Kendall - Private Detective - Box Set

by John Holt

  Mollie looked puzzled. Here we go again. It was a simple enough question, why couldn’t she get a simple enough answer. “What do you mean not quite?” she asked.

  “Well don’t forget, firstly, she wasn’t going to leave him,” Kendall replied. “It was actually the other way around. He was actually planning on leaving her. She couldn’t accept that, and made out that it was actually her idea.”

  Kendall paused for a few moments. He looked at the box of chocolates lying in front of him. It was emptying fast. There in the middle was one of those hazel clusters that he was so fond of. He reached into the box and picked it up. “Yes, that’s what she told us that very first time she came here.”

  “And that’s what her father had said wasn’t it?” Mollie said.

  “That’s right,” said Kendall. “But that is what she had told him. She did not want it known that it was Simmonds rejecting her, but it was Simmonds who wanted the divorce. She would not agree, and threatened to stop the rather nice allowance that he was receiving every month. Furthermore she threatened to tell the police everything of her suspicions about the robbery four years previously.”

  “But that would have incriminated her, wouldn’t it,” Mollie replied.

  Kendall shook his head. “No,” he said. “She had nothing to do with the robbery.”

  Mollie looked puzzled again. “But she was seen at the door, the night of the robbery. Mary said so. She was seen waving at someone running across the lawn. Someone that we now know was Carl Simmonds.”

  “That’s absolutely right,” said Kendall. “But she wasn’t involved in the robbery. She was so surprised to see Carl Simmonds that night. She couldn’t understand it. There he was, running away from the house. She recognized him and waved, that’s all. Carl Simmonds had planned the whole thing, with the help of none other than Mary herself.”

  “Mary,” repeated Mollie. “Mary Dwyer?”

  “That’s right,” Kendall said. “When Eve turned back into the hallway that night, she saw Mary looking at her from the top of the stairs. At the time she thought nothing of it. It was very much later that she guessed that Mary was the inside accomplice. Simmonds had met Mary shortly after she had arrived from Ireland. Mary had told us that much, do you remember?”

  Mollie thought for a moment or two, and then nodded her head. “I met him about a year before he married Miss Evie,” she said as she remembered exactly what Mary had said.

  “Simmonds and Mary started going out together,” Kendall continued his story. “The local dance, and the cinema, and things like that. That information came from Mary’s friends at Jerry’s bar. But they thought that his name was actually Jack Warner.”

  Mollie nodded her head. “The illusive boyfriend who was supposedly killed in a car crash.”

  “That same boyfriend that Mary had brought into the property earlier on the evening of the robbery,” Kendall said. “Then came the car crash that was supposed to have happened shortly after Simmonds had married Eve Bradley,” Kendall explained. “Strangely enough neither Mary’s friends, nor Jerry, actually liked Simmonds. He wasn’t a very likeable kind of person.”

  Mollie nodded. “I can well understand that, after seeing him.”

  Kendall knew exactly what she meant. “Anyway, a short time after meeting Mary he got the idea of stealing the jewels. In fact it was probably Mary’s idea originally. Either way she would be a great help to him in that respect. She could switch off the alarms. She knew where the security cameras were, and where the controls were. She could unlock the door, and she could find out the combination of the safe. In return Simmonds had promised to marry her. And so the plan proceeded.”

  “But he didn’t marry Mary, did he” Mollie said.

  “No he didn’t,” Kendall replied. He thought for a few moments. “Do you remember what she said when I asked her about boy friends?” Mollie shook her head. She could not remember. Kendall smiled. “No, there’s no boyfriend, she said.”

  “Not now,” Mollie added quickly.

  Kendall nodded. Correct, he said. “Incidentally Mary lied to us about her parents. Do you remember she said that they were both dead?” Mollie nodded. “Well I checked with the Garda in Ireland. They are both getting on a bit, but they are very much alive.”

  “The Garda,” repeated Mollie. “Who, or what are they?”

  Kendall smiled. “The Garda is the police force of the Irish Republic. I sent them an email asking about Mary’s parents. I got the reply this morning.”

  “You sent an email?” Mollie said disbelievingly. “Wonders will never cease.”

  Kendall smiled, and made a face at her. “I know how to use Photoshop as well,” he replied.

  Mollie smiled, and nodded her head. “So what about the robbery,” Mollie continued. “What happened next? Don’t keep me in suspense.”

  Kendall started to smile. “A few months before the plan was to go ahead, Simmonds met Eve herself. He saw a golden opportunity for even greater wealth. In the meantime he continued to see Mary and they finalized their plans. Mary of course had no idea about his friendship with Eve, and of course Eve had no idea about his relationship with Mary. On the night of the wedding anniversary the plan was put into action. Mary brought Simmonds on to the property. She then carried out her tasks as planned. The security lights were switched off, and the cameras were de-activated. The front door was left unlocked, and the robbery took place.”

  “Following a sudden noise, Eve came down the stairs and saw the front door wide open. She went over to close it. Then something strange happened. As she went to the door she looked out into the darkness. She saw something that night. She could not understand it, and for a while she thought that she must have made a mistake. Perhaps she was dreaming, but she thought that she recognized someone. She was certain that she had seen someone running back into the woods. She was certain that it was Carl Simmonds, and she waved to him.”

  “Simmonds saw someone wave to him and assumed that it was Mary. He waved back. She knew then that it was Carl. But what was he doing there, at that time of night, and why hadn’t he called her was a mystery. Then of course the robbery was discovered. She wasn’t sure how but at that point Eve knew that Carl was somehow connected with the robbery. She did not want to believe it and she certainly wasn’t going to say anything to anyone, so she said nothing. She tried to shake it from her mind, but she knew that it was no mistake. Simmonds thought that he was in the clear. Home and dry. He was, except for one thing. He had been seen by Charles Wheeler. Wheeler thought he saw a way to make some money, and started to blackmail Simmonds. We know what happened subsequently. A few weeks later Simmonds got married, but he married Eve, not Mary. Simmonds knew that Mary could not say anything, because of her part in the whole thing.”

  “And Eve wouldn’t say anything,” suggested Mollie.

  “That’s right,” Kendall said. “What she did do though was to persuade Simmonds to just return the jewelry, which he did, but of course she never expected Carl to demand money for its return. She only found out about that sometime afterwards. Anyway after the robbery Simmonds continued to see Mary for quite some time, then Eve found out.”

  “That’s when he asked for the divorce,” Mollie said.

  “Oh no it was a long while after, and it had nothing to do with Mary,” Kendall replied. “Anyway, the point is that Eve refused and she threatened to go to the police and tell them everything that she knew about the robbery.”

  “So in a way she was the blackmailer,” said Mollie. “And not Carl Simmonds.”

  “Correct,” Kendall replied. “Certainly the fake kidnap of Carl Simmonds was his own plan. And certainly in that regard he was blackmailing her. But that was not his real purpose. There was one purpose and one purpose only. And I’m sure that you already know what that was. It was to give Simmonds a cast iron alibi for when Eve Simmonds was murdered. It would be the perfect murder. He would have the best of alibis. How could he be the murderer when he was being held
against his will, almost a thousand miles away in New York? Naturally the ransom money to be paid was an added bonus, and not to be turned down.”

  “Yes I understand that, but I’m still puzzled,” Mollie said. “She suspected something about that kidnapping. Somehow it didn’t seem quite genuine.” Kendall said nothing, but nodded his agreement. “If she knew that it was a hoax, why did she continue to pay up? Why not just call his bluff?”

  “Don’t forget Mollie, Eve Simmonds only suspected that the kidnapping was a hoax, her suspicions had been aroused by the notepaper,” Kendall replied. “Unfortunately she did not know why it was being staged. She wasn’t even sure whether her suspicions were correct. Maybe she thought it was a hoax but decided to go along with it to find out why. What was it all about? On the other hand perhaps she was wrong. It wasn’t a hoax. Perhaps it really was genuine. After all that notepaper could be used by hundreds of others. Perhaps Simmonds was being held against his will. He might be killed. Despite everything she didn’t want that. She didn’t want him dead. You see she always believed that maybe she could win him back, and everything would be all right once more. So she decided to go along with it.”

  “Why didn’t it occur to Simmonds that the notepaper might arouse suspicions?” Mollie asked. “I mean he must have known that she used that paper.”

  “It probably never occurred to him. He never gave it a thought,” Kendall replied. “Besides notepaper was notepaper. Hundreds of people would use the same type of paper, the same brand. He obviously never dreamed that it would be a problem. But she noticed the paper. But she wasn’t sure if it meant anything. Certainly she used that paper, but so did many others. The problem though was the actual probability of that actual type of paper being used, and whether or not it was purely co-incidental, or was it more significant.”

  “Which of course it could have been,” said Mollie.

  “That’s right,” said Kendall. “It could have been. Eve Simmonds could not believe that it was significant. She could not believe that Carl wasn’t being held. It had to be genuine. It was just a co-incidence she decided. Or at the very least she was not prepared to take the risk. It could have been genuine. She just was not sure. But even if it were co-incidence it was still only one of several little items. Items like the small piece of paper that I found at the pay off site, the receipt from the hotel.”

  “The careless neighbor driving into the car,” suggested Mollie.

  “That’s right.” said Kendall. “As you say, the careless neighbor. All of these little aspects, all possibly co-incidental, all come together to become something more definite, more conclusive. Once again proving that there is no such thing as the perfect murder, the culprit will always slip up somewhere. That’s human nature.”

  “Just as well, said Mollie. Kendall nodded in agreement. “One other thing that puzzles me though,” said Mollie, chewing on another chocolate. “If Simmonds was in Florida all the time how did he manage to send the ransom letters from New York?”

  “Mollie, think about it,” said Kendall. “It really was very easy.” Mollie said nothing, but continued to look puzzled. Kendall shrugged. “He merely gave the letters to his associates who were in New York, and told them to post them on pre-arranged dates.”

  Mollie nodded. “Right,” she replied simply, reaching for the chocolates once again. “So the case is solved.”

  “Not quite,” said Kendall. “Mary has disappeared. But the police will pick her up soon I expect. The murder of Charles Wheeler is being re-examined. I don’t think it will be long before Carl Simmonds is charged with that one.”

  “Well at least the murder of Eve Simmonds has been solved,” Mollie said.

  Kendall nodded. “Well I’m certainly glad that it’s all over,” he said. “It was such an involved case. There were so many lies. And so many people trying to mislead us, or keep things from us. You really didn’t know who was telling the truth.”

  Mollie smiled at him. “If someone actually made up a story like that you would never believe it would you?”

  “No one could make up a story like that,” Kendall replied. “Never in a million years. It’s just too involved, too complicated.” He paused and took a breath. He started to laugh. You know what they say? Real life can sometimes be stranger than fiction.”

  “Well it certainly was in this case,” Mollie said nodding her head.

  “You can say that again,” said Kendall. He looked at the file in front of him. He slowly closed it. “Of course we didn’t make as much money as we thought we would. Of course it didn’t help much our client getting killed like that before we cashed her check.”

  “And naturally Simmonds wasn’t going to pay us for discovering his little secret was he,” said Mollie. She reached down and silently opened the drawer to her desk. On the top lay a check for one hundred thousand dollars. It was signed by Eve Simmonds. She took it out of the drawer, and placed it on the desk in front of Kendall.

  Kendall looked at the check and shrugged. Now that she was dead it probably could not be cashed. Her assets would all be tied up by the courts whilst her estate was being sorted out. It would take years. That’s how things turned out sometimes. “We won’t be able to cash that now,” he said.

  There was a sudden knock on the door. Then there was a second knock. It opened and Ann Wheeler came in, a little breathless. “I can’t stop,” she said. “But I thought I would bring this in.” She placed a small package on the desk in front of Kendall. “Must go,” she said. “And my thanks once again for all that you have done.” She hurried out, pulling the door closed behind her.

  Kendall looked puzzled. He picked up the package and opened it. Inside was a note, thanking him for what he had done, and asking him to accept the enclosed payment for his services. He emptied the package on to the desk. There was a small bundle of ten dollar bills. He counted them out slowly. Two hundred dollars he announced enthusiastically.

  He gave Mollie two of the ten-dollar bills. He also handed her the un-cashed check from Eve Simmonds. “Frame it,” he said. “It’ll look good on the wall over there.” He pointed to the far wall.

  “Shouldn’t cost any more than fifteen, or twenty, dollars,” said Mollie

  Kendall nodded. “Pass the chocolates over please,” he said. “Are there any of those hazelnut clusters, or those strawberry ripple things. You know the ones.” He licked his lips. “I like them,” he said.

  Mollie quickly checked the box. There were none left. She had eaten them all. But there were still two or three of those Coffee Creams that nobody seemed to want.

  Maybe, she murmured. Just maybe.

  Epidemic

  John Holt

  Phoenix Publishing – Essex - UK

  © John Holt - March 2013

  CONDITIONS OF SALE

  John Holt has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998 to be identified as the author of this work.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanning, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine or journal.

  This book has been sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data .

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  Printing History

  First published by Raider Publishing International, in New York, January 20
09.

  This edition was published by Phoenix, Essex, UK, in March 2013

  ISBN

  978-1-291-31603-2

  Preface

  The story that follows is totally fictitious. It is a story, nothing more and nothing less. All places and persons included in the story are totally imaginary, and any similarity to actual persons alive or dead, is totally co-incidentally, and unintentional.

  Although many of the places mentioned do actually exist, it is only the names that are real in the story. They have, however, been changed as necessary for my own purposes, i.e. to serve the needs of this story.

  * * *

  The photograph on the front cover is used by courtesy of The United States Navy and is greatly appreciated.

  My thanks go to Michael and Barbara Morton for their un-tiring work in checking the formatting of the manuscript.

  I am grateful to Lauren Ridley, of Cherryloco Jewellery for allowing me to base the Phoenix logo on her design.

  John Holt

  Chapter One

  Costa Rica – Six Months Ago

  There was really only the one major news story that Monday morning. Oh, certainly, there was other news that day; there was no doubt about that. In fact, that weekend had been busier than usual. There had been a major landslide in the northern part of the country following a period of prolonged heavy rain. There had been a substantial amount of damage, but fortunately nobody had been hurt. One hundred and thirty miles to the south, in San Jose, trade discussions with Nicaragua had, at last, restarted after weeks of postponement and delay. On the labor market the Minister of Labor had announced higher than expected unemployment figures, causing widespread protests. And, last but not least, oil workers at the Attico Plant were threatening to take strike action for better working conditions.