A Dead Nephew

by Anna Celeste Burke

  “Maybe someone saw you in the lobby, followed you, and guessed where you were going when you headed away from your office,” Bernadette suggested. “Or someone at the casino spotted you and Kim taking off with Nick.”

  “True. We should have met Nick at his house rather than at the casino first. Officer Ridgeway has lots of friends who could have seen us there with Nick.” I paused to consider the idea, trying to remember if I’d recognized anyone when we met Nick. The casino had been buzzing, so plenty of people were milling around. “We were only there a few minutes.”

  “It wouldn’t have given Timothy Ridgeway much time to beat you to the crime scene if someone called to tell him you were at the casino and left with Nick,” Bernadette said.

  “Until we reached Nick’s house and got into the dune buggy, I can’t imagine how anyone knew we intended to venture into the Indio Hills on such a hot day. That would have given Timothy even less time,” I added.

  “Check with Betsy, but Timothy must have plenty of friends in the reservation neighborhood. Does he live there?” Bernadette asked.

  “That’s possible. Even if someone tipped him off at the last minute, Timothy must know plenty of shortcuts to Louie’s campsite since he patrols the area,” I sighed.

  “Claro que si!” Bernadette exclaimed. “The Cleaner Man is creepier than Timothy Ridgeway, but he’s just one guy. It’s not good that Timothy Ridgeway has so many friends—especially if some of them are in high places.”

  “Or have been employed by people in high places like the lawyer I spotted in the lobby at the Indio jail who’s worked for members of the tribal authority,” I said and let out another huge sigh. “The more people involved, the more complicated this case becomes. Since Timothy Ridgeway’s partner, Billy Castro, was with him at the crime scene, we’re starting with two suspects already. If it’s true one or both called John Lugo, Mr. Lugo becomes a third suspect depending on what instructions he issued to Ridgeway and Castro. A conspiracy to commit murder or obstruct justice is a mess to prosecute.”

  “I don’t know that much about lawyering, but more people all pointing fingers at each other must make it harder to pin a crime on any single person.”

  “That’s it in a nutshell and without all the legalese,” I said. “Someone has to investigate all those other people too, which means more work for Jerry and Kim, George and Frank, or whoever picks up the task at the County Sheriff’s Department. We have a ton of work to do since we can’t afford not to pursue the Cleaner Man angle either. Some psycho was there for one reason or another.”

  “If he killed Sacramento Lugo, he could be afraid Timothy Ridgeway saw him do it. Maybe he was waiting for a chance to kill him, and you all ruined it.”

  “That’s possible. Despite all the shrieking and the mumbo jumbo he spouts, he’s clearly interested in self-preservation,” I commented.

  “A self-appointed messenger of God can’t go on being a messenger if he’s dead or in prison.” Bernadette shook her head in anger. “Sometimes, God puts up with too much when a good bolt of lightning or a ball of fire could fix it quickly!”

  “Saint Bernadette!” I gasped. “Father Martin would never believe me if I told him you said such a thing.”

  “Where do you think I got it?” she responded, with a wicked little grin on her face.

  “This case is turning into a bad slasher flick if someone is stalking me to help Timothy Ridgeway, and the Cleaner Man just happens to be stalking him too.” I was tempted to put my head down again. Instead, I drained the last half cup of coffee from the pot and downed it. “I’ve gotta go. You won’t let any strangers onto the property or into the house without calling Peter first, right?”

  “I won’t let anyone into the house, but we do live on a golf course. How am I going to keep a sneaky maleante like the Cleaning Man out of here if he comes after me with gas?”

  “Peter’s trying to get his hands on a device that will make us less vulnerable to any gas the Cleaner Man is using.”

  “Like a gas mask?” Bernadette asked, wide-eyed.

  “Something like that. Peter claims there’s a gizmo that serves the same purpose but is less bulky than the old-fashioned ones.”

  “Brien’s going to be bugging everyone to wear it when Kim tells him. I hope Peter can get them for us soon.” Bernadette shook her head again. “We need all the help we can get with a guy like the Cleaner Man, huh?”

  “Yes, assuming that the murderous thug exists and we’re right that it’s the spray he uses that affects your thinking and not what’s in the syringe or the tea.” I dropped to the floor from the barstool. “I’d better finish dressing and get to the office before I talk myself out of it. Peter’s already taken a few extra precautions around here.”

  “Does that mean his men are coming back to guard us?”

  “Yep!” I hollered as the doorbell rang. “That’s probably one of them now. Look through the peephole first!”

  “You won’t get any argument about that from me,” Bernadette said. “I don’t have to tell you not to go off to some strange place all by yourself, do I?”

  “No, you don’t!” I said as I sped down the hallway to my room with Anastasia dashing ahead of me. Not if I can help it, I thought while wondering if the Cleaner Man has a hidey-hole where he squirrels away dazed victims until he converts or kills them.

  *****

  By the time I reached my office, Amy and Kim were already there. I had a client arriving in ten minutes and a phone call to return. I was going to put off the call until I saw the man’s name on the note.

  “I know you’re busy, Jessica, but this guy says it’s urgent. Mr. Keanu is going to be at the Soaring Hawk Casino until he leaves for a lunch meeting at noon. He’s hoping you can find a few minutes to return his call before that.”

  “Do we have fresh coffee for my client?”

  “Yes, we do.”

  “Great! Bernadette sent cookies. Stall Sylvia Milgram for me, will you, please?”

  “With fresh coffee and Bernadette’s cookies, I won’t have to do anything except hide the cookies when you’re ready for her.” Amy already had the cookie tin open. “Have you ever smelled a more wonderful sweet, lemony fragrance? Where’s the scent of chocolate coming from?”

  “Italian lemon drop cookies are on top, and chocolate amaretti cookies are underneath the parchment paper. Enjoy!” I said as I dashed to my office.

  “Your client better not be late is all I’ve got to say.” The sound of her voice was muffled by the cookie she bit into. When I reached my office, Kim came rushing in from across the hall.

  “Did George reach you to tell you what happened?” she asked a little breathlessly.

  “What happened where? When?” My heart had started thumping in my chest.

  “I just got off the phone with him,” Kim said. “He needs you to get to the hospital as soon as you can.”

  “Oh, no! Is Louie dying?” I asked.

  “No. He fell and hurt himself. They’ve taken him to X-ray to make sure nothing’s broken.”

  “How did that happen?”

  “George ordered the hospital staff to move Louie into quarantine where he figured it would be easier to beef up security and watch over him. Louie panicked, threw a punch at the nurse nearest to him, and tried to get out of the bed. He landed on the floor. They had to sedate him to get close enough to examine him. George says they don’t want to keep him under sedation any longer than necessary. He’s refused to be moved until you get there, but George insisted since he was sedated, they should do it anyway. The staff agreed when George promised you’d be there when Louie wakes up in the quarantine unit.”

  A new calamity was all I needed. I stood, paralyzed by the conflicting demands as my brain circuits approached overload. Could I risk calling Mr. Keanu while I drove to the hospital, or could I ask to wait until I got there? Had Louie broken something when he fell? Could he handle more sedation if I didn’t get there before he blew his top again? What did
Sammy Keanu have to tell me that was so urgent?

  “Jessica, you need to get going before Louie goes bonkers again.” The phone on my desk rang, and Kim grabbed it. “Amy says it’s Sammy Keanu on the phone, and Sylvia just walked in.”

  Good grief! I wailed inwardly. Some lawyer I am. The quarantine calamity had completely pushed my poor client aside.

  “I’ll take the call.” I moved closer to my desk to reach the phone Kim held. “Kim, please call the hospital from your phone and tell them to get a message to Louie Jacobs. If he wakes up in the quarantine unit, he needs to know that his lawyer is on her way.” Kim sprinted to her office to make the call.

  “Mr. Keanu, I really want to talk to you, but I have an emergency on my hands. I need to visit a friend who’s in the hospital. May I call you back from there?”

  “If you’re headed to the hospital where Louie Jacobs has been admitted, I’m already there,” Sammy replied. “He’s in trouble, and I need you to get an urgent message to someone who can help him.”

  “What kind of trouble?” I asked.

  “Billy Castro is here. I’m sure you know who he is. I followed him to the hospital, but he knows his way around here better than I do, and I’ve lost him. He’s here, and he’s after Louie. I don’t know who to ask for help who’d believe me. From the way the hospital security guards have been eyeing me, they’re more likely to throw me out than help me.” I didn’t ask him to explain further, although questions were whizzing around in my head.

  “I believe you. Wait for me near the information desk at the front entrance to the hospital. I’ll get there as soon as I can. The help I’m sending should get to you before I do. How will we know who you are?”

  “No problem. Tell whoever you call to speak to the big man in the Aloha shirt near the information desk. Hurry, okay?”

  “I’m on my way!” I turned, after hanging up the phone, and almost ran into Amy.

  “I heard that, and Sylvia will be so pleased,” she said. “I was just coming to ask you what to do. She’s here, but she left the documents you asked her to bring with her at home.”

  “That’s wonderful!” Amy cocked her head. “I’m sorry, it’s not wonderful. Louie Jacobs has had an accident, and if Mr. Keanu is right, he may be in for more trouble than that.”

  “He had an accident in the hospital?”

  “I’ll have to explain in a minute because I need to call George Hernandez.” I speed-dialed him. “Pick up, pick up.”

  “No! Not his voice mail!” I left the clearest message I could that Billy Castro was at the hospital and after Louie. When he gets to the hospital, he should speak to the big guy in the Aloha shirt who was waiting for us in the lobby. As I spoke, Amy’s eyes widened.

  “Please call and cancel my afternoon meeting at the Rancho Mirage Library. I don’t know how long this is going to take because I’m not sure what this is.”

  “I can understand that,” Amy said as she followed me into the hall.

  “Kim, can you come with me without having to work a sixteen-hour day tomorrow?”

  “I thought you’d never ask.” Kim shut the door to my office and then to hers, and we all rushed to the waiting room. “What kind of trouble is Louie in?”

  “I’ll fill you in on the way to the hospital.”

  “I’m so sorry, Jessica,” Sylvia said, wiping crumbs from her mouth.

  “Sylvia, dear, it’s not a problem. Amy is going to find another appointment for us,” I said. “Have another cookie before you go, okay?”

  She smiled and showed me she already had cookies in her hand. The tin was on the coffee table in front of her. An associate’s client was blissfully munching too.

  “This is the best appointment I’ve ever messed up.” Then she stopped with the cookie she was holding halfway to her mouth. “You know what? I won’t even care if you bill me if you can get me the recipe for the lemon drop cookies.”

  “I’m not going to bill you,” I said. “I wish I could get the recipe for you right now, but I’ve got an unexpected situation on my hands.” Sylvia nodded as Amy offered more coffee to her and the other woman sitting in the waiting room and motioned for us to leave.

  “You’ll remind me to ask Bernadette for the recipe, won’t you, Kim?”

  “Sure!” Kim replied as she grabbed a few cookies from the tin.

  “Don’t bother, you two,” Amy said. “I want the recipe too. I’m going to call now and ask her for it.”

  “Tell her she can have my first-born child if that’ll help,” Sylvia joked, and our other client snickered. “Heck, tell her she gets the pick of the litter.” They were all laughing as we stepped outside.

  “Peter, help! I need a quick consult.” Before we reached my car parked behind the building, Peter and Brien were on their way. Peter could have sent someone else, but he and Brien were already familiar with the hospital facility and wouldn’t waste time finding the front entrance or figuring out where to park.

  “Did you hear all that?” I asked Kim. She nodded. “Can you reach the person in quarantine and tell whoever you speak to not to let anyone in and to call security if someone won’t take no for an answer?” I kept quiet while Kim made that call.

  “Peggy Hyndman assures me that keeping people out of there won’t be a problem,” Kim said as she hung up.

  “That’s good. George must be right about the unit being more secure. I hope this isn’t a false alarm. The cavalry is on the way.”

  “Better safe than sorry. Agreeing to take on Louie’s case has really stirred things up. There has to be something about Sacramento’s murder that both tribal officers don’t want anyone else to know for them to be taking such risks.”

  “They do seem frantic, don’t they?” I asked as I turned onto El Paseo after deciding on the shortest route to the hospital. “This could be a perfect opportunity to have a chat with Billy Castro about why they’re so frantic. I tried to arrange a time to meet with Timothy Ridgeway, but now that he’s lawyered up, that isn’t going to happen unless he asks to speak to me, or I can get a court order.”

  “If Billy Castro will start talking before a lawyer shows up, maybe he’ll tell us something that will make Timothy Ridgeway more talkative.”

  “I need a siren and lights like Frank and Peter use.” I pushed my luck and zipped through the intersection on a late yellow. Fortunately, in August, there’s little traffic. A wave of guilt hit me when we reached Rancho Mirage, not far from the library, where I was ditching my afternoon meeting. I’d write them an extra check and beg for forgiveness.

  In the meantime, the butterflies in my stomach reminded me I’d made the right call. I just hoped Louie Jacobs was okay and would stay that way until help arrived.

  10 A Ton of Men

  Fortunately, when we arrived at the hospital moments later, I was able to quickly find a parking spot. A police car was parked at the curb near the hospital entrance. I hoped that meant George had responded to my message. Kim and I ran for the door and burst into the lobby. If I didn’t know better, I would have imagined a bodybuilding competition was underway nearby given the bulging muscles in the room. Even amid all the big men, Sammy Keanu was a standout. Not that he was standing.

  “Sammy Keanu looks like a sumo wrestler, doesn’t he?” Kim asked as we hustled toward the group.

  “You’ve got that right,” I said. He wasn’t as big as Izzy, the Samoan singing star who’d taken the Hawaiian Islands by storm, but he was big and resembled him with his tawny brown skin and dark hair. Brien spotted us and waved as he hustled toward us.

  “Yo, Jessica, Kim! This is an interesting situation, isn’t it?” I didn’t get to answer him. He wasn’t looking at me when he asked that question anyway.

  “You’re needed upstairs,” George said as he cut in front of Brien. “We’ve got things under control here.”

  “Is Louie okay?” I asked anxiously. When Sammy Keanu suddenly stood up, I could see a man sprawled out on the floor. “That must be Billy Castro
. Did he get to Louie?”

  “Yes, it’s Billy Castro, and no, he didn’t get to Louie, although he tried. Louie was getting X-rays taken when a nurse found Billy Castro in Louie’s room on the locked ward.”

  “How did he get in there?” I asked George.

  “He flashed his badge and asked to see another patient. As it turns out, the other patient is a cousin, which I assume is how he knew his name and that he was in the ward. What I hope he can tell us is how he found out Louie Jacobs was there.”

  “My request to have Louie hospitalized wasn’t a secret. I don’t know how many people in the courthouse or at the jail may have been involved in making that happen. Maybe Billy Castro’s cousin told him if he recognized Louie.”

  “Speculate all you want, but I intend to find out. When the nurse hollered for help, Billy Castro ran for it. If he’d used another exit to leave, he might have gotten away. Unfortunately for him, Sammy Keanu grabbed him when he walked into the lobby. Peter and the rest of the Men in Black were here too, although Sammy had no problem getting Billy Castro under control all by himself.”

  “Men in Black! That is so cool, George. Thanks,” Brien said.

  “How did Billy end up on the floor?” I asked. When Peter and Sammy joined us, Kim and I were surrounded by a ton of men. The shadows they cast blocked out the light as if a full solar eclipse had occurred.

  “I caught him by the back of his shirt,” Sammy explained. “When he tried to squirm free, I had to put him on the floor and lean on him to keep him from trying to get away until someone decided what to do with him.” The enormous man had a kind face, although there was worry in his dark eyes.

  “Thanks to Sammy, no one had to draw a gun,” Peter added. “Security is taking Billy Castro to a quiet place where they can have a chat with him.”

  “I wanted to be in on that chat,” I responded, trying not to whine.

  “No! You need to go, now, before there’s another spectacle upstairs. Louie’s bound to wake up any time now,” George insisted. “Ask him if he has anything in his possession that Billy Castro wants, will you?”