Murder in the Dorm

by C. G. Prado

  “His finding out who the scammer was and where he often had lunch is definitely puzzling. I don’t see how McDermott hacking into this man’s account would leave any trace available to anyone but a techie, much less a name and a favorite restaurant.”

  “I know, I know. I admit we’re as puzzled as you, but we’ll soon know when the lawyer does his part.”

  After he hung up Charlie was perplexed. He couldn’t understand how the man in custody could have known about McDermott and especially where to find him. He could have read about Kelsey’s death in the paper, but there’d been no mention of McDermott in those stories. It didn’t make any sense and Charlie was surprised that DeVries seemed to accept the situation on the expectation that the suspect would divulge how he knew to go after McDermott. Somebody must have tipped him off; there was no other solution as far as Charlie could see. But the group of people who might have given McDermott away seemed very small: Kelsey and the third party, and Kelsey was dead.

  A look at his desk clock soon distracted Charlie and he saw he was late for lunch. Once at the Club he hoped Baynes or Sommers might be there and he could talk over the latest development. Unfortunately, neither made an appearance and Charlie had to settle for political chitchat.

  Back in his office Charlie determined not to spend the afternoon puzzling about the case and started working on his paper. A student at his door promptly took his mind off both the case and his paper and he discussed some epistemology questions for about forty minutes. When the student left Charlie steadfastly went back to his paper and was quickly caught up in it until he realized it was time to go home.

  Charlie opened a bottle of California chardonnay and told Kate about DeVries’ call and his bafflement about how the man they’d arrested could have found out about McDermott and where he liked to have lunch.

  “It does look strange, doesn’t it?”

  “DeVries seems set on the arrested man blabbing to get a lighter sentence, but she may be expecting too much. Well, at least she called me.”

  “Do you think she’ll tell you what they learn if the guy talks?”

  “I don’t know. I hope she does. Trouble is, we don’t know how long it’ll take for the lawyer to convince his client to tell all.”

  “You know, even if there was a third party involved, and he or she ratted out McDermott to this man in custody, he or she couldn’t have counted on the man killing McDermott. He might just have faced him down or gone to the police. Either result would be worse for the third party than keeping quiet.”

  “You’re quite right. If the third party, and I’m sure there is one, wanted McDermott eliminated, telling this guy about McDermott could have been a bad mistake and he or she must have seen that. The worrying thing is that if they really do have a good case against this guy in custody they’ll most likely close the case with his conviction, accepting that McDermott killed Kelsey and that there was no third party. That may all be true, but they could be missing something important by settling for the guy they have in hand. Then, too, there’s the looming question of what happened to the money Kelsey and McDermott must have accumulated. DeVries and Matson will probably leave it to some forensic accountant who might give the question a few minutes every couple of weeks. Too many loose ends for my taste.”

  “Okay, what about this: call DeVries. If she does see the case as pretty much over, she might open up more and you might learn something. Make it a social thing; invite her for lunch or coffee. She might tell you something that would at least help you put the whole affair behind you.”

  “You’re right; you’re right. I will call her tomorrow and invite her for lunch or coffee and I’ll what she has to say. I doubt she’ll know anything new since the arrest, but there might be something she hasn’t mentioned that will mean something to me. It’s worth a shot. Now I’m going to get a glass of wine, read my mystery, and relax. Do you want a glass, too?”

  “No; I’ve had enough. There’s a program I want to watch and some decaf will be fine.”

  Charlie doubted he’d get anything more from DeVries, even if she did meet with him. But he’d call her, even if again on a Saturday. Later, as he was dropping off to sleep Charlie was again bewildered at how DeVries could have accepted that the man in custody had learned about McDermott and then found him at his favorite bistro. He couldn’t imagine what the guy’s lawyer could do to clear it all up. No, there was a third party, and the third party was the source of the information.

  Chapter 16

  The Third Weekend

  Saturday morning Charlie breakfasted and showered before calling DeVries. Then he had another cup of coffee. Finally he admitted he was stalling and called. He took some comfort in thinking that the chances were good she wouldn’t be at work. He was wrong.

  “Charlie; how are you?”

  “Truth is I thought if I bought you a couple of drinks you might find it in your heart to tell me a little of what’s going on.”

  “Well, as a matter of fact I was going to call you later today. Coffee about four o’clock would work. How about that same place we’ve been to before?”

  Charlie accepted eagerly and went upstairs to tell Kate. She welcomed the news, perhaps especially that nothing would interfere with their usual Saturday lunch.

  Kate and Charlie had lunch at a new crepe place they’d not been to. The service was, as in most new places, very good. Unfortunately, the food didn’t live up to the service. The crepes were tasteless and the stuffing too salty for both of them. The wine list was limited to popular brands and varietals and made Charlie think of the reasons for that old “anything but cabernet or chardonnay” sentiment that was widespread a decade or so earlier. In any case, he limited himself to one glass of so-so chardonnay because of seeing DeVries later.

  After lunch Charlie drove Kate home and went to the diner a bit early. He was sipping a cup of their quite good coffee when DeVries walked in. She looked exhausted and Charlie despaired of getting much from her. He signaled the server and ordered what passed for biscotti for the two of them and coffee for DeVries. She plumped herself down in the booth across from him and told him the obvious.

  “I’m beat. I’ve been up since five after going to bed late last night. I spent time at a stakeout and then had a ton of paperwork.”

  “I feel guilty now for dragging you down here.”

  “Don’t. I needed a break.”

  Just then the server brought their biscotti and DeVries’ coffee and both were silent for a minute or two. When the server left DeVries got to the point.

  “Umm. These look good. Okay, let me fill you in. Our guy confessed, with more than a little urging from his lawyer. Unfortunately, we learned very little. He knew about McDermott from an anonymous email. He still had it and we tracked it to a coffee bar over on Durant that has three public computers. That’s a dead end. The email simply gave McDermott’s name, a basic description, blamed him for the scam that cost our guy, and described the bistro where McDermott liked to eat.”

  “That’s not much help. Obviously someone else is involved. Is this guy you’ve got in custody going to trial where we might learn more?”

  “I don’t know. The prosecutor is open to a deal to save time and money. Frankly, most judges would go easy on him because he really was screwed by the loss of his money, which, by the way, still hasn’t been tracked down. McDermott had time to do a lot of transfers and squirrel it away somewhere. As for someone else being involved, that’s pretty obvious but we haven’t a clue where to start looking. And before you say anything, we found no reason whatever to look at Kim Berger.”

  “So it looks like it’s all done, except for the money. What sort of figure are we talking about?”

  “Our forensic types did an estimate based on the amounts on that list we got and figure Kelsey and McDermott were messing around with a million to one-and-a-half or maybe two million.”

  “Finding the money isn’t your responsibility, though, is it?”

  �
�No; that’s for the forensic accountants to do, if they can.”

  “Did you find out about McDermott’s account with Raymond, Teller?”

  “Yes. It was relatively modest and he only did day trading in standard tech stocks. There were no seriously large deposits. I think five thousand was about the biggest single deposit McDermott made, aside from opening the account with just over ten thousand. She did admit that her mother had been scammed but said or at least claimed she has no idea of who did it. I know you thought she had some involvement, but Guy and I can’t find a single thing to connect her to Kelsey or McDermott beyond her handling activity in McDermott’s account.”

  Charlie understood then that he’d gotten all he was going to get from DeVries, so when she glanced at her watch he told her he shouldn’t keep her. She rose and gathered her bag and coat.

  “Goodbye, Charlie. I do hope the next time we talk it won’t be about a murder. Take care.”

  With that DeVries was gone and Charlie sat over his now cold coffee. Rather than have another cup, he paid the bill and left. At home he gave Kate the gist of what had transpired.

  “You’re not satisfied.”

  “No. First of all, there’s a ton of money missing. Second, there’s whoever pointed the shooter in McDermott’s direction. I still think Berger may be involved, but without more information, I just don’t know what else I can do.”

  “Tell you what, you go and open some merlot while I nuke some of that chorizo stew we made and we’ll forget about the case for a while.”

  Charlie thought that an excellent idea and went for a bottle.

  Sunday morning Charlie slept late and it wasn’t until eleven that he was showered and dressed. Kate was making noises about doing some food shopping, remarks he carefully ignored. She liked the relative quiet of markets on Sundays while he preferred not to go out and certainly not to wander around the aisles of a market.

  “Look, we’ll make a deal. Forget about the shopping and I’ll take you to lunch. Okay?”

  “Okay, but I really do have to get some muffins for breakfast.”

  After a brief stop at a shop, Charlie took Kate to a sushi place that, like most other Japanese restaurants in Kingsford, was really owned and run by Koreans. It struck Charlie that the place had a broader selection of sake than the Eggnest had of wine.

  “I know we were going to forget the case, but just let me say this. Somebody getting DeVries’ suspect to do in McDermott establishes there’s a third party. At least there’s someone who knew about the scam. I may be wrong about it being Berger, but I’m right about there being a third party.”

  “Charlie, there’s one way to make some progress, though it’ll take a little courage. Why don’t you invite Berger to lunch and just be frank about your doubts. You don’t have to put her on the spot or anything. You can just admit you thought she might have been involved and put the emphasis on there being a third person involved. She might have something interesting to contribute.”

  “I think that’s a good idea. And I promise that if I don’t get something out of talking to her, I’m going to forget the whole thing. After all, I didn’t know Kelsey or McDermott, so I really have no stake in any of this except satisfying my curiosity.”

  “Don’t give me that, Charlie. It’s not just curiosity. I’m sure you are curious, but I think you want to impress DeVries again. I’m sure that’s what this is all really about.”

  They both laughed and got up to leave. In the car Charlie admitted to himself that Kate was partly right. He’d gotten a big kick out of his success in the Wilson case and he’d very much like to have a similar success regarding Kelsey and McDermott. He relished the idea that this time success would be even more impressive since DeVries and Matson obviously thought they’d already wrapped up the case.

  Charlie would take Kate’s advice and contact Berger the next day. And if she agreed to meet, he’d be straightforward about his suspicions and make it clear that what most concerned him was determining whether there was in fact someone else involved in what Kelsey and McDermott had been doing. If Berger wasn’t involved and felt that she was under suspicion of being the mysterious third party, she might well put some real effort into helping Charlie. He’d call or email her and arrange a meeting.

  Chapter 17

  The Third Monday

  Charlie was at his office by eight-thirty and the first thing he did was email Berger. He thought calling might be pushing it. What he suggested, keeping it cool, was that she contact him as to when they might have lunch. Charlie sent the email and went off to his nine o’clock seminar.

  As usual, the seminar went well and Charlie forgot all about Berger and the case while talking with his students. At noon he returned to his office to put away his books and checked his email. There were a number of messages but the one that got his attention was from Berger. In the message she said she couldn’t make lunch that day, but that she’d be happy to meet Charlie for coffee that afternoon if four-thirty wasn’t too late. Charlie immediately responded, saying he would see her at the Club at four-thirty. He then went to lunch, thinking that the markets closed at four, so Berger wasn’t going to hang around Raymond, Teller for long.

  The Club table was sparsely populated, as was normal for a Monday, and Charlie was deprived of his favorite interlocutors. However, as luck would have it, Sommers appeared at the main door and seemed to be alone. Charlie knew she wasn’t a Club table fan, so he got up and went over to ask if she’d like some company. She gave him a big smile and they went to a table for two. Charlie said he’d be a moment and went to rescue his sandwich and glass of wine from the Club table. Once seated with Sommers he explained he was anticipating seeing Berger that afternoon.

  “You still think she might be involved in the Kelsey and McDermott business?”

  “I’m trying to sort that out. I thought some frank questions might do it.”

  Charlie then gave Sommers an edited account of what he’d learned from DeVries and explained he wasn’t sure things were as neat as DeVries and Matson seemed to think.

  “Of course, they want it simple and wrapped up, but that doesn’t mean they’re wrong. Have you anything solid to make you think otherwise?”

  “The money is missing, but it’s mainly whoever tipped off McDermott’s killer.”

  “As far as the money is concerned, I’ve read about millions going missing in laundering schemes and complicated arrangements for dodging taxes. Big bucks get transferred over and over till they vanish in a mare’s nest of electronic bank transactions, but you’re right about mysterious tipster.”

  Neither had any bright ideas so Charlie and Sommers talked about the latest gaffe on the part of the University provost and how the local rag had made it into big news. Charlie offered Sommers dessert or an after-lunch drink, but she said she had to get back and both left the Club. Back in his office, Charlie checked his email and found confirmation from Berger that she’d meet him that afternoon.

  Berger was prompt, arriving at the Club just a minute or two after Charlie. They found comfortable chairs in one of the lounges and Charlie went for coffee and pastries. After giving Berger her coffee and offering her some pastry, Charlie got down to it.

  “I won’t waste your time. I can’t quite credit the idea that with your responsibility to your mother you really planned to quit your job and start the Ph.D program next Fall. Frankly, I can’t help wonder if you what you were really interested in when you talked to me was the Kelsey and McDermott case.”

  Berger sipped her coffee and looked like she’d be a great poker player, giving nothing away. After what seemed to Charlie like several minutes but couldn’t have been more than a few moments, Berger put down her coffee and spoke.

  “I do want to begin a doctoral program. And I did think I could on a scholarship until I learned better. I even investigated the possibility of doing it part-time and learned only in the last few days that even though I could do the program part-time, I still can’t aff
ord to do it. I do intend to apply, and very much want a letter from you, but I can’t apply for this coming September. But aside from the doctoral program, I did want to learn what you might know about McDermott. He was a client and I oversaw or handled a lot of his trades. When he was killed, I was concerned that if he was into something illegal it might reflect on me at Raymond, Teller.”

  Berger then surprised Charlie by putting a different spin on his suspicions.

  “It occurred to me when you emailed me today that you might be thinking it was McDermott who swindled my mother and that I may have had something to do with his murder. I haven’t a clue about who did swindle my mother. I checked the little information she had and got nowhere, even using Raymond, Teller resources. And that, I’m afraid, is all I can tell you.”

  “How was your mother swindled?”

  “A close friend told her of a great opportunity and she contacted someone going by the name of Ernest Simpson who told her she could beat bank interest if she moved her savings into what he described to her as an investment account. He told her that her friend had done so. What he didn’t tell her was that the friend only put in five thousand dollars. My mother foolishly transferred everything she had in two savings accounts, some eighty thousand, to this Simpson. She did it with certified checks, so there was no accessible bank information at his end as there’d be on a cancelled personal check or transfer. The two banks that issued the certified checks wouldn’t tell my mother or me where they were deposited without a court order. All that my mother had in hand was a worthless receipt and a so-called prospectus about the nonexistent investment account. She was left without a dime and had to sell her house to cover debts and living expenses for nearly five months. She didn’t own up to what happened for that long. I thought she was selling the house to down-size.”