Tony was as good as his word and arrived a little after one thirty.
“Irish redhead, about thirty; that’s the best I can do at the moment. Still, it’s only one building so I doubt there’ll be more than one of those inside,” I said. “I spoke to someone in the apartment through the door. Claimed Trish had left. I just want to make sure. Not much of a job I’m afraid. Stick it out until midnight. If there’s no-show by then she’s probably not living there. You want to grab a sandwich or something?”
“No, June will bring me some soup later, when she’s done.”
I called O’Grady and was told the CCTV tape was ready if I wanted to go collect it. No, nobody had looked at it, he said.
I picked up the tape and set off for home. As I drove I stole a look at the tape sitting on the seat beside me. I mustered my best German Gestapo voice and spoke to the tape. “Tell me your secrets,” I demanded. “I haff vays of making you talk.”
Chapter Seven
The Tape
Lucy’s car was in her driveway when I got home so I called in to see her.
“Good day?” I inquired.
“Not exactly – I didn’t make much progress I’m afraid,” she said.
I walked over and sat down. “Did you get to see Muriel?” I said.
“No. I spoke to the administrator at the nursing home. He told me that she took the news of her son’s death very badly and she’s kind of withdrawn into a shell. She doesn’t want to see any visitors and they obviously have to respect her wishes. She’s rather frail apparently, both physically and mentally.”
“Oh, I see,” I said.
“I asked the principal whether they had any details of her family members that I could perhaps contact on her behalf. They said as far as they were aware there were none, now that Bob is dead.”
“Hmm. That’s no surprise. According to the police report that’s what she told them. Well if you can’t get to see Muriel then you’ll have to go the other route – public records, the internet…”
“Or Facebook. I was reading recently about successful searches families have made searching for long-lost loved ones. It shouldn’t be too difficult, especially since we know exactly what he looks like. I could upload a picture of Bob.”
“So all is not lost then – but we haven’t got a lot of time to play with. We need to trace the theoretical brother while the crime scene’s still intact.”
Lucy came over and sat down opposite me. She tucked her legs under her on the sofa.
“You don’t think Miss Price would have any information about a possible brother, do you?” she said. “After all, she knew him pretty well.”
“Well there’s certainly no harm in asking her,” I said. “We need to see her anyway and bring her up to date on our investigation. But whether she knows anything or not, she’s bound to want to explore this avenue of inquiry. She may even be prepared to pay for a professional company to help with such a search. In the long run it’ll probably save her money. These companies have resources and access to material that we don’t, so they’ll probably be able to find out more quickly than you or me.”
“So you think there really is a brother then – a twin?”
“I think it’s a lot more likely than a doppelganger, don’t you?”
“But if there was a twin, why would Mrs. Hughes deny it?” Lucy said.
“Perhaps there was an adoption; if so, Mrs. Hughes probably wouldn’t consider him to be her son now.”
“If Bob’s watch was stolen at the time of the murder do you think it’s worth checking pawnbrokers?”
“From what I know about the watch I imagine it would be difficult to pawn without having to answer a whole lot of questions. It’s very distinctive. It would be taking a hell of a risk so soon afterwards. Even though the police haven’t linked the watch to the murder there would be no way for the killer to know that − if there is a killer. Anyway, let’s leave it until after we see Miss Price again. It just so happens that I have a new movie for us to watch this afternooon.”
“Oooh, really? What is it?”
“It’s a CCTV from the train station entrance. Featuring Freddy Kingsley in his final live performance,” I said.
Lucy frowned at me. “Oh that’s horrible, I thought you were being serious.”
“I am. Let’s get the popcorn out and give it a whirl.”
I handed the tape to Lucy to feed into the machine and went to take my place on the sofa.
“I imagine that as a movie it’s going to be a bit thin on plot,” Lucy said as she slumped down next to me. “How long is it?”
“Two hours,” I said. “But we’re only going to watch a bit of it. Scan forward until you get to twenty minutes after six. That’s about ten minutes before the accident. I don’t imagine he got to the station before that. His car was parked nearby so we should see him as he approaches the entrance.”
“Are we looking for anything in particular?” she said. “You better tell me because he’s only going to be on the screen for a few seconds.”
“Maybe if there’s anyone with him; or anyone following him. If someone planned to kill him that evening they either knew where he would be, in which case they might have got there before him, or they followed him.”
Lucy stopped the scan and the movie started. It was gray and bit blurry. The blurry bit was because of Lucy’s enormous TV screen.
“Can you shrink it down so the picture’s a bit sharper?” I said. “And see what you can do to try and brighten it up a bit.”
“Anything else?”
“Maybe we should watch it on the computer.”
As I spoke I spotted someone walking towards the station entrance.
“Freeze it,” I said.
“Huh?”
“Just freeze it. Go back a bit. Yes, that’s him. That’s Freddy.” It was six twenty-two. “Now can you play it in slowmo?”
It was Freddy and he was alone. No-one was near to him; no-one else heading for the entrance. He disappeared from view. Keep going – let’s see if anyone follows him in.”
We watched for another couple of minutes but the screen was bereft of human life.
“So much for your theory,” Lucy said. “Never mind, it was worth a try.”
I had to admit it was a disappointment.
“I found out where Freddy’s girlfriend was living today,” I said. “Freddy’s sister had the address. It was a run-down apartment in Roxbury. Although she wasn’t there, her room-mate, or former room-mate, told me that she only just moved out. She moved out as soon as she heard about Freddy’s death. If that’s true what does that suggest to you?”
“That she couldn’t afford the rent anymore?”
“Seriously.”
“I was being serious. What does it suggest to you, then?”
“That she was afraid of something. Repercussions perhaps. I’m not sure – but the two events are connected, I’m sure about that.”
“Shall I play the tape again?” Lucy said.
“I don’t…yeah, okay, may as well.”
The tape restarted about a minute before Freddy was about to make his brief appearance. We watched it in slow motion again. My eyes were more accustomed to the image this time and I had no difficulty recognizing him from his photograph. He was wearing a dark-colored three quarter length overcoat and…
“Freeze it Lucy!”
Lucy jumped and dropped the remote. “Sorry,” she said. “I’ll run it back a bit.”
“Okay, this time be ready when I say freeze.”
She re-wound the tape and pressed the play button.
“Okay…now!”
“What?”
“I meant to freeze it again.”
“You said you were going to say ‘freeze’ – but you said ‘now’,” Lucy said.
“Again please,” I said as patiently as I could.
Lucy started the tape again.
“Freeze
it,” I said. She froze it.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” I said. “I need to go and get the report.”
I walked back to my home at a brisk pace and grabbed the report, including the CCTV recording from inside the station, and then went back to Lucy’s. It was cold outside.
“This is all very tense,” Lucy said. “What can you see that I can’t?”
“Look at his left hand. What do you see?”
“A briefcase or something.”
“I don’t remember any mention of a briefcase in the report. Just a minute.” I looked at the report. “It lists all the items that were with him when he died; all his possessions, clothing etcetera – but no briefcase.”
“So maybe somebody took it – when he fell.”
“We’re going to watch the sequel,” I said. “Can you put this tape in the machine?”
I handed her the original tape that had come with the report.
“Go to six twenty-five,” I said. “The tapes may not be completely in sync with one another, but we need to find the part where the train arrives. Then let’s watch and see if we can spot anyone carrying the briefcase.”
The actual moment of the incident couldn’t be determined, but then people started to disperse.
“There,” I said. “You see that guy? Coming out of the throng carrying a briefcase? He’s walking straight towards the camera. I’m willing to bet it’s the same one. That’s it. Someone wanted whatever Freddy was carrying in that briefcase and they were willing to kill him to get it.”
“I wonder who it is.”
“I don’t know.” I looked at my watch. “I’m going to take it over to Harry’s first thing in the morning and see what he can do with his computer wizardry to enhance the picture of that guy.”
Harry West was a near genius at enhancing videos. He ran a service specializing in renovating old films and videos.
“You can see him full-face for a second or two and the light is brighter than the camera at the front of the station. There must have been some illumination there. If we’re in luck we’ll get a picture good enough to show around. I’ve got Benny, Len and Blue already seeing what they can find out. If I can get some decent prints we may get a fix on this guy.”
“Are you going to tell O’Grady?”
“Not yet, no. I want to know who that guy is and I want to know what was in that case.”
Chapter Eight
The Briefcase
“What do you think, Harry?”
“Give me an hour.”
“Okay, I’ll go find somewhere to eat breakfast.”
I was in high spirits while I ate breakfast. If nothing else I believed I’d gotten enough evidence to suggest that Freddy’s death was no accident. It might not be enough to prove that the guy with the bag killed him, but juries are entitled to draw inferences, so it might be enough. I was sure I’d found the key to Freddy’s death. I just hoped that Harry was going to able to give me a good shot of the guy. Good enough to find out who he was.
I was pretty sure I knew what was in the case too. It was either drugs or drug money. Freddy was to meet someone at the station, probably off of the train that killed him, to hand it over. If it was valuable enough to kill for then it meant that someone was going to be trying to find it besides me. I started to think about what all this meant. Let’s say it was money in the briefcase. Money to be used to buy drugs from whomever Freddy was to meet off that train. It sure as hell wasn’t Freddy’s money, so someone had lost a whole lot of bills when he died. Or maybe it was drugs. Maybe Freddy was to hand over the drugs and receive payment from the guy on the train. It didn’t much matter. Either way, Freddy’s boss was out of pocket and he’d be making waves to find whoever took it. Maybe Freddy handed over the case but, instead of giving Freddy the money or drugs in return, the guy had killed him.
Tony had called me before I left home. No redhead. I thought I’d probably been told the truth about her sudden disappearance. But why did she run? Freddy couldn’t be blamed for losing the bag. It wasn’t his fault. It certainly wasn’t her fault either. So why did she run away?
There only seemed to be a couple of likely explanations – either she was behind the heist or she was worried that someone might think she was. But I believed that there was a good chance that it may have been she who had tipped off someone that Freddy was to make a drop at that location and at that time. After all, very few people would have known about it. But he might very well have confided in her. Whoever took that briefcase, assuming it wasn’t the person that it was intended for, had been well-informed. If I was right then she was just as much a murderer as the killer was.
I hadn’t thought about that when I went to the apartment in Roxbury. I hadn’t realized the importance of finding her. Now it was a priority. It was probably better that I found her than whoever it was that the drugs or the money belonged to. So I had two people to look for now, and there was a better than even chance that when I found them they’d be together. That ought to make it a little easier, I thought.
I knew as soon as I walked back into Harry’s shop that he’d gotten something for me.
“Turned out real nice, don’tya think?” he said. “I made half a dozen prints for you. You need any more just let me know. Jeez, what’s with these CCTVs?” he said. “They get better shots of Pluto nowadays than you get from these things.”
I hadn’t arranged to see Benny until the following day but now I needed to get these pictures to him; and to the others. I called Benny and arranged to meet at our usual café. I told him there’d be more company. Then I called Len and Blue and told them to meet me at the same place. It was only just after ten so I set the time for ten forty five.
Benny was already there when I arrived and the others rolled in a few minutes later. I showed them the pictures and handed them one each.
“You know this guy?” I said.
They each looked at the pictures carefully. They each shook their heads.
“Well I want you to find out who he is. He’s probably connected to the drug trade in one way or another, although that’s not a certainty. Have you heard anything else on the street about Freddy? I’m pretty sure that the guy in the picture is the one who killed him. I think he killed him and took a bag from Freddy which either contained a lot of money or a lot of drugs. It’s going to be pretty hard to keep that quiet.”
“Nothing yet,” Benny said. “How about you guys?” he said to Len and Blue. “No nothing, but it’s early days,” Blue said. “Now we know a bit more about it though it should make it easier.”
“Okay – well you’ve all got my cell. Anything comes up you call me right away, okay? I think there’s a woman mixed up in this and if I’m right she could be in a lot of danger. I don’t even have a description of her, except that she’s a thirty-year-old redhead. But I know her name: Trish O’Connor. She’s a user and probably a small time trafficker too so she should be easy to find out about. You got all that?”
“Sure, Kane; we’re on it,” Blue said.
I drove home to tell Lucy about the progress I’d made. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. I needed to fax the picture over to a police contact in the drugs squad to see if anything was known about the guy, so I stopped at my place first and called Will Bryan. He was a sergeant detective. He wouldn’t ask any questions and he owed me a favor.
“Hi Will,” I said. “I got a picture to fax over to you. Can you see if anything’s known about this guy? I need a name and an address if possible.
“Sure, we’ll take a look.
“And something else. A lady called Trish O’Connor. She’s got a record – drugs. I need a picture of her.”
“Got it. How you been lately?”
“Oh, up and down, here and there, you know how it is,” I said.
I walked down to Lucy’s place.
“I’ve arranged to see Angela Price in the office this afternoon,” she said. “Half past
two. I was hoping you’d be able to be there too. Did you have any luck with the video?”
I showed her the picture.
“Wow. That came from the video?”
“Yeah, I’ve got it circulating and I’ve faxed a copy to Will Bryan. He’s going to run it through the police computer to see if he can get a match. He’s going to get me a mugshot of Trish, too. I’ll come with you this afternoon, but let me bring you up to date on the Kingsley case first. I’ve got a doozy of a theory.”
“I bet you have,” she said.
“Okay, see what you think about this. Like I told you before, Trish suddenly split when Freddy was killed and I think she left because she was afraid of something – or somebody. I think she may have been involved with the guy who took the case.”
“Why?”
“Why do I think that?”
“Yes.”
“Because I’m sure that what was in Freddy’s briefcase was either drugs or drug money. Probably a lot. I think he was going to meet a guy on that train and either give him some money in exchange for drugs or give him some drugs in exchange for money. The guy who snatched the case obviously knew about this. Now when you’re involved in a sizeable drug deal you don’t go shooting your mouth off. The person most likely to have known where he was going, and why, would have been his girlfriend, right? Someone he thought he could trust. I think there’s a good chance that she tipped off the guy who killed Freddy – they were in it together. And that explains why she split as soon as the case was snatched. Her room-mate connected her flight with Freddy’s death, and so did I at first. But I think the two things were only incidentally connected. She waited to see if the plan worked. If it didn’t then she needed to be there when Freddy came home. But as soon as she knew her accomplice had the case she got the hell out of there.”
I Spy - Mark Kane Mysteries - Book Six: A Private Investigator Crime Series of Murder, Mystery, Suspense & Thriller Stories - A Murder Mystery & Suspense Thriller Page 5