by John Holt
* * *
“Could I speak to Charles Harding?” Kendall asked at the reception desk.
“Is Mr. Harding expecting you?” the young lady asked.
Kendall smiled and nodded. “Yes, he’s expecting me,” he replied. “I called earlier. Kendall’s the name.”
“Ah, Mr. Kendall I have a note for you,” the receptionist said looking down at her desk. She picked up a small sheet of paper. “Mr. Harding is waiting for you in the Essex Room.” She pointed to double doors over to her left. “In there.”
Kendall thanked her, turned and walked in the direction indicated.
* * *
The Essex Room
As Kendall entered the room he saw someone standing by a small table at the side of the room. He was issuing orders to a small army of workers.
“Move that stand out of the way,” the person yelled.
“Mr. Harding,” asked Kendall as he approached the table. “I’m Kendall, we ….”
“I’m Harding” the man replied. “Not there,” he yelled. “Over to your left. Left I said.” He shook his head, “Don’t know their left from their right. You just can’t get reliable staff these days. Left – there yes that’s it.” He shook his head. “At last he’s finally got it. I swear I need to put markers on their arms and legs.”
He shrugged and turned his gaze toward Kendall. “You’re Kendall I assume?” He heaved a sigh. He looked back into the room. “We are trying to get the room ready for tonight. One of those boring political things, you know the kind of thing,” he continued. “Someone is running for election to the Senate, and out for our vote.”
Kendall nodded, and looked at the room. It looked rather like a war zone. Not that Kendall had any experience of war zones, but it looked like he imagined such places. He shook his head in disbelief. “You’ll never do it,” he said glibly.
The man looked at him and smiled. “Oh don’t be fooled by all of this chaos,” he said sweeping his arm around. “It’ll be fine in a few hours. You wouldn’t recognize the place. By the time we put up the bunting and the flags, this will be totally different. It will look like something out of Disney World, if you can imagine.”
Kendall wasn’t convinced, he had never been to Disney World but he was sure that it looked a lot better than the shambles he was currently looking at.
“Come back at eight and see what I mean,” Harding continued. “Now Mr. Kendall you wanted to talk to me about the occurrence the other week, I believe.”
“That’s right,” said Kendall. “The Man of the Year award.”
“A most interesting evening, if I do say so,” said Harding. “Strangely enough though the subsequent publicity didn’t do us any harm. In fact, quite the opposite I would say.”
“Were you there?” asked Kendall.
“Yes I was there,” Harding replied. “It turned out to be a very entertaining evening.”
“Is that normal?” Kendall continued.
“The entertainment you mean or me being there?” Harding looked over to the middle of the room. “Peter watch out for that light fitting,” he called out. He turned back to face Kendall. “Perfectly normal,” he replied. “There will always be at least one member of staff on duty at any of the functions, just in case there’s a problem.”
That made sense to Kendall, although exactly what one person could do in the event of a major problem wasn’t obvious. “And that night it was your turn.”
Harding smiled. “That’s right, I got the short straw. I don’t really enjoy those business functions. They are normally quite boring, everyone patting themselves on the back and saying how great they are.”
Kendall nodded knowingly. “Getting back to the disturbance, do you know what time it was when Mr. Gardiner arrived?”
The man shook his head. “I’m not sure of the exact time, but Mr. Lowry was right in the middle of the acceptance speech. In fact he had just started on a long tirade against Tony Fletcher when …”
“I heard about that,” replied Kendall. “I gather that Lowry and Fletcher were not best buddies.”
“You could say that,” replied Harding. “I understand that there was a long standing rivalry between them. For a long time Lowry had been trying to buy Fletcher’s company.”
“Was he there?” asked Kendall. “Fletcher I mean.”
Harding thought for a few moments. “Well he was certainly on the list of guests, but whether he was there or not I’m not exactly sure.” He paused for a moment. “However, if he had been there he certainly kept very quiet and never retaliated.”
A valid, although not entirely conclusive, point, thought Kendall. He may have just chosen to remain silent for his own purposes, not wishing to attract attention possibly. “So getting back to Gardiner, what happened?”
“There was a noise over by the entrance door,” Harding explained. “And Martin Gardiner came in unannounced.”
“I take it that Gardiner wasn’t actually expected then,” said Kendall.
Harding nodded. “Well he wasn’t on the official guest list that’s for sure,” he replied. “And one of my people tried to stop him. You can’t go in there, sir, he said.”
* * *
“You can’t go in there, sir,” a voice said politely, placing a hand on the man’s arm. “It’s by invitation only.”
The man smiled. “Just try and stop me,” he said as he pulled away.
As Martin Gardiner entered the room all eyes turned towards him. Obviously drunk, Gardiner slowly walked towards the stage, brushing people aside as he did so. His walk was unsteady and he stumbled several times. As he approached the stage, one of the security people tried to stop him, but he pulled away. He looked up at Victor Lowry and called out. “Victor Lowry, Man of the Year.” His voice was slurred. He started to clap slowly. “What a joke”
Slowly he continued to make his way towards the stage. Two people went to grab him. “Leave him,” called out Lowry.
Gardiner smiled and bowed mockingly. “Lowry you may have fooled all of these good people.” He paused and looked around slowly, sweeping his arms out wide, and making another low bow. He looked back at Lowry. “But you don’t fool me. Not for a minute. You’re nothing but a crook.”
There were gasps from the gathered crowd, and mild protests. “Does everyone here know about your phone hacking activities?” Gardiner continued. He stopped once again, and looked at the crowd. “He’s probably got files on every one of you. In fact he’s probably blackmailing some of you already.”
Gardiner moved even closer to the stage. “And what about all of the surveillance that you have ordered,” he continued. “Yes he has given instructions for many of you to be followed and your phones hacked.” He paused once again, and looked down at the ground. “I know, because I was the one who gave the instructions.”
He looked back up at Lowry and waved a clenched fist at him. “You best be careful Lowry, and keep a watch out, because someday, someone is going to kill you.” He paused once again and smiled. “It might even be me.”
* * *
“It might even be me, he said,” Harding continued. “Someone asked if the police should be called, but Mr. Lowry said no, and that the whole thing should just be forgotten.”
“Forgotten,” repeated Kendall.
“That’s right, forgotten,” replied Harding. “Hindsight is a wonderful thing don’t you think Mr. Kendall?”
“What do you mean?” asked Kendall.
“Oh only that it’s a pity we never called the police,” Harding explained. “If we had, Victor Lowry might still be alive today.”
“Maybe,” said Kendall. “Maybe not, we’ll never know will we.”
“Guess not, Mr. Kendall,” Harding agreed.
“And you’re sure the guy was Martin Gardiner?” Kendall asked.
Harding hesitated for a moment. “I never knew that it was Gardiner at the time,” he started to explain. “I had never seen him before, you understand, but it was definitely the sam
e man the police now have in custody.”
Kendall nodded, and then suddenly sneezed. “Sorry about that,” he said wiping his nose. “Wretched hay fever.”
“You should try Allergeze,” Harding suggested. “It’s supposed to be good.”
Kendall shrugged. “Mollie, my assistant, she swears by alternate medicines. You know herbs and things like that. She gets it all from the internet, half the time I haven’t a clue what she is talking about. She has me taking Echi – something or other. It’s a foreign language to me, and whether it works or not, who knows. She could have a point I suppose, remains to be seen.” He shook his head and smiled. “Now where were we?” he continued. “Ah yes I remember. So what happened next? I mean after Gardiner’s outburst?”
Harding heaved a sigh. “Nothing,” he replied.
“Nothing,” repeated Kendall. “What do you mean nothing?”
“He just turned around, pushed some people out of the way and left the room,” Harding replied.
“Did no one go after him?” asked Kendall.
Harding shook his head. “Mr. Lowry said not to, it really wasn’t worth worrying about.”
“He said that?” said Kendall sounding puzzled.
“That’s right,” said Harding. “He didn’t want to make a fuss.”
“So he didn’t take it that seriously,” suggested Kendall.
Harding shook his head. “You would think that wouldn’t you,” he replied. “Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing, just enjoy the dinner. That’s what Mr. Lowry actually said. And yet his face told a completely different story.”
“In what way different?” asked Kendall.
“Well it’s not easy to describe,” said Harding. “He was shocked certainly, but he also looked frightened.”
“Do you think he thought Gardiner meant what he said?” asked Kendall.
Harding shook his head. “I’m really not sure,” he replied. “I don’t think so.”
“So why did he looked frightened?” asked Kendall.
“Maybe frightened is the wrong word,” said Harding. “But he was certainly shaken.”
“Did you think Gardiner meant what he said?”
Harding shook his head. “No, I didn’t at the time,” he replied. “He was drunk that’s what I thought.”
“Just drunk,” asked Kendall. “Nothing more?”
Harding shook his head. “He was drunk, and he was angry. Very angry,” he replied.
“Do you know why he was so angry,” Kendall asked.
The man shook his head again. “I didn’t really know at the time,” he replied. “I found out later that Lowry had just sacked him. I suppose that’s reason enough.”
“Maybe,” said Kendall.
“Some people say that it’s only when you are drunk that you really mean what you say, because you have no real control over what you say. Others take the view that when you are drunk you have no control over what you say and therefore cannot really mean it.”
“What do you think?” asked Kendall.
The man shook his head. “What I think doesn’t matter Mr. Kendall. The police believe that he meant it. They believe that he killed Mr. Lowry. Perhaps he didn’t mean to kill him, but nonetheless he did.”
“That’s what the police believe,” said Kendall. “I’m still interested to know what you think though.”
The man shrugged and started to rub his chin. “Mr. Gardiner never killed Mr. Lowry that’s what I think.”
“Interesting,” replied Kendall. “Do you have any particular reason?”
Harding shook his head. “It’s difficult to put my finger on it but there was just something that struck me as odd.”
“Odd,” said Kendall. “About what?”
“The look on Gardiner’s face,” Harding explained. “He looked frightened.” Harding turned and looked directly at Kendall. “If you were deliberately planning on killing someone I just don’t think you would look that frightened.”
Kendall nodded slowly. “Who can fathom the mind of a killer?” he said “By the way do you have a list of those who attended the function?”
“Certainly I do,” Harding replied. “I have it right here. I thought you might ask for it.”
Kendall nodded, “Much obliged,” he said as he took hold of the list.
There was a sudden crash from behind. Harding turned as the light fitting fell from the stage area and crashed on to the floor, sending dozens of shards of glass in all directions. Harding shook his head and heaved a deep sigh. He turned back to face Kendall. “Sorry about that,” he said shrugging his shoulders. “Unless there’s anything else I think I’m needed elsewhere.”
He started to walk away. “Peter, Peter, I told you to be careful. So what happened?”
* * *
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Dinner Guests
Kendall tried to stifle a yawn, without much success. He shook his head and stretched his arms high above his head. He heaved a sigh, and yawned once again.
“Not keeping you up are we?” a voice called over.
Kendall looked over at Mollie and grunted. Lying in front of him on the desk were several sheets of paper. Mollie had placed them there about an hour previously. It was a list of names, addresses and telephone numbers. Two hundred and fifty four names to be exact. They were the names of all those who had been invited to the Man of the Year event. Amongst the list were industrialists, politicians, bankers, business men and women of all kinds, and somewhere amongst that list was the name of a murderer. Or at least that was Kendall’s theory.
But which one, Kendall thought. Which one? Slowly he traced his finger down the list hoping that maybe one name would suddenly stand out and call to him. Hey, here I am. I’m the one you are looking for. I’m your murderer.
It wasn’t going to be that simple though was it? They were just names after all, a few letters strung together in a particular order, nothing more. He started to read. “Peter Winguard, First National Bank; James Taylor, Congressman; Brenda Chambers, Editor, Celebrity Lives magazine; Joyce Woods, Chancellor Media Group; David Morton ….”
They were just names, nothing but names. Business associates, rivals, friends, enemies, all listed together, but names nonetheless, and nothing to tell one from the other. The only thing they had in common was the fact that they had all attended the Man of The Year function, or at least they were all scheduled to attend. Kendall wasn’t absolutely certain that any of them had actually attended the Dinner, but he was convinced that one of those names staring back at him was that of Lowry’s murderer. He shook his head, and pushed the papers to one side. “I don’t know,” he murmured. “Where do you actually start?”
Mollie looked up at the noise. “Elimination, my dear Kendall. Elimination,” she said quite simply.
Kendall looked at her, a frown slowly spreading across his forehead. “Go on, I’m listening.”
“It’s simply a process of elimination.” Mollie continued.
Kendall glared at her, and heaved a sigh. “And what precisely do you know about the process of elimination,” he said in a superior voice. “Something you learned while stacking shelves at Walmart no doubt? Or maybe they taught it at that elementary school on the west side that you went to.”
Mollie shook her head and made a face at him. “What did Lowry’s neighbors say?” she asked.
Kendall looked puzzled. “What did they say about what?” he asked.
“They said it was a man didn’t they,” Mollie continued. “It was a man who left the apartment block that day, the day Lowry was murdered. So that means that you can eliminate all of the women for a start can’t you?”
Kendall pulled the papers back to the centre of the desk. He started to scan the list once again, striking a line through any female names that he saw. Ten minutes later he looked up. “That’s eighty seven names removed.” he announced.
“So that leaves one hundred and sixty seven names then,” said Mollie.
“No
t quite,” said Kendall. “Another nine can be eliminated because we know that they never attended, they were sick or something.”
“So that’s one hundred and fifty eight names then,” said Mollie. “There you are then. You’re making real progress.”
Some progress, Kendall thought. What did it matter anyway? So he had eliminated a few names. What about it? So what if there were two hundred and fifty something names, or one hundred and whatever, they were still nothing but names. Why he wasn’t even sure if his theory was right anyway. Perhaps there was no murderer in the list. Perhaps it was just what it appeared to be, a list of the names of bankers, business people, or politicians, nothing more, nothing less.
He pushed the papers away once again, and picked up the newspaper. He quickly turned to the back page and started to read.
“Solved it then have we?” asked Mollie. “All done then, found your murderer?”
Kendall looked at her and heaved a sigh. “I’m thinking, something you perhaps wouldn’t understand,” he said. “Do you mind?”
Mollie smiled and returned to the magazine she was reading. “It’ll be a first,” she murmured under her breath.
“What did you say?” asked Kendall.
“Oh I just said it’s going to get worse,” she replied. “The economic situation I mean. That’s what it says here.” She tapped the magazine, and then quickly turned the page.
“What about people from out of town,” she asked.
“Out of town,” Kendall replied. “I don’t follow.”
Mollie closed her magazine, and placed it on to the desk. She heaved a sigh, and looked at Kendall. “I understand that people came from all over the state for that dinner didn’t they?”
“All over the Country I think,” corrected Kendall.
Mollie nodded. “Well maybe you can eliminate the ones who went home, and weren’t in town on the day of the murder,” she suggested.
Kendall had to admit that it was a fairly good suggestion, although it would still require a lot of checking. He looked at Mollie and smiled. “It might be worth a look,” he said. “I said might be.” He paused for a few moments. “How about you actually check that out for me?” He collected the papers together and passed them over. “After all it was your idea wasn’t it, and we are partners aren’t we?”