Conspiracy of Innocence

by Gene Grossman

  While standing upstairs in the Chief’s office and watching Myra’s motorcade pull up, I hear a slight noise behind me. Turning around, I see that the Chief’s chair is turned around, with its back facing me.

  “No reason to hide, Chief, I’ll be out of your hair in just a few minutes.”

  The chair turns around and I see that it’s not the Chief who’s sitting in it, it’s FBI Special Agent Snell.

  “I’m not hiding, Sharp. I’ve been around since the first minute we spoke about the Potter murder.”

  “You mean you had me under surveillance? All that time?”

  “Absolutely. And we also were covering your legman, Jack Bibberman.”

  “Why? You couldn’t have suspected us of any crime.”

  “Well, to be quite honest, we weren’t really interested that much in you. What we really wanted was your little kid.”

  “You suspected her of something?”

  “Yes, we suspected her of having the capability to solve a case for us.”

  This is amazing. If I’m correct, it means that the head of the FBI’s Los Angeles Office wanted the assistance of Suzi, but didn’t know how to ask.

  “But you told me to stay away from this case. Why?”

  “You know why. It’s because you’re a rebel. We knew that the only way to suck you into this case was to tell you to stay away from it. And because there was some money involved, your kid would be interested in it too. She’s quite the little business person, you know.”

  “Oh yeah, I know.”

  “Kathy Potter asked us for our help in having her husband declared dead so that she could collect on his Uniman Insurance policy with. We remembered from the last time our paths crossed that you did a good job saving that company from paying fraudulent claims, so we figured that the reason you were looking into the Potter case was because Uniman asked you to.

  “The way his body disappeared with only the bloody shirt remaining, it looked too much like the type of shenanigan that our guys would pull to fake a witness’ death. We didn’t want our target defendant to get the idea that it was actually us playing games, so after a long discussion, we decided to bring Suzi into it, and that meant calling you with that warning to not get involved.”

  So I was right after all. I’m surprised to hear Snell admit it.

  “I kind of thought you wanted our help on the case, otherwise you wouldn’t have tried to waive me off, but I never in my wildest dreams imagined it was Suzi’s brain you were after.”

  “Nothing personal Sharp, but we all know which one of you is the brains and which is the brawn in your law firm, and we opted for the brains.”

  “Okay, I can understand that. She’s a good little armchair detective, and probably much better equipped mentally to solve a crime than the FBI, but if you were with the Chief on the day of the last murder, why the charade and my being locked up in the jail?”

  “To be quite honest, that was my idea. We couldn’t tip our hand too early, so you had to be kept under arrest for a while. I had no problem with your staying in the local jail the whole time, but the Chief didn’t think it was fair to you, so we went along with his suggestion to move you over to his house during the end game. After we agreed to let you stay at his house, it took us another day to figure out how to hide that laptop for you to find and use. The reason it took us so long to get our plan together was that we were having difficulty in getting the right amount of dust on it, to make you believe it had been out of use for some time.”

  “Wow. The entire scientific efforts of the FBI put to work, just to make a laptop dusty for me. I’m glad to see our tax dollars at work so efficiently.”

  “Actually, it wasn’t our tech department that did it. While we were talking about it, our janitor Mikhail happened to be in the room, and he suggested we give it to him, along with the small wood cabinet it sat in. He wanted to take it into his workroom and let it sit to while he emptied the vacuum cleaner bags. It only took him about five minutes to get it dusted properly, so that when you lifted it off of the shelf, you’dsee the dust pattern around where it was sitting. We also had to spend some time getting an older generation model, so that it would look like it had been sitting there long enough to gather that amount of dust.”

  “So your taking the phone instrument away and leaving the cord behind was just so I’d have a connection to plug into the laptop’s modem, right?”

  “Exactly. And we also wanted to wait at least a day, so that you, the press, and your kid would get the idea that you were really in a mess. When you were allowed to use that laptop, it was mainly for you to contact the kid and give her the incentive to solve the case and get you out. You know she really must care for you, because we were monitoring the activity on your ex-wife’s computer, and that little girl was working almost around the clock trying to get the information she needed.”

  “You were spying on a computer in the residence of Los Angeles County’s elected District Attorney?”

  “No, we didn’t have to. All the secure criminal databases keep a running log of each privileged computer that requests access. All we had to do was put out a standing request for notification every time Miss Scot’s District Attorney password was being used, and we knew exactly where she was surfing.

  The only problem she encountered was that the DA’s password wasn’t good enough to gain access to all the places she wanted to go, so by following her surfing pattern, we were able to access along with her, and grant Federal clearance for her to get in at each site she visited. Without our help, she wouldn’t have been able to get all the information she needed to solve the case for us.”

  “So without your help, the kid wouldn’t have gotten the information to solve your case?”

  “That’s right. Of course, we would have had to let you go soon anyway, because we all knew you were outside the house when Beverly Luskin’s nine-eleven call came in, but we still wanted to know who the real murderer was, and that’s where your kid came in handy.

  “By getting the facts to have those to vicious widows arrested, we were able to get the information on Georgio Crescendo, and that’s who we were really after all the time. Now he’s going away for a long time, and as an inducement for us to send him to club Fed instead of a maximum security prison, he’ll be giving us a lot of information about a lot of other people who also have names that end in a vowel.”

  “You really exploited that little girl didn’t you? Don’t you feel a little guilty about that?”

  “Not really. After the drive-by shooting your car was used in, Mrs. Luskin authorized the Chief to advertise a fifty thousand dollar reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever killed her husband. Standard reward procedure is for the authorities to demand that anyone making an offer like that must place the entire reward amount in an escrow account in some local bank. That way, if someone actually performs in a way to earn the reward, there can be no hesitation on the part of the person offering it, like ‘I’m out of money,’ or ‘I changed my mind.’

  “Following proper procedure, the Chief had Mrs. Luskin deposit the money, and it was still sitting there up until yesterday, because everyone was under the impression that Michael Luskin was dead, with no suspects to arrest other than some drug dealers up in Oregon.

  “That last day you visited Luskin’s house was the day that he actually was killed, and we now know that it was Crescendo that did it.”

  “Wait a minute. You said that the reward money was sitting there until yesterday. What happened to it? Did Beverly want the money back?”

  Snell starts to laugh. I didn’t think he was capable of it, and I’m really curious now as to what could have possibly caused it.

  “No, she didn’t want the money back, and she wouldn’t have gotten it even if she tried. The reward was paid out.”

  “Don’t tell me. Let me guess.”

  “That’s right counselor. The bank issued a certified check for the entire fifty thousand dollars one
Suzi Braunstein.”

  “Wait a minute, you mean the check wasn’t made payable to our law firm?”

  “No. We asked her about that, but she told us this was a job she did on her own, and it definitely was not the firm’s fee. You look perplexed. Is there a problem?”

  “No, there’s no problem. She’s a typical female. What’s hers is hers and what’s mine is ours.

  “And while I’ve got you here, what’s this business about that mafia guy, and how does he figure into everything?”

  Snell has just returned to his brick wall persona, saying that he can’t comment on any file currently open, and that maybe I’ll get my answers some time in the future.

  I look down below as Myra makes a statement for the press. I see that the dog is still in the car, so I’ve got a pretty good idea of who else is in there behind the tinted glass. Now it’s my turn, so I walk down the steps and enter into the sunlight, which is a nice change for me. Myra acknowledges my presence with a nod, and only has four words for me. “Get in the car.” The press ignores me. They’re not interested in innocent people.

  The dog is happy to see me. The kid is asleep in the back seat, so I slide in next to her. We sit there and wait while Myra is inside signing receipts for the prisoners and making sure they’re loaded into the other vehicle. She then walks over and gets into the back seat of the Town Car on the other side of the kid, and the driver turns toward the freeway for our ride back to Los Angeles.

  There aren’t too many words exchanged on the ride back, other than Myra’s comments about the kid sleeping and that someone else from her office will be bringing my Hummer back for me. She tells me that this may be the first time she’s closed her eyes in the past few days, since receiving my e-mail message. I’m informed that the kid worked around the clock doing internet research, meeting with Jack B., hacking into the criminal law enforcement databases, and generally working herself like a little slave until she cracked the case. I guess they were both up all the time, because the dog is lying across my feet, out like a log.

  I look down at Suzi and see that while asleep, her hands are holding on to both Myra and me.

  16

  Now that things are getting back to normal, I should get my paperwork in order, so I send a message to Beverly Luskin’s new post office box address, notifying here that our office is no longer representing her on any civil matters and is disinclined to represent her on her current criminal case. I also inform her that as to the five thousand dollar retainer she paid us, while I was sitting in jail, the meter was running. She was the direct cause of my being arrested, so that means that my several days of confinement were added to her account at the rate of over two thousand a day. This means that not only does she not have a refund coming, but if and when she gets released some day, she may be getting an invoice from us for the overage. I have feeling that if I’m not around fifty years from now when Beverly might get out, the kid will remember that there’s still some money due to our firm. But of course she won’t be a kid any more, either.

  For a grand finale to my recent efforts, I prepare an invoice for Mister Uniman and send it out to him. Due to the fact that he now has no responsibility to pay out that three million to Beverly Luskin, and two hundred grand to Kathy Potter, the sum total I saved him was three point two million, and he therefore should make his check for three hundred twenty thousand dollars payable to Peter Sharp, Attorney at Law. Uniman’s a pretty fair guy, so I feel confident that even in the absence of a written retainer, he’ll honor his promise of a ten-percent reward on whatever my work saves him from paying. The thing I really enjoy about this fee is that it’s all mine. It’s about time that I arranged to avoid the kid’s glomming onto a nice fat fee and turning into a ‘house’ account deposit. Not this time. No sharing with the firm. Fee at last, fee at last.

  During my confinement the City Attorney’s office notified us that they are not filing any complaint against Charles Indovine. It seems that they felt his expired ‘carry permit’ was the type that could have been renewed by mail, so there wasn’t a strong enough legal ground to work with to make it worth their time to prosecute.

  The dismissal is nice to learn about, but then there’s still the matter of that huge fifty thousand dollar retainer that Indovine paid me. I call his number and once again get put right through to him.

  “Yes, Peter, what can I do for you today?”

  This is good: he’s using my first name. I don’t feel comfortable being on a first name basis with him this time, so I play it right out of the lawyer-client instruction manual. “Mister Indovine, I’ve got good news and bad news, and in this case, what’s good news to me is probably going to be bad news for you.”

  “Yes Peter, I know. You’ve succeeded in convincing the City Attorney’s office that if they went ahead with that weapons charge against me, that you’d fight it all the way to this nation’s Supreme Court. You backed them up against the wall Peter, and you did a wonderful job. They caved, like I knew you would force them to do. And as a result of the strong showing you made on my behalf, we did land that big client I told you about, and he insisted on reimbursing us for your retainer check, so it’s all yours Peter. Good work.”

  That’s nice to hear. With the Peter Sharp checking account now looking a lot fatter, it might be time to consider a little vacation. Stuart’s offered me the use of his condo in Thailand, and on the way there I can stop off on Maui and hang out at my yacht club in Lahaina. If things work out right, I can get caught up on my reading. Maybe I’ll get a house in Thailand too. From what Stuart tells me, a non-Thai person can’t own real estate there, but like Stuart’s uncle did, you can get a beautiful condo or two bedroom home within walking distance to the beach, on a thirty year lease for only about thirty thousand dollars total. Full maintenance and grounds keeping fees are only a couple of hundred dollars a year, so for not too much money, I could have a retirement home in paradise. The only loose end now is the case that just concluded, and there are plenty of questions still unanswered there.

  The kid’s had plenty of rest for the last day or so, and I’m really curious to know how she did it, but I also know better than to ask her because that never seems to work for me. I’ll find out when she’s good and ready to let me find out. Myra’s been pretty busy putting her case against the women together, so I haven’t gotten any info from her either. I’m not going to waste my time calling Snell, so that leaves only one other person. I know that Jack B. did some work for her, so I make arrangements to get together with him for details. He tells me that he only has part of the puzzle and that Suzi’s report will have all the answers I need.

  Getting used to freedom again, I take a stroll over to the Marina del Rey Junior Market and Liquor store for a six-pack and a can of Laverne’s favorite wine. Now that Beverly’s out of the picture and Patty seems to be avoiding me simply because of a mere past accusation of murder, it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared in the event of my getting a wink and clink some evening soon from Laverne.

  Back at the boat, I see that while I was out, the kid put a folder on my desk. I open it and remove a four-page report on everything that everyone did wrong on the case. Of course this is a negative pregnant. That’s a funny sounding phrase, but it’s a descriptive term I learned once in a law school course on Code Pleading. It means that by the elimination of some words, the phrase is pregnant with another meaning. The classic example is ‘he used to be nervous and jerky, but he’s not nervous anymore.’ She probably means that all of us, including the police and FBI, were totally incompetent and her report will prove it. I’ll have to forward copies to both Snell and Chief Olshansky: I’m sure they’ll enjoy reading it.

  Sometimes I wonder how such a big ego can fit inside such a little girl. The fact that it does is quite evident in her report, which amazes me several times on each page. She points out such obvious clues that we must have been idiots to miss them. It also mentions several things that she discovered by doing a great job of inv
estigation.

  I know that Jack wants all the answers, and I also owe some explanations to Stuart, Vinnie, and Olive, and the other members of our team, so I invite them all come over to the boat tonight. Suzi makes arrangements for the Asian Boys to deliver the dinner.

  It’s time for our evening dinner meeting, and I’m not surprised to see that Myra has decided to join us. I don’t waste my time anymore wondering how she knows exactly when to show up at the boat, because I know she’s got her own permanent little spy embedded here. She probably hasn’t seen the kid’s report, so she’s here to get more ammo for her prosecutions… or because she wants to see me. No, it’s for the prosecutions. No sense kidding myself.

  Once we’re all assembled, we agree that I should give out details from the report, and if anyone’s got questions, comments, or observations they’d like to share with us, then they should just jump into the conversation. I love this part of our case because it reminds me of those classic ‘show-down’ scenes at the end of the old black-and-white detective films. Nero Wolfe used to have one at the end of every one of his cases too, where he would reveal how he solved the mystery and then name the guilty person.

  Jack is the one who worked closely with Suzi during the crucial last few days of the investigation, so he starts out by telling us that from he what he understood, Suzi was intrigued by the fact that my alleged murder victim’s DNA matched Kathy Potter’s husband Paul, but his prints didn’t match with Paul Potter’s. She sensed the same two options that the Chief and I discussed, and like me, she ruled out the fingerprint change and instead went with the identical DNA theory. To go deeper into the bloodrelative requirement, she must have had a photographic memory, because way back in the beginning of this case in one of my reports I mentioned the fact that the Chief had told me Beverly Luskin’s husband worked his way up from orphan to successful businessman. The fact that Michael Luskin was an orphan opened up a door to the possibility that if there was one orphaned child from a family, there may have been another one too.