by David Bishop
“And still you’re okay with the lion’s share of his estate going to your nephew Eddie?”
“Eddie and I don’t think of ourselves as aunt and nephew. I mean, I’m thirty-five and he’s thirty-two. But, no, Mr. Kile, if you’re looking for bad blood between Eddie and me over this, there is none.”
“Does Eddie think the setup’s fair?”
“It’s not up to Eddie or me, the money is the general’s and he can do with it as he chooses. I’ve already explained how I feel about that. Besides, if need be, I’ve got the qualities to hook a man who has even more than the general. If I ever decide I need to go that route. I don’t see why I’ll need to. Did that sound conceited? I didn’t mean it that way. Everybody ought to have an honest talk with themselves about their strengths and weaknesses and then strive to improve their weaknesses. I’ve done that and I continue to do it.”
I couldn’t argue with her assessment. She played ladies golf and tennis at UCLA. She was educated in a wealthy man’s subject, has a good sense of humor, and is conversant. She enjoys visually tempting men while still coming across as classy, and from what I know, men enjoy being visually tempted.
“I’ve gathered that nephew Eddie is a player. That true?”
“Did I mention Eddie likes the ladies and he enjoys his trips to Vegas.”
The waiter stopped to tell us about their tempting dessert specials. We said no, but ordered a second bottle of the Krupp Brothers Cabernet Sauvignon we had enjoyed with dinner. When he left to get the wine I asked, “Seriously, what gets Eddie’s attention? Career, charities, what?”
“Eddie likes the ladies and he enjoys his trips to Vegas.”
We laughed before I asked, “What other women has he been serious about? Before or after Ileana.”
The waiter brought and opened the second bottle of wine. I put my hand up for him to leave the bottle to breathe and I would pour when we were ready.
“None that I know of and I would know,” Karen said. “We talk pretty openly. Ileana was the only one that made him think about settling down, about getting serious about life and what to do with his. But no dice. Eddie seems a fellow content with the superficial.” She laughed. “Look at me, like I should talk.”
“You and Ileana were friends, right?”
“For a while, before she and Eddie became an item.”
Karen knew of no jealous boyfriend or sugar daddy. She also said Eddie didn’t buy the expensive jewelry found in Ileana’s house.
“Eddie couldn’t afford that kind of stuff,” Karen said. “None of us knew she had it. I agree the jewelry suggests she had a man bringing her gifts. But, if she did, I doubt that man killed her.” When I raised my eyebrows, she said, “If he had, why wouldn’t he take back the diamonds he had bought for her?”
While I had listened, I poured our wine. “Could be, then again, if he did kill her and the cops ever put his name with their suspicions, the fact the jewelry hadn’t been taken could argue against him being the killer.”
“Or, if he did take it, it might have suggested a killing during a robbery. Somebody could have seen her wearing it and followed her home to take it by force.”
“You have a point,” I said. “Such is the grist of investigating homicides. The possible theories, winnowing them down, and then finding or not finding support for each.”
She nodded. “Apparently, the robbery theory lacks support as the jewelry remained. The sugar daddy theory has support in that it is the best argument for how the jewelry came to exist in the first place, yet the police could never identify him.”
“Fidge, ah, the department never found where the jewelry had been bought. So it could have been hot, but they found no record of stolen jewelry that matched up. Ileana seems to have liked bikers. Did she have a thing for bad boys? Maybe one of them could have heisted the jewels and gave them to her?”
“She had sort of run through her bad boy thing. It ended after she met Eddie.”
“But she had a sugar daddy, so perhaps her bad boy thing just morphed into married wealthy sugar daddy bad boys, sort of.”
“Could be, but then maybe she got the jewelry from one of the bikers before she met Eddie and there was no sugar daddy.”
“No. Not likely. Two different neighbors reported seeing luxury cars in her driveway now and again. She had at least one wealthy fella; one who could get his hands on quality jewelry that couldn’t be traced.”
“I just don’t figure Ileana that way. I thought she was sold on Eddie. She loved him, and he would eventually be rich. Why blow that for a necklace or two? Ileana was smart. And she really did love Eddie.”
“Could Ileana have had a sugar mommy?”
“Not Ileana. She liked the real deal.”
“Okay, enough on that, what about you? Career or charity?”
“I won’t have enough money to do much for charity, not like Eddie will, but then his favorite charity is his ladies. As for me, I’d like to get into investment banking or something like that. But not now, I’m content being there for the general.”
“You love him, don’t you?”
“He’s a great man. A real man. When I think about how my life would have been. How my mother’s life would have been, would still be, if it weren’t for the general. Well, I figure I owe him. It won’t be long now. I mean I hope it is, but the doctors say no. He knows that. That’s why he brought you in now. We talked about it. He wants to know and he could no longer push off his doubts.”
“Could Eddie have killed Ileana?”
“He was in Buellton so it’s really impossible.”
“I’m not asking could he in a procedural sense. I meant emotionally. Could Eddie kill?”
“Millions of people in the our armed forces over hundreds of years, not to mention the armed forces of the rest of the world, have killed. Cops sometimes must kill, also executioners who work for various governments. On that level, with an aura of external justification, I guess many, even most, could kill. The dicey part is one finding the justification alone, inside, you know. On that level, I’d say no. Eddie couldn’t.”
When dinner was over I asked her to come home with me.
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” She put her hand over mine, palm up, and kneaded me with her knuckles.
“You’re damn right I do.” She smiled when I said that. “I got the idea from you,” I added as if that should cinch the deal.
“When did I give you that idea?”
“That first night. When we met. You were leaning on the banister.”
“Oh. That was lust, Mr. Kile.”
“Every relationship has to start somewhere. Lust seems as good a starting point as any other.”
“You have to promise me you’re not going to get all gooey in the morning and start talking about love or something.”
“You don’t believe in love?” I asked.
“I just don’t understand it. Don’t know if I’d recognize it. And if I did, whether I could get into it.”
“I can help you along if you get stuck.”
“No. You get too serious, we’re history. I’ve never seen love work, certainly not between my mom and the general. Both good people, but it just withered and died. And not between my mom and all the men she’s tried on for size to replace the general.”
*
I woke Karen gently before setting the bed tray over her thighs. Axel had prepared mimosas, coffee, and buttered English muffins with fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate. He left a note on the kitchen counter saying he saw this in a movie. Axel was working out just fine. The talking parrot I considering getting instead would have left beak marks in the strawberries.
Karen and I had enjoyed a wonderful evening of food and drink before we came back to my place. In a lot of ways she reminded me of Clarice Talmadge, only Karen liked the idea of staying the whole night. I suppose it’s a good thing that not all women enjoyed entertaining and seducing a man as much as these two ladies. If those two were the norm
, the life expectancy for us men would be shorter, but then more of us would die with a smile on our face. And that’s not all bad either. When Helen, my ex, and I got married we were quite young and during our years together I imagined that other than hookers and in the movies, there were not all that many women who were so enthusiastic about sex. Man, was I wrong. And man, am I happy I was wrong.
Karen left about an hour later. Both of us fed, watered, and satisfied. She said she had things to do and I needed some time to sift through and process what I learned from her during dinner. I was meeting Charles for lunch, so after the strawberries and mimosas, I only wanted coffee.
Chapter 11
Charles picked me up in front of my condo building at noon. He looked more relaxed away from the Whittaker house, his smile easier. I took him to Mackie’s where we chose a quiet corner booth. Axel was sitting at the end of the bar, around the curve, from where he could watch Charles. I hadn’t planned that, but apparently Axel had, which was okay. He had a good feel for people so a second opinion might be helpful.
“Thank you for meeting me, Charles. I trust you won’t be uncomfortable with my asking questions about the general and the family.”
“The general’s instruction were that I should answer your questions and that we would trust your integrity, Mr. Kile, so you may ask whatever you wish.”
I first asked a series of questions that confirmed his recollections matched what the general had told me about his trip to the bank, and the cell call he had received before tossing the bag with the two million over the side of the road. Charles also confirmed the general had walked the rest of the way to the house, and that he, Charles, had found Cliff working out in his gym over the garage and sent him back to get the general’s car out of the ditch.
“Did the general look over the edge where he had dropped the satchel with the money?”
“No, but I did. I walked back to the car with Cliff.”
“Did you see anything?”
“No. It’s really dark in that section. That spot’s about a hundred yards back from where the car had been driven into the ditch. The light from the road is shaded by the edge; erosion has torn hunks out of the sandstone cliff face all along that section of the beach. The general had to have it reinforced in a few places to secure the road. But, no, I saw no one. I couldn’t even see the satchel. By then I doubt it was still there. I’m sure whoever had called the general to drop it, had picked it up right away and left before the general got back to house, let alone before Cliff and I got back there. Later, after I got back to the house, I got a large flashlight, went down the stairs and walked back there in the sand. I saw no satchel and there were too many tracks in the sand to learn anything.”
“Why didn’t the general call for you and Cliff?”
“He said he just wanted to walk some. The ordeal had ended. The car wasn’t going anywhere. It was one of the few times I’ve ever seen the general out of sorts, if I can say so, sir. He had just been ordered to throw two million dollars over a cliff.” Charles grinned and shook his head. “I suspect that would rattle anyone.”
“Did he say the call was from a man or woman?”
“Woman.”
“A woman’s voice, okay, but what I’m asking is whether the caller was a man or a woman?”
“Women’s voices come from women, Mr. Kile. I don’t understand.”
“For legitimate or personal reasons as well as illegitimate reasons people can learn to speak as a member of the opposite sex. With a modest amount of practice, a woman can learn to speak in a masculine tone from lower in her throat, below the Adam’s apple. Conversely, a man can speak like a woman by projecting his voice from above the Adam’s apple. By keeping your finger on your throat you get feedback as to the level on which your voice begins. The doing isn’t all that hard, but it takes practice to make it sound easy and natural.”
“That’s beyond me, Mr. Kile. The general said a woman. That’s all I know.”
“Yes. That’s what the general told me when I asked him the same thing.”
We took time to look at the menus and ordered beef dips and a draft beer; Charles ordered a side of horseradish sauce. Then I asked Charles how long he had known General Whittaker.
“When he first made general, I was assigned to his staff as his driver. Other than a few years when I was otherwise assigned, I’ve been with him ever since.”
“You know you can call me Matt.”
“I’m comfortable sir, if you are.”
“Why have you stayed with him all these years?”
“In the beginning, in the army, he was a father figure I suppose. I had joined the army after growing up in foster homes. I enlisted at the youngest age I could. Since getting out, well, a man must work. The general pays well and with room and board included it provides a healthy income that allows me to make modest investments. I should also say that over the years a deep friendship evolved. I understand my place, of course, at my insistence more than the general’s.”
“And then there’s the inheritance. You being provided for in his will.”
“Yes, Mr. Kile, if you’re angling to learn if I know about that. I do. However, I have no doubts that if I were to leave, the general would not change my place in his will. I believe he sees providing for me therein as for services rendered, not to be rendered. No, sir, I stay because it is my home. I have no other family and I am devoted to the general, also for services rendered, to reuse the phrase.”
“I guess you know the general better than anyone. What are his strengths and weaknesses? I’m not needlessly prying, Charles, I need to know how he will handle himself depending on where my investigation takes me. Please speak candidly.”
Our meals came before Charles began to answer. I glanced up at Axel who had taken a position to far away to hear, but sufficient to study the face of my lunch guest.
“The general has so many high qualities I don’t know where to begin or how to summarize, but I shall try. He is an old-fashioned man. He believes in honor, duty, and integrity. If he gives you his word, you may safely rest your life upon it. He demands loyalty from those near him and gives a full measure in return. If he has a fault it could be his intense commitment to those qualities. At times it keeps him rigid. But in the end, I’ll take his kind every time.”
“His greatest trial? Most trying, I mean.”
“Certainly the death of his first wife, Grace, in 1970, she died of breast cancer. Then there was his failed marriage to Karen’s mother, Mary. With those exceptions, the general rarely achieved less than he set out to achieve. Mary, his second wife, was a smart woman and beautiful. Frankly Karen is much like her mother in looks and style. Mary could not countenance the military life. She demanded the general choose between her and his army. He did. But he always loved her. And he always provided for her and Karen. He saw them a few times each year and always attended special events in Karen’s life as she grew into a woman. I had the pleasure of accompanying the general to many, probably most, of those events. Karen and Mary squabbled like many mothers and daughters. That’s what led Karen to come live with us while still in college.”
“So you like him, don’t you, Charles?”
“Above all others, Mr. Kile. General Whittaker is my employer and, as I said, we maintain that relationship. We are also friends for life and he has never wavered in that commitment.”
“How is he doing? His health I mean. Is he able to keep up some of his favorite activities and hobbies?”
Mackie came out from around the bar and started toward our table. I held up my hand, palm out. He did an about face and headed back behind the bar. I also noticed he had been staying away from Axel. In prison you learn to be aware of who is watching who, before deciding whether or not to approach. Mackie knew Axel was watching Charles and me, so he stayed at the end of the bar away from Axel.
“The general’s condition is deteriorating rather quickly now. The last six months he has been forced to curtail pretty
much all his activities. The last to go was his target rifle shooting. He loved that and used to shoot regularly with Karen and Eddie and Cliff. Sometimes I would participate as well.”
“Who is the best shot?”
“In the old days, before Cliff joined us, the general. Cliff had been a Marine sniper so he shot rings around the rest of us. Karen nearly always finished next, although she preferred handguns, followed by Eddie. Well, except for when I joined in, then I would come in behind Karen and ahead of Eddie. Along that time, Eddie lost interest and no longer tried all that much. In my five years of service away from the general I became quite a marksman, but that’s one of those skills you use or you lose. We haven’t had a family shooting competition in nearly a year, but just the other day the general mentioned we needed to do it again. However, I doubt he will try to do so.”
“Your thoughts on Karen?”
“What specifically do you wish to know, Mr. Kile?”
“Whatever comes to mind. Again, please be candid.”
“Conventions don’t control her actions. In that way she is like her mother. I see a pleasure in the general whenever she is near. I should add that Karen got straight A’s in college and is quite disciplined in her intellectual pursuits. My comments were more on her personal side.”
“Do they spend much time together, she and the general?”
“Karen dines with the general, whatever he is eating, most nights. Eddie joins them perhaps once a week. She spends in the aggregate about a day a week with him on his investments. They play chess a couple times a week. She swims with him whenever he wishes, which has been seldom these past months.” Charles smiled and I asked what brought it on. “When she beats him at chess, the general is conflicted. He remains very competitive and fancies himself an excellent chess player. Yet, at the same time, he is tickled and proud of her for having beaten him. He will talk about it to me off and on for days.”
I dunked my last bite of my beef dip and asked, “What about Eddie? Is he capable of having killed Ileana Corrigan? I know this is not easy, but no one knows the characters in this drama as well as you. I value your opinion.”