by Maria Milot
A few moments later a black, patent leather shoe made contact with Ken’s ribs. Nothing. The shoe prodded again. Still no movement. Weasel. He pivoted his black, patent leather shoes and retreated back through the door from which he came.
◆◆◆
Oh, thank God. There he is. Maddie was finally able to lay eyes on Jared. He was propped up on the corner of a bar and still seemed rattled as she laid a hand on his arm. “Do you want to talk about what happened with Ken?”
Jared’s glassy eyes flared with clarity as he emphatically answered, “No!”
Bob saw Maddie approach Jared. Perfect timing, he thought as he quickly and effectively stumbled into Jared, causing Jared to turn and push Bob backward. The distraction worked. Bob slipped Jared’s phone back into a jacket pocket on Jared’s right side.
“Hey there, I really like this tune Maddie, you wanna dance?” asked Bob.
Maddie sensed Jared really needed a friend right now, whether he wanted to talk or not. She jumped in before Jared could answer for her. “I’m sorry, Bob, we need to finish our conversation. I’ll find you later.”
“No problem,” Bob answered. Besides, my work here is done.
◆◆◆
Winston adjusted his tie and smoothed his jacket. Not the night I expected to say the least. He watched the scene playout between Bob, Jared and Maddie. He was annoyed but now was not the time to deal with Jared. His eyes followed Bob as he walked away from the pair. Well at least he doesn’t seem to be someone I need to worry about.
◆◆◆
Maddie again placed her hand gently on Jared’s forearm. “Jared, I know you don’t want to talk—”
“Yeah, I don’t want to talk. The person I needed to talk to was Ken, but he’s not talking to me.” Jared jerked his arm away from Maddie’s grasp. “I had some bad news about our business. Obviously, I didn’t handle the situation well but I’ve had a few drinks,” he snarled.
Maddie had never seen Jared act this cold, but she desperately wanted to help him. She continued to tread lightly, “I know you’re upset…”
Jared stepped back from her before she could finish speaking. His sharp tone had dulled. “I might have had too much to drink. I’m gonna go use the restroom and then I think I gotta get out here. I’m sorry. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” He immediately pivoted and strode away.
◆◆◆
“Oh, there you are, love!” Lolly exclaimed as she hooked her arm around James Cooper’s elbow. “Where have you been?”
“Sorry, dear, I was making the rounds. Listen, I’ve got a screaming headache starting. I think it best to leave now.”
“Of course, my love, you look quite pale. Let’s get you home”.
In an odd role reversal, Lolly was the one holding James steady as she steered the couple out the front doors
◆◆◆
Bob promptly made his way to the front hall to exit. That’s enough of this shit, he thought as he gave his ticket to the valet. After what happened in that pagoda, it’s time to get the hell out of here.
◆◆◆
“Help! There’s a body! He’s not moving!” A young man and woman were rushing over the grass toward the stone terrace waving their arms.
Maddie snagged Kelly’s arm as Jack bolted out the open French door toward the screams for help. Kelly broke free, chasing Jack with Maddie just behind her.
As he approached the couple, Jack called out, “I’m a police officer. I can help you.”
Panting with distress the girl exclaimed, “There, down there.” She waved her arm toward the ocean.
The young man interjected to clarify, “In that little house. There’s a guy, on the floor, we tried to wake him up, but he’s not moving. Something’s wrong.”
◆◆◆
Maddie was through the door of the pagoda first and quickly found where the body was lying. Her nursing skills kicked in as she dropped to a crouch and placed her index and middle finger on his carotid artery. No pulse. She looked up at the stunned faces of both Jack and Kelly and confirmed, “It’s Ken Tate and he’s dead.”
◆◆◆
Jack had called for backup and the crime scene unit. He knew he needed to secure the area and would need any available resource.
Jack firmly placed his hands on Kelly’s shoulders. “Go find the head of the catering staff. Tell her who I am and that we need all hands on deck to secure the house. No one can leave. Tell her there is no need to panic, but there is a safety issue and the police are on the way. That’s all you know. Go.” Then he turned to Maddie. “Go find who’s in charge of this event and tell them the same thing I told Kelly. I’m going to make an announcement.”
◆◆◆
Jack flipped the badge in his wallet as he stepped in front of the band and signaled for them to stop playing. “Good evening, everyone. I need your attention please. My name is Jack McCarthy. I’m a detective with the Newport police department. We have a safety issue OUTSIDE of this house. We need you to stay calm and stay inside this house.”
The murmur of the crowd began to overpower Jack’s message. His voice grew louder as he continued. “Most of all I need for you to stop talking and listen so we can move forward safely here!”
Like the quiet before a storm the crowd fell silent, then a fusillade of questions started.
“What do you mean by safety issue?”
“Should we call our families?”
“What’s going on?”
“Is it terrorists?”
Jack held up his hands and tried to address the concerns before a rushed panic set in. Even if he had to lie, calming the crowd and securing the crime scene were his top priorities. “There are NO terrorists. There was someone seriously injured outside, on the property of this house. Newport police are on the way. This appears to be an isolated incident. But to ensure your safety before you can leave we must ask you a few questions. Just to see if you saw anything to help us understand what happened outside and to be sure that no harm will come to you outside of this event.
“Why would harm come to us?” a voice called from the crowd.
Followed by another voice. “Tell us what kind of injury!”
The welcome sight of uniformed officers began to fill the perimeter of the room. Police Captain Larry Todd made his way to the microphone followed by Betsy Cavendish, the event organizer.
Larry gave Jack a nod and added, “Good job, Jack. Your fiancé filled me in. I’ll take it from here with the crowd. Go get your people set up to take statements and clear people to leave.”
“Alright, Captain. Is CSU here yet?”
“They were right behind me. Your fiancé’s friend who touched the body, Marcelle, was working with them.”
“Thanks, Captain. I’ll coordinate with them too.” Jack took a deep breath and headed out through the crowd.
This was not Captain Larry Todd’s first murder investigation and certainly not his first time diffusing a crowd. Jack did the right thing to start the process, affirming Larry’s decision to move him up to a detective. He just never thought Jack’s first big case would be a murder.
◆◆◆
Jack jotted down a few more words. “Jared, I know you’re anxious to get out of here. Just a couple more questions.”
“Look, Jack, my business partner, my best friend was just killed. I need some time to process this. I’ve told you everything I can remember. I’ll come into the station in the morning and go over everything again with you, but I can’t take any more.”
“Fine, you can go. I’ll see you tomorrow. This is my direct line.” Jack handed a card to Jared.
Kelly looked around the lavish ballroom the crowd had been divided into groups offering up accounts of what they saw or did not see to officers quickly tapping the information into tablets and scratching notes on paper. She shook her head as she spoke to Maddie. “I can’t believe this is happening. Are you okay? I mean, we found Ken dead!”
“Oddly enough, I’m just numb. When I saw
Ken lying there, it was like I was on auto-pilot. I was ready to give him CPR, but it was too late.”
“Look Maddie, Jack already took our statements and he’s going to be here a while. There’s not much we can do now. Why don’t we get out of here and I’ll drop you off at home.”
“Alright, but I feel like I should try to find Winston or Jared, and whatever happened to Bob?”
“Winston is over there, in the corner, between the police and the paparazzi. You should just call him tomorrow. Kelly craned her neck around the room, God only knows where Bob is. Hey, here comes Jared.”
Maddie stepped in front of Jared. “Hey, what can I do to help you?”
Jared barely looked up. His wet, bloodshot eyes looked like a dam ready to overflow. “I can’t do this right now. Please, Maddie, I just need to be alone I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Maddie stepped aside and nodded. “Okay, whatever you need.”
Kelly’s arm slid around Maddie’s shoulders as they watched Jared tumble away to the exit. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
Jared’s body was on auto-pilot. His mind repeated a loop of surreal affirmations that tonight’s events did not actually take place. He looked around his office. He didn’t remember the drive to get there. He pulled open his closet and mindlessly fumbled the buttons on his tuxedo. He hung it as best he could on the wooden hangers, then exchanged his formal wear for a polo shirt and a pair of jeans.
He poured a strong drink and opened the computer on his desk. There was a photo of Ken and him on a fishing trip. The dam broke. His chest heaved. Tears flooded hot and fast down his face. He sobbed until his bleary eyes finally grew so heavy he allowed his head to rest on his desk. He slipped into a black slumber.
THIRTY-EIGHT
Captain Larry Todd opened his office door and listened as Jack gave orders to a team of officers assembled in front of Jack’s desk.
“Get me anyone who was there with the press. I want photos, notes, everything they have. And we’re gonna need to talk to the catering staff, bartenders, door men, valets anyone that was there last night that hasn’t finished giving us a statement. We’ve got a pretty good timeline of our victim’s movements, thanks to the fight he had with Jared Diamond, but someone must have seen something more.”
Captain Todd stepped out from his doorway and beckoned with his hand, “Detective McCarthy, a word please.”
Jack headed into the Captain’s office.
“You stepped up to the plate last night, McCarthy. Did you get any sleep?”
Jack shrugged. “A little.”
“Understandable. Where do we stand right now?”
“We just got in a list of all the guests. We’ve finished taking most of their statements and we’re working on narrowing down who may need to come back in to help us firm up our victim’s movements, how he ended up in the pagoda tea house and who he was with.”
“You’re on the right track, Jack. Do some digging into our victim too, we need a complete picture of this guy to find out why someone would want him dead.”
◆◆◆
Jack McCarthy took a deep breath as he ran his hands over an old metal desk that was new to him. He sat down and opened up the murder case file in front of him and pulled out the CSU photos. He corroborated his own experiences last night at Marble House with the accounts from other party goers.
Many people remembered Ken heading outside, alone, then nothing. Jared Diamond, the only person Ken seemed to know at that party, was the best person to shed some light on Ken’s murder and at worst, his killer.
THIRTY-NINE
Damn it! What the hell is going on? Bob tried a third time to call Cosimo DeCastelleri, only to get the same ‘this number is no longer in service’ message. He’d just settled into his booth at Gary’s Greasy Spoon with the Sunday paper headline announcing Ken Tate’s murder. It wasn’t news to him but it forced him to scrap his plans of leisure and start tracking down Mr. D.
He re-read the front page article but details were light on the actual murder. The newspaper spin was about the impact of this shocking crime on tourism and the social scene. I know that weasel Ken Tate was doing something for Mr. D. I was stupid to rush things. I know I could’ve gotten more information out of him. That doesn’t matter now. I’m a betting man, and I bet I can figure out how to make this guy’s unfortunate accident work for me. Stupid phone. I gotta go talk to Mr. D.
◆◆◆
Traffic was light as Bob headed up route 195 from Newport to Providence. His calls to Mr. D still weren’t going through. Why the hell can’t I get ahold of him? He can’t just cut me off. Bet he won’t be so quick to ignore me once I prove I can handle business.
◆◆◆
Bob cruised through DePasquale Square and pushed a buzzer on the black door. He heard the lock click and stepped inside. Before he could ascend the stairs, he walked into a wall of muscle.
“Where you goin’?” the hulking figure asked.
“I gotta see Mr. D,” Bob answered.
“I gotta get some identification. What’s ya number?”
“It’s two, three, four. Look, tell him it’s Bob Lackey.”
The hulking figure tipped his head to assess Bob. He certainly wasn’t in any hurry to alert Mr. D that he had a guest waiting.
“Hey, I got important business to discuss with him. Go tell him.” Bob knew his insistence was pushing the boundaries but he was sure Mr. D would find his news about Ken Tate interesting. Bob anxiously shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he tried to look up the staircase beyond the hulking guard.
At the top of the stairs a shadow figure appeared and called down. “It’s okay. Let him up.”
Bob gave a satisfied grin to the hulk who had stepped away like a door swinging on a hinge.
The shadow figure greeted Bob at the top of the landing and motioned him to follow into Mr. D’s office. Bob followed and sat down across from a heavy wooden desk. Mikey, Mr. D’s consigliere or right-hand man, was sitting in Mr. D’s chair. He leaned across the desk and addressed Bob. “Why are you here, Mr. Lackey?”
“Like I said downstairs, I’m here to see Mr. D. Where is he?”
Mikey pushed his substantial body backwards causing the leather chair to crackle as it tilted away from the desk. “Mr. Lackey, Mr. DeCastelleri has made it clear to me that your intellect is in a severe deficit. Now, I am gonna take that into account and assume that what appears to be a lack of respect for this office is in fact just your stupidity.”
Bob knew he needed to get in control. His glance darted around the room then rested on the tops of his shoes. One, two, three, four. Respect, control, respect, control. He quickly calmed himself and looked up to meet Mikey’s eyes. “I apologize for my behavior. I am just surprised not to see Mr. D. I did not mean any disrespect to you, Mikey, or to this office.”
Mikey seemed appeased with this answer. “Mr. D is out of the country. He is taking care of some personal family business.”
Bob did his best to sound humble and not annoyed. “Oh, I see. I’m sorry to bother you here, in person. It’s just that I’ve tried calling the number I have for Mr. D and I get a disconnected message.”
“Right. See, Bob, we’ve had a potential breech of Mr. DeCastelleri’s private numbers. So, all lines to Mr. D have been cancelled. We are currently in the process of issuing new contact information for Mr. DeCastelleri. Starting of course with our priority people.” Mikey’s hard stare conveyed his next thought without a word, and you, Bob, are not even close to a priority.
“Okay. Well I need to talk to Mr. D about Ken Tate.” Bob watched Mikey closely to see if the name would illicit a reaction. Slight eyebrow twitch. Yes!
“Alright Mr. Lackey. I will convey the message.”
“When will I get to talk to him?” Bob blurted out. The narrowing of Mikey’s eyes made him add, “I mean assuming all goes well with his personal stuff, about when do you think I might be able to discuss t
he Ken Tate matter?”
“We’ll text you a new number for Mr. DeCastelleri and let you know when you can have an appointment. Freddy will see you to the stairs now.”
Forty
Maddie continued past the service counter at the Ocean Roasters café and took a seat opposite Jared. She took in his pale countenance, and disheveled clothing.