Murdered in Argentina: A Jack Trout Cozy Mystery

by Dianne Harman

  “Of course, sweetheart. See you in the morning.” She stood for a moment with her head cocked towards the door. “Jack, wait a minute. Do you hear something? It sounds like raised voices.”

  “Since this is my gig, I better see if some of my guests have a problem.” He got out of bed, walked over to the door, put his ear next to it, and listened while Carola stood next to him. They heard raised voices that seemed to be coming from Lisa and Ray’s room across the hall. Both the woman’s voice and the man’s voice sounded very angry. A few moments later they heard a door slam, and then it was quiet. They stepped away from the door and looked at each other.

  “Well,” Jack said, “most married couples have arguments from time to time and from what we’ve seen of those two, I’m not particularly surprised. Sounds like one of them decided to leave for a while and cool off. I’m sure everything will be fine in the morning. Now, I really do need to get some sleep. Loves.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Jack and Carola were abruptly awakened shortly after midnight by loud pounding on their door. It was followed by a woman’s voice crying and screaming at the same time, “Jack, Carola, open up. It’s me, Lisa.”

  “Coming,” Jack yelled as he put on a pair of jeans, while Carola hurriedly pulled her robe around her and scooped up Cayo who was hissing, his back arched, and his body puffed up. He looked like a caricature of a Halloween cat, and it was obvious he didn’t like what was happening. Carola put him in his carrier.

  Jack opened the door a moment later and Lisa immediately ran into the room, shaking and sobbing. “He’s dddeead,” she stuttered over and over. She had a hysterical look in her eyes, and her face was streaked with eye shadow and mascara from tears that were running freely down her face.

  “Lisa, I don’t understand,” Jack said, putting his hands on her heaving shoulders. “Who’s dead? What’s happened?”

  “It’s Rrray,” she said gulping for breath. “He’s dead. He’s been strangled. It’s all my fault. I never should have left him alone tonight.” Jack could barely understand what she was saying because she was crying so hard. “What will happen to me? I don’t have anyone else,” she wailed.

  “Carola, Lisa, stay here. I’m going across the hall.”

  Jack walked into Lisa and Ray’s room and stopped. Ray was lying on his side in the large king size bed with his body turned away from the door. Wound tightly around his neck was a whip, and Jack’s first thought was that it looked exactly like the gaucho’s whip that had hung on the wall in the hallway. It was such a bizarre sight Jack had trouble accepting what his eyes were seeing. He took a deep breath and walked over to the bed. He stood next to Ray’s body and listened. There was no sound of breathing coming from Ray, and his face had turned blue. Jack lifted his wrist and felt for a pulse, but there was none. Ray was clearly dead. Jack stood in shock for several moments and then pulled the sheet up to cover Ray’s face. He walked back across the hall to his room and said, “Carola, stay here with Lisa. I need to get Santiago, the ranch manager. His house is next door. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Jack knocked on the door of the nearby ranch manager’s home, and a moment later a voice asked who was there. “Santiago, it’s me, Jack Trout. I’m sorry to bother you, but there’s an emergency at the lodge.”

  Santiago flung the door open and said, “Senor Trout, what is it?”

  “One of the guests is dead. It looks like he was murdered. There’s a whip wrapped around his neck, and it looks like he was strangled to death with it. I didn’t know if I should call the police or what I should do, so I came here.”

  “Come in, Senor Trout. I will get dressed and call the police. They have jurisdiction over matters such as this. I will be back in a moment.”

  He returned a few moments later and said, “The police are on their way. The chief of police is my brother-in-law. I will walk with you to the lodge, and we can wait there until they arrive. Who has died?”

  “Ray Martin. He’s the owner of the company that all of the guests at the lodge work for. They’re going to be in shock when they hear about it. I don’t know what we’ll do about their fishing trip. I suppose they’ll want to cancel the trip, since their boss is dead. I need to tell them before they hear it from the police.” He looked at Santiago who had a strange look on his face.

  “What is it, Santiago? You had a very strange look on your face when I told you who had died.”

  Santiago took a deep breath and said, “I know it is not my place to tell you this, but there may be some problems with this death. It sounds like a murder has been committed, and you will probably not like what I am going to say. I would ask that this conversation go no farther. I have known you for many years, and I know you to be a man of your word. Can you assure me that this is between us?”

  “Yes, of course. What is it?”

  “My brother-in-law is a very good man, however his daughter, my niece, married an American man several years ago and left Argentina to go with him to the United States. The man she married is not a good man. My niece was given a great deal of money from our family here in Argentina as a wedding present. We asked that it be kept in her name, and told her if she ever needed to return to Argentina she was welcome to do so. We didn’t think the marriage would last. Evidently she told her husband about the money. Soon thereafter, my brother-in-law received a letter from her saying she would never return to Argentina, that her husband’s family had become her real family, and that she had given all the family money to her husband. It broke my brother-in-law’s heart, not to mention the fact that the money was gone.”

  “That is very sad, Santiago, but I fail to see what it has to do with the murder.”

  “It pains me to say this, but my brother-in-law, the police chief, has developed an extreme hatred for all Americans.”

  “I’m sorry to be so dense, but I still don’t see what any of this has to do with my client’s death,” Jack said.

  Santiago stopped walking and turned to Jack. “His hatred of Americans is so intense I don’t think he will do anything to find the killer. I believe he will simply feel it is a kind of karmic justice, your client’s life for his daughter’s life.”

  “You can’t be serious!” Jack exclaimed. “Doesn’t he have to uphold the law in his position, and wouldn’t that mean he has to investigate this case?”

  “He will go through the motions, but it will be at the bottom of his things to do. I have seen this before with him, although not with a murder. When Americans have had problems of one kind or another, they pretty much have to figure out what to do on their own. Jack, there is also the problem we have here with corruption.”

  “Yes, I’ve lived on and off in Chile long enough to know it exists in South America.”

  “It not only exists, there are plenty of people who like to give the police money in hopes that their problems will be the first ones to be taken care of, and they usually are,” Santiago said. “We are at the lodge now, and since so many lights are turned on, I would imagine your guests already know about the murder. There is one more thing I need to tell you before we go in.”

  “What is that?” Jack asked, his hand on the front door handle.

  “Your guests might as well go fishing for three days. There is only one flight out of San Martin each day. It goes to Buenos Aries, and it is booked for weeks in advance. There is no way your guests can get out of San Martin until the day on which they have already made their flight reservations.”

  “I’d forgotten about that. Carola mentioned she was glad someone had tipped her off that she needed to book the plane reservations so far in advance. I guess we’ll continue pretty much as planned, but that also means the victim’s wife won’t be able to transfer his body out of the country until their scheduled flight.”

  “That is correct, my friend, but at least if your clients fish for three days the guides will still get their tips. They need those very much. A guide’s life is not an easy one.”

  CHAPTE
R 12

  Santiago was right. When he and Jack got to the top of the stairs, all of the guests were in the hallway as well as several of the ranch workers. Jack walked over to where Carola and Lisa were standing, Carola with her arm around Lisa, who was softly weeping. The guests and the ranch workers turned toward him.

  “This is a tragedy. The police chief has been notified, and he’s on his way here. Santiago tells me it will be impossible to change our reservations and get a flight out of San Martin, as there’s only one flight out per day, and it’s booked months in advance. I believe you told me the same thing, Carola, right?” Jack said looking over at her.

  “Yes. To try and hire drivers and arrange for the necessary vehicles would mean delays far longer than waiting for the scheduled flight on Thursday. We have no choice but to stay here. Jack, what about the fishing?”

  He looked at the guests and said, “The guides have been hired and will be ready for you in the morning. While I know how tragic this must be for each of you, there really is nothing we can do. It may sound trite, but knowing Ray as I knew him, I honestly think he would want you to continue with your trip. He prepaid for everything before he left the United States, so you might as well take advantage of it.”

  “Jack,” Kevin said. “Ray was a wonderful boss. All of us know how important fishing was to him, and I’m going to think of it as kind of like an Irish wake. Where the Irish honor the decedent with some whiskey, I think all of us should pay a final tribute to Ray by catching the biggest trout we can and do it in his honor. What do you say?” he said looking at the other guests.

  One by one, they nodded their heads in agreement. “Since that’s been decided, we should go back to bed,” Kevin said. “Morning will come early enough. Hopefully we may know something by then. All we know now is that Ray’s dead, and it looks like he was murdered, although that seems hard to believe.”

  “Does that mean someone here at the lodge killed him?” Brad, a middle-aged man with a shock of red hair and freckles asked.

  “No, not necessarily,” Santiago said. “We are so remote here that we never even lock our doors. It could have been anyone. Senora Martin, do you know if anything was taken from your room?”

  “I simply don’t know. I can’t stand the thought of having to go back in there,” she said in a tremulous voice.

  “Everyone, please go back to your rooms, and I’ll see you in the morning,” Jack said. He motioned for Santiago, Lisa, and Carola to step into his and Carola’s room. It became very quiet and the four of them could hear Cayo mewling in his carrier.

  “Lisa, do you know if Ray carried much money? Did he have any jewelry or other things of value?” Jack asked.

  She took a sip of water from the glass Carola had given her and said, “He mentioned you’d told him to bring about $1,000 in U.S. dollars for each of us to use as spending money. Ray said instead he was going to bring $3,000 for us, and then I could buy whatever I wanted. As far as jewelry, the only things he had were a Rolex watch and a large diamond ring.”

  “I’ll go in and see if they’re missing. Santiago, since the police chief is your brother-in-law, would you take Carola and Lisa downstairs and wait for him? I’ll be down shortly.” He began to walk back across the hall and stopped. “Lisa, one more thing. Where did Jack keep his passport?”

  “He had a document holder he usually kept in his briefcase. He often worked on business when we flew, and he liked to keep all of his things together. My passport is with his. Look in his briefcase. It should be there.”

  Jack had no desire to go into the room where Ray was, but given what Santiago had said about corruption and what he knew from his own personal experience, he didn’t want someone else to find the Rolex, ring, money, and passports. He knew Ray’s body would probably be taken to a funeral home after the police chief came, so he’d better get those things now.

  After he entered Ray’s room, he walked over to the bed and saw the Rolex on the nightstand. He put it in his pocket. Jack pulled the sheet down and tried to avoid looking at Ray while he concentrated on his hands. Well, there’s the ring Lisa mentioned. This is not something I’m looking forward to, but I guess there’s no other way to do it. I’ll have to twist it and hope it comes off. That diamond is so big it’s not a far stretch to think that someone would cut off Ray’s finger to steal it. After what seemed like an eternity, he was able to get the ring over Ray’s knuckle. He pulled the sheet back up and turned away from Ray, feeling bile start to rise in this throat.

  Jack saw a large briefcase on the table and looked inside it. He found an inside pouch that appeared to be the document holder Lisa mentioned. He took it out and opened it. Inside he found Ray and Lisa’s passports, $2,800 in cash, and two credit cards.

  This is bizarre, Jack thought. It doesn’t look like anything has been stolen, so why was he murdered? If it was a random murder and a stranger had snuck into the lodge, surely he would have taken the passports, money, and the watch, even if he couldn’t get the ring off Ray’s finger. I have no idea what could have happened or why.

  He had just started towards the door when he remembered he’d told Ray to take his antique fishing gear up his room, so it wouldn’t be stolen. He looked around the room and didn’t see any of it. Jack began a closer examination of the closet, the bathroom, and the room itself. He even got down on his hands and knees and looked under the bed. Ray’s fishing equipment was not in the room.

  Maybe he gave it to one of the guides, so it would be ready for him in the morning, although that seems far-fetched. I’ll have to ask them, but it certainly is strange.

  He heard a car drive up, looked out the window, and saw two policeman getting out of a police car. Jack walked down the hall to the stairs. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed there was a blank space on the wall where the whip had been displayed.

  The whip that was used to murder Ray must have been the one that was hanging on the wall. It really doesn’t tell me anything about whether or not it was premeditated. Someone could have pulled it off the wall in anger just before killing him or knew it was there and planned on using it ahead of time.

  As he walked down the stairs he shook his head, not knowing what to think about the strange twist of events that had happened.

  CHAPTER 13

  When Jack got to the bottom of the stairs he saw Carola sitting next to Lisa who was softly weeping. Santiago was talking to a man in a police uniform who Jack assumed was his brother-in-law.

  “Jack, I want you to meet my brother-in-law, Ramiro Gomez. He’s the San Martin chief of police.” They shook hands.

  “Santiago,” Ramiro said, “where is the body of Senor Martin?”

  “It’s upstairs in the second room on the left,” Santiago answered. The chief of police and his deputy walked up the stairs.

  Several minutes later the chief came down the stairs and said, “My deputy will call the mortuary and look for evidence. While he does that I’d like each of you to tell me what happened. Senora Martin, I’d like to start with you.”

  Lisa wiped her eyes with the Kleenex she was holding in her hand and began to speak. “Ray and I had an argument in our room after dinner. I thought it would be best if we stayed away from each other for a little while, so I left the room and came down here. I had a glass of wine and read a fashion magazine I’d brought with me. I was probably down here for two hours or more. When I walked back up to the room and opened the door, I saw Ray in bed. I thought he’d fallen asleep after taking his nightly sleeping pill, but then I saw the whip twisted around his neck. I walked over to him and realized he was dead. I turned around and ran across the hall to Jack and Carola’s room. That’s all I know. Ray’s dead,” she murmured through her tears.

  “Senora Martin, I am sorry for your loss. We will do what we can to try and find out who did this. Senor and Senora Trout, do you have anything to add to what Senora Martin told me?” the police chief asked.

  “No. We were asleep and were awakened by Lisa pou
nding on our door and yelling for us. That’s really all we know. How long do you think it will take to find something out?” Jack asked.

  The police chief rose as his deputy came down the stairs with the whip in his hand. “We will try to get back here in the next day or so to talk to the others. We have several cases at the present time which will take precedence over this one. I am sorry, but San Martin is a small town, and we have very few policemen on our force. I will sign a death certificate so you can fly Senor Martin’s body back to the United States when you leave here. If there is anything else, I’ll be in touch. His body will be at the mortuary in San Martin. Ahh, I see the coroner’s van now.”

  There was a knock on the door, and Santiago answered it. Shortly afterwards the coroner and his assistant carried a gurney up the stairs. A few minutes later they came down the stairs with Ray’s body under a sheet strapped to the gurney. The police chief and his assistant followed them out the door.

  As soon as the front door closed Carola looked at Jack incredulously and said, “I don’t believe this. Ray was murdered, and this is all we’re going to get from the police? I mean, I know the police in some of these South American towns are not like they are in the United States, but this is ridiculous. I know for a fact it gets harder and harder to find the murderer as every hour goes by. From what the police chief said, it sounded like this case was at the bottom of his priorities.”

  “Carola, I agree with you, but I don’t think there’s anything we can do about it,” Jack responded.

  “Senora Trout, you’re South American,” Santiago said. “You know that each police force has its own way of dealing with crime. I’m sure this doesn’t come as a complete shock to you.”

  “No, it doesn’t. I’ve heard about it, but I’ve never had to experience it in person,” she said.