by Maria Milot
Winston gave her a final kiss before she headed out of his house.
“Text me first thing in the morning,” Maddie called out as she opened her car door.
“I always do,” he answered back then closed the hefty front door.
Curved thickets of beach roses and thick shrubs guided her way down the long driveway. She braked at the substantial iron gate separating her from Ocean Drive. She knew the gate would open automatically, as no code was needed to leave the property. Her eyes shifted to her rearview mirror. But for its dramatic sloped, slate roof and many stone chimneys, Seafair was now barely visible.
She basked in the last rays of the sunset over the water as she made the short drive back to her own home off Bellevue Avenue. “Thank you, Mr. Whitmore. I am happy,” she said aloud.
FIFTY-SIX
Maddie put her hand on the knob and twisted. “It’s locked.”
Kelly turned up her palms as she asked, “Did you expect it to be open?”
“I guess we could call the condo association and give them a story about why we need to get into a dead man’s condo.” Maddie suggested.
Kelly held up two pointed instruments that looked a lot like knitting needles. “We could, but this will be easier.” Kelly hovered over the lock on the door to Ken’s condominium. “Something Jack taught me a while ago after I got locked out of our house.”
Maddie watched Kelly’s tinkering. “How you doing there, Sherlock?”
“Quiet. It’s not an exact science you know.” There was an audible click. Kelly beamed. “Here we go.”
The girls quietly stepped inside and scanned around.
“Not much in here,” Kelly commented. “Ken’s family cleaned the place out as soon as Jack cleared it from the investigators.”
“Do you know anything about Ken’s family?” Maddie asked.
“Not much. Jack said his parents are in Italy. The police have been dealing with a family representative to claim his body and take care of his estate.”
“Given that we just broke in, I take it Jack doesn’t know we’re here?”
Kelly crinkled her nose. “If we find something, then we will cross that bridge; for now, it’s just between you and me.”
“I’m on board with that, Kelly.” Maddie instructed Kelly to start taking the drawers out of the cabinets. “My mom taught me this trick.” They moved through the kitchen pulling drawers completely out of the cabinetry. “Every time we moved. See, people always check to see if a drawer is empty.” Maddie used her phone’s flashlight to peer around the wooden cabinetry cave. “But often times, stuff in a crowded drawer will fall behind it.”
Kelly mimicked Maddie’s search skills. “What are we looking for?”
“I don’t know right now. But anything we find could be something that helps.”
“Do you want me to go check the bathroom and look in the toilet tank?” Kelly joked.
Maddie gave Kelly a serious glance. “Yes, I do. Remember The Godfather? Go tear that bathroom apart.”
◆◆◆
“Maddie! Maddie! Get in here!” Kelly shouted.
Maddie rushed into the bathroom.
Kelly pulled a photo out of the void left by a vanity drawer she had removed. “It must have slipped out from the back of a drawer,” Kelly said from her seated position on the tile floor.
Maddie bent over her shoulder so they could scrutinize the picture. “That’s definitely Ken,” Maddie commented.
“Yeah but the face is ripped off the guy he’s standing with,” Kelly noted.
“Did it tear off behind the drawer?” Maddie asked.
Kelly flicked her phone’s flashlight around the small square space of open cabinetry.
“Do you see the rest of it?” Maddie urged.
Kelly twisted the light around inside the vanity opening, “No, nothing else down here.”
The girls resumed their examination of the photo showing Ken standing next to a faceless upper body.
“Mountains in the background. Close angle. Looks like a selfie?” commented Kelly.
Maddie pointed. “Definitely. Look at the man standing next to Ken. The way the guy’s head is torn off. It’s very precise.”
Ken’s unknown companion had an arm draped around Ken’s shoulder.
Maddie tapped the photo. “Hey, look at the faceless guy’s hand. He’s wearing a ring. Can we magnify this? Or make it clearer?” she asked.
Kelly nodded. “Yes, when we turn it over to Jack.”
“Check the back,” Maddie directed. “Maybe there’s a name or a date.”
Kelly flipped the picture over. For a moment the girls were speechless as they read each other’s stunned faces.
Maddie slowly shook her head from side to side. “It can’t be.”
“Oh, it very well could be.” Kelly countered. “We know they were best friends. Maybe they were a lot more to each other?”
Maddie looked at the back of the photo again. The letters K and J were written with a heart drawn between the letters.
Maddie stood up and rubbed her forehead. “I’m dating Jared. I’m developing feelings for Jared.” Maddie shifted restlessly as she grappled with the implications of the photo. “There’s more to this. We can’t just assume.”
Kelly looked up at Maddie. “Do you think they were in a relationship? Maybe Ken had unreciprocated feelings for Jared.”
“I don’t know Kelly. I don’t know what the hell all this means.” Her controlled tone was tinged with anger. “But I will tell you, I damn well will get to the bottom of this.”
FIFTY-SEVEN
Officer Sanders circled the station’s fishbowl. He could tell by the gesturing going on inside the room Detective McCarthy wasn’t very pleased with the two ladies sitting at the table.
“I don’t need you two out playing Nancy Drew and Veronica Mars!” Jack McCarthy gave each woman a pointed glare.
Kelly and Maddie waited until Jack had turned to look out of the fishbowl’s window before they gave each other a troubled glance.
Jack caught sight of Officer Sanders and waved him into the room. “Officer Sanders, this is my fiancé, Kelly Hurley and our very close friend, Maddie Marcelle.”
Officer Sanders extended his hand to each woman. “I’ve seen you both around the station for your statements with the Tate case. It’s nice to meet you both.”
“Kelly and Maddie are responsible for recovering the photo of Ken Tate from his condo,” Jack stated.
Unlike Jack, Officer Sanders looked impressed. “That was quite the find, ladies. I thought our team had gone through that place pretty thoroughly. The lab is analyzing the picture now. Maybe you two should be consultants on the case?”
Wrong thing to say. Jack looked at all three of them and gave an emphatic, “No! Look this is a murder investigation. This is not a game. This is a dangerous situation.”
“Jack, we’re sorry to upset you. We do know this is a serious matter,” Kelly offered.
Jack let out a deep sigh. “I’m not mad, I’m worried about keeping you both safe.”
The room fell silent as Jack paced back and forth before he continued. “It’s bad enough you’re seeing Jared and Bob, two men who might be involved in this murder.” Jack pointed an accusing finger at Maddie.
“Well, one out of two. Bob might be involved but I have nothing to do with him anymore,” Maddie stated.
“What happened?” Jack asked with concern.
“A problem I never thought I’d have. Someone who was more interested in my money than in me. I cut him out a couple weeks ago,” Maddie answered.
At that moment another officer knocked on the fishbowl door. Jack McCarthy waved her in.
Jack introduced Officer Terry. She set an open laptop computer down on the sole table in the room. “So, after we eliminated Ms. Hurley and Ms. Marcelle’s prints we were left with only Ken Tate’s prints on the photo.” She tapped a few keys on the computer and brought up an enhanced copy of the backside of the photo
Kelly and Maddie had found. “Given the prints, it seems Mr. Tate was the one who wrote on the photo.” Officer Terry clicked another key. An enlarged version of the faceless man and Ken Tate appeared. She zoomed to the hand of the faceless man. “Good eyes spotting the ring,” she commented. Kelly and Maddie tried not to smile. “It’s the only distinctive feature we have of our faceless man; other than that, he’s about the same height and build as Ken Tate. Also, the picture seems to have been taken recently.”
Officer Sanders spoke up, “If I may?” All eyes turned to him as he continued. “My understanding is that all three of you now have a degree of personal relationship with Jared Diamond.” The group nodded in accord and Officer Sanders went on, “At this point, I think using your connections with Diamond might be helpful. Especially as it relates to this photo you found. It might be the break we need.”
The focus went back to Jack as he acquiesced, “Okay, but we all agree that any information, even something as small as a discussion about taking selfies with Ken Tate, gets reported.”
FIFTY-EIGHT
Maddie beamed. “Thanks for meeting me, Jared.”
Jared’s lips quickly brushed hers. “This is fun. I don’t mind being a tourist and roaming Cliff Walk.”
“Yeah, this is a great place to walk. It’s especially fun when you get out toward Rough Point and you have to crawl over the rocks. I would imagine it’s a lot like hiking in the mountains?”
Maddie focused on Jared’s eyes to see if he would take the bait. She wasn’t entirely comfortable questioning Jared. She was less comfortable with the idea Jared and Ken’s friendship may have been much more or that he might actually be a killer.
“I’ve actually never made it down that far on Cliff Walk.”
Maddie hoped he would add more information. Nothing. She again tried to float a lure, this time she decided to be more direct. “Have you ever done any mountain hiking?”
“Yes. Back in college. Ken and I used to hike up in New Hampshire.”
The photo of Ken was more recent than that, she thought. “So, were you and Ken always just friends in college?”
Jared shook his head gave a laugh of disbelief as he answered, “What else would we have been?”
“Oh, maybe you had a tutoring relationship or athletic rivalry, or something else?”
Jared’s expression conveyed his confusion. “I don’t know where you’re going with this, Maddie, we were friends. Best friends.”
I don’t know where I was going with that either, Maddie thought. New tactic. “Speaking of Ken, did he have anyone special in his life?”
Jared came to a halt as he addressed her. “Police asked me that too. No, he did not have a girlfriend. To my knowledge, he wasn’t dating anyone. What is going on with you?”
Maddie thought fast. She didn’t need a lie. “Something just popped into my head. It was something Ken said to me the night he…well, the night of the gala.”
“I’m listening,” Jared said.
“He told me he had someone special in his life. Someone he was seeing privately but the person was someone the public would know.”
Jared tipped his head back and laughed.
“Why are you laughing?” Maddie practically screeched.
“Because he was teasing you, Maddie. He was probably talking about me. You didn’t know him the way I did. He was always looking to get a rise out of people, stir up trouble, create mystery, and he loved double entendre. That’s something he would say to draw you in to try to get to know him better. That’s all. Don’t read into it.”
Maddie couldn’t help but blurt out what was going through her head. “But what if he was talking about you, Jared, because he had feelings for you?”
Jared’s face darkened, his lips formed a serious line. “That’s not okay to ask, Maddie. He was my best friend. Don’t try to turn it into something else. I told you I was worried about your involvement with the investigation into Ken’s death. This is one of the reasons. You trying to force me into a conversation that I am not going to have.”
The look of Jared’s anger had melted into hurt. She knew she had pushed him too far. “You are so right, Jared. I should never have asked that. You lost your friend and instead of support, I’m giving you more grief. I really care about you and I am so sorry.”
Jared spun away from her and ran his hands through his hair. When he turned back to face her she desperately scanned his eyes. “This is hard, Maddie. But I really care about you too. I think we can be good together. Let’s just stop talking about Ken and let the police do their job.”
Maddie agreed and allowed him a long, deep kiss.
FIFTY-NINE
Bob lifted his straw fedora and mopped the sweat from his forehead. He had been here for two days scouting out his mark. He watched the bucktoothed girl leave the Royal Cayman Bank. He was feeling pretty confident about his approach. He adjusted his hat and followed her into a coffee shop.
“EEE!” the bucktoothed girl shrieked as ice and tea dripped from her arms.
“Oh, I am so sorry!” Bob exclaimed. “Here, let me help.” In an instant, Bob was caressing the girl’s arm with a napkin. “Please, let me buy you another one,” Bob said connecting with her eyes. “In fact, maybe we could sit down and I could join you?”
◆◆◆
Not an attractive girl, but definitely the right girl, Bob thought as they continued their conversation.
“So, you’re just in town for one night, Mr. Peters?” the girl drawled out.
“Right, I just got here and I need to close out an account at the Royal Cayman Bank tomorrow for my business partner. Hopefully, I brought all the right identification and paperwork. Please, call me Robert.”
“Oh, my gosh! You’re not going to believe this Robert, but I work customer service at that bank.”
“Well, that is a coincidence. You know, I’m on my own for dinner tonight. Perhaps you could recommend a good spot?”
The bucktoothed girl’s body floated toward Bob. Her mouth was slightly agape as she stared at him. “The Painted Palm is really nice,” she said.
Bob met her stare and cast deep into her eyes. “I’m very much looking forward to doing business with you tomorrow.” Time to reel her in, he thought. He laid his hand over hers and whispered into her ear, “but maybe tonight we could do something more personal?”
The bucktoothed girl’s cheeks grew hot and colorful. She gave him an enthusiastic and breathy, “Yes.”
Bob pushed a napkin across the table to her. “Write down your number. I’ll call you when you get out of work.”
The girl’s hand shook with excitement as she wrote her number. “I’ll see you tonight. I’ve got to get back to the bank,” she said.
◆◆◆
Bob entered the bank at 9 a.m. Armed with fake photo identifications, a notarized proxy giving Ken’s business partner, Robert Peters, access to his account, and a few other official documents which Jimmy the Creator had insisted he needed.
His bucktoothed customer service girl looked pretty groggy. Understandable after the night they had.
Twenty minutes later, Ken’s account was closed and Bob was a wealthy man.
◆◆◆
Bob shook the last of the money bundles from his satchel onto the bed of his rented Cayman bungalow.
“I’m rich!” Bob called out. “I win, Cosimo! This time I win.” Now, where will I go next? he thought. He spied some travel magazines on the bedside table and flipped the pages. He paused at the advertisement and said a loud, “Monaco. Nice. The casinos are supposed to be off the hook there.”
“‘You’re the only one who is gonna be off the hook when I feed you to the sharks out here!”
Bob dropped the magazine and spun around. He watched in terror as Cosimo DeCastelleri and Mikey stepped inside the bungalow bedroom door. Cosimo held a gun with a suppressor aimed at Bob’s heart.
Bob began to shake and sweat as he looked at the gun then down at the piles of cash s
pread across the bed.
Bob’s hands were in the air, his eyes and fingers both opened wide. He tried to sputter an explanation, “Look, Mr. D, I was gonna bring you back the money. I was just thinking I could make more of it at the casino. You know, give you a bigger payoff.”
“Shut up, you stupid piece of shit. This isn’t about the money. Five years I’ve had to put up with you because of a promise I made to my uncle. But you know what? I’m an uncle too. Unlike you, you lazy bastard, my nephew was smart. It was his idea to create a business that could launder the family’s money. Filter it into legitimate establishments. That fucking computer company was gonna be a gold mine. We could just take some right off the top and keep it here in paradise,” Cosimo said.