Murdered in Argentina: A Jack Trout Cozy Mystery

by Dianne Harman

  “I still don’t see what Ray’s murder has to do with the owner of a wealth management company who isn’t even here in Argentina.”

  “He’s not here,” Carola said, “but his fiancée is. According to what I read on his Facebook page, Andrew is now part owner of a company a friend of his started. Several weeks ago he posted that he knew his friend’s company was going to be a huge success, because so many people wanted to invest in the company, so that’s why he bought into it. He was sure he could get his money out pretty quickly and at the same time make a very large profit. What’s interesting is that he never posted anything more about it.”

  “I’m still not connecting the dots, Carola. I don’t think it’s the least bit unusual for someone not to brag on their Facebook page that they’d make a large profit by investing in some company. People, especially wealthy clients like Andrew has, don’t want their investment advisers bragging on the Internet about how smart of an investment they made.”

  “You might not consider it unusual, but think about it. Andrew is the owner of an investment company. If he can make a killing investing his own money, he might think he could make even more if he skimmed money from his clients’ accounts and used it to invest in his friend’s company. And more specifically, what if one of the accounts he skimmed belonged to Colin’s attorney friend?”

  “Yes, I suppose he could do that, but if that’s true, why hasn’t he simply repaid Colin’s attorney friend the money he took out of his account and used to invest in the new start-up company? It would be easy enough. All he’d have to do is cash out of his friend’s company and use the proceeds to repay the attorney,” Lisa said.

  “Bingo, I think we’re on the same wavelength, at least partially,” Carola said. “I know this is really a long shot, but what if his friend wasn’t able to get the money he expected to get from potential investors? If that happened, it would mean Andrew couldn’t cash out with his investment. He’d be stuck with it. That, in turn, could very well be the reason he hasn’t been able to repay Colin’s attorney friend.”

  “I have no idea where you’re going with this,” Lisa said.

  “Last night at dinner I overheard a conversation between Ray and Janelle. Everyone was talking, and I think I’m the only one who heard it. Comes from years of living in a large family. I can pretty much filter out extraneous noises and concentrate on one thread at a time. Anyway, see if you can make sense of this.” She told Lisa about the exchange she’d overheard.

  Lisa was silent for several moments and then said, “Ray never mentioned anything about that to me. Maybe it was something he discovered just before we left on this trip, but didn’t want to go into it because he didn’t have enough information. That concerns me, and I think it’s something Mitch should be told. Would you sit in on the meeting I want to have with Mitch when he gets back from fishing?”

  “Yes, I’d be happy to. Let me take this a step further, and this is simply a stab in the dark on my part. What if Janelle did embezzle funds from the company she was with prior to coming to work for Moving Graphics? What if her fiancé told her he needed a large amount of money that he could use to return to his attorney client so he wouldn’t be investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission? What if Janelle embezzled funds from Moving Graphics and gave the money to Andrew? What if Ray was right and the numbers weren’t matching up? What if Janelle was afraid that Ray suspected her of embezzling funds from his company? And lastly, what if she murdered Ray so he couldn’t confirm there was money missing from the company?”

  Lisa sat quietly looking out the window for a moment, and then she turned to face Carola. “I don’t know, Carola, that’s an awful lot of ifs. Something about his name rings a bell with me. What else did you find out about him? Maybe I’ve heard his name or even met him. Where does he live?”

  “He lives in San Francisco, and according to all the articles I read, he’s very involved with the arts world as well as non-profit organizations. Maybe you’ve run across him at one of those events. I saw several pictures of him, and he’s very, very handsome.”

  “Could I see one of those pictures? Maybe that would jog my memory.”

  “Sure,” Carola said. “Give me a minute to get it up on the computer screen. Ahh,” she said shortly, “here’s one.

  Lisa walked over and stood behind Carola who was seated in front of her computer. She gasped as she looked down at the picture of the man on the screen.

  “Does that gasp mean you recognize him?” Carola asked.

  “It sure does. He’s like a snake oil salesman. I sat next to him once at a museum luncheon, and when I was commended for making a large contribution to fund a certain exhibit, all he did was try and get me to make an appointment with him at his investment company. He told me he was sure I’d make more money with his firm than I’d ever make with the investment group Ray and I used. Believe me, he never stopped. Finally, I had to tell him in a not very nice tone of voice that I was not and never would be interested in investing with his firm. I turned to the person sitting on the other side of me, and that was the last time I ever saw him.”

  “Did you know that Janelle was his fiancée?”

  “No, he mentioned something about his fiancée being stuck at work, and I said something about my husband not being able to attend because he was out of town on business. Believe me, I wouldn’t put anything past him, and if Janelle has fallen for his line, I’m not sure I’d put anything past her.”

  Carola looked down at her watch. “I honestly don’t know what to make of all of this. The fishermen should be back momentarily. Let’s meet with Mitch and then I’d like to talk to Pablo. I think we both should probably sleep on what we’ve found out. Maybe something will come to us in a dream.”

  “It may be a dream for you, Carola, but this whole thing is a living nightmare for me.”

  “Why don’t you go to your room? I’ll go down and tell Mitch you’d like to talk to him. I imagine he’s been thinking about this most of the day, anyway, so it shouldn’t come as a complete surprise to him. I’ll bring him up to your room shortly.”

  CHAPTER 24

  Carola heard the SUVs returning to the lodge, bringing the tired guests back from a long day of fishing. She walked out the front door of the lodge and over to Jack who was getting out of the lead SUV. “How was the fishing today?” she asked, lightly kissing him on the cheek.

  “In spite of last night, I think everyone had a wonderful time. The fish were biting, and we were hauling them in and taking pictures faster than anyone thought possible. We had to stop for a couple of breaks, because our arms were so tired from casting. I think everyone would agree it was a fabulous day of fishing. How was your day? Were you able to help Lisa?”

  “Yes, although you probably won’t believe the transformation of her that I’ve been witnessing all day. I’ll fill you in on the details later. Right now I’m on a mission to find Mitch and take him up to Lisa’s room for a meeting with her. See you later,” she said as she spotted Mitch getting out of the SUV behind Jack.

  “Sounds interesting,” Jack said with raised eyebrows.

  *****

  “Hi, Mitch,” Carola said as he took his fishing equipment out of the SUV. “I know you’re probably tired, but Lisa would like to meet with you. It’s important.”

  “Of course. Where is she?” he asked looking around.

  “She’s up in her room. I’ll take you there. Actually, she’d like me to sit in on the meeting.”

  Mitch followed her up the stairs and said, “Let me put my gear in my room. It’ll only take a moment.” He opened the door to his room while Carola waited in the hall. A moment later he walked out of his room, closing the door behind him.

  They walked down to the end of the hall and Carola knocked on Lisa’s door. “Lisa, it’s Carola. Mitch is with me.”

  Lisa opened the door and looked at Mitch. “Thanks for coming on such short notice. Please, come in and have a seat. There are a few things
I’d like to talk to you about.”

  Mitch had a funny look on his face which Lisa picked up on. “Mitch, what’s wrong? What was that expression on your face all about?”

  He looked at her, spread his hands out in front of him and said, “I just don’t know whether I’m going to be fired or promoted. I assume you’re now the owner of Moving Graphics.”

  Lisa laughed. “Mitch, let me be the first one to shake the hand of the new president of Moving Graphics. Although I’m now the owner, I have decided to turn the management of the company over to you. I’m sure you’ll do a much better job than I ever could.”

  Mitch visibly sighed with relief. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say that even though the fish were biting today, it was really hard for me to concentrate on them. I’m sure I’m the low man on the totem pole when it comes to the number of fish caught today. Where should we start?”

  “I had a long conversation with Sid Benson, who is not only the attorney for Moving Graphics, but he’s also my attorney and was Ray’s. Ray wanted you to assume the presidency of the company in the event something happened to him. He asked that the company pay me, as the owner, a reasonable amount from the company profits, and that you and I should decide what your compensation should be as well as mine. That can wait until we get back to California.”

  “Lisa, my mind has been whirling all day thinking that if this moment came, there’s a lot to be done to make the transition, although since most of the senior staff is already here, I can meet with each of them tonight.”

  “Not only that, Mitch, but since they’re all here the company can probably coast for a couple of days on its own, but something has come up that I believe needs your immediate attention.”

  He turned from Lisa to Carola and back again. “If you’re worried about our major accounts, I think we’ll be fine with them. I’m not aware of any of them being unhappy with our service, and I really don’t think any of them will go elsewhere just because there’s a change in the presidency. When I return, I’ll make it a priority to meet with each of them and reassure them they will continue to receive the same level of excellent service they’ve come to expect from Moving Graphics.”

  “That’s not the problem, Mitch, and I’m sorry you have to start out your presidency by looking into this, but it may be a tie-in to Ray’s death.”

  “Lisa, quite frankly I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  She began to tell him what she and Carola had found out about Janelle and her fiancé, Andrew. “Carola, why don’t you tell Mitch about the conversation you overheard at dinner last night?”

  When Carola was finished, Lisa said, “I’ve been thinking about this and while you know the company far better than I do, I know Ray’s administrative assistant, Bea Lawrence, was, and probably still is, very loyal to him.”

  “Unquestionably,” Mitch said. “It was a running joke in the company that no matter what you told Bea you needed or wanted done, unless Ray okayed it, it wasn’t going to happen.”

  “She pretty much knows everything about the company and how it’s run, doesn’t she?”

  “Yes, I think she knows as much as Ray did about everything concerned with the company.”

  “This may sound off the wall,” Lisa said, “but do you think she knows about the financial aspects of the company?”

  “I’m certain she does. Ray had her sit in on every meeting he had, and I’m sure that included the financial meetings as well. Why?”

  “Do you think she’d be able to spot the discrepancies in the company’s books Ray alluded to in his conversation with Janelle last night, the one Carola overheard?”

  “I can’t say with certainty, but I really think that if anyone in the company would know about discrepancies, Bea would. Ray told me once that he felt he’d really been lucky when she agreed to work for him, because not only did she have a master’s degree in business administration, she was also a certified public accountant. I remember asking him why she was working here with those credentials. He’d laughed and said no other company was willing to pay her the type of money she received from Moving Graphics. Yes, I’m certain she could help.”

  “Do you know if she has keys to all the offices?” Lisa asked.

  Mitch hesitated for a moment and then said, “Ray did, and I’d imagine Bea would know where he kept them. Lisa, where are you going with this?”

  “If there’s a bookkeeping discrepancy, Janelle might very well have someone in her department in on it. We can’t afford to have someone notify her that Bea’s looking at the company’s books. I’m going to call Bea and ask her if she can get into the finance office after everyone leaves tonight. By the way, Mitch, I know you’re the president now, but I think it would be a good idea if you kept Bea on as your administrative assistant. I don’t know who your secretary is now, but you’re going to have to name someone to fill your position. You can always tell your secretary you wanted her to stay in your department to help your replacement with the transition. I think if Bea feels secure that she’s going to remain as the president’s administrative assistant, she’ll have more of a reason to do what I’m going to ask of her.”

  Carola laughed, breaking the tension. “Lisa, I said this earlier, but I think you learned a lot about business through osmosis. What I understand is that you want Bea to search Janelle’s office after everyone leaves for the night for any evidence she can find that might point to unauthorized funds having been taken out of the company. Does that sound about right?”

  “Yes,” Lisa said. “Mitch, do you have any problem with me calling her and asking her to do that?”

  “No. It’s not exactly the way I would have liked to start my presidency, and I don’t quite know what we’ll do if she finds something out, particularly since I can’t get back there immediately, but I agree, I think it’s necessary. If there’s no discrepancy in the numbers, that will be one less thing I’ll have to worry about. If there is one, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  “Then we agree,” Lisa said as she picked up her cell phone and called Bea. Several minutes later she ended the call and said, “Bea wasn’t thrilled about doing it, but she seemed to think she’d be able to find something out, one way or another. She’s going to wait until about an hour after the close of regular business hours and everyone has left the building. I asked her to call me and let me know what she finds out. Since it will probably be late here because of the time difference, I’ll wait until morning to tell you what, if anything, is discovered.

  “I think that’s everything. Mitch, I imagine you’d like to think about all of this. The cocktail hour is in forty-five minutes, so that will give you a little time to make some plans. Carola,” Lisa said turning towards her, “I’m going to take you up on your offer to bring me a plate of food for my dinner which I really would prefer to have here in the privacy of my room. Exhaustion and everything else is beginning to catch up with me.”

  “Happy to do it, Lisa,” Carola said as she stood up. “Right now I need to talk to Pablo. He usually washes down all the fishing equipment when the guests return from the day’s fishing and gets everything ready for the next day. Mitch, I’ll see you downstairs.”

  CHAPTER 25

  Carola knocked on the kitchen door and heard Pilar say, “Come in.”

  “Pilar, the smells coming from the kitchen are fantastic. I can’t wait for dinner. I need to talk to Pablo, and I thought it would be easier for me to go through the kitchen to the fish shed, rather than walk all the way around the lodge. I’ll be back in a few minutes, and you can tell me what the menu is for tonight. When we sit down to dinner, I’ll tell the guests. I will also need to take a plate of the dinner meal up to Senora Martin just before you serve dinner.”

  “Certainly. Pablo’s at the shed now, but I’m sure he’s anxious to get home to Catalina. I don’t think you’ve met her before. She’s one of the three women who clean the guest rooms here at the lodge. It works well for her because her
mother can take care of her children in the morning, and Catalina can be home with them in the afternoon. She started working here after her last child was born, and her mother told me the extra money she earns has really helped. I feel so sorry for them. I wish there was something I could do,” Pilar said, her voice choking with emotion. A tear slid down her smooth brown cheek. She wiped it away with the back of her hand.

  Carola patted her shoulder and said, “I, too, am sorry for the family. Pablo has been one of our guides here in Argentina for many years, and although I haven’t met his family, Jack and I have always been very pleased with his work. See you in a few minutes.” With that she opened the screen door and walked down the path to the fish shed.

  When she approached the fish shed Pablo’s back was to her, and he was hosing down the fishing rods and reels. “Pablo, I’d like to talk to you when you finish, but please, take your time. I’m in no hurry,” Carola said.

  A few minutes later he placed the rods on wooden pegs that jutted out from the side of the shed, letting the late afternoon sun dry them out. He turned to her and said, “Senora Trout, it is good to see you. What can I do for you?”

  “I was wondering where you were last night. A number of the staff from the ranch came to the lodge when they heard about Senor Martin, but I didn’t see you. I’m trying to figure out who was there and who wasn’t.”

  “My wife, my mother-in-law, and I were up most of the night at our home trying to think of a way we could get the medical help my wife needs. You see, the doctor she saw in San Martin thinks she has breast cancer, and she needs to see a specialist. We don’t have the money to go to Buenos Aires, and even if we could get there, we couldn’t afford to see a specialist.”

  “Pablo, I wish I could do something for you. I heard about Catalina from Pilar this morning, and I want you to know how sorry I am. I’m sure there will be some way you can get the medical help she needs.”