The Mysteries of Max: Books 31-33

by Nic Saint

  “The luxury condos?”

  He nodded. “He lived at Jackson Heights for a while, but he was kicked out by the home owner’s association. Complaints about the use of intoxicants and all-night parties and scantily clad girls in the corridors. Oh, and he didn’t pay the rent. That probably had something to do with it as well. Anyway, when I found out Melanie was seeing this Harrison guy, I asked around, and discovered he’d moved to the squat house, probably having a good time shacking up with his fellow drug addicts.” He shook his head in disgust. “Not the kind of guy Melanie should be involved with. And I’m pretty sure she didn’t even know all there was to know about him. Like the drugging and the squatting.”

  “I don’t get it,” said Odelia. “He’s Herbert Harrison’s son, right? So he must be loaded. So why didn’t he pay the rent on his condo? What was he doing living in a squat house?”

  “Beats me,” said Joshua. “All I know is that when you told me yesterday that he’d dumped Melanie I was relieved, but not so relieved as not to want to make sure he never got near Melanie ever again. So I decided to pay him a visit and tell him exactly that. Only when I got there I saw that the place was on fire, and Harrison’s lifeless body lying on some ratty mattress, looking very much dead.” He raised tired eyes to meet Odelia’s. “Look, I didn’t kill him, all right? I didn’t set that building on fire, whatever the police are saying. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, that’s all. My rotten luck for wanting to help Jason save his marriage.”

  “But if you’re innocent, why did you run off like that? Why didn’t you stick around?”

  “Because I didn’t want to get involved. I don’t want Melanie to know I was sticking my nose into her personal business, and Jason even less so. If Melanie knew I’d been talking to her boyfriend, or asking you to look into this whole messed-up business, she would probably never talk to me again, and neither would Jason.” He sighed and hung his head. “I really messed up big time, didn’t I?”

  “You should have told me, Joshua. you should have told me you knew who Melanie was seeing.”

  “I know, I know.” He looked up. “Can you help me? You’re the Chief’s niece. And the lead detective is your husband. You must have some pull with these people. Can’t you explain to them that I’m innocent?”

  She placed a hand on his arm. “Are you sure you told me everything this time?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “No more lies?”

  “No more lies.”

  “I’ll talk to my uncle. Find out what he knows. The fact that they’re holding you here means they must have something on you. Though it could be just like you said: being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” She fixed him with a stern look. “But you’ll have to come clean, Joshua. You’re going to have to tell them everything—every last detail.”

  “Also about Melanie?”

  “Also about Melanie.”

  “Oh, God,” he said, and rubbed his haggard features. “She’ll be so angry with me.”

  “Well, that can’t be helped,” she said. “If you don’t want to be charged with triple homicide you’re going to have to come clean, and that means telling my uncle and my husband exactly what you just told me.”

  “All right, if you say so. What a mess.”

  “You can say that again.”

  Chapter 14

  “Dooley, keep your head down!” I whispered when Dooley raised his head to look through the Chief’s window.

  Lately Uncle Alec had expressed his resentment with us cats spying on him. He didn’t seem to enjoy the experience as much as I’d thought he would. In my view only people who are trying to hide something resent being spied upon, so what was he hiding?

  At any rate, it probably behooved us to keep our noses down.

  “So all three victims had Rohypnol in their systems?” the Chief was asking.

  “Yep. All three of them were knocked out with the same drug. And what’s interesting is that we found the exact glass used in the process.”

  “But with only two sets of fingerprints,” said Uncle Alec. “The killer’s, and one of the victims.”

  “Yeah, that’s the strange thing. Though it’s possible the killer used different glasses to accomplish his purpose. At any rate, we’ve got Joshua Curtis’s fingerprints on the glass with the remnants of the drug, and Franklin Harrison’s prints on that same glass, which proves that Joshua was the one who handed Harrison that drink, and knocked him out. We couldn’t lift Harrison’s prints from the body, as his hands were too badly burned, but we had his prints on file.”

  “No doubt it’s Franklin Harrison?”

  “No doubt. His relatives have already identified him.”

  “So what about motive?”

  “Now listen to this, Chief,” said Chase, clearly very happy with himself. “It’s a doozy. So Franklin Harrison was having an affair, okay? We found plenty of pictures of one Melanie Myers on his phone, and flirty texts back and forth. Real hot stuff, okay?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “So get this. This guy Joshua Curtis is Melanie’s husband’s best buddy. And not just that, the guy’s been in love with Melanie for years and years and years. I mean, to the point of obsession, okay? I’m talking pictures and videos of the woman on his phone.”

  “Of Melanie Myers?”

  “Sure! The guy’s phone is like a private throne on which he worships the woman’s likeness. And what’s more, the two of them used to be an item, before the husband entered the picture. We know this because we found a diary at the guy’s office, hidden at the bottom of his desk drawer, where he talks about the affair, and about his feelings for her. Turns out they briefly dated in college, before she fell for his best friend.”

  “Jason Myers,” the Chief supplied.

  “Exactly.”

  “And the guy never stopped carrying a torch for the woman.”

  “Looks like he’s in love with her to this day, Chief. And I’m sure that once we go through his house with a fine-tooth comb we’ll find plenty more to corroborate this.”

  “So what’s your theory?”

  Chase took a deep breath. “Okay, so my theory is that Curtis found out that Melanie was cheating on her husband with Harrison and got mad, then decided to get even. So he devised a plan to make sure Harrison never crossed paths with Melanie ever again.”

  “And what about the two other victims?”

  “Pretty sure they weren’t the intended target, Chief. What I think happened was that he figured that if he killed all three of them we’d think we were dealing with a serial killer, when in fact his intended target was Harrison all along.”

  “He must have seen too many movies.”

  “Exactly. Only that’s the problem, isn’t it: Joshua Curtis isn’t a crafty killer. He made so many mistakes that we got to him even before the bodies of his victims were cold. He left the glass with his fingerprints and the Rohypnol at the scene. He set the room on fire by dousing it in gasoline, probably hoping to make it look like an accident but failing miserably, and he was seen by two witnesses exiting the place and getting into his car.”

  “Look, one thing, Chase,” said Uncle Alec. “You know that this Joshua character asked Odelia to follow Melanie around, right? Supposedly to figure out if she was having an affair and who with.”

  “Yeah, I know. She told me.”

  “Well, I’m not sure she isn’t still in the guy’s corner, so to speak.”

  “But surely if she learns the truth…”

  “That’s exactly it. I don’t think it’s a good idea to involve her this time.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that I have the impression she’s willing to go to bat for the guy. She’s in here right now, you know talking to him.”

  “She is?”

  “That was Dolores on the phone just now, telling me your wife is talking to Joshua Curtis, and probably being told by the guy that he’s innocent, and asking her to try and prove it.�
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  “You don’t think…”

  “Yes, I do.” He let drop a pregnant pause. “I think we can’t afford to let Odelia know what we know, since she’ll probably tell Curtis, and he’ll use it to stage a defense. So from now on, not a word about this case to your wife, you got that? At least as long as she’s willing to go to bat for the killer.”

  “You mean…

  “As much as it pains me to say this, we’re obviously working on opposite sides of this thing, Chase. Your wife is working for the suspect—against us!”

  Just then, Dooley popped his head up again, and I could hear Uncle Alec utter a curse word, and when I glanced up surreptitiously, I found myself looking into the Chief’s eyes, his face so close to mine on the other side of the window, I was momentarily startled. But then I smiled and gave him a little wave. Futile, of course. First of all because humans can’t discern those subtle expressions we display, so he probably missed my smile by a mile. And my conciliatory little wave? That only seemed to solidify his utter annoyance.

  “Will you stop spying on me!” he yelled, a clear indication he wasn’t happy with us.

  “Yes, Uncle Alec!” I yelled back.

  But of course he couldn’t understand me.

  Chapter 15

  “I thought I’d find you here,” said Chase when he came upon Odelia, who was patiently waiting in his office.

  Odelia was in Chase’s swivel chair, and had taken the time to think about her recent interview with Joshua Curtis. Somehow she still had the feeling that he hadn’t told her everything, though why he would lie to her she did not know. Unless, of course…

  “Do you think he did it?” she asked her husband.

  Chase took a seat in front of his own desk and gave his wife a look of appraisal. “You know that your uncle has forbidden me from discussing this particular case with you?”

  “He has? But why?”

  Chase shrugged. “He seems to think we’re on opposite sides. You’re in the killer’s corner and we’re in the victim’s.”

  “So you think Joshua is guilty.”

  “Guilty as hell,” Chase confirmed.

  “So you must have proof, right? To back up that claim?”

  “Sure we have proof. But like I said, I’m not allowed to discuss it with you, since the Chief is afraid you’ll just turn around and supply that information to Curtis, helping him stage his defense.”

  “I would never do that,” said Odelia, shaking her head. “If he’s guilty, that is.”

  “Well, it sure looks like he’s the one that did it, babe.”

  “But why? What makes you so sure?”

  Chase heaved a deep sigh. It was probably bad for him to deny his wife the kind of information that would help her crack this case, knowing she was probably as excellent and determined a detective as he was. “Look, if I tell you, you have to promise me not to tell your uncle, all right? Cause if you do, I’m in deep doo-doo.”

  “Scout’s honor,” she said, holding up two fingers.

  “And I don’t need to remind you not to tell the suspect anything we’re about to discuss.”

  “Absolutely. Frankly I have a feeling he hasn’t been entirely honest with me. Even though he says he’s told me everything, I still feel he’s holding out.”

  “You bet he is. Did he tell you that he and Melanie Myers used to be an item?”

  “No, he did not.”

  “They weren’t together long, but the guy is still carrying a torch for the woman.”

  “That, I noticed. Though I thought he was mostly looking out for his friend.”

  “I doubt that. I think he was jealous, and couldn’t stand that Melanie was seeing Harrison. So he killed him and tried to make it look like an accident by setting fire to the place.”

  “How did Harrison end up a squatter?”

  “Well, turns out that Franklin Harrison has a brother named Marvin, and from what I understand Franklin was the bad boy and Marvin the responsible one. Franklin was always the rich kid with the gazillions of friends, partying all the time, and getting into all kinds of trouble, while Marvin’s main focus was the family business.”

  “Real estate, right?”

  Chase nodded. “Commercial and industrial real estate, mainly. Herbert set up the company and turned it into a goldmine, and hoped his sons would take an interest. Only Franklin decided he was too busy spending daddy’s money to bother with the business.”

  “And dating married women,” Odelia added.

  “Exactly.”

  “So while Marvin minds the family store, his brother is living it up.”

  “Only at some point Daddy must have had enough, and decided to cut him off. So Franklin found himself without funds, and living as a squatter in the dump he died in.”

  “And what about those two other guys?”

  “Took us some time to identify them. They were both badly burned.” He glanced down at his little notebook. “Aldo Kali and Tomio Iberia. Both well known in connection to multiple drug-related incidents. Been arrested multiple times the last couple of years.”

  “Drug dealers.”

  “Looks like Joshua set fire to the room those two guys were sleeping in, with Franklin in the next room, which is why they were burnt to a crisp, and Franklin only suffered minor burns, though there’s still extensive damage to his lower limbs and his arms.”

  “But you think Franklin was the intended target.”

  “Absolutely. You should have seen what we found on Joshua’s phone. Pictures of Melanie, videos of Melanie, and in his office a diary completely devoted to Melanie.”

  Odelia processed all of this. “I don’t know, Chase. I just don’t see him as a cold-blooded killer. You’ve seen him. You’ve talked to him. He’s as straight-laced as they come.”

  “Those are often the worst offenders, babe. You know that as well as I do.”

  “But killing three people, just because one of them was having an affair with the woman he’s been in love with for years? If that’s true, then why didn’t he kill Jason Myers?”

  “Because Jason is his best friend. And even though he probably hates the fact that Melanie ended up with Jason, he more or less got over it. And then along comes this spoiled rich kid Harrison and starts something with his precious Melanie—his dream girl. I think he got so angry he wasn’t thinking straight. And Harrison just had to die.”

  She smiled at her husband. “Looks like we’re working the case together again, only this time my uncle isn’t supposed to know.”

  “Yeah, and better keep it that way. He’s been getting all kinds of flack about the wedding, and he’s not in a good mood right now.”

  “What do you mean, flack?”

  “Oh, just the usual, you know,” said Chase, a little evasively.

  Just then, the door opened and one of Chase’s colleagues stuck her head in. It was Sarah Flunk, one of the officers, and when she saw Odelia she said, “Oh, there she is. Miss Grinch who stole our wedding.” And shaking her head, she closed the door again.

  Chase and Odelia shared a look of understanding. “I think I see what you mean,” she said dryly.

  Chapter 16

  Since Uncle Alec clearly didn’t want us to spy on him, we decided to try a different tack: we snuck back into the precinct and decided to spy on Dolores instead. Dolores Peltz is at the heart of the police station, as the station dispatcher and desk sergeant she knows everything there is to know about what goes on in that place. So it was with great expectations that we took a seat next to her desk, and settled in for the duration.

  We didn’t have to wait long, for soon after we arrived a woman and a man walked into the station, claiming to be one of the victims’ mother and brother.

  “I want to see the person in charge,” said the woman. She was the matronly type, and clearly used to getting what she wanted. Her hair was done up into a sort of tower of hair, and she wore plenty of makeup. Her son was the clean-cut business type, with a nice suit, tortoises
hell glasses perched on his nose, and sandy hair that had all the hallmarks of having been arranged by a very expensive hairdresser. Not Fido Siniawski, in other words.

  “And you are…” said Dolores in her raspy smoker’s voice.

  “Franklin Harrison’s mother,” said the woman. “And this is my son Marvin.”

  “Could you please take a seat in the waiting area?” said Dolores. “I’ll get someone to come and talk to you right away.”

  Mother and son removed themselves from the scene, and soon we were surprised by the arrival of Odelia, our very own human.

  “Dolores,” she said, “who are those people?”

  “The Harrisons,” the dispatcher said. “Mother and son. Here to see the manager.” She flashed Odelia a little grin.

  “I want to run something by you,” said Odelia.

  “Sure, go ahead. Though I have to tell you that I’m probably one of the only people in this town still willing to talk to you right now.”

  “How so?” asked Odelia, looking surprised.

  “The wedding, silly girl! You can’t dangle a big carrot like that in front of people’s noses and then yank it away again at a moment’s notice.”

  “I’m sorry. But we simply couldn’t go through with it.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to explain to me,” said Dolores, waving an airy hand. “I understand perfectly. If my wedding had ballooned to such ridiculous proportions I wouldn’t have wanted to go through with it either.” She gave Odelia a reassuring smile. “Don’t you worry about a thing, sweetie. People have a very short memory. Just you wait and see. This time next week they’ll have forgotten all about it.”

  “I hope so,” said Odelia. “Father Reilly wants me to do the wedding the first weekend of February, Wilbur Vickery the second weekend, and Ida Baumgartner in May. The three of them pulled their diaries and are trying to fix a date. They didn’t ask me for my opinion, so they clearly don’t need me to be there. Probably just to pull my checkbook.”