Alive After Friday (Sandy Reid Mystery Series)

by Rod Hoisington

  She tried to phone Martin—still no answer. She tried West Palm Police Detective Dominic. Not available. She left a voice message saying she had valuable information about the Cramer murder. Please call.

  She started her car, then turned it off, walked back to the comedian at the first door and knocked. He held the door open for her saying, “I’ll show you my cute little puppy, if you’ll come in.”

  “Maybe next time. I’ve a question for you and need an answer only a guy can give. Mrs. Whatshername, the woman you sent me down to see, said Gail Holman had a boyfriend that always showed up driving a different flashy car each time. Did you happen to notice him and his cars? Do you suppose he owns a bunch of cars, or maybe she’s wrong and he has only two cars, or something? What’s that all about?”

  “He has a lot of cars.”

  “So, what’s with him?”

  “I just told you. He has a lot of cars. Get it? He has a car lot. A-lot-of-cars. He’s a used car dealer.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “He saw me outside one day and tried to sell me one. Nice looking chap. I have his business card somewhere. Say, why don’t you take me home with you? You could tell me all about the murder. I don’t have to be back until October.”

  “I can’t. You know how it is, being a secret agent.”

  “I understand, if you told me you’d have to kill me. Wait here. I’ll go get the guy’s card.” He came back after a minute and handed her the card. “Remember to swallow this, if you’re captured.”

  She reached out and patted him on the cheek. “Thanks sweetheart. You’ve been a big help. Have a happy life.” He didn’t seem to need much cheering up. As she got into her car, she turned and waved to the old gent again. He’d given her a couple of chuckles, and the business card definitely made the excursion successful.

  She still needed to talk to sister Gail in person—the mall concierge worker with all the sudden money. Her phone buzzed while she was walking back to her car. The woman said, “This is Sergeant Swanson, West Palm police—Detective Dominic is in the office now, if you still want to meet with him.”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  An hour later, with her visitor’s pass pinned on, Sandy was escorted to the third floor cubicle of West Palm Beach Police Detective Sergeant Walter Dominic. Jaworski in Park Beach had phoned and told her it was Myra Cramer who had been murdered. She wanted to learn more about that; assuming, of course, that this Detective Dominic would even speak with her.

  Her first goal was to find out what the West Palm police had done with Martin and be certain he was all right. That goal was easily reached, for when she got off the elevator she saw Martin sitting outside the cubicle. He wasn’t much for hugs, but she gave him one anyway. “That’s for not getting arrested.”

  “No, they didn’t arrest me, yet it took them forever to get around to listening to me. They still have my phone. I couldn’t call you.”

  “So you’re okay?”

  “Getting a bit hungry, that’s all. All I’ve had is a handful of peanuts from the vending machine and a dreadful coffee from Sergeant Swanson over there. I believe she likes me, or I wouldn’t have received that.”

  “So, what happened this morning?”

  “You mean other than parking next door to a dead body? Anyway, I didn’t belong in the neighborhood. With a murder scene next door, the officer would have been derelict not to hold me for questioning. The cuffs came off after they checked with Jaworski. I didn’t know your number without my phone. I trust you weren’t too worried about me.”

  “Maybe a little.”

  “Oh my gosh. In all the excitement, I forgot my car is still parked on the street in front of the crime scene, probably wrapped in yellow tape. You need to take me back over there. I’ve already met Detective Dominic. We were waiting for you.”

  The detective stepped out of his cubicle, walking with just a slight bit of cop swagger and brusquely introduced himself. Black T-shirt and jeans. Looking beyond him, she saw a brown leather sport coat hanging in his office. At first, his appearance slightly fazed her. The detective wasn’t a twin of Chip’s, but could pass for his brother. Of course, many cops are trim six-footers. “Are you an ex-marine, by any chance?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Special Forces. Things are a little busy around here can we get on with it? Mr. Bronner, we located your phone. An officer turned it into the property room as evidence by mistake. You can go down there and get it anytime. We never examined it or turned it on, so I hope you’re not going to sue us for touching it. Just a mistake. We towed your vehicle to the police pound to get it away from the crime scene area. I trust that was okay. I doubt if they scratched it, I know we never searched it. I’ll give you directions out to the pound.” He glanced over at Sandy. “So we’ll take it from here. Have a nice day.”

  Dominic made a half-wave goodbye with a half-smile and stepped back into his cubicle.

  Sandy ignored his farewell and followed him. “Thanks, I know we can help each other”

  The detective turned around to face her. “Stop right there. Why are you two down here?”

  Martin answered, “We’re the victims of extortion in Park Beach.”

  “Well, I’m sorry about that. But I suggest you get an attorney or leave it all to the authorities.”

  “We’re lawyers and have useful information for you,” she began. “We were checking out your victim, Myra Cramer, thinking she might be in on the Park Beach kidnapping and extortion—”

  Martin interrupted, “Her neighbor down here said, Myra Cramer had been spending a ton of money.”

  She quickly continued, “I talked to her husband and he confirmed her heavy spending. So all that added to our suspicions that she was spending the extorted money.”

  The detective was now standing behind his desk. He was a busy cop with a fresh homicide on his mind. He wasn’t going to sit because then they would sit, and he wanted them out of there. “Well, you’ve a good start on a blind alley. The money is the only thing we’re sure about right now and it’s not as intriguing as you believe. The victim had been under investigation for three months.”

  “She was?” Sandy’s eyes widened. She took one of the chairs in front of his desk and Martin joined her.

  “I can tell you this much—and I don’t want it in the papers.” He shrugged and sat down. “She’s been embezzling from her employer. Auditors for Bristol Trucking, that’s where she worked, discovered serious bookkeeping irregularities. Thirty grand or so is missing. When she didn’t show up for work, the white-collar crime unit implemented a search warrant. They entered her house to look for evidence and the money, found her shot dead and her house tossed.”

  “Appears we’re on the wrong track with Myra.” Martin wasn’t pleased with that development. “Perhaps she’s been throwing around embezzled money, not extorted money. And that would eliminate her as Jane.”

  “Jane?” The detective looked at him and then her.

  “Jane Doe, the unknown mastermind in our extortion case,” she said.

  “At this point Sandy, you should explain about her partner in crime, Dick...I mean Boyd.”

  “Back before he took part in the extortion,” she explained, “Boyd started working at Bristol Trucking where he met Myra. She flipped over him and I believe spent a bundle to keep him interested in her, which might explain why she started embezzling.”

  “Boyd?” The detective said without looking up; his attention had drifted to the case file open on his desk.

  “Calvin Boyd. Untwirl your eyes and listen for a second.” She waited until she got his attention. “Except he was shot dead by an unknown person up in Park Beach after the money-drop and never made it out of the park with the money. We’re looking for the money, trying to find Jane and trying to solve that murder up there.”

  “You’re looking...you’re trying to solve. I can’t believe I’m sitting here listening to this.”

  “Detective Jaworski, Park Beach polic
e, is in charge of the Boyd murder investigation. We’re not connected with the police up there at all.” She threw a quick glance over at Martin.

  Dominic wrote the name down and said, “That must be a relief to them.”

  She ignored the detective. “Anyway, this new embezzlement angle has set us back. When we were able to connect Boyd to Myra we started figuring maybe she was Jane, since she was spending a lot of money.” She wasn’t connecting with him; her words were meaningless to him. “From what you just said maybe it was embezzled money she was spending.”

  “Imagine that. An embezzler is spending embezzled money.” He looked at his watch and abruptly stood behind his desk.

  She pressed on, “So, Myra Cramer isn’t Jane and isn’t connected to the extortion except that she met Boyd at Bristol. But now I’m guessing someone who thought she was connected shot her and searched her house for the four hundred grand.”

  “Back up.” The detective had started listening. Now she was talking about his case. “Searched her house for what four hundred grand?”

  “Four hundred thousand was the extorted amount up in Park Beach.”

  The detective said, “We considered the possibility someone tossed her house to find the embezzled money, was interrupted by the victim and shot her.”

  She said, “But the embezzlement wasn’t made public, so why would her house be ransacked looking for it? Now four hundred grand is worth searching for and is a good reason for murder.”

  The detective raised his eyebrows admitting it was a good point. “In any case, I feel you’re jumping ahead. You’re just trying to link our murder with your case up in Park Beach.”

  “Ya think?”

  The detective narrowed his eyes at her. “Did the victim’s husband know she was cheating?”

  “Definitely. I interviewed him. I’ll give you a statement if you like.”

  “Okay, but from now on I don’t want you near the husbands. You got that? He’s now at the top of my suspect list. He could have gone up to Park Beach, shot his wife’s lover, come back here and whacked his wife. So, there’s the motive even without any four hundred G’s tossed in.”

  Martin jumped at that, “If the motive were a jealous husband, then why was the house searched?”

  Dominic didn’t answer.

  Sandy didn’t feel he was getting it. “How can you discount the victim’s boyfriend? Aren’t you interested in how he fits into the murder?”

  “If whatshisname, Boyd, was already dead at the time of the murder, he’s not the perp. Her husband most likely plugged her.”

  “Of course, someone other than Boyd killed Myra, but her husband is a pussycat. I’ve talked with him. I don’t believe he’d shoot his wife. Your case is connected to my case.”

  “I’m not really concerned with your guesses about him or anybody. Does that surprise you? Let me get this straight. You say Detective Jaworski is on the Boyd murder up there, okay. But you mentioned kidnapping and extortion. Why isn’t the FBI handling that? Why are you screwing with it?”

  “Well, they’re doing their thing, and I’m doing mine. I was the one abducted and Dick and Jane have extorted our money. The more the FBI gets involved the more I get pushed out.”

  “Why don’t you come over and sit here behind my desk and listen to how crazy that sounds. If I assist you in doing your thing, I’m also going around the FBI who I really don’t care to piss off. No way am I putting my dog in your fight.”

  “Hey, five minutes ago all you had was a dead body,” she said. “You knew zip until we walked in here. I just told you the victim was having an affair. I even gave you his name. And I told you the husband knew about his cheating wife. Either I’m missing something or I just handed you a marvelous jump on your investigation. Give me an hour and I’ll wrap up the whole damn case for you.” She paused for dramatic effect. “Now if you don’t want to say thank you that’s fine. But how about a little respect?”

  “I respectfully thank you,” he said it without a smile. “Now can I get back to work?”

  “Geez, what a hardass. Personally, I believe since the victim had a boyfriend, that angle should be investigated. However, I know you’ve been doing this stuff for a long time, and you’re good at it. I’m just offering you leads and my insight.”

  “Your leads are welcome, your interference is not. Save the insights for someone who cares. Got anything else?”

  “How can you ignore a romantic triangle in which two of the players have been murdered? Alive or dead, Boyd fits into your Myra Cramer murder case. I can promise you the Cal Boyd murder up there and her murder down here are connected.” She held up her hand like a traffic cop. “Don’t say it. I know you don’t care about my promises. But Boyd is the keystone in our kidnapping and extortion case.”

  He stood to indicate the meeting was over. They also stood. “Thanks for stopping by,” he said with more than a hint of sarcasm.

  She wasn’t through. “How about a little favor? It would help me if you could have someone from your office phone Bristol Trucking. I’d like to know what address Boyd gave his employer.”

  “Why?”

  “Why not?”

  “The boyfriend’s address? Now why would I give you that?”

  “He was murdered. I want to check out where he lived and someone around there might have evidence leading to his killer.”

  “Sounds like police business to me, not amateur hour.”

  “Come on, you’ve got to give me something.”

  “Just add the husband and Bristol Trucking to the list of people and places you’re to stay away from down here. In fact, stay away from everyone you’ve ever heard of or intend to hear about. I’ll deal directly with Detective Jaworski. And by the way, he tells me you don’t have positive evidence that Boyd is connected to your kidnapping and extortion case. He could be just someone mugged in the park. Just another of your guesses. No, I’m not getting you his address and I’m warning you to stay away. You’re in my territory now and I’m busy.”

  “I agree with all of that, detective. I’m not going to be a problem. You have a tough job. I can make guesses all day long and they mean nothing. You make a wrong decision and someone could suffer. That has to be in the back of your mind. I see that stack of case files on your desk and you probably have many more in some file cabinet. Now I’m going to get out of here and let you get to work. But you’re going to hear about me flitting around out there, and I don’t want you getting pushed out of shape. I’m not fighting you.”

  “I like the part where you said you’re getting out of here. And I warn you, if you say anything to the FBI that even remotely sounds like I’m helping you, your ass has had it.”

  He pointed his finger from one to the other. “So both of you are lawyers and live in Park Beach. Are you two married?”

  Was he asking if they were man and wife? She answered, “Neither of us is married.”

  “What’s happening to your normal law practice while you’re running around down here?”

  “You’re right. It was just beginning to get prosperous, when all this happened. Now I suppose basically it’s going to hell.” She took out one of her business cards and handed it to him. Martin did the same. The detective carelessly tossed them on his desk.

  She ignored the fact he was waiting for them to leave, and said. “Just one more thing...you’ve got to like this—”

  Martin interrupted her, “Give it up, Sandy. Let’s get out of here.”

  She shook her head and stepped closer. “The victim’s husband, Ryan, told me Myra found a gun in their house, which they believed was left there by Boyd. Might be the murder weapon.”

  That really got Dominic’s attention. “What kind of gun?”

  “I didn’t ask him and he wouldn’t have known anyway. Come on, tell me about the murder weapon.”

  He hesitated and then shrugged. “Nine mill, probably a Glock.” He pointed at her. “I need that gun.”

  “Of course, you do. Ry
an Cramer still has it. He kept the gun and put it in his office safe.”

  For the first time the detective returned her smile. He couldn’t bring himself to say thanks, yet he couldn’t hold back the grin. “Forget I called you a smartass.”

  She laughed, “You didn’t call me a smartass.”

  “Well, I was certainly thinking it.”

  “Forget I called you a hardass.”

  “Okay. So, the husband is the prime suspect to start with. And now you tell me he has a weapon. Maybe he was searching the house for the money she embezzled.”

  “No way. Why can’t you get it through your head that our murders are connected?” She raised her voice, “I want that gun tested to see if it was used to kill Boyd.”

  “Get in line.” Dominic chuckled. “I want that gun tested to see if he shot his wife with it.”

  She said, “At any rate, I’m certain he’ll cooperate and give you the gun.”

  “Nice to know you’re certain, smartass. Except Ryan Cramer is missing. We’ve already put out an APB on him.” He motioned to the door. “Now if you don’t mind.”

  The detective watched them walk away shaking their heads. Then he picked up their business cards, took Martin’s card and sailed it into his waste can. He slid open his center desk drawer and tossed in Sandy’s card. He turned his attention to the file on his desk. After a minute, he stopped, retrieved Sandy’s card from the center desk drawer and stared at it. Then he carefully slid it under the glass on his desk immediately in front of him.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  They had left the session with Detective Dominic and were standing in the parking lot outside the West Palm Beach police building. “Ryan Cramer taking off is a shocker. I didn’t see that one coming,” Sandy said. “Have to think about what that means.”

  Martin said, “And Myra Cramer embezzled money from Bristol Trucking.”

  “Yet another surprise but easier to figure isn’t it? She needed more money to keep a fire under the affair.”