Uncommon Thief
Page 34
Chapter 34
Damage Control
Alice Wolf’s story came out in the LA Times the following week, causing quite a bit of media stir. Fred’s heroic battle with a pack of coyotes and his reluctance to even break into a deserted cabin due to his respect for the law turned the tide of public opinion in his favor. More and more, people came to believe that Fred couldn’t have been involved in the Bank USA robbery or the murder of Harvey Hamlin. Maria and Steve were soon overwhelmed at their booth each day with friends, well-wishers, and members of the media looking for new angles on the story.
This turn of events, just weeks before the trial was set to begin, stunned Whitehead, and he feared the tide of public opinion would prejudice the jury pool and make it more difficult for him to get a conviction. Reeling from this and fearing his run for Governor was in jeopardy, he called an urgent meeting with Special Agents Walters and Harper.
“This media frenzy over our little Boy Scout has got me worried. We’ve got to put a stop to it, or we won’t be able to pick a fair jury,” he told them.
“Well, it does appear this bank robbery is out of character for Mr. Fuller,” Harper suggested.
“Bullshit!” Whitehead exclaimed. “This is just a carefully orchestrated PR campaign. Joel Roberts would do anything to keep me out of the Governor’s mansion.”
“I don’t think it’s Roberts,” Harper replied. “It’s Fuller’s girlfriend Maria. She is obsessed with getting Fuller off and will do anything to make it happen.”
“Yeah,” Whitehead agreed. “That article in the Times made me sick. What I don’t understand is why she’s standing by Fuller when everybody knows he was cheating on her.”
“Perhaps there’s something other than love waiting for her if she manages to get him off,” Walters suggested.
“I like your thinking,” Whitehead said. “I bet she’s been promised a nice chunk of change if Fuller goes free.”
“That would explain a lot,” Walters agreed. “Fred has hidden the money somewhere, and she needs to free him so he can lead her to it. Once they divide up the money, they’ll probably split. Fred obviously doesn’t love her, or he wouldn’t have run off with that slut Candy.”
“What about Stewart? He could be in on this too,” Harper suggested.
“We don’t’ have time to worry about Stewart,” Whitehead spat. “It could take months to find him, if we ever do. Let’s concentrate on tainting Mr. Fuller’s Boy Scout image. I want you to dig up all the dirt on him you can, particularly his sordid affair with Candy Clisby. Dig up everything you can. I want to bury him in filth in front of the jury so they’ll realize his damned Eagle Scout façade is a bunch of crap!”
“Alright. I’ll go see if I can locate any of Candy’s friends,” Walters said. “They’ll probably have some details on the affair.”
“Good,” Whitehead agreed. “Harper, you concentrate on Maria and Fred’s two buddies. There’s bound to be some dirt on them. Everybody has skeletons in their closets, right?”
Harper nodded.
“Okay,” Whitehead said as he stood up. “That’s all for now.”
The meeting ended, and everyone got up to go about their assignments. Walters started at the Palm Springs branch of Bank USA, and Harper arranged for a tail on Maria and Steve and ordered complete background checks on both of them. Walters first met with the cashier at the Palm Springs branch, and there he learned of Candy’s friend, Jenny Madeira. He tracked her down at her job in Banning.
“So, I’m sorry to hear about the untimely death of your friend Candy.”
“Yes, I can’t believe she is gone.”
“What do you know about the circumstances of her death?”
“Not much—just that she was camping with her boyfriend, Fred Fuller, when she was bitten by a snake.”
“Yes, I’ve viewed her hospital records, but Fred won’t talk about what happened. Did he tell you anything?”
“No, just that they’d gone, uh, swimming in a pond, and as they were getting out, the snake came up from behind her out of the bushes.”
“They were lovers, right? They slept together?”
“Well, I don’t know how much sleep they got. From what Candy said, they couldn’t get enough of each other.”
“So, they probably were skinny dipping then. That’s why they went somewhere secluded, I suppose?”
“I don’t know why they went there. It was a place Fred had discovered as a child. He loved it there and wanted to show it to Candy.”
“Really? That’s a long way to go just to go skinny dipping. Is there a lodge or something up there?”
“No. It’s pretty deserted from what I was told.”
“So, if they were planning to stay the night, they’d have to bring camping equipment, right?”
“I suppose.”
“Did Candy have any camping equipment?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Where was their relationship going, do you think?”
“I don’t know, but it was getting pretty serious. Fred gave Candy some money so she wouldn’t have to work anymore.”
“So, he was going to support her?”
“That’s what I understood.”
“How much money did he give her?”
“Two grand. He said he’d give her that much every month.”
“Do you have any idea how he was going to manage that? I mean, his family isn’t wealthy, are they?”
“She said something about an inheritance. It would be enough to keep them going until Fred graduated from law school.”
“Do you know anything about them going to Canada?”
“No.”
“When was the last time you saw Fred?”
“The night after Candy died. He called to tell me, and I invited him over so neither of us would be alone.”
“Did you two have sex?”
“No!” Jenny exclaimed. “It wasn’t like that. We were mourning the loss of someone we both loved.”
“So, you’re saying Fred loved Candy?”
“Yes. And she wouldn’t admit it, but she loved him too. I could tell it by the way she was acting.”
“Hmm. Do you have a key to Candy’s apartment?”
“Yes.”
“Can I go in and have a look around?”
“Sure, but I’ve already taken all her stuff out of there. She didn’t have much, and there weren’t any relatives.”
“Can I look through the boxes?” Walters persisted.
Jenny shrugged. “Okay, whatever.”
Jenny brought the boxes downstairs, and Walters went through them carefully but didn’t find anything.
“Thank you for talking to me. We’re going to need you to testify at Fred’s trial, so don’t leave town.”
Jenny shrugged, and they both stood up.
“I’m going to go talk to a few of Candy’s neighbors to see if any of them saw anything. Do you know their names?”
“Melba Brooks lives next door to Candy’s apartment. She’d be the only one that might have seen something.”
“Alright. I’ll be in touch.”
Walters left and went to Mrs. Brooks’ apartment. She didn’t know much, but she had seen them come and go a few times. Walters thanked her and left, and it was then that he decided to visit Devil’s Canyon.
It occurred to him that Fred might have gone out there to bury the 6.7 million dollars. He didn’t know exactly where the ghost town was, so he drove to Kelso, where Candy had been picked up by helicopter, but nobody there had ever heard of it. Frustrated, he returned to LA and reported what little he’d learned to Whitehead.
A few days later Harper gave his report which was even worse.
“They’re both squeaky clean,” Harper said. “Maria’s never even been tardy to class, and Steve’s some kind of Jesus freak who sings in the church choir.”
“Well, keep a tail on them anyway,” Whitehead scowled. ” I know they’re hiding something. I can just feel it. Maybe on
e of them will slip up.”