Falafel Jones - Max Fried 01 - Life's a Beach Then You Die

by Falafel Jones

“So, what’s that got to do with sea sickness?”

  “After additional test results came back this morning, we found evidence of elevated scopolamine levels in the deceased’s system. One explanation could be he used a seasickness medication. Scopolamine is a common ingredient.”

  With his hands gripping the arms of his chair and his elbows raised in the air, Ed sat there looking as if he were deciding between standing up again or remaining seated. He sat there silently for a moment looking down at the floor. Then he released his grip on the chair arms, put his elbows down, and nodded. “OK, you can start the tape again.”

  She pressed a button. “Back on the record. During the break, I provided a procedural explanation to Mr. McCarthy. Mr. McCarthy, is that accurate?

  “Yes”

  “Did you ever know him to take sea sickness medication?”

  “No.”

  Davis sat there for a moment, put down her pen and reached for the recorder. “OK Mr. McCarthy. Thank you for your time. The record is closed.” She turned off the recorder and placed it in her briefcase. “OK, that’s it.” She rose from her chair, opened the door and stepped into the hall. “This way, please.”

  Ed remained seated. “Just a minute. I answered your question. Now, I want you to answer mine. I represent the estate of the deceased and you can tell me now what’s going on or you can wait until I get a subpoena.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “You said Ray had high levels of scopasomething. How high?”

  “Scopolamine. High enough to kill him.”

  “My God.”

  “We needed to know if he was self-medicating. If so, there was a chance he took too much by accident… or on purpose.”

  Ed sat there quietly as if hearing this was more than he could bear. After a while, I touched his shoulder and said, “C’mon, Ed. Let’s go.”

  As Ms. Davis escorted us down the hall to the door, Ed asked, “Any idea when the final report will be issued?”

  “As soon as we have enough information. Do we have your address in the file?”

  “I believe so, but just in case…” Ed handed her one of his business cards. She gave him one of hers.

  “We’ll be in touch when we have something to say.” She shook our hands, “Thank you for coming in.”

  Ed and I walked silently to his car. Once we got inside, he turned to me and asked, “Scopawhat?”

  “Scopolamine. Looks like they found a lot more of it than they should have. I don’t know what it is either, but I’m going to find out. Drop me at my place and how about we meet later for lunch at Bobbi and Jack’s.”

  “OK.”

  “You know, Ed. I didn’t realize you and Ray were that close.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, Ray was apparently into some shady dealings. He had unknown sources of income, a criminal record and he was stealing from his employer. I mean, you went boating together on a regular basis. You knew what kind of medications he did and didn’t take. Do you mean to tell me you didn’t know what was really going on with him?”

  “I don’t like the sound of that. I thought Ray and his wife had family money. I didn’t handle his taxes or his finances. I met him when he wanted a will. We both boat and fish and whatever else he was, he could tell a good joke and he knew how to sail. Look, if I knew something was wrong here, I certainly wouldn’t have brought in a private investigator. Especially one as nosy and suspicious as you.”

  What Ed said made sense to me. “Then I’ll take that comment about being nosy as a compliment.”

  “You do that.” He stared straight ahead and drove on in silence.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Ed dropped me off at home and I went inside to research Scopolamine. I started with a Google search and found websites that detailed the drug’s uses, sources and effects. I followed up on a few of the references until it was time for lunch. Then I changed into my bathing suit and walked up the beach in the surf to Bobbi and Jack’s.

  Mariel and I first saw Bobbi and Jack’s Patio Bar when we came here on vacation in 2004. The City had closed and condemned the place due to hurricane damage. When we moved down here a few months ago, we were glad to see it rebuilt.

  Their concrete and brick patio lies on the sand, separating the bar from the ocean. Heavy, unpainted, weathered and wooden Adirondack chairs surround low round, concrete tables built into the patio. The tables are just the right height for putting your feet up. Just be careful not to knock over your drink. This patio replaced the wooden one washed away by the hurricanes. Next time, Jack isn’t giving up the patio without a fight.

  Ed sat at one of those tables with a glass in front of him and his phone at his ear. He must have calmed down a bit because when he saw me walk up the steps from the beach, he closed his phone and waved me over.

  I stood by his table. “You order food yet?” I asked. My stomach was starting to growl.

  He looked up at me. “No, not yet. You want to split a pizza?”

  “Sure. Mushrooms?”

  “Sounds good.”

  “I’ll get it, you want anything else?”

  “No, I’m good, thanks”

  I left Ed and walked over to the bar to order the pizza. Bobbi and Jack’s had bar service but table service on the patio was on your own.

  When I got to the bar, there was an AmberBock draft waiting for me with Jack standing behind it. “That’s the trouble with this place,” I told him, “the service is too damn slow.” I ordered the pizza, picked up my beer and went back to Ed’s table.

  “Max, I spoke with my new best friend in the D. A.‘s office. A. D. A. Stronberg is disappointed he missed the chance to convict Horton but he doesn’t care about Ray or his estate. He’s more interested in whoever killed Ray and Horton. He’d also like to find whoever fiddled with Corky’s brakes. She supported the D. A. in the last election. I told him we found some stolen property that might relate to the case. I wouldn’t say what. He agreed to stand by our earlier agreement not to go after Ray’s estate if we continue to cooperate and produce this new evidence.”

  “I guess that’s good news. At least, I didn’t cause any problems for your client. I’m glad.”

  “Me too. On the other hand, Stronberg’s convinced the two murders, the attempt on Corky and the stolen property, means there’s more to it than he has now. He knows Ray and Horton stole trade secrets, but now that they’re both dead he’s confident a third party was involved in the theft. He thinks the third guy in the thefts killed Ray and Horton, and is the same person who did the break-ins, the bugging and Corky’s brakes. The D. A. wants him. I said we didn’t have anything yet he could use. He told me to bring him whatever I had by the end of the week or the deal on Ray’s estate’s off.”

  “Is he treating Zorky’s death as a homicide?”

  “They’re trying to get an exhumation order.”

  We drank our drinks and stared out at the ocean. Two men and two women were pushing a catamaran on the sand into the water. Crashing waves impeded their progress. After a few moments, they were past the breakers and you could see the colorful sail bobbing in the distance. It had taken a concerted effort but then they all had smooth sailing.

  Ed lit a cigarette. “So, what’d you find?”

  “Scopolamine? Plant derivative. Small doses, they use it for truth serum and seasickness. Large doses, it’s fatal. Looks like a heart attack.”

  “Both Ray and Zorky died from heart attacks.”

  “Ever notice the instructions on seasick medications? Where they tell you to take it an hour or so before you need it?”

  Ed nodded and sipped his drink.

  “Well, it looks like this stuff can have a delayed reaction. You could probably slow it down further if you put it in a time delay capsule.”

  “Yeah, but where do you get this stuff. It doesn’t just grow on trees does it?”

  “Yeah. It does. There’s a plant called an Angel’s Trumpet. Has these pretty tru
mpet shaped flowers. Nice except if you eat one it’s poisonous. I think I actually saw a couple on the A. V. Designs campus. Of course, you can also find it in seasickness medications.”

  Ed put down his glass and leaned in my direction. “So that’s how they killed Ray. Poison. Do you think maybe that’s what happened to Zorky too?”

  “Maybe. We know somebody poisoned Horton and the three dead men spent time together on Zorky’s boat. Looks like there’s only one killer and he prefers staging accidents usually with poison. On the other hand, we’d be foolish to assume anything. We need to look at each murder separately starting with Ray.”

  “Isn’t poison something female killers use?”

  “I’ve read that they use it more than men, but not everyone fits in gender stereotypes and a clever killer may think it obscures his identity.”

  Ed sat back and let out a deep breath. “Geez, Max, what do we do?”

  “If we’re going to discover who killed Ray, we need to narrow the suspect list.”

  “How?”

  “Start at the beginning with the simple and obvious choices. Even Ray’s widow says the police usually look at the spouse first.”

  “No. You’re not going to investigate Kathleen.”

  “If the police decide Ray was murdered, that’s exactly what they’re going to do. They’re going to follow procedure.”

  “It’s my job to keep my clients out of trouble.”

  “Yes it is. That’s why we need to look into her.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “If the police question Kathleen, you’re going want to know in advance what they know. You’re not going to be able to protect her when they ask her about something and you’re hearing about it for the first time.”

  Ed was silent, so I pressed on.

  “If you’re a good lawyer, you’re not going to let a client be questioned until you’ve prepared her. You can’t prep her if you don’t know what’s going on.”

  “You’re very convincing. Ever consider a career in Law?”

  “No, I like what I do better. I prefer being paid to talk to lawyers.”

  I don’t think Ed appreciated my comment. He stared at me and then said, “I’ll agree on one condition. I don’t want anyone else to know we investigated her. Check her out, but don’t leave any trail. Last thing I need is someone finding out that I’m investigating my own client. They might not understand.”

  “OK I can do that.”

  “If Kathleen didn’t kill Ray and I’m sure she didn’t, what else have we got?”

  “If Kathleen didn’t kill Ray… well, if Ray’s killer was working with him in the prototype sale, it made no sense to kill Ray before he delivered it.”

  “So you think the killer wasn’t working with Ray in the prototype sale.”

  “Yeah.”

  “On the other hand, an accomplice might have wanted to cut Ray out of any profits and might’ve wanted to kill him after he delivered it.”

  “Exactly, but Ray was killed before he delivered the prototype and if someone wanted Ray dead after the delivery, they would have taken a different approach. Something more certain in its timing. Maybe they would have drugged him after the delivery.”

  Ed sipped his drink. “So the killer wasn’t an accomplice in stealing the prototype? OK”

  “Well, I’m not saying the killer wasn’t involved in the theft. I’m saying maybe the killer just didn’t want the sale to go through.”

  “Oh, you mean, maybe someone helped steal it but had different ideas about how to sell it?”

  “Yeah, or maybe they didn’t help steal it, but knew of the theft and had their own ideas about what to do with the prototype.”

  “OK I can see that. Anything else?”

  “Well, I think that’s it. Whoever killed Ray… maybe Horton too, not only knew about the prototype, they didn’t want Ray to deliver it so they killed him before he could.”

  “What about Zorky? Do you think the same person murdered Zorky?”

  “Maybe, but we don’t know for sure yet if Zorky was killed.”

  “You think maybe the killer is this guy, the Skipper?”

  “He’s a candidate, but we don’t have any proof that it was him and we don’t know who he is or where to find him. It’s also possible that there’s more than one killer. Kathleen could have killed Ray for money. Skipper could have killed Zorky to keep him quiet. Someone else could have killed Horton for some unknown reason. We should focus on Ray for now. See where it leads, first.”

  “Agreed, but if the Skipper or somebody else killed Ray to prevent the sale, why didn’t they take the prototype from the car after the crash?”

  “Don’t know. Maybe they didn’t want it. If Kathleen killed him, it may have had nothing to do with the prototype.”

  “Max, stop with Kathleen already.”

  “Or, if not Kathleen, maybe they tried to get the prototype and couldn’t find it? Maybe the police got there too soon. Maybe they couldn’t get into the car?”

  “I saw the accident photos. It was horrible. When the car hit the culvert, it rolled over. Crushed the roof. Impact also pushed in the side door. They had to use the Jaws of Life to get Ray’s body out. Sounds ironic, using the Jaws of Life to extricate dead bodies.”

  Ed shuddered and then continued. “You could be right. The interior of the car was inaccessible until the police arrived. After they arrived, everything in the car was in police custody until you and I got it. So, who are we looking at here? Ben Horton? An unknown accomplice?”

  “I think we can rule out Horton. He claimed he didn’t know why Ray was coming to see him. Even if he was lying, it makes no sense for him to kill Ray so that Ray dies at Horton’s doorstep. Even if Horton screwed up how long it would take Ray to die, it also makes no sense for him to kill Ray with Horton being the last to see him alive. Add Horton’s murder to that and there’s likely a third person who knew Ray and Horton and who knows about the prototype.”

  Ed started counting on his fingers. “That leaves…One. Maybe a disgruntled accomplice? Two. Maybe someone else who knew of the theft and was trying to get the prototype or three, you’re all wrong and it’s someone out of left field. I’m not going to count Kathleen.”

  “Sort of.”

  Ed raised his hand to count again. “One, accomplices. Horton’s the only possibly disgruntled accomplice we know of and you’ve ruled him out. Two, other people who might be trying to get the prototype for their own purposes. Uhm, we don’t know who else might have known of the theft. Three, someone from out of left field and well, we obviously wouldn’t know who that would be and no, I’m not going to count Kathleen here either. We’re not getting too far, Max.”

  “Let’s start with what we know and then we can speculate. We know Ray had the prototype and someone killed him. Both Ray and Zorky died from heart attacks. The Skipper is a fugitive and his things are missing from Zorky’s boat. Someone made a run at Corky, planted bugs, stole the notebook, searched my place, Ray’s place and killed Horton. We also know Clive Howard from A. V. Designs has been watching me, is looking for something and he thinks I might lead him to it. The only people we can name who know of the prototype are you, Ray and me. Horton claims he didn’t know why Ray was coming to see him. We don’t know if Howard or if anyone else at A. V. Designs even knows the prototype is missing.”

  “Those things are all true. So, to whom do they lead us?” Ed asked.

  “Now we speculate. We can rule out you and me. You already had access to the prototype and I knew nothing until you approached me. Ray and Horton are dead. The only other person who we know is involved here is Clive Howard, the Security Chief at A. V. Designs.”

  “Nah,” Ed shook his head as he lit another cigarette. Of course, he’s involved. The prototype belongs to A. V. Designs. He’s their Security Chief. He has a legitimate interest in recovering it. He also has an interest in being discreet about it. Makes perfect sense. Matter of fact, if he did know
about Ray having the prototype, all he had to do was phone the Police and get it back.”

  “Maybe, but we’re not going to get any closer to any answers without more information. Ray seems to be the focal point. He connects to Zorky, Corky, the prototype and Horton. I’m going to go back to A. V. Designs. I’ll start with Personnel, see what else we can find out about Ray, and then take it from there.”

  Ed took a deep breath, raised his eyebrows and exhaled. I guess he had nothing else to say. A voice called out over the restaurant loudspeaker, “Ed, your order is ready.”

  Ed turned toward the bar. Then he looked at me and waved his cigarette. “You gave them my name for the pizza order?”

  “Yeah, for some reason, people seem to screw up my name and I’m too hungry to wait. Besides, this is a business lunch, you can deduct it.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  After lunch, I had a nice walk in the surf back to the house where I planned to change clothes before visiting A.V. Designs. While I walked, something occurred to me. Maybe the empty battery compartment in Ray’s answering machine never had a bug. Maybe it was empty simply because it came without a battery and no one bothered to put one in. If there were no bug, then there had to be some other way someone would know that Ed was handling Ray’s estate. Sure there was. That someone could be Kathleen, the woman who hired Ed.

  If Kathleen wanted the prototype and couldn’t find it, she could have bugged Ed’s office in the hopes of locating it. All she had to do was visit the Spy Shack. When I considered this possibility, I realized that it could also have been Kathleen who tossed her house searching for Ray’s hiding place. Especially since she’s left the area, Kathleen is definitely a loose end I’d like to tie up

  She lived with Ray. If she wanted to kill him, she would have had the opportunity to do it. Also, as his spouse, she could have a motive. Lastly, without looking into her, I’ll never know if we were headed in the right direction.

  When I got home, I sat at my desk and turned on my laptop computer. While I sat there waiting for it to start up, I thought about what Ed had said. He was right about protecting his client’s interests, but Ray was his client too. Who was representing his interests? Surely, it was in Ray’s interests to catch his killer. In addition, there was more at stake here than Ed seemed to want to acknowledge. He retained me only to locate a client’s assets and I had done that.