Saving Sharkey

by Felicity Nisbet

  I detected tears in his eyes, but they disappeared immediately, macho teen that he was. “Thanks, Mac.”

  “No problem. I should be lifting weights more myself.” If only to keep ahead of Andy Currie, I thought.

  He jolted at a knock on my front door. “Probably Charlie,” I assured him. “But I’ll make sure.”

  The young lad sighed with visible relief when the detective entered and greeted him as if he were his long-lost grandson. They talked jazz. When Charlie invited him to play with the Covenant Stompers, I knew they would have a close and enduring relationship. His playing out in public would, however, have to wait until matters were resolved with the people who were after him. But that wouldn’t stop them from practicing together in the confines of Charlie’s living room. I groaned. Or mine.

  Once Josh headed for his bedroom where there was a desk set up for studying, Charlie told me about his trip to the prison where he had interviewed several guards, counselors, and fellow inmates of James Webb’s.

  “And?” I prodded.

  “And, according to the guards and prison counselors it sounds as if the man was very remorseful, never wanted to hurt anyone, couldn’t believe he’d done what he did.”

  “Did they think he was sincere or that it was an effort to get out early on good behavior?”

  “They all bought it. Now the question is, was the man a good actor? Apparently he did have problems with rage.”

  “And envy,” I said.

  “Aye. According to one counselor, he learned to control his rage while he was in prison.”

  “So, what’s next?”

  “I’ve set up appointments with a couple of inmates who have been released from prison. They tend to be a wee bit more talkative when they’re not locked up. We can take Josh over to hang out with Matthew at the dorm so he won’t be alone all day. He can go to classes with him as well. I’ve already briefed Matthew on what’s happening with the young lad.”

  “Good idea,” I had to admit. “He’ll enjoy being with some younger people and getting out and about in a reasonably secure environment.”

  “Aye, I thought so. Matthew said he’d stop by to meet him before then.”

  “In other words, you’ve already planned this out.”

  “Indeed I have. And I’ve a call into Webb’s parole officer to find out what I can from him. Apparently the parole officer is out of town, but I should hear from him by the end of the week.”

  Before he asked it, I answered his next question which I predicted from the twinkle in his eyes. “It was a lovely weekend.”

  “So, I detected.”

  “From?”

  “Jenny’s voice.”

  “You talked to her?”

  “Aye, a few times.”

  “Checking up on me?”

  “Och, no. I called her with some information on Josh’s case. And she called me a wee while ago to let me know you had arrived home with Josh.”

  “Did she—say anything?”

  “About you, you mean?”

  “Aye, about me.”

  Charlie chuckled. I should have known better than to go there. “Not a word.”

  “Fine. Very well. If that’s all you’re going to give me.” I stood up. It was my unsubtle way of telling him he had overstayed his welcome.

  “Och, very well then. If you must know, she asked how long I’d known about your feelings for her.”

  Startled by his admission, I turned away from the front door. “And you answered . . . ?”

  “Twenty years,” he confessed sheepishly.

  “Twenty years? You’ve known all this time?”

  “Laddie, you’re not exactly difficult to read, at least not when it comes to your feelings for my daughter.”

  Shocked by this revelation, I sat back down in my easy chair. “Do you think she’s known all these years?”

  “Och no. She didn’t know a thing. She’s always known you were fond of her, but that was all.”

  “But, Charlie, Jenny is the most intuitive person I know. If I’m that easy to read, how could she have not known?”

  “Because she has a wee blind spot. You know this. Otherwise she would not have married Joe Campbell. It’s always more difficult for someone to see something clearly when it involves them . . . and their heart.”

  I shrugged. “This is very true, but still—You’ve really known these twenty years?”

  “Aye, laddie, I’ve really known.”

  Something else occurred to me at that moment. “Do you think Joe knew as well? Do you think he knew I was lusting after his wife?”

  Charlie laughed and stood up. “I suspect that’s one reason the man never warmed to you.”

  “And the other reason?”

  “He knew Jenny was very fond of you as well. And he knew he could never be the man that you are, laddie.” He patted me on the back on his way to the front door.

  It took me a moment to let this information register before I rose to see him out. I would be thinking about this conversation for a long while after.

  “Tell Josh good-bye for me. Be sure to give him my number and have him call me any time he wants to come play that sax of his with me.”

  “Aye, I’ll do that,” I mumbled, my mind still lingering on his recent words.

  “So, now we need to get back to work.”

  I agreed, my mind sauntering back into focus. “And what might our next step be?”

  “Next on the agenda? We break into the man’s house.”

  * * *

  As it turned out, we did not need to break into Sharkey’s house. It was just as well, considering that it was pouring down rain the following day which would have made for a miserable task, aside from the challenge of not leaving evidence of our tracks.

  Sarai left the house infrequently for a walk or to drive to the market, but Charlie had observed her enough to know that it was usually in the early afternoon. We were perched at Charlie’s window, waiting for her to leave. But as we stood there, a car pulled up in front of Charlie’s and a woman popped out and headed for the neighbors. A couple minutes later, she trotted up Charlie’s porch stairs, dodging the raindrops that were the size of tennis balls. Even with her raincoat hood covering her head, we knew who it was. Maureen.

  “Uh oh,” Charlie said. “The lass seems to be on a tear. I think we’re about to be scolded for continuing surveillance of her wayward husband past the agreed time limit.”

  “Either that or she’s found out something herself about him.”

  Charlie’s eyebrow rose slightly as he considered that possibility just before he went to open the door. “Come in, lass, you look like a drooket craw.”

  Setting down her umbrella on the porch, Maureen entered and whipped off her wet raincoat, handing it to Charlie. He hung it on the tree near the door and went directly to the kitchen to put the kettle on for more tea.

  “So, what brings you here, lassie?” I bravely asked.

  “I know you’re still following him. I told you just one more week. It’s past that!”

  Neither of us responded. Charlie had the excuse of busying himself with tea. I had none.

  “How did you know?” My curiosity got the better of me.

  “I’m not stupid, you know.” Ah, indeed we did know. “I’ve seen your men parked out on our street in the mornings, as if Andy would go somewhere other than to work at eight o’clock in the morning.” Before I could interject, she said, “Other than Seattle’s Best or Starbuck’s.”

  I opted not to mention his favorite independent café a block from his office.

  She rolled her eyes, then looked from Charlie to me and back again. “Well, you can stop. Okay?”

  Again neither of us responded.

  “Okay?” she said more loudly.

  Charlie carried a tray that held the freshly brewed tea and a cup for her, and a platter of cookies into the living room where he set it down on the coffee table. Automatically, Maureen sat down on the couch. I joined her whi
le Charlie sat in the chair with the best view of the window.

  “Are you certain about this, lass?” he asked.

  “I am. I’m sure.” She sighed and accepted the cup that I had filled for her. Snatching a short bread cookie from the platter and chomping into it, she said, “If you haven’t found anything on him by now, chances are, you’re not going to.”

  “Why did you have us continue for the week?” Charlie asked gently.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. He was just—” She looked down at the cookie in her hand and tossed it onto her saucer. “He was coming home late every night. Said it was work, but—”

  She was on the verge of tears. I took the tea cup from her and set it on the table and leaned closer to put an arm around her shoulder just as the tears started to flow. Charlie went for a box of tissue while I comforted the young lass.

  Maureen grabbed several tissues from the box Charlie held out to her. Several sniffles and nose blows later, she shook her head and said, “It’s just, he’s been so cold lately. Like he doesn’t even like me.”

  “Is he like this often?”

  “In fits and starts,” she said. “Sometimes he acts like a loving devoted husband.” The operative word being “acts,” I thought. “Like he did before we were married. There doesn’t even seem to be a pattern. It doesn’t appear to be related to stress at work either.” She sighed. “He was never like this before we got married. And he’s not like this around other people. Only me. Hot and cold.” She puffed out a sigh. “More like lukewarm and cold lately.”

  “I’m sorry, lass. Maybe you need to talk to a therapist. Together. Maybe that would help.”

  “I’ve suggested it, but he laughs at the idea and then he gets really nice for a while. Then after a while he slips back into being—a jerk.”

  “Which is when you go to stay at your dad’s,” I said.

  She nodded.

  “Are you sure then, that you want us to stop tailing him?”

  “Yes, I’m sure.” She stuffed her tissue into her pocket and reached for her tea cup. After a long warming sip, she said, “But I have something else I want you to do.”

  “And what might that be?” Charlie asked.

  The tears started spilling out again. “Find my father!”

  Again I placed a gentle arm around her shoulders. “We’re already on it, lassie.”

  The tears stopped and reality sank in. “Oh my God. That means you think something’s wrong too! He really is missing!”

  We were both silent. I was certain Charlie’s mind was in the same place as mine as we tried to decide what we could say that would not alarm her more than she already was. Finally, I said, “We don’t know if there’s cause for concern, Maureen. But we just want to be sure nothing has happened. You know we have a tendency to be overly cautious.”

  Her half smile indicated that she understood. “Yeah, like it’s taking me a threat and a tear to get you to back off Andy. Have you asked Sarai what she knows? “

  “We have,” Charlie said. “I spoke with her yesterday. She says he called from Thailand a few days ago.”

  “Yeah, right, like I believe that.” She focused in on Charlie, then me. “You don’t believe that either, do you?”

  “Why don’t you believe it?” Charlie resorted to his usual tactic of turning the question on the other person.

  “Because if he called her, he would have called me too. I’ve left six hundred messages for him.”

  We hadn’t left quite that many, but it felt close.

  “What’s he doing in Thailand anyway?” The light seemed to turn on. “No way is he in Thailand!”

  “Why no way?” Charlie asked, fishing as usual.

  “Because he would have told me he’s going there.”

  Same thought we had. “Did he tell you before he went last time?”

  “A few weeks ago? Yes, of course. He always tells me where he’s going.”

  “And did he tell you his reason for going?” Charlie asked.

  “Not really. He just said it had to do with Sarai. I didn’t really ask. But he told me he was going. And he would have told me this time too. Did he tell you?”

  “No, he didn’t,” I confessed. “The only one he seems to have told is Sarai.”

  Again that eagle eye focus moved back and forth between Charlie and me. The lass was as keen as I had believed she was. Except when it came to her husband, again proving Charlie’s theory that it’s easier to see things clearly when your emotions are not involved. “You’re thinking the same thing, aren’t you? You don’t believe he’s in Thailand either.”

  “We honestly don’t know what to believe.”

  “When did you last see Sarai?”

  “I spoke with her yesterday,” Charlie repeated.

  “No, when did you actually see her?” Maureen asked and it suddenly appeared that the detective and the witness had changed places.

  “Why, lass? What are you getting at?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just easier to tell if someone is lying when you see them in person.”

  “True. When did you last see her?”

  “That day I stopped by looking for Dad. She won’t even talk to me anymore! She won’t open the door. I know she’s there because I can hear her shuffling on the other side of the door and looking through the peep hole and when she sees it’s me, she refuses to open it. She has that chain latched so my key won’t get me in.”

  Charlie looked bewildered and I knew what he was thinking. The camera had shown no evidence of her coming to the house. “When did you go over there?”

  “Just now.”

  Ah, we hadn’t checked the camera yet.

  “Just this once since the time we saw you there?” I asked.

  “Yeah. But she wouldn’t answer so I came here. My dad said you live across the street. I tried a couple of neighbors and they directed me here.” Maureen stood up and looked down at us. “So, what are you doing to find my dad?”

  I left this one to Charlie. “Well, we’ve been questioning people as to his whereabouts.”

  “Like who?”

  Charlie’s smile was rather sheepish, relatively speaking. “Like you and your brother.”

  A smile softened her sigh. “So that’s why you came out to Bellevue. You weren’t really considering investing in property out there. You wanted to see what we knew.”

  Charlie shrugged.

  “You don’t suspect us of something, do you?”

  Charlie shook his head quickly. “Och, no, lassie. We just wanted to see if he’d been in contact with you, without worrying you.”

  Her glare eased. “Okay. So who else?”

  “We’ve spoken to the soccer team and a few others.” He had opted to leave out the ex-con—for good reason. Why give the lass more cause for concern? “Once we get hold of your dad’s index file of names and numbers, we can start questioning more people.”

  “And how do you plan to do that?”

  Charlie chuckled. “We had planned to break in and get it, but since you have a key, you’ve just made our task easier.”

  “So, what’s stopping you from asking Sarai for it?”

  “Basically, we’d have to tell her we don’t believe her about his being in Thailand. We’d rather not do that, not quite yet anyway.”

  “But she keeps that chain on, so how will you get in?”

  “When she leaves. She goes to the market most days. At least she takes the small car out for a wee while.” He opted not to mention the camera. “That’s why I’ve been sitting here looking out the window the whole time you’ve been here.”

  “Ah, you’ve been watching for her to leave.”

  “Exactly.” He held out his hand and she pulled the key off her key ring and handed it to him.

  “So, how is it you didn’t know I’d been over there before coming here?” she asked, again impressing me with her cleverness.

  “I was making a pot of tea,” Charlie answered. Smiling,
he said, “It always takes my full attention.”

  She almost smiled. “Is that why it’s so strong?”

  He laughed. “Aye, it does have the reputation of being just that.”

  We both walked her to the door where Charlie opened it wide so he wouldn’t miss Sarai’s departure.

  “After we get hold of his card file, we’ll probably have you come over and go through it with us. Is that okay?”

  “Of course. There are two of them. Business and personal.” Her expression was more solemn now. It was then that it occurred to me that if someone were after Sharkey’s money, wouldn’t they kidnap someone he cared about like his son or his daughter instead of him? That way they could ask for ransom. And if they did kidnap him, and they were after his money, surely they would have forced him to contact his children to authorize them to release funds by now.

  After Maureen left, I pointed that out to Charlie.

  “Aye, I’m well aware of that, laddie. It will be a lot more difficult to force him to access his money when the only one they can release in exchange is him. He would know they could just as easily dispose of him. Aside from that, it’s logistically difficult when they’re holding him captive. Any of his financial institutions will be suspicious if a large amount of money is moved without his doing it in person.”

  “So, why are we even considering money as a possible motive?” I asked.

  “Because it’s a lot less contemptible than the alternative.”

  Revenge. “When did you say we’re going to talk to those ex-convicts?”

  “Soon,” he answered, just as his face lit up. “Grab your jacket, Malcolm. We’re going in.”

  I looked up just in time to see Sarai backing out of the driveway.

  Chapter 15

  I held the umbrella while Charlie fumbled with the key. Just as he had it primed for the keyhole, the door opened. He swallowed the key inside his hand while I swallowed my tongue. I never did think I was cut out for this detective gig.

  “Hello!” Mok greeted us with a large grin.

  “Mok!” Charlie recovered before I did. “We didn’t know you were here.”

  “I come night last from San Francisco. Sarai pick up me. She drive car now,” he said proudly. No wonder we didn’t realize he was back. He had ridden in the BMW which Sarai parked in the garage. “You come see who?”