by Millie Mack
“Ah, but there are several Latin American countries—Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay for example—with communities very much like Europe,” offered Carrie.
“Captain Becker, do you have a way of searching these countries for Mr. Stone?” Christopher asked. “Can you bring him back for trial?”
Christopher finished his soda and was concentrating his energies on cracking pieces of ice in his mouth.
“We really can’t do anything until we have a lead as to where he’s hiding. Then we can request the help of the local police and start a long process to bring him back. But, Christopher, I wouldn’t hold out much hope of ever finding Stone, unless he makes another mistake.”
“Surely the local police would know if a wealthy American suddenly appears in their community?” asked Mrs. Faraday. Then she turned to Christopher. “Please, either put the glass down or pour yourself more soda, but stop cracking that ice.” Christopher looked embarrassed, but jumped up and poured himself another glass of soda.
“Here’s what I think,” Becker said. “First, I don’t think Stone is in a small town. I’ll bet he’s living in one of the larger cities in South America so his arrival wouldn’t alert the police. Second, Stone was a man of great intelligence who planned everything down to the smallest detail. He’s probably been to this city before and established another identity for himself.” Becker drank his coffee and continued. “He has a place to live, financial relationships, and friends. He simply tells his friends he’s retired from business in the United States. And, finally, he has probably altered his appearance, perhaps a mustache or beard, dyed hair, or even shaved his head, different glasses, casual clothing, et cetera. These changes are all designed to make him different from any police photo we might send.”
“So Mr. Stone is gone forever,” said a dejected Christopher.
“I believe so. If it’s any help to you, Christopher, it doesn’t appear that Stone was actually responsible for your father’s death.”
“Can we be sure of that?” asked Charles.
Becker leaned forward. “Once Genello found out that Stone wasn’t around to help him, he started spilling his guts. He turned state’s evidence against Petrovich in exchange for a lesser charge. Genello claims Stone scheduled a meeting to cut a deal with Jamie not to write the story. I think Stone wanted the deal with your brother to buy some time until he could he could finalize everything and clear out of TriCity. Anyway, according to Genello, Petrovich didn’t like Jamie’s deal and pushed him. Jamie fell backward, hit his head on the piling and went into the water. Genello had already knocked the light out on the pier, so in the dark and with the fog, they couldn’t find Jamie. When they finally spotted him and pulled him out of the water, it was too late. They left the area by faking that drunken routine that Officer Reynolds saw.”
“What about Suzanne?” asked Mrs. Faraday. “Did this Petrovich also shoot her?”
“According to Genello, he and Stone were listening in the van and Petrovich was outside the window. When Stone heard Suzanne start to crack he asked Petrovich to provide a diversion so they could get Suzanne out of the house. However, Petrovich decided on a different outcome for Suzanne.”
Mrs. Faraday shook her head as she heard the details. “So this one man with no regard for human life is responsible for all this tragedy.”
Becker nodded in agreement. “Mr. Faraday, we went along with your plan to catch Stone, but I’m not sure I understand all the clues that led you to him.”
Christopher jumped in. “My dad left clues in his journal. I mean, he wrote clues in a poem. I kept searching for it. He hid the journal in the floor of the studio, and I found it the night of the fire!”
Becker looked astonished as the information rolled out of Christopher. “There was a journal? Why wasn’t I shown this journal?” demanded Becker.
“It was just a book my dad kept notes in.” Christopher was trying to provide an explanation to please Becker.
“Christopher, perhaps you should let your uncle explain to Captain Becker,” offered Mrs. Faraday.
Christopher looked dejected, but Charles came to his rescue. “I think Christopher can handle this, Mother. After all, it was his relentless search for the journal that gave us the final clue. Go ahead, Christopher, but talk slowly, using complete sentences.”
Christopher placed his soda glass on the coaster, sat up straight, and folded his hands. “You see, my dad used a small notebook for jotting down story ideas. I knew if there was any place we would find a clue, it would be in his notebook.” Christopher then explained how he kept searching for the journal and finally discovered it under the studio floorboards. “We didn’t give you the book because it didn’t seem to have any real clues in it. But there was this poem, and we finally figured out the line about the photo in the poem pointed to Mr. Stone. That’s when Uncle Charles contacted you, and Carrie followed Uncle Charles.”
Becker looked at Christopher and then turned to Charles with a raised eyebrow. “Christopher is right,” Charles validated. “I was searching for a group picture in the Faraday photo archives that matched the one described in the poem. I discovered the same photo that Carrie and Christopher found hanging in Jamie’s bedroom. We all came to the same conclusion at pretty much the same moment. The poem referenced the fifth person, and that was Stone. That’s when I contacted you, and, well…you all know the rest.”
Becker smiled at the group and finished the last of his coffee. “Well, I guess that’s all. Anything else I can answer for you?” offered Becker.
“I’m still a little vague about what happened between Charles leaving here and everyone ending up in the pub,” Mrs. Faraday said.
“When Charles left here, he was going to meet Jonathan at the Admiral’s Saloon. When I got to the saloon, no one was around, except for two men who requested Ben’s tables. Did those men work for you?” asked Carrie.
“Yes, they’re detectives in my unit. Our original plan called for Charles and Stone to go to the Admiral’s Saloon and get seated in Ben’s area. We knew if Stone was meeting with Mr. Faraday in the saloon, he would leave Petrovich and Genello behind. The hope was Ben would reveal something that would allow Charles to confront Stone with Jamie’s murder. We wired Charles in order to capture Stone’s confession.”
“What went wrong?”
“We assumed Stone would go with Charles because he would think he was helping to solve the case,” said Becker. “Instead, Stone either smelled the trap or realized he couldn’t walk into the Admiral’s Saloon since Ben knew him.”
“My mistake was allowing Jonathan to talk me into picking him up at the office,” Charles reflected. “Petrovich and Genello overpowered me and threw me in the back of the van, where there was virtually no conversation and no windows. Becker knew I was with Jonathan, but had no idea where we were going.”
“You can imagine how I felt,” Becker said. “I involved a civilian in a dangerous situation and had no way to find him. We took a chance that Stone had a location near the Admiral’s Saloon. So we drove to the harbor and waited. Then Officer Reynolds told us he saw you, and we moved our surveillance to that spot, but there are lots of bars and businesses on that street. That’s how once you said the name of the pub, Ms. Kingsford, we arrived so quickly.”
“Speaking of the Dancing Sailor, what’s the status of Jonathan’s holdings?” asked Mrs. Faraday.
“As I mentioned, even before Jamie was killed, Stone was in the process of liquidating everything he owned. Ownership of the pub and the building next door was already transferred to his sister, who lives in New York. Of course, we are trying to trace his other holdings and businesses, but it’s very hard. We’ve asked your friend Mr. Wheeler for assistance. He’s been a great help since he knows about importing.”
Charles and Carrie exchanged a brief glance, but said nothing.
Becker continued. “As you know he does legal work for several importing businesses in TriCity and provided us with valuable informatio
n about how he thinks Stone’s import business worked. With the exception of those couple of folders you saved from the fireplace at the pub, we retrieved nothing of value from the office.”
“Did those folders provide any leads?” asked Charles.
“The folders contained a list of arrival dates for his caviar shipments, along with some limited information about the ships and the producers of the caviar. It may provide the international authorities with some leads about the smuggling operation, but nothing to help us track Stone.”
Becker waited, but there were no additional questions.
“Well, folks, I guess that’s about it.” Becker stood to leave.
Mrs. Faraday stood and shook Becker’s hand. “Thank you, Captain Becker, for keeping the case open and pursuing it to the end.”
“You’re welcome, ma’am. I don’t like unsolved cases. Of course, I prefer not to have cases to solve in the first place.” Becker then turned to Christopher. “Goodnight, Christopher. Your father would be proud of the way you solved this case.”
Christopher beamed with the compliment and shook his hand. “Thank you, Captain Becker.”
Carrie and Charles walked Captain Becker out to his car. They held hands as they watched Becker slowly navigate the driveway to the street.
“What do you think about Joel being such a good little helper to the police?” Carrie asked.
“I’m glad he’s helping,” Charles replied. “It’s good for cleansing his guilt, and maybe he also realizes how close he came to being on the wrong side of the law.”
“You know what’s really interesting? I don’t think Jamie knew anything about Joel’s side business. I really think Jamie contacted Joel looking for some help, but Joel had a guilty conscience. Jamie was a good reporter and probably sensed Joel was into something. Jamie pushed and Joel spilled his guts. Of course, Jamie took the opportunity to make a deal with Joel to get him to stop his illegal activities. Because of his success with Joel, Jamie probably thought a similar offer to Jonathan would work, too.”
“Well, if Genello’s confession to Becker is correct, it sounds like Jamie’s negotiations with Stone would have been equally successful. It’s a shame Petrovich has such a quick temper,” Charles added.
“It makes you wonder why things turn out the way they do. If it weren’t for Petrovich, Jamie would be here. Suzanne wouldn’t be facing months of recovery. Jonathan would have quietly started a new life with no one the wiser. And then there’s Joel. The last thing he said to me was that he hoped when all this was over, we could all still be friends.”
“There’s another good thing that happened in all this turmoil. It brought Carrie Kingsford back to TriCity and back to the Faradays.” Charles squeezed her hand.
“What a sweet compliment. But with everything all wrapped up on the case, I need to get back to my life.” Carrie turned back toward the house.
“I don’t think things are wrapped up,” said Charles, as he placed his arm around her shoulders.
“What do you mean?” Carrie asked. “We have answers to all our questions.”
“No, I think one question still needs an answer. I would like to know if you would be willing to stay here with me.” Charles bent down and kissed her.
Carrie rested her head on his shoulder. “Perhaps I could stay a little longer.”