Davenport Mysteries 04-Loose Ends

by Vashist, Varun

  She left her apartment at eight thirty, and it took her another half-an-hour to navigate through the morning traffic to reach her destination. She parked her car on the opposite side of the street and got out.

  She looked at the signboard – ‘Blue Door Salon & Spa.'

  She pushed the glass door while going through her plan one last time.

  As she got inside, she was dazzled by the expansiveness all around the reception area.

  ‘This is way out of your league’ she murmured as one the woman at the reception greeted her with a smile.

  “Good Morning,” she said with a smile that was as fake as it gets.

  Kiara was brought back from admiring the polished mahogany walls.

  “Hi…” Kiara said. “One of my friends recommended your salon to me.”

  “Oh... so nice of her,” the receptionist replied and looked Kiara from head to toe. “So, you need a full makeover?”

  Her words stung Kiara, but she controlled somehow. “Ha-ha…you’re a smart business woman,” she said while chewing her words, “A manicure would be enough today.”

  The receptionist gave a smirk before nodding. “You don’t have an appointment, I believe.”

  “No, I don’t have one, but I hope you could squeeze me in.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” she said and then started looking at the computer screen.

  Kiara began looking around. She was already feeling uncomfortable, and she wasn’t sure whether the money she carried was going to be enough.

  “You’ve to wait for another hour,” the receptionist finally said.

  Kiara was about to say something when an idea came to her mind. “Not again,” she said while looking impatiently at her watch. “This is happening the second time this week.”

  “What happened?” the receptionist asked. “I don’t recall seeing you earlier.”

  “No, I came on Wednesday around 5 P. M… a little later maybe. That day a woman with a designer red-bag with golden patterns came just before me. She came in an electric blue Mercedes. I heard you talking to her, and I heard that I had to wait for an hour, so I went back from the door.”

  The receptionist thought for a moment. “I remember Ms. Connelly distinctly, but I’m still not sure if I saw you.”

  Kiara’s eyes went wide hearing her words. “Ms. Connelly?” she asked.

  “I don’t know where this discussion is headed?” the receptionist asked in return. “What did you tell your name was?” with that, she picked her phone.

  Kiara knew the game was up. “I can’t stand here and listen to your tantrums. I can go to any other salon. There is one on every street.”

  “And, we are not dying to have you either… have you even looked at yourself in the mirror?” the receptionist said forgetting what she actually wanted to ask.

  “I’m going to report you,” Kiara said and left.

  “I don’t care,” the receptionist said as Kiara stepped out the main door.

  “That was a close call,” she said to herself and then remembered something. “Ms. Connelly?”

  She walked to her car and unlocked her phone screen. She looked up for Connelly family and went to the images tab. As she scrolled down, she chanced upon one of the images that had the woman whom she was pursuing. She enlarged the photograph and looked at her, but something else drew her attention. Her eyes set on the man standing beside the woman in the image. She looked closely and was shocked.

  “That’s why he looked like Edward,” she murmured looking at the man that she had seen at Niklas’s restaurant. “And, Ms. Connelly is his daughter – she wasn’t planted there to fool us; she was there because she is also doing some business with Niklas. It’s getting interesting,” she said with a smile and clicked on the source page from where the image had been taken.

  “Young Achievers,” she read the heading with a sarcastic tone.

  ‘In this addition of ‘Young Achievers’ we have featured the second generation of the famous Connelly group of Companies. With the group MD and billionaire founder of the company – Edward Connelly suffering a health scare that left him bedridden, speculations were rife on the succession plan for his multi-billion dollar business. However, instead of passing on the reins to the younger generation, Edward Connelly sold off his business and donated the money to his charitable organization – The Connelly Foundation.

  Eva Connelly, the 35-year-old daughter of Edward, heads the board while Chris, who is five years younger to his sister, is also a board member. Since, the last year, Connelly Foundation has raised funds in excess of 100 million dollars to help the less fortunate across the globe. The Foundation has grown its network and has now partnered with fifty leading hospital chains across the world. To ensure their efforts reach the grass root level, Connelly Foundation has opened their regional centers in some of the major cities across the world.

  Eva Connelly takes care of the day-to-day operations while Chris visits the foundation’s regional centers across the world to ensure that every penny reaches its intended destination.

  We have chosen them as this month’s ‘Young Achievers’ not only because they have taken a path entirely different from the family business, but also because they’ve contributed to the society without any intent of making profits.”

  Kiara read the article one more time. She pulled out her journal and noted down a few things. With that, she started the car and came out of the street

  CHAPTER 7

  By the time Jake and Ryan reached the store, it was a quarter to ten. As they had expected, the store was open, but just like the other day, there were no customers.

  “Slow hour of the day, huh?” Jake asked drawing the attention of the cashier. The cashier, who looked old and sick, took some time to respond.

  “Can I help you?” he asked in a frail voice.

  “Are you Perry?” Ryan asked remembering the description given by Jim.

  “Yes. What do you want?” Perry asked with disinterest. “I’ve to check the sales for yesterday. The salesman can help you with whatever you need.”

  “No, he can’t, and you know why because you’re the only one who knows what we want,” Jake said as Perry shifted his gaze to his computer screen.

  “What?” he asked in confusion while looking alternately between the two.

  “Jim must have told you about the investigation. I came here a couple of days back looking for this,” Ryan said and showed the picture of the saw to Perry.

  Perry’s body language changed suddenly looking at the picture, and he got up while looking at them nervously.

  “I had no clue that the saw would be used for murder or else I would’ve reported it,” he said in a quavering voice.

  “Calm down,” Jake said, “We are not here to charge you with anything. We want to ask a couple of questions that can help us discern the identity of the murderer.”

  “What do you want to know?” Perry asked.

  “This boy who bought the saw last month… how did he look?” Jake asked.

  “Didn’t Jim tell you?”

  “He did, but I want to hear it from you too,” Jake urged.

  “He was a teenager or maybe a little older. He was thin as a stick and wore a baseball cap. Frankly, to me all the kids these days look alike,” Perry replied.

  “Did you see him meeting anyone outside the store? You sit near the door with a view till the end of the street?” Jake asked

  “I don’t think he stopped anywhere. I’m too occupied with work to notice anything happening outside the store.”

  “That isn’t helping. We have to go deeper,” Jake murmured and thought of something. “Okay, we’ll break down everything for our understanding. It may sound silly, but please play along.”

  “I don’t understand,” Perry said with confusion.

  “You will,” Jake replied, “So, this kid came in and then where did he go?”

  “He reached out to one of the salesman asking for the tools section. The salesman
guided him to Jim, since he takes care of that section. He showed the picture of the saw that he wanted. Jim checked the whole section and couldn’t find it anywhere. He brought the kid to me and after seeing the picture, I took him to the storage room, where we found it and then he paid and left.”

  “Great. Now let’s take a step back,” Jake said with a faint smile. “I understand that Jim is a new guy, but when he came to you with the picture, didn’t you ask him why he wanted such an old thing while he could get something newer and better.”

  Perry understood Jake’s point. He took a moment remembering something. “Yeah… he said something about his family coming to the city after a long time and that their old home needed some work. He was told to get that specific saw and not anything else.”

  “Did he say who told him to get that saw?”

  “He didn’t tell that, but I think it has to be the same guy who bought it seven years back,”

  “And, you didn’t get alarmed by that?” Jake asked firmly.

  “Why should I be alarmed?” Perry asked with confusion.

  “There was another attempted murder committed by similar saw seven years back,” Ryan explained. “And, we think it’s the same guy who sent this kid to buy that saw.”

  Perry’s face turned white, as he understood what Jake had said. He sank into his chair and covered his face with his palms.

  “Oh my God!” he said while being barely audible.

  Ryan was about to say something when Jake patted on his shoulder. “Let’s go,” he said.

  “Don’t you want to speak with Jim?” Ryan asked in confusion.

  “I trust your discussion with him,” Jake said and began to walk towards the main door. Ryan looked at Perry for a second and then followed Jake.

  “We’ve to divide the work,” Jake hastily said as they reached their car.

  “So, I’m not accompanying you to the other victim’s houses, or I’ve to do that, and you’ll go somewhere else?” Ryan asked with question-filled eyes.

  “How could you miss it?”

  “Miss what?”

  Jake took a deep breath, “The cab driver told us that Donald said something about missing his old home, and now Perry told us that the kid…”

  “That the kid also gave the same reason for buying the saw – the man who sent him wanted it for some work at his old home,” Ryan completed Jake’s sentence and looked at him with wide eyes.

  “We need to find the address where Donald lived seven years back,” Jake said while looking at his watch. “You go back to the division. I’ll call Bob and tell him to help us in finding any address where Donald lived that isn’t in the file. You follow up with him and find out as much as possible before I come back. Okay?”

  Ryan nodded. Jake pulled out the car keys from his jacket pocket. “This also means that you’ve to take a cab.”

  “Okay,” Ryan said with a slight disappointment. Jake didn’t bother to notice that and got inside the car at once. Ryan kept looking at the car until it disappeared at the corner. With that, he crossed the street.

  While driving, a thought kept bothering Jake. Donald was in the city to do what he had started seven years back, and he was going to use the same house as the hiding place – a house whose address was not known to them. Why didn’t it come up during the investigation that Donald had a house in the city? They had kept an eye on his movement for the last seven years – still he had managed to keep such a vital information under wraps.

  Maybe, he had planned everything from the start, or maybe the investigating agencies become relaxed once he succeeded in creating the illusion of being a victim. Anyhow, it was the most important piece of information they had gathered in the last twelve hours. With that thought, Jake signaled and parked his car on the roadside.

  He looked at his phone screen for a moment and dialed a number.

  “Any progress?” Carlson asked from the other end.

  “Sir, we’ve found Donald’s hide-out. We questioned the cab driver whom he hired after reaching the city, and we also spoke to the cashier of the store from where he bought the saw. Both said that he intended to go to his old house in the city,”

  “Old house?” Carlson asked with surprise.

  “I was equally baffled, sir. That’s why I’ve changed my plan. I have sent Ryan to the division. We have the address in our records, but we never imagined he still has that house on the lease. It’s a long shot, but I’m hoping something will come out of it. Ryan will take another two- three hours to complete his research. I’m headed to other victim’s house. I may need your help if we get hold of Donald’s address.”

  “I’ll keep one unit on standby,” Carlson said and paused, “This is some nasty business. I wanted to talk to you about yesterday too. Ron called me this morning and gave me an account… his side of the story on what happened yesterday.”

  “He must’ve put all the blame on me,” Jake replied.

  “Not exactly. Although, he mentioned that had he been told about the severity of the matter, he would’ve asked for one more person to help with the watch. But, he agreed that he should’ve been more careful,” Carlson said in a measured tone. “He has offered his services for another two days, in case you need him.”

  Jake thought for a moment. “Actually, I do, Sir,” he said, “I need someone to keep an eye on James Reed’s boss.”

  “Okay. But, you’ve to relieve him by tomorrow evening,” Carlson replied.

  “I understand, sir,” Jake responded at once.

  “Okay… I’ll keep one unit on standby. You keep me appraised of any new developments,” Carlson said.

  “I’ll, Sir,” Jake said.

  “Okay,” Carlson said and disconnected.

  Jake dialed Ron’s number immediately.

  “Hey Ron, Jake here,”

  “So, you spoke with Carlson?” he asked.

  “I did,” Jake replied, “I need you to follow one Travis Nelson. He heads the accidental insurance division for Alliance Insurance. I want to know where he lives; which places he goes on a daily basis – anything you find odd about him will help.”

  “That’s a lot of work. You understand that I’m available only today and tomorrow,” Ron replied.

  “More of a reason for us to end this call,” Jake said dryly.

  “You can be an ass sometimes. You know that?” Ron said in a complaining tone.

  “I get that a lot,” Jake said and disconnected before it turned into an argument.

  ‘Covered all bases. Only the last part left’ he said to himself and got in the car.

  While Jake was on his way, Kiara had already positioned herself outside the headquarters of ‘Connelly Foundation.’ A road separated the multi-storied building from a sprawling garden. Kiara sat on a bench, pretending to read something on her phone while keeping an eye on the building entrance.

  The day had come up nice and bright, and Kiara hoped it to progress the same way. She didn’t have to wait much longer either. Within half an hour, the door opened, and Eva Connelly stepped out. She looked restless, and as soon as her car arrived, she got inside in a hurry. Kiara rushed to the parking area.

  By the time, Eva’s car entered the road; Kiara had positioned her car at a safe distance from it.

  While chasing Eva, Kiara kept wishing to find some clue, but she was disappointed as Eva’s car stopped in front of a high-end restaurant.

  Kiara too stopped her car and was about to turn towards the restaurant parking when she remembered the amount of money she would’ve to spend. She had a choice to either wait outside or go inside and spend a week’s wage.

  “You’ve no other option, Kiara,” she said to herself after much contemplation.

  By the time she parked, she had lost the site of Eva Connelly. It took her another minute or so to adjust her hair. She didn’t want to be treated the same way as she was treated at the salon.

  She just hoped that she was not too late to get a table adjacent to Eva. Her hopes were dash
ed as she was stopped in the lobby.

  “Excuse me,” a man dressed in a crisp suit came towards her.

  “Not again,” she said in angst.

  “Welcome to The Blue Jasmine,” he said with a warm smile, “How can I help you?”

  Kiara smiled with equal zest. “I’ve heard a lot about your Italian Cuisine. I hope I’m not too early for lunch.”

  The man smiled raising Kiara’s hopes. “Sorry, we’re fully booked,” He said dashing her hopes.

  “But, it’s 11 A. M,” Kiara said with surprise.

  “As you said, you’ve heard a lot about our cuisine. There is another thing that’s famous about us – we are always overbooked, sometimes for weeks,” he replied, but the smile had gone by now. Kiara knew he wanted to get rid of her. However, she was desperate.

  “I understand,” she said, “But, sometimes there are last minute cancelations.”

  “Yeah… once in a blue moon,” he replied with a tinge of anger.

  “Can I wait for some time here in the lobby to see if today is that lucky day?” she begged.

  He looked at her from head to toe. “You’re indeed desperate.”

  Kiara nodded with a sheepish smile.

  “Okay, but not more than fifteen minutes. If I get any cancelation during that time, I’ll inform you,” he finally said.

  “Thanks,” Kiara replied.

  “Only fifteen minutes,” he replied and turned around.

  “I heard the first time,” she murmured.

  Kiara walked to the couch and sat there for a few minutes. Once the receptionist went back to work, she got up and pretended to talk to someone on her phone. She started walking across the lobby while talking. The receptionist looked at her for a moment and showed her the watch. She gave a smile and kept talking on the phone.

  After a few seconds, she walked a little further towards the restaurant door. She peeked inside for a moment and was surprised to see the whole restaurant empty. Before the receptionist could’ve noticed what she was doing, she walked back to the center of the lobby.