“Thanks. I won’t ask how the Condor got these, but I can guess. Captain Ford needs to see these. You know, I have an itch that the altercation between the Bear and the Muskox may have had nothing to do with the killing. I think the lawyers are trying to frame Octavius. He’s a threat.”
“Same thought crossed my mind. Do you think the lawyers killed the Muskox? If so, why?”
“He may have become too much of a liability. We two members of law enforcement need to have a chat with the Detroit Constabulary. Hold on and I’ll see if he’s available.”
“Hello, this is Special Agent Honey Badger of the FBI here in Detroit. I’d like to speak with Captain Ford, please. Thanks! I’ll hold on.”
The hyper-mobile Wallaroo was having trouble restraining himself from jumping around the room. The office chair he was sitting on rolled out from under him and he ended up smashing into the Agent’s desk just as the Policeman came on the line.
“Hello, Ford here! Agent Badger? What was that crash?”
“That, Captain, was Inspector Bruce Wallaroo from Australia. He slipped getting up out of his chair. We have some information relative to the Muskox case that you ought to have. Any chance you can join us here at FBI Headquarters?”
“How about in half an hour?”
“Good, see you then.”
Chapter Eight
In low light and not making a sound,
Our two heroes are looking around
In the office of MAPS
For their e-mails and Apps.
Some strange traffic is just what they found.
While the cogs of law enforcement began to mesh, Chita, Otto and the Colonel drove on to the Renaissance Center. They had all agreed to meet for dinner at 8 o’clock and then fly back to the Bear’s Lair. Chita was early for her 5 o’clock appointment with Phileas Phox but Otto and the Colonel were hoping the offices of MAPS Ltd. had been deserted They climbed aboard an elevator heading for Floor 26 of 200 RenCen and arrived at a standard office building corridor. Several small enterprises - an advertising firm; two software development shops; and there at the end, a non-descript glass door with MAPS Ltd. in stationery store gold letters. No lights.
Otto looked at the Colonel. “Well here goes! Assuming nobody’s there, I’ll check for alarms and then let you in.” He chuckled. “We don’t want a suspicious looking wolf wandering around in the corridor.” With that he disappeared. The Colonel could see a flashlight moving around behind the door. Then, some fiddling with the door lock and Otto standing there shooing the Colonel inside.
“For an outfit that supposedly deals in secret information and intellectual property, their physical security stinks. Come on in. I don’t want to flash this light around. There’s an open space with several desks and two individual offices. If the researchers had laptop computers, they took them with them. There is a desktop system in one office. I assume it belonged to the Professor. I don’t want to take it. Believe it or not, the password is under the keyboard. I brought along a couple of thumb drives to offload the hard disk. That’s going to take some time.”
“OK,” said the Colonel, “while you’re doing that I’ll go through any paper files they have. I wonder why the Police didn’t declare this site as a crime scene. Nothing seems to have been touched. They may not believe he was murdered here.”
“But wouldn’t they still have wanted to do what we’re doing?”
“They may already have what they think is important.”
The Colonel started looking through the file drawers. Mostly incoming correspondence. One desk had paid receipts and bills. Probably the Office Manager’s. A full shredder sat against the wall. It looked like most of the threatening letters originated with the law firm instead of MAPS. Although, the Professor should have had copies along with any responses.
“Not much of the paper variety. Have you copied the e-mail files?”
“Yeah and they’re not encrypted. I think we may want to talk with Howard when we get back. There’s a lot of traffic here with Covington Cougar. Isn’t he the venture capitalist who is in Howard’s confidential Group of Seven?”
“The name rings a bell. Are any of the others on this Contact list?
“Not that I’ve seen but I’m just skimming. I want to give this entire set of files to L. Condor when we return. He can turn them inside out.”
“Otto, how much longer do you need with that computer? I think we may be overstaying our welcome here.”
“You’re probably right. Tell you what, Wyatt. If anyone comes, I can zap, and you can’t. Although that hyperspeed thing you and the Frau do is pretty impressive. Why don’t you leave now? I’ll be finished in a few minutes. I’ll meet you in the lobby bar at the Marriott. Order me a kelp juice and vodka. Bruce will want beer when he shows up and the Cat is on a strict Champagne diet. Don’t order anything for her. She’s very picky about what she drinks.”
“All right. It’s after five. I wonder how Chita is doing.”
Chapter Nine
Spotted Chita’s breathtakingly swift.
It’s a really remarkable gift.
From zero to fifty
In no time. How nifty!
And just think! Not one gear must she shift!
“Good evening Mr. Phox. It’s kind of you to see me on such short notice.”
“Our pleasure, Madame Catt. How can we be of service?” The Weasel had taken his eyes from the Cheetah’s long legs to the magnificent diamond choker that circled her spotted neck. This could be an interesting and profitable case.
“I only plan to be in Detroit for a few days. My home is in London, England. I’m afraid I’m in a rather delicate situation. This necklace you see was given to me by a very good friend here in Motor City. I should say a ‘former’ good friend. He is in the entertainment industry. Well, it turns out that it really wasn’t his to give and the previous owner wants it back. I am highly reluctant to give it up. Let’s just say I have become attached to it. I have been told that your firm is quite skilled in dealing with irregular affairs and to be perfectly blunt, I am looking for a way to establish my ownership of this lovely piece of jewelry. On my return to England, I probably will have to declare it and I have no documentation to support my title. Is that something you might be able to help me with. I’d be ever so grateful.”
The lawyer wasn’t born yesterday, and his suspicions were aroused but what the hell, greed took over. Let’s see how grateful she could be. “Well, Madame, this is a bit outside our normal practices and while we two are being perfectly blunt, it borders on the illegal. Notice please that I said ‘borders.’ It sounds like you and this good friend have come to a parting of the ways.”
“Indeed we have. He’s going to have to explain his way out of this with his former girlfriend. I’m sure he can afford to replace the necklace if she insists. But I have possession of this one and I am in no mood to give it up. But I do need to be able to prove ownership. I’m not going to involve him. That could turn into a nasty and possibly public row. I have a reputation in England to uphold. No, what I want is credible and foolproof evidence that the necklace belongs to me. Do you have connections in the jewelry business? I have had several bad experiences in the past working with dealers directly.”
“They can be a rather sharp bunch. However, I think I may be able to find an established jeweler who would be willing to write you a bill of sale that would stand up to scrutiny. You will have to pay him for the service and we will expect recompense for acting as your agent.”
“I suspected as much. How much will that cost?”
“I’m not sure of the jeweler but our usual fee is 10% of the value of the transaction. Now, if you will leave the necklace with me, I will personally take on the assignment.” (Without telling his partners.)
“After all the nonsense I’ve been through with
this bauble, I’m reluctant to let go of it. Why don’t we set up a meeting with this jeweler where he or she can examine the diamonds in your and my presence and we can come to terms. It will have to be in the next few days. Otherwise, I may be forced to engage in a little smuggling.”
The weasel laughed, “Oh, we wouldn’t want you to do that. Please call me tomorrow about noon. I will probably have made arrangements by then.”
The cat stared at him briefly, stood and rising to her full height, said, “Oh, thank you. I can see that my contact was right about your firm.”
“Who is that?”
“Oh, that would be telling. See you tomorrow??”
She strode, as only Chita can stride, out of the office leaving Phileas Phox shaking his head and mentally counting his upcoming commission.
Down in the Marriott lobby bar, she met the Colonel. “How did it go?” they both asked and fell into a fit of laughter. Chita ordered a bowl of Champagne: Bearier-Jouet.
The Wolf went first. “Otto is just wrapping up downloading data from the Professor’s desktop computer. The office was closed so we had free access to the files and the Muskox’ e-mail. Their security is atrocious. Surprisingly, the Police haven’t secured the place and I’m not sure any of the staff is still employed there. Anyway, it seems one of Howard’s special colleagues was keeping up a busy correspondence with the Professor. The venture capitalist, Covington Cougar. Otto has it all on several thumb drives. Speaking of whom. Here’s Otto. Bartender! One kelp juice and vodka!” They both looked at the Otter and asked, “How did it go?” evoking another round of laughter. Otto stared at them. “No problem snatching the data. Now we need L. Condor to sort it all out. What happened with you, Chita?”
“Well, I got old Phileas to agree to act as my agent in producing a fraudulent bill of sale for my diamond necklace. I told him I wanted to use it to fool British Customs. The ironic part is, the necklace is actually mine and I do have a legitimate bill of sale. Not sure it’s enough to hang him out to dry but I doubt the local Bar Association will be pleased. It’s probably entrapment, so I doubt we can trigger criminal proceedings. He is undoubtedly doing it without his partners’ knowledge. I’m sure they would have wanted a piece of the action even if it was only a few thousand dollars.”
“Are you actually going through with the transaction? Where does that put you?”
“There’s no way I’m going to go any further with this charade, but I do have our entire interview recorded. I have a wire and microchip tucked into my choker. He wanted me to leave the necklace with him, so he could show it to a shady jeweler. File that under Fat Chance! I probably would never have seen it again. No, he’s expecting me to call him tomorrow. He won’t like what he hears. We’ll have to talk to Wolford and Bruce about next steps, if any. I just want to make him nervous and discourage any more extortion activity on his part.”
Otto slurped his vodka, “Are there still people in the Phox offices? I’d like to do a quick in and out. Think it’s worth it?”
“I don’t know! I met Phileas in a small office by the reception area. Clearly not his. I don’t think he wanted anyone else to know about our meeting. The receptionist had left by the time our session was over, but I suspect there were still some folks at their desks. Law firms have no strict working hours. What do you want to peek at?”
“I’d like to look at the partners’ computers, but they’re probably password protected. Probably it’s better to have Condo or Ursula hack into them. Any news from Bruce and the Badger?”
“Last I heard from Bruce, they had invited the Detroit policeman to join them at FBI Headquarters. They wanted to pass on a copy of the original tape that the Condor had downloaded. The police already have the altered version from the law firm.”
Chapter Ten
Honey Badgers are fierce as can be.
They’ll arrest anyone they can see.
Whether criminal rats,
Or felonious cats.
I don’t think I’d like one chasing me.
The FBI Forensics Lab had just delivered several copies of each tape to Agent Badger and they set them up to show to Captain Ford, when he arrived. The alterations were pretty amateurish, dropping most of the Professor’s words and actions and making Octavius out to be the aggressor. Clearly, the Phox Firm had no compunction about trying to frame the Great Bear. Speaking of bears, the Grizzly knocked on the Special Agent’s door and after shaking paws all around, sat down on his haunches in front of her desk.”
“OK, what do you have to show me.”
“First off,” said Bruce, “We’d rather keep confidential how we obtained this information. If it becomes necessary to use it in pursuit of the case, we can negotiate it at that time. Now, you’ve seen the tape of the meeting sent to you by the law firm.”
“Right! Octavius Bear comes across as the primary antagonist.”
“Well” said the Badger, “we’d like to disabuse you of that opinion. Albeit, there was clearly no love lost between the two of them. Here is the original tape of the meeting.”
They watched as the action unfolded, leaving no doubt that the Muskox made a violent attempt to harm Octavius.
“Well,” said the Grizzly, “That puts a different spin on things, but it only adds more fuel to the fire as far as motive is concerned. The Kodiak was assaulted and fought back. After he was hustled out of the room, he may have let his temper build up even further and decided to take things into his own paws.”
“OK, let’s hold that thought for the moment. What I want to know is why The Phoxes created the phony version of the tape. We believe they were trying to frame Octavius and shift the blame away from the true killer.”
“So, you think one or more of the lawyers is the killer?’
“We’re not sure but it certainly raises a cloud of suspicion. By the way, has the coroner come up with a time of death?”
“He’s still working on it. The Muskox was already dead when he was dumped in the river. He did not drown.”
“That sets off a number of questions. Where and when was he killed? By whom? It would have taken a lot of strength to kill him off and then use some kind of carrier to transport his body from his office to the river. It would be damned difficult to make that trip without someone noticing. So far, no one has reported seeing anything like that. We’ve been making inquiries all along the Winter Garden and riverside.”
“Maybe he wasn’t dead yet. More likely, he went to the river on his own power and was fatally attacked there by person or persons unknown. His body was found floating near the cruise ship dock.”
“Why would he go to the river?”
“To meet his killer. A secret get together? There was no sign of a struggle in his office. According to his secretary/office manager, he was alive and in a terrible mood when they closed down for the night. He stayed on alone, but we don’t know for how long.”
“I can’t imagine him meeting with Octavius.”
“Probably not, but at this stage, we can’t discount any possibility.”
“Well, where do we go from here?”
“For openers,” said Captain Ford, “I want answers from the law firm about the major discrepancies in these two tapes. Fabricating false evidence in a murder investigation can be a felony and those guys know it. I want the identity of the culprit or culprits and I want to know if it was done with the partners’ knowledge. That would make them co-conspirators. Meanwhile, Octavius is still an ‘Animal of Interest.’ Thanks for your help.”
“Inspector Wallaroo, you have no official standing in this case, but I welcome your assistance. You have enough history with US criminal procedure to know when you’re crossing a line. For the time being, I’ll look the other way on how the original tape was discovered.”
“Agent Badger, please keep in touch. I’ll let you know the
coroner’s report. What you do with it is your business.”
After he left, Bruce looked at Honey Badger and said, “I guess we couldn’t have expected much more. There’s more to this than a spontaneous free-for-all between the Professor and Ocko. The idea that the Muskox was meeting his future killer at the riverside has set my nose to tickling.”
“Me, too. I think the Professor had another set of irons on the fire and it did him in. I guess your crew is heading back to Cincinnati. Let’s set up a conference call tomorrow after you’ve all had a chance to digest and cross pollinate.”
“Speaking of digestion, do you want to join us for dinner?
“Thanks, but I think there are things you’re going to discuss that I don’t want to know about. Talk to you tomorrow.”
Chapter Eleven
The Antilōpine Wallaroo
Is a Wallaby plus Kangaroo.
His large feet - (macropod!)
Make him look rather odd
But I bet he moves faster than you.
After they all regrouped in the Marriott lobby bar, the consensus was for a quick round of snacks and then back to the Ursa Minor. It was about 8:30 when they descended on the DTW General Aviation Terminal and the helicopter. The Colonel had left instructions for refueling and he gave the chopper a thorough going over before letting the rest of them board. Registering with Air Traffic Control and the local tower, he got a 9:15 departure slot. The Ursa Minor had the latest and most comprehensive instrumentation for night flying and the Colonel was fully checked out on it.
This provided Chita with some relief. In the best of circumstances, she was nervous about whirlybirds, especially the variety that service her North Sea oil rig. Her buddy Otto did his best to distract her, first with a rundown on his exploration of the MAPS Ltd. e-mail system and then with stories of his latest routines with the Aquabears back at the Bearoness’ Polar Paradise. They also briefly reminisced about their misadventures with Imperius Drake.
The Suit Case Page 6