Murder At The Podium

by Alec Peche

  After her interview, she would return to the hotel and drive with Nathan to visit a couple of wineries that afternoon. There appeared to be at least twenty wineries in the Dallas metropolitan area. Nathan had a meeting with one owner and after that they would decide which wineries to visit. In the early evening they would be meeting their friends at the airport and would head out to dinner once they dropped their luggage off at the hotel.

  Jill determined that Dallas Police Department Headquarters was just under a mile from her hotel. After checking to make sure there was no rain in the forecast for the next two hours, she set out at a brisk pace. The six story glass and brick building appeared to be big enough to house all the major services a large police department like Dallas must provide. She wondered if the crime lab was located within and how far away the Medical Examiner’s office was. Depending on what information she gleaned from her meeting with the detective, she might want to schedule a meeting with the person who had conducted Stacy’s autopsy. As she approached the front door, she was startled by what appeared to be bullet holes around the front entrance. She’d thought she was in a safe neighborhood.

  As she approached the reception area, she noted two armed officers in the lobby. “Hello, my name is Dr. Jill Quint and I have an appointment with Detective Castillo.”

  The receptionist replied, “If you’ll have a seat, I’ll contact the Detective and he’ll meet you here.”

  Jill hesitated, then asked pointing to the entrance, “Are those bullet holes by the front door? I walked over here from my hotel by the convention center and so I wanted to make sure it was safe for me to walk back.”

  “Yes ma’am those are bullet holes. Two months ago an assailant fired shots at this lobby and planted bombs in our parking lot.”

  “I assume your police department located the perpetrator and arrested him?” Jill asked feeling both a need to stay away from the glass enclosed lobby and happy that her assessment about the neighborhood had been correct.

  “Ma’am, the gunmen died during a twelve hour stand-off with this department.”

  “Oh” and on that note, Jill looked around for seating that was far away from the glass enclosed entrance. The receptionist was obviously miffed with her as she hadn’t heard about the gunfight, but she couldn’t remember it playing out in the news in California. In fact she couldn’t remember ever hearing about a gunman firing on a police headquarters. It seemed like a stupid thing to do, given all of the armed officers in the vicinity of or inside any police building. Then she thought back to a prior case in her own hometown where covert security operatives had fired upon her Sheriff’s station after she had taken refuge inside causing extensive damage to the building. Maybe it happened with greater frequency than one expected.

  Perhaps five minutes later and at her appointed time, a man in plain clothes entered the lobby from an elevator bank and looked quickly around the lobby spying her and heading in her direction.

  “Dr. Quint?” said the man. He was likely about Jill’s age, tall and lanky with a gun holster. His face was blank and Jill wondered what his real thoughts were about her request to meet with him.

  “Hello Detective Castillo,” Jill said as she stood and shook hands with the detective.

  “May I see your driver’s license and private investigator license as well,” yep, Jill thought, he was all business giving nothing away.

  Jill quickly handed over the requested documents and he used his cell phone to take a picture of both. She was impressed with his actions and she had a feeling that he would file away her face and information looking at her connection to the murder of Stacy Johnson. He handed the documents back to her and directed her to the elevator bank.

  Shortly they arrived in an interview room in the detective division. He had a pad of blank paper and nothing more. She had been hoping he would have Stacy’s homicide file in his possession while they spoke. Rats!

  The detective remained silent waiting for Jill to begin the conversation. Jill was impressed with his technique so far, he had volunteered zero and she was going to be forced to dig for every morsel of information from him.

  So she began, “As I indicated on the phone, Stacy’s husband engaged me to investigate his wife’s death.”

  “Do you have a copy of the contract that I can review?” asked the detective.

  “Yes,” and Jill passed him a copy of the contract that Adam had signed. In her past experiences she had learned to carry with her several copies of the contract to share with various agencies, law enforcement, health services and public records all required proof that she had Adam’s permission to obtain private records typically only available to the spouse.

  The detective read the contract and then looked at her as though silently instructing her to continue.

  “I would like to review your report of the murder, any reports from the medical examiner and crime lab. I’d also like to view your murder board.” Jill lobbed the ball back at the detective, interested to see what his response would be. She’d looked up Texas privacy rights and knew that she legally had the right to her first two requests, but there was no law that could compel the detective to share his murder board with her.

  “Why should I share that information with you?”

  Again Jill was unable to read any emotions from his face or his word inflexion.

  “Because under Texas State law you are compelled to share the first two items with me as Mr. Johnson’s representative. You’re not required to show me your murder board, but if you’re willing, I would like to view it.”

  Moments after Jill finished explaining her reasons for the information, the detective stood up and said, “Follow me and I’ll walk you through the murder board and I have copies of the requested items for you at my desk.”

  With this last comment, Jill was both chagrined that she was so predictable and delighted with the cooperation from the detective. In the resulting tumult of emotions she was rendered speechless; and found herself silently following the detective down a corridor and entering a large room with cubicles. They rounded the corner into an open space containing a cubicle with Detective Castillo’s name on it. He approached his computer and moved the mouse and the murder board appeared on screen. At the top of the board was a picture of Stacy Johnson. Jill stood there for a few minutes studying the contents of the board. When she looked over at the detective, she found his eyes on her, an eyebrow raised.

  Jill was beginning to think that they had done the most communicating with the least amount of words.

  “Cause of death is poison and mode is homicide. Suspects include husband and Sinaloa Cartel represented by El Chapo’s picture. The poison hasn’t been identified and you haven’t discovered any camera footage that shows the glass being placed on the podium. Do you have any reason to suspect the husband or is he there because the spouse is usually considered a suspect until he or she is eliminated?”

  “You are correct in that we have no evidence to suspect Adam at this time. As far as we know he was four hundred miles away in their hometown. However, at this point in the investigation we haven’t done enough due diligence to rule him out.”

  “When do you expect your crime lab to identify the poison and do you think that will help identify the murderer? Since it is poison, perhaps you should have some female suspects on your murder board as that is the typical poisoner.”

  The detective just smiled with her last comment and handed her the paperwork that she had requested.

  “Do you have any further questions for me?” asked the detective.

  “I may after I read your information in the reports. May I have one of your business cards in case I need to contact you further? I don't intend to take up a lot of your time or otherwise get in the way of the investigation. Unless it's urgent, I’ll communicate by e-mail if you don't mind.”

  The detective handed her his card and motioned her toward the exit to the homicide division. Clearly he was ready to escort her to the lobby. Jill was
itching to ask him one more question.

  “Are you usually this cooperative with private investigators, Detective Castillo?”

  “No, but when you requested the meeting I did a quick internet search on you and was impressed with some of the cases that you have been involved with. Furthermore, you appear to be a magnet for murderers and sooner or later your very presence on this case is likely to bring the murderer to my attention so you become just another tool in my detective’s toolbox.”

  “Are you saying that I have a target on my back, that I naturally attract murderers?”

  “So it would seem.”

  Jill paused for a moment, and then ended with, “You might be the most perceptive detective that I've ever worked with.”

  Jill left police headquarters with the reports in hand for the walk back to the hotel. Dumbfounded by Detective Castillo’s assessment, she couldn't concentrate on the next steps of the case. Especially concerning was his comment that by her simply being on the case, she would attract the murderer's attention and he could take it from there. She didn't know whether she should feel flattered, miffed, or scared. Mostly she felt miffed but she knew she should be scared as no one would want to attract the attention of the Sinaloa Cartel. With her emotions raging, she was so distracted that she arrived back at her hotel without remembering the journey by foot.

  Entering the hotel room she found Nathan comfortably ensconced in the hotel room’s sofa, laptop open and in use. He looked up as she entered and asked, “Hey babe, how’d your meeting go?”

  He hit a few keys on the laptop shutting it down for the time being, setting it aside and patting the space next to him for Jill to come and join him.

  Taking her seat next to him, legs stretched out and aligned with his, she briefed him on the meeting.

  “With the detective’s view of this situation, are you reconsidering staying with the case?”

  Jill looked over at Nathan, one eyebrow raised and said “On the way back to the hotel I tried to talk myself into being scared about the cartel. Unfortunately since we have all survived multiple attempts to kill us, I feel too lucky to die at the hands of a murderer from one of our cases.”

  “Too lucky to die? You know that kind of arrogance will get you killed eventually.”

  “Actually, I’m trying to make a statement about the great protection I have around me starting with you to everyone from the FBI to the Palisades Valley Police Station. I’ve awesome and smart protection around my teammates and me. Detective Castillo also gave me a vibe that he would come to my defense at a moment’s notice. In fact his analysis was so clear and accurate, that he might be able to step in front of me before the murderer throws a cup of poison my way.”

  Nathan leaned away from Jill and gave her the squint-eye, “Throw a cup of poison your way? Besides looking out for guns and knives, I also have to watch for anyone approaching with a red solo cup?”

  Jill had the grace to look chagrined and replied, “That is if you wouldn’t mind…”and then she ducked as a pillow flew at her.

  “If I asked you to drop the case, would you?” Nathan asked.

  Jill looked at him trying to read his thoughts and then she gave up and shrugged.

  “Since I seem to be putting your life in danger every time I make the decision to put my life in danger, I would have to abide by your request and call Adam Johnson and decline the case. He hasn't paid for my services yet so now would be the opportune time to do that. Are you asking me not to take this case?”

  After a lengthy pause, Nathan said, “No I won't ask you to do that.”

  Jill leaned over and gave Nathan a long silent hug, then followed with a few kisses. She looked at her watch and said, “We probably ought to hit the road if you're going to make your appointment with the client.”

  Chapter Six

  Jill and Nathan spent an enjoyable afternoon visiting his client and then going on to an additional four wineries. They both loved visiting wineries; he liked to assess the wine label and marketing materials compared to the location, the people, and the owner if he met them. Jill knew someday she would build her own tasting room and so she was collecting best practices from all the wineries she visited to put into her future design. Then there was the wine, they both loved tasting wine. The problem lay in drinking and driving. Where possible they looked for a private location to taste the wine with the plan of spitting rather than swallowing. The wine tasting public assumed that anyone spitting wine out didn’t like the flavor; Jill and Nathan thought they kept their taste buds sharper by avoiding swallowing the wine and raising their blood-alcohol level. As Jill had visited numerous California wineries she was enjoying the architecture of the Texas wineries. Since land was cheap, the vineyard tasting rooms were larger and more spacious.

  After a pleasurable afternoon and no further conversation about the Sinaloa Cartel, they navigated their car to the airport to meet Jo, Marie, and Angela. Their plane was on time and soon hugs were given close to the baggage carousel where they were waiting for their luggage. They had rented a full-size sport-utility vehicle to accommodate the five adults and their luggage. After everyone was checked in and unpacked, they walked to a restaurant about a mile away as the new arrivals wanted to stretch their legs after being cooped up on an airplane. It was only about a two and a half hour flight, but it was more about being unable to move unless you inconvenienced your fellow passengers.

  After catching up on everyone’s lives and admiring pictures of Jo’s new granddaughter, they moved on to the case. Jill had sent a brief email to them summarizing the case and so they had a vague outline.

  “When you said she was poisoned in front of a room full of health care people while giving a speech, I was appalled,” Jo said. “I mean who likes to stand in front of a hundred people and give a speech? Then to drink poison from a water glass and then have your last moments be vomiting in front of those same hundred people is terrible. First I would feel queasy over having to give a speech, then I would feel terrible and embarrassed that I had to vomit in front of those people, then I guess you sort of lose consciousness when your embarrassment and misery is at an all-time high. Poor woman.”

  Everyone at the table nodded in agreement and Nathan added, “I had to give a speech to the wine growers convention that we were at, and I made sure that I put the water provided to the speaker well out of reach - I walked to an attendant and asked him to take it away. I didn’t want to absent-mindedly reach for a sip of water. In the future, I’ll bring my own bottled water with me when I am giving a speech.”

  Jill went on to describe her call with Special Agent Ortiz and the meeting with Detective Castillo. Nathan hadn’t heard the full play-by-play of that meeting and, like her girlfriends, enjoyed Jill’s chagrin at having been so easily understood and slightly appalled by the comment that she would bring the murderer to law enforcement’s attention, simply by being on the case.

  “The detective’s assessment should inspire the three of us to quit as your teammates,” Jo said.

  This is exactly what Jill was afraid of and really who could blame her friends for feeling that way?

  “But since we love you and wouldn’t leave you with just Nathan to face these horrible people, we’ll stay on the job as long as you do,” Angela declared while Jo and Marie nodded agreement.

  Marie looked over at Nathan and said, “It’s not that you aren’t a great protector of Jill, it’s just that you need our help.”

  “Jill is lucky to have attracted such loyal and crazy friends as you three,” Nathan said sincerely.

  Nathan's comment necessitated a group hug.

  “I'm back to the start of this case, given what you know now are you guys interested in working on the case? Specifically are you willing to put up with the risks of coming to the attention of the Sinaloa Cartel?”

  “Even though I'm a new grandmother, I for one feel that if we stick together we’ll solve the case faster which will take you, Jill out of harm’s way sooner
. So I'm in,” Jo responded.

  Angela put her hand in the center of the table and soon Marie, Jo, Jill, and with a little nudging, Nathan were putting their hands on top of Angela’s with the affirmation from the Three Musketeers of ‘all for one and one for all’.

  The group declined dessert and soon walked back to the hotel. They stopped in to assess if the hotel bar was crowded and noisy or whether they could sit and map out a work plan while having the advantage of the bar to aid in their creativity. Fortunately, there was a large table and it was a relatively quiet night. Nathan reserved the space while the women went to their respective hotel rooms to gather pen, paper, and laptop computers.

  Fifteen minutes later, libation of choice in hand, they sat at a table working out their plan for the case. Nathan was usually not involved in this phase of a case, but circumstances placed him in the case at the start. Besides he had his own read of Adam and he would be interested in what Marie found on the man.