The Three Monkeys, a Carter A. Johnson & Kate Menke Thriller

by Robert Schobernd

  Kate shook her head. "No, I had not. But we need to know the cost first, and then we can determine if the ads would be feasible and worthwhile."

  "We don't seem to have a choice. The business broker we consulted said it would take a year or longer for our name to be taken seriously by the locals." He pulled Kate down to sit on his lap, let his fingers do the walking, and forgot about the firm's future.

  Business was slow until the morning two clients arrived for their scheduled nine o'clock appointment to discuss the brutal murder of their eldest daughter several months earlier.

  With grace and charm, Deline showed them into the intimate end section of the large interview room. She returned with coffee and her own homemade gourmet mini-cakes and French cookies on a silver-plated tray. She'd taken the initiative to bake them the previous evening especially for the occasion of the firms first serious client. Taking her leave, she slipped out the door to hurry Carter and Kate along. Her research of the murder of the Estes' daughter made her certain this was the case the detectives, and she, could tackle with vigor.

  John Estes and his wife Marion sat on a hunter green leather couch facing across a glass-topped, dark oak coffee table to a matching couch. Vertical-striped wallpaper below the beige chair rail contained five shades of green from light to dark. The ceiling and the wall surface above the rail were coated with mauve semigloss enamel. Twelve can lights in the ceiling and six wall sconces provided unobtrusive and selective lighting for intimate consultations or full-room meetings. A rectangular oak table and twelve leather chairs filled the opposite end of the room.

  Marion leaned close to John. "So far I'm impressed. This office is appointed beautifully, and the receptionist is extremely professional. Have you tasted these sweets? They're marvelous. Here, try this cookie. I'd love to have the recipes. Hopefully we'll like the investigators when we meet them." Marion licked her fingers and wiped them with a napkin before removing business cards from a holder on the table. She handed several for each detective to John and placed several in her purse.

  Between bites, John replied, "What you're seeing only runs the price up. It's good business practice and customer relations but amounts to fluff. I want to know they're the most capable people for the job and—"

  The detectives entered with a flourish and introduced themselves as the Esteses stood to shake hands. Carter and Kate sat on the couch opposite Mr. and Mrs. Estes. Carter let his black sport coat hang open from his white dress shirt, and his bootleg jeans rode up on the shanks of his highly-polished cognac ostrich-leg hide cowboy boots.

  Deline reappeared with fresh coffee for the group then sat to the side to listen and take notes. Her knee-length skirt rode up her thighs, and she crossed her tanned, slender legs at the knees like a TV anchor.

  In John Estes, Kate saw a stout, rugged-looking man maybe an inch short of six feet tall, in his early sixties, with receding brown hair going white at the temples. His medium gray dress slacks, medium blue short sleeved shirt and black leather loafers looked expensive but not ridiculously so. His expression was unsmiling which matched his reason for the meeting. She judged the woman seated beside him was in her late fifties to early sixties. The second wife, according to Deline. She was attractive, slender, immaculately groomed and attired in a sleeveless, mellow yellow floral print summer dress. Very appropriate for early June in the Midwest. Her hair was obviously dyed auburn and her makeup was sparse but adequate to highlight her strong facial features.

  John Estes got right to their reason for scheduling the appointment. "Our daughter was one of three people murdered three months ago. The bodies were mutilated before they were displayed on the side of a barn in Illinois just south of where we live. The Missouri authorities haven't gotten as deeply involved as I'd hoped they would, and neither has the FBI. After all, the FBI opined two of the victims were taken across state lines. That alone should have put the murders solidly in their bailiwick. Our county sheriff, Frank Kahl, and the state crime lab found no evidence to follow. The case is open, but it's not being worked. I – we want the crime investigated actively until the murderer is found and prosecuted.

  "Frank is a close friend of ours; he gave me a copy of the file his people and the state lab techs put together. The FBI's meager summary report is incorporated in Frank's. Of course, he cautioned me not to disclose this to anyone." He grinned dourly as he slid the packet across the coffee table where it came to rest between the detectives. Kate unobtrusively slid the papers to the end of the table for Deline to take possession.

  Carter acknowledged he and Kate had followed the story on TV and in the local newspapers. "We were surprised when even the local coverage died away so quickly. But in retrospect, with no evidence, there wasn't anything new to report to keep the story alive. Since you called yesterday, Deline pulled everything she could find on the internet about the murders. There wasn't much, in fact nothing except reports from the news media and blog comments for several weeks. Lately there's been nothing new. We don't want to get your hopes up of a fast resolution to these murders. This is a cold case; three months have elapsed. It will be slow going as we cover old ground digging for leads."

  Kate added, "I assure you we will devote our full attention to the case, as long as there are sources to check or leads to follow. You will not be charged if we have nothing to work on." Changing the subject, she asked, "Might I ask how you chose our firm to investigate your daughter's death? Since we are new and minute, what drew you to us?"

  John replied, "I had a criminal lawyer friend conduct a search for the best investigators in the area. J&M Investigations wasn't on that initial list, but I followed up to personally check out all the investigative firms in the area myself. J&M was again almost passed over due to your small size and recent startup. But then I checked further and found Mr. Johnson's impressive history with the L.A.P.D. I had you scrutinized thoroughly by a California investigator. She reported you were a good cop, honest, but a hard ass. That suits me fine. We don't need some namby-pamby wimp who's afraid to push for incriminating answers. Our daughter died a horrible death, horrible; we want to know why she was selected to be brutally murdered, and I want the sick, perverted, son of a bitch who did it brought to justice.

  "We're also impressed with Ms. Menke's history. Her trumped up incarceration and subsequent release from that Kansas prison gives her credence and insight on both sides of the legal system. That's got to be a plus for anyone intent on providing justice.

  “I am curious as to a recent blank space of several years when Mr. Johnson disappeared and no records were located?”

  Carter remained calm. “I’m not at liberty to disclose the details of that period. My employer was a nonexistent nongovernment agency where I did covert antiterrorism work.”

  John glanced at Marion, nodded and said, “Fine, you’re hired.”

  As the Esteses stood to leave, Kate said, "We need a list of friends and relatives Evelyn was closest to. We will interview them in the event she confided something that she would not be comfortable telling her parents because it might cause you to worry."

  Marion Estes motioned to John. "I can handle that." She turned to Kate. "I should have it ready late this evening. I saw the office email address on your cards: is that the one you prefer I use?"

  "Yes, use that address. It will go to Deline."

  Before leaving, John Estes inquired as to the investigative rates and didn’t batted an eye when given the rate schedule. He did firmly ask that progress reports be emailed to him weekly with a full written report to be submitted by snail mail monthly.

  When the Esteses were gone, Deline made copies of the file they'd provided and added her report on the new clients. Together and independently the couple owned five farms of three hundred or more acres; a farm implement business; a Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac new car dealership; and a controlling interest in the Farmer's State Bank of Jerseyville. Deline approved of deep-pocket clients. As an afterthought, she attached information on the
origin of the term “The Three Monkeys” she found on Wikipedia. The press had applied the moniker and it had stuck, but Deline doubted Carter or Kate and most Americans knew the history of the phrase. “The monkeys commonly depicted are Japanese macaques. They embody the proverbial principle 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.’ The three monkeys are Mizaru, covering his eyes, who sees no evil; Kikazaru, covering his ears, who hears no evil; and Iwazaru, covering his mouth, who speaks no evil. There are various meanings ascribed to the monkeys and the proverb including associations with being of good mind, speech and action. In the Western world, the phrase is often used to refer to those who deal with impropriety by turning a blind eye. Outside Japan the monkeys' names are sometimes given as Mizaru, Mikazaru and Mazaru, as the last two names were corrupted from the Japanese originals.” She ran copies of the report and carried them to Carter and Kate's inboxes in their offices.

  Kate was in her office placing phone calls while she reviewed a string of waiting emails.

  When she finished, she suggested they move to the small conference room. It was decorated in the same motif as the rest of the suite and was appointed with matching furniture from the same series as the rest of the office space. After all three were seated, Carter offered to summarize the material until she had time to delve into it on her own.

  "Autopsies estimated the three victims died around ten p.m. to one a.m. the previous evening. They were discovered the next morning shortly after six in Jersey County, Illinois, by three local men driving to work. Those men were investigated and cleared of any involvement by the local Sheriff’s department and the FBI.

  "Similar light bruising on the faces of the three victims indicated their heads were secured by the same type of restraint before each was murdered. Light bruising was also present across the victims’ ankles, knees, stomachs, chests, shoulders and wrists. It appeared each had been strapped to the same table, or same type of table, to immobilize them while they were murdered. That they had struggled forcefully against their restraints was evident by the degree of bruising trauma. Identical, blunt 18-inch-long by half-inch-diameter pieces of #4 steel reinforcing rod had been driven into their heads while they were alive and presumed to be conscious."

  Kate made a painful expression and shuddered noticeably before Carter continued.

  "Here's an interesting note. Evelyn Estes and Lloyd Barnstein each were mutilated on the left side of their heads. Why? The lab report noted that the angle of the rods might indicate the murderer was left-handed when swinging the instrument to drive the rebar rod and that determined where they stood." He shrugged and murmured, "Could be. But that sounds pretty thin to me."

  Kate looked up from the papers in front of her. "I wonder why the bodies were displayed on that barn in a rural area of Illinois instead of Missouri? Why that particular barn? Maybe for high visibility since it is near a secondary highway? Accessibility? It would be secluded at night with little traffic while the murderers staged the bodies. Perhaps that location is close to the actual murder site? But then it's only thirty-five or so miles from downtown St. Louis."

  Deline looked thoughtful before commenting, "Could the location, near to Ms. Estes' childhood home, be to single her out? Perhaps the killer had some particularly hard feelings for her. If so, we need to learn his reasoning. It may be a fragment of his selection process."

  Carter added, "Was there a connection between the three murder victims that caused them to be killed so violently? No direct ties were found by the FBI except a possible racial motive. The woman was an outspoken liberal Caucasian, Barnstein was Jewish and Bowers was a male African American. From a political standpoint, Barnstein was conservative and the other two were active liberals in social matters.

  "The daughter, Evelyn Estes, was dubbed Hear No Evil by the press. She was age twenty-seven, five feet four inches, a one hundred forty-pound brunette and a minister at an Episcopal Church near downtown St. Louis. The church is extremely liberal and accepts and encourages gay marriage and abortions and is against the death penalty. The Episcopal Church ordains women and LGBT people to the priesthood, the diaconate, and the episcopate.

  "A piece of rebar was driven through her left ear into her brain while she was restrained and conscious. Could that possibly be a reference to her hearing confessions?" Carter shrugged before again reading from Sheriff Kahl's report held out at arm’s length.

  "Ms. Estes was single and lived thirty-five miles northeast of St. Louis at Grafton, Illinois, in a condo near the Mississippi River. A live-in boyfriend, Jeremy Austin, age thirty-one, shared the condo. His alibi was solid, and he had no traceable connection to the other victims. He was cleared of involvement in the murders. No one saw her past noon of the day prior to the bodies being discovered. Coworkers said she received a phone call at work minutes before noon and was visibly upset when she then left her office without explanation."

  He flipped a page to the next victim. "Lloyd Barnstein, sixty-nine years old, five feet ten inches tall, two hundred twenty pounds. A retired U.S. Senator from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He'd consistently been rated one of the most corrupt politicians in the entire country. His cause of death was a blunt piece of rebar driven through his left eye into his brain. Because of that, the press labeled him See No Evil. Could his method of death be related to his reputation of never seeing a crooked scheme he couldn't embrace?"

  Carter hunched his shoulders questioningly. "No one could account for Lloyd after he left Lambert St. Louis Airport at four p.m. the day before his body was found in Illinois. Security cameras at the airport showed him alone at various locations until he left the car rental exit gate.

  "Lloyd was in town to attend a meeting with leaders of three national labor unions. The union bosses declined to discuss the reason for the meeting that had been called by Barnstein. The meeting had been scheduled six weeks previously. He never reached the meeting location.

  "The FBI didn't find reason to suspect the union leaders of foul play. They could have simply cancelled the meeting and refused to meet with him. Unless, of course, he had information he was going to blackmail them with. I suppose we'll never know that aspect." He removed a glasses case from inside his sport coat and put the glasses on. Kate was surprised by the casual action; the reading glasses were a new addition. She’d nagged him several times to have his eyes examined. "In addition, the meeting was said to be beneficial to the unions if Barnstein could dredge up support for his proposal, whatever it was.

  "Barnstein vacated his seat in the Senate when video evidence surfaced of several bribes being accepted. He was censured in the Senate and publicly discredited by his enemies in both parties.

  "His damaged rental car was found abandoned on a parking lot with the keys in it. The rear bumper assembly was damaged, indicating he'd been rear-ended. He never checked into his hotel or contacted anyone during that evening. He left a wife, two grown, married sons and four grandchildren."

  Kate stood, "Let's take a short break." She and Deline left the room.

  Deline entered with cold diet colas and ice in large cups several minutes after Kate returned.

  Carter said, "If you're ready, I'll continue…Victim number three, Wardell Bowers, known now as Speak No Evil. He was a forty-one-year-old, six feet two inches tall, two-hundred-forty pounds, African American seen by the conservative establishment as a radical troublemaker who often stretched the truth to fit his biased liberal agenda. He was known to blackmail individuals and businesses with widely publicized, marginally true accusations until they contributed to his political action group, Nowhere to Hide. Could that be the reason he was portrayed as the Speak No Evil image?" Kate and Deline withheld comment; they had nothing to add to Carter's supposition.

  "A piece of rebar was driven through his closed lips and teeth into his mouth cavity before it severed his spinal cord when it exited at the base of his skull. Apparently, Bowers resisted by trying to keep his jaws tight together." Carter looked up at Kate. "Christ, what horrible
, gruesome ways to die. We're looking for a very sick individual or group of people who committed those three murders."

  Kate added, "They make me want to vomit just thinking about them."

  He skimmed down the page lying on the table. "Wardell flew in the day before he died to meet with the Mayor and City Council about racial issues. The next day he left a fundraising dinner at eight to return to his hotel after saying he wasn't feeling well. A trace amount of a high dosage of laxative was found in his system during the autopsy.

  “He was scheduled to spend five days in the St. Louis area meeting with city officials, leading two protest rallies and attending two fundraising events. The first evening event had been on his schedule for three months. His rental car was abandoned nearly twenty-two miles in the opposite direction of his downtown hotel.

  “Wardell was twice divorced and lived in New Jersey. He had five children by the two marriages.”

  Carter removed his glasses and leaned back as he addressed the others. "I imagine he, like Barnstein, made many enemies over the years. But I don't see those people doing something this hideous to all three of our unconnected victims."

  "Unless…" Deline said, "the horrendous multiple killings are to draw attention away from a single victim who was the main target."

  Kate squinted thoughtfully. "Or there's some personal connection between them we have yet to discover." She stood to leave. She ran her fingers through Carter's short brown hair and then bent to kiss him. "Now our work begins. I want time to read the full report without interruption. After I finish, do you have time later to drive to the murder site to become acquainted with it firsthand?"

  Carter didn't look up from his reading. "Yeah, I'm free after lunch. I suspect we won't see much this long after the crime happened, but it's good to see the site in person to establish the logistics in our minds. We need to establish contact with the local police. This case provides the perfect catalyst to contact the head of the St. Louis Police homicide division. I'll make a call to set up a meeting."