “Okay, you two wait out here. If I get a chance, I’ll give you a few minutes to talk to them. About the dog. And only about the dog.”
“Sure, sure.”
Rooster and I sat down and glanced around the empty room. I stretched out and put my feet up on a chair.
“What time is it?” I said, yawning.
“Almost eleven,” Rooster said, flipping through a stack of magazines in front of him before selecting one with a picture of a giant marlin on the cover. “Nice fish. We should call Captain Jack and book another trip.”
“Sounds great,” I said, stifling another yawn. “Just not tomorrow. I plan on sleeping most of the day.”
We chatted for a few minutes, then I drifted off and dreamt of a fortunetelling poodle wearing a purple turban and large hoop earrings. The dog shook water all over me and was just about to reveal my fate when I felt something nudge my foot. I opened my eyes and saw Detective Renfro standing in front of me. I sat up and waited for him to speak.
“Okay, I’m going to give you ten minutes,” he said. “Try to control yourself.”
“You’re so good to me,” I said, hopping up and giving him a hug. I started toward the door, but stopped and turned back. “Are they talking?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said, grinning. “They’re very chatty.”
“So, you’ve got everything you need?”
“Pretty much. Between them and Ramon, it’s quite a story. In fact, I’m on my way to go another round with the Commissioner,” Detective Renfro said, then narrowed his eyes at me. “Ten minutes. Best behavior. Then you two go home. Okay?”
“Geez, have a little faith, Detective,” I said, lumbering toward the door.
I stepped into the same room that Josie and I had been in during our brief incarceration. The Jensens were sitting at the table staring off in different directions. They both looked at me with confused expressions then glanced at each other and shrugged.
“Hi,” I said. “I’m Suzy Chandler.”
“You don’t look like a cop,” Jill Jensen said.
“Oh, I’m not a cop,” I said, sitting down across from them. “I have your dog.”
“What?” Jack Jensen said. “How the heck did that happen?”
“Polly jumped off your yacht just before it blew up,” I said, glancing back and forth at them to gauge their reaction.
They looked at each other and shook their heads in disbelief.
“How the heck did she manage to get on the boat?” Jack said to his wife.
“I have no idea,” she said, shaking her head. “Weren’t you supposed to drop her off at Jennifer’s place?”
“No,” he said, frowning. “You said you were going to do it.”
“I did?” Jill said. “When?”
“Obviously during one of the times when you weren’t listening to a word I was saying.”
“Don’t start,” she said, glaring at her husband before focusing on me. “She jumped off the boat?”
“Yeah, she did,” I said. “She’s lucky we were fishing nearby. She swam to our boat. And she’s been staying with us since then.”
“So, she’s okay?” Jill said.
“She’s fine. Just a little spooky to be around at times,” I said.
“That’s our Polly,” Jack said, nodding. “She’s an amazing dog.”
“Why didn’t you take her with you to Sri Lanka?” I said.
“We decided it was better if she wasn’t with us,” he said.
I let his comment roll around for a few moments then nodded.
“Okay, I get it,” I said. “It’s harder to slip in and out of different countries unnoticed if you’re traveling with a standard poodle. That’s something people would remember seeing.”
“Yeah,” Jack said.
“And dropping her off with your daughter would keep Polly safe without jeopardizing your chances of convincing people you were on the boat.”
“We’d never do anything to hurt Polly,” Jill said. “And our plan was to get her b
ack from Jennifer as soon as we…resurfaced.”
“But somebody forgot to drop her off,” Jack said, again glaring at his wife.
“I said I didn’t remember us talking about it,” she snapped. “Let it go.”
“A pretty big oversight, wouldn’t you say?” I said.
They both fixed their glares on me, and I eventually shrugged.
“Not that it matters much now,” I said. “But how do you think she ended up on the boat?”
“I imagine she thought we were going to leave her behind,” Jack said. “And she loves being out on the water. I’ve given up trying to figure out how she manages to do a lot of the things she does.”
“What’s going to happen to her?” Jill said.
“She can stay with us until we find a good home for her,” I said. “That’s one thing you don’t have to worry about.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, then shrugged. “Not that Polly is going to need a new home.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” I said, glancing back and forth at them.
“I’ll bet you a thousand bucks she doesn’t,” Jack said, leaning forward.
“That’s okay. I’d hate to take your money. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?” I said, leaning forward and placing my elbows on the table.
“As long as you don’t mind if we choose not to answer them,” Jack said.
“Fair enough,” I said, nodding. “This whole thing started when you learned that Jennifer was in a relationship with the Premier’s son?”
“Actually, we’ve been talking about it for a long time. The news about Jennifer and William just brought it to a head,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” I said, frowning. “But that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
“I really don’t care,” he said, shrugging it off.
“I imagine you don’t,” I said. “What on earth happened between you and the Premier?”
“He had me disbarred,” Jack said. “And ruined whatever hopes I had for a political career in the process.”
“Okay,” I said, frowning. “And you didn’t think you deserved to be disbarred?”
“Oh, I’m sure I did,” he said, shrugging. “But that’s not the point. He was supposed to be my best friend.”
“He was the best man at our wedding,” Jill said. “Can you believe that?”
“Hey, over the past few days, I’ve been showered with the remains of exploding roosters, broke up an illegal cockfight, then got arrested and bit a cop. I’ll believe pretty much anything you tell me.”
“You bit a cop?” Jill said. “Good for you.”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” I said, doing my best to sort through the questions rolling around my head. “So, when the Premier used whatever happened between the two of you to jumpstart his political career, you decided at some point to get revenge?”
“We did,” Jill said, glancing at her husband. “And when Jen told us she was getting serious with William, that was the last straw.”
“So, you decided to blow up your own yacht?”
“Why not? We have insurance,” Jack said, shrugging. “You saw the explosion?”
“Oh, yeah. Couldn’t miss it,” I said, concentrating hard. “But you’re not involved in drug smuggling, are you?”
“No,” he said. “I detest drugs.”
“But you had some planted on the boat,” I said. “Since you were framing William, someone with a police record for drug trafficking, you wanted to make it look like he was…what, protecting his territory?”
“Yeah, I imagine it was something like that,” Jack said. “You’ll have to get the details from the Commissioner.”
“He’s involved in drug dealing, isn’t he?”
“That would be my guess,” Jack said with a shrug. “But I really don’t know. Like I said, I detest drugs. Talk to the Commissioner.”
“I’m sure they’re doing just that at the moment,” I said. “But the main thing was setting William up. You knew that his father couldn’t survive a second scandal involving his son. The cocaine was just an add-on. A motive sweetener, right?”
“Motive sweetener?” Jack said, giving me a small smile. “Good one. I like that.”
“Feel free to use it,” I said. “And you got to know Ramon through the cockfights.”
“I did,” he said. “We both share a love of the sport.”
“Sport?” I said, scowling at him. “Baseball’s a sport. Cockfighting is barbaric.”
“To each his own, Ms. Chandler,” Jack said.
“I agree with you,” Jill said. “I think it’s despicable.”
“Nobody cares what you think, dear,” he said.
I waited out their exchanged dirty looks and mumbled curses to each other before continuing.
“The roosters on the boat were for Ramon?”
“They were,” Jack said. “As partial payment for his services.”
“Okay,” I said, confused.
“They were some amazing fighters,” he said.
“I’ll take your word for it. But Ramon didn’t know they were on the boat, did he?”
“I seriously doubt it,” Jack said.
“The Commissioner kept that little nugget to himself,” I said. “Along with the stack of cash you gave him to give to Ramon.”
“You’re good,” he said, nodding. “When I expressed my concern about using Ramon, the Commissioner told me not to worry about it. Based on what the detective told me earlier about the Commissioner’s plans for Ramon, now I understand why he wasn’t worried.”
“Ramon was just a loose end,” I said, flashing back to my conversation in the library. “By the way, how much does it cost to have someone blow up a yacht?”
“A hundred thousand,” Jack said with a casual shrug.
“And some roosters,” I said.
“Yes,” he said, laughing. “And some roosters.”
“You knew that Ramon used to work for William and would be able to figure out a way to steal the explosives from his warehouse.”
“Only after the Commissioner told me,” he said. “Actually, we weren’t involved in any of the details.”
“Once the Commissioner was onboard, he told you to just leave everything to him, right?”
“He did. And if you can’t trust the top cop to pull something like this off, what can you do?” he said, shrugging.
“I told you using him was a dumb idea,” Jill said. “I never trusted that guy.”
“You can’t trust any of them, Snookums. Use them, but never trust them. How many times do I have to tell you?”
“The Commissioner makes sure the explosion and the murders get pinned on William, then he takes Ramon out of the picture,” I said, more to myself than them.
“I thought we just covered that ground,” Jack said, frowning at me.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” I said.
Then a question floated to the surface.
“So, who was on the boat when it blew up?”
“I have no idea,” Jack said, shrugging. “Probably just some local deck hands the Commissioner hired.”
“Your compassion is truly touching,” I said, shaking my head. “The Commissioner gets his picture in the paper as the protector of virtue and defender against corruption, thereby saving his job. And the Premier slinks off in disgrace.”
“Great plan, huh?” Jack said, cocking his head at me.
“Elegant. But a bit elaborate, wouldn’t you say? It had a lot of moving parts,” I said. “And then at some point in the future, when the Commissioner tells you it’s safe to come back, you two resurface with some cover story about how you’ve been traveling and out of the loop. And you just can’t believe the tragic events that have transpired.”
“That’s pretty close,” he said, nodding.
“Where were the two of you supposed to be? It’s a bit hard to not hear things these days. Especially a story like that.”
“An extended wilderne
ss trek through the Amazon,” Jack said with a grin.
“Good one,” I said, then glanced back and forth at them. “I have to say that you’re both being very casual about all of this.”
“We’ll be fine,” Jack said. “Our lawyer will splash a ton of money around, and I’m sure we’ll end up getting probation as long as we agree never to set foot back in Cayman again.”
“You see, Suzy,” Jill said. “While we may have been involved, we weren’t part of the actual execution of the plan.”
“Exactly,” Jack said. “We were vacationing at our place in Sri Lanka at the time.”
“I don’t know, guys,” I said, shaking my head. “It sounds like a distinction without a difference.”
“Well, let’s just leave that for the lawyers to quibble over,” Jack said.
“Speaking of lawyers,” Jill said. “What’s keeping that charlatan? We should be bonded out by now.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Jack said. “If this nonsense takes much longer, I’m going to die of hunger. I’m starving.”
“Me too,” Jill said. “But I doubt if we want to run the risk of eating anything here. God knows what sort of stomach bug we’d pick up.”
“Hang in there, Snookums,” he said, patting her hand. “I’m sure we’ll be out of here soon. Tell you what, we’ll swing by the Ritz-Carlton on the way home for a bite.”
“It’s getting late,” she said, glancing down at her watch that was probably worth more than my car.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll open one of the restaurants for us if we make it worth their while.”
“Oh, that sounds wonderful,” she said. “Andiamo?”
“No, I’m not in the mood for Italian,” he said, frowning. “How about Blue?”
“Ripert’s place?” she said. “Sure, I could go for some seafood. I wonder if Eric’s in town.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” he said, squeezing her hand.
I stared at them, open-mouthed.
“What is it?” he said.
“Raymond Chandler would have loved you two.”
“You know,” Jack said, nodding his head. “I’ve often said the same thing.”
Epilogue
With great trepidation and my clothing cinched tight, I entered the Government Administration Building and cautiously glanced around before heading to the front desk to check in. The same security guard glanced up from his computer and grinned when he recognized me.