Insider Justice

by Dennis Carstens

  On the screen was security camera filming from the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. It was of two men walking through the airport a week before the murders of Lynn McDaniel and Zach Evans.

  Carvelli got up and knelt in front of the screen. Paul had stopped the film at a place with the best shot of the men. Tony stared at them for almost thirty seconds then stood up.

  “It’s a little fuzzy, but it could be our guys. Have you found any film of them leaving?”

  “No, not yet. They could’ve split any number of ways,” Paul said with a shrug, “Or they could still be here. I’ll keep looking.”

  “Anything from hotels, motels?”

  “I haven’t had a chance yet. That’s a pretty big job. You want me to try, I will,” Paul said.

  “I don’t know,” Carvelli said. “I don’t think these guys would stay at a place with cameras hooked up to their computer system. What do I owe you?”

  “I don’t know,” Paul shrugged. “A couple of grand?” he said as a question.

  “Normally I’d complain,” Carvelli said. “But you did good. I’ll get it for you by the end of the week.”

  With Vivian Donahue backing the investigation and as fond of Marc as she was, money would not be an issue.

  Maddy Rivers stepped off the elevator and checked the signs on the opposite wall. Now that Marc was off the critical list and doing better, he had been moved out of ICU. Maddy had his new room number and after checking the wall signs, turned right to go to his new room and see him.

  Halfway there, she went past a nurse’s station on her left and saw a woman she knew coming out of a room.

  “Hi, Margaret,” Maddy said smiling at Margaret Tennant, Marc’s girlfriend.

  “Hi, Maddy,” Margaret pleasantly replied.

  “How is he?” Maddy asked.

  “In good spirits. Pretty beat up but he seems to be taking it all well,” she replied. “I really have to get going,” Margaret continued. “I have a trial on hold this morning while I came here.” Margaret was a Hennepin County trial judge.

  “Oh, okay,” Maddy said. “Well, nice to see you again.”

  “You too,” Margaret said. She took a couple of steps then turned back and said, “Maddy, take care of him. Okay?”

  “Of course,” Maddy replied with an uncertain look on her face.

  Margaret wiped a tear from her cheek, turned and hurried off.

  A few seconds later Maddy strolled into Marc’s room. He was in a semi-private room. The bed nearest the door was nicely made up and the space appeared to be unoccupied. Marc’s bed was by the window with a view of the back of the Minnesota State Capitol Building.

  Marc still looked pretty bad and beat up. The surgeries needed to repair the fractures in his left arm, the one he had landed on, right leg and hip were done. He probably had enough pins in various bones to set off an airport alarm. Because of his age and general good health, the doctors were confident he would heal up and be as good as new.

  Maddy pushed the curtain back that separated the two spaces. She dropped her purse in a chair and stepped up to him.

  “Hey,” she said as she bent down to kiss his cheek. She stood up and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “How are you feeling?”

  “Great, never better. I have more drugs in me than a street junkie. This is why I never got into drugs. I was always afraid I’d like them too much.”

  Maddy sat down with her back to the window. “I saw Margaret in the hall just now. What’s up with that?”

  Marc took a moment to think through the fuzziness in his head then replied, “I think that’s done.”

  “That’s too bad,” Maddy said. “I liked you guys together. She’s a terrific lady.”

  “These things happen,” Marc replied.

  “What happened?”

  “She wants marriage. I’m not ready. It’s that simple. I guess it just ran its course,” Marc said. He paused for several seconds then added, “I think she’s got someone on the back burner. We kind of had it out over the Fourth. I don’t blame her. She wants what she wants for herself. She’s entitled to that, but so am I.”

  “Tony’s on the way,” Maddy said changing the subject. “He called while I was coming here. He says his hacker guy may have found the driver and his accomplice.” She looked at her watch and said, “He should be here pretty soon.

  “You look a little better,” she continued. “Not so pale. Have Eric and Jessica been up today?”

  “They both called. They’ll be by later on. Eric has a job.”

  “Really? Where?” Maddy asked.

  Slowly, Marc told her about his son’s job at a local investment firm. Maddy knew the firm well and even had money with them. As he was finishing, the door opened and Tony Carvelli came in.

  Carvelli and Marc went through the “how are you feeling” routine. When they finished, Carvelli said he thought he saw Margaret Tennant driving out of the hospital’s parking ramp as he drove up to it.

  When Marc and Maddy finished telling Carvelli about the breakup, Carvelli the smartass decided to rub it in a bit.

  “So, Margaret Tennant’s on the loose. She’s a pretty good-looking woman. I just might take a shot at her.”

  “Nice friend,” Maddy admonished him.

  “What’s friendship got to do with it?” Carvelli asked.

  Marc was trying not to laugh. He finally chimed in, “You couldn’t handle her. At your age, she’d kill you.”

  “Might be worth it,” Carvelli said then both he and Marc laughed.

  “Men. Delusions of grandeur,” Maddy said rolling her eyes at the ceiling.

  “Maddy says your guy may have found something,” Marc said getting down to business.

  Carvelli stood and moved Marc’s portable tray table to the end of the bed. Maddy shifted her chair next to the bed so she could see what Carvelli had to show them.

  He laid the two manila folders on the tray. Before he started, Carvelli looked at the bandage wrapped around Marc’s skull and sincerely asked, “How’s the head feeling?”

  “I’m so drugged up, Tony, I don’t even know. They tell me it’s a fairly severe concussion, whatever that means.”

  “Still no recollection of the accident?”

  “No, I don’t even remember going up there. Talking to Zach, the court appearance, any of it. His wife was there too and has been by to see me. I guess I talked to her too, but I got nothing. The doctors think some of it will come back, maybe.”

  With that, Carvelli told them about what the hacker had come up with. As he did this, he passed photos and documents from the two files to Maddy. She looked them over and held them up for Marc.

  When Tony finished, Maddy asked Marc, “How much of that did you get?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe half. Tony thinks we may have found the guys who did this,” Marc replied.

  Marc looked at Tony and said, “Now what?”

  “We try to find the guys. Or a connection to who ordered this. These two didn’t drop out of the sky on their own. They are out of Boston. Unless we can find a direct connection between them and either you or Zach, they were hired to do this.”

  “I have no idea who they are. If you want to go through my files looking for leads, go ahead. I trust you two to keep things confidential. You’ve worked for me enough.”

  “It’s a thought,” Carvelli said. “My guy is looking for known associates and known associates of known associates.”

  “You’re confusing me,” Marc said.

  “Sorry. We’re looking for them. We’ll find something.”

  NINETEEN

  “Tell your people to relax,” Cal Simpson said into his private phone. “Everything is on schedule.”

  Cal was on the phone with Senator Albert Fisher who was calling from Washington on a burner cell phone.

  “It’s that damn Manion,” the senator said. “He’s so worried about his senator-for-the-little-people bullshit image. I swear the old fool must say President Roger Manion int
o the mirror a dozen times a day.”

  “God help America if that happens. I’d move to Cuba just to be able to hang onto some of my money,” Cal rddeplied.

  He heard a soft knock on his door and covered the phone with his hand. Before he could respond to the knock, Samantha came in.

  “Don’t tell anyone else about the engineer’s memo. I have it. We’re good to go. The stock price has recovered. Even increased a bit.”

  “When is the press release about the weakness of the plaintiff’s case going to be released?”

  “I talked to Brody Knutson about it at Zach’s funeral. They have an entire PR media blitz planned for the next month. We’ll get the stock price pushed up even further.”

  The two of them made a little more small talk then Cal ended the call.

  “Hi, sweetheart,” Cal said to Samantha.

  They were seated in Cal’s office in the mansion on Lake Minnetonka. It was two days after Zach’s funeral and things seemed to be settling down. With Zach’s death, the investigation into the murder of Lynn McDaniel appeared to be stalled. In fact, from what they were told by the Foster County Sheriff’s office the cops seemed satisfied Zach was guilty. The focus was now on Zach’s death. The sheriff of Foster County was investigating Zach’s death as a hit and run vehicular accident and not necessarily a deliberate act. At least that is what Cal and Samantha were told.

  “Did you know as a firm partner they had a two-million-dollar insurance policy on Zach? It’s to buy me out and release any claim to his interest in the firm,” Samantha said.

  “Yes, I did,” Cal replied while nodding his head. “Brody Knutson mentioned it the other day. I’m sorry, I forgot about it. What the hell,” he continued, “there’s a nice bonus for you.

  “How’s the lawyer doing? Kadella?” Cal asked. “Heard anything?”

  “He’s still at Regions,” Samantha said. “I guess he’s going to be okay.”

  “I’m sorry that happened,” Cal said while pouring more coffee from the carafe on his desk. He held it up at Samantha who shook her head at the offer.

  Cal took a swallow from his cup, set it on the desk blotter and said, “I’ve been thinking about Zach. Maybe we can steer the investigation in a new direction.”

  “Oh, how?” Samantha asked.

  “This lawyer, Kadella, he’s done a lot of criminal defense work over the years, hasn’t he?”

  “Yes, I guess so. He’s pretty good, too,” Samantha said.

  “Isn’t he the one who represented that Muslim, the one accused of treason?”

  “Yes, he was,” Samantha agreed. “Oh, I see where you’re going. Who says it wasn’t him who was the target of the hit and run and Zach was the collateral damage?”

  “Exactly. There are plenty of kooks out there who are probably still pissed at him for getting the Muslim out of jail. And he likely has plenty of disgruntled clients.”

  “Maybe I should make a call to that investigator, Newkirk. Find out if he has thought of this,” Samantha said. “Just ask him if he has thought about Kadella being the target.”

  “That would be a reasonable idea coming from you,” Cal agreed.

  “That’s an interesting theory, Mrs. Evans,” Chris Newkirk replied. “We have thought of it and aren’t ruling it out. So far, we haven’t seen any indication of that, but we are looking at all possible angles, just in case.”

  “Oh, um, yes, of course, you have,” Samantha replied. “I don’t mean to imply you aren’t doing your job. It’s just something I thought about. Please don’t take offense.”

  “Oh, not at all, Mrs. Evans,” Newkirk said. “In fact, if you think of anything else, please don’t hesitate to call. Or if you have any questions, call anytime.”

  “Thank you, Detective,” Samantha said.

  “My pleasure, ma’am.”

  Newkirk hung up the phone on his desk and looked across his desk and Abby’s. She was staring at him with an expectant look on her face.

  “Well?” she asked.

  “The P.I. was right,” Newkirk said. “Carvelli predicted she would call and try to steer us toward Kadella as the victim.”

  “To deflect us away from her husband,” Abby said. “Why? Why would the widow want us to look in a different direction?” Abby rhetorically asked while Newkirk was dialing his phone from a number he read off a card.

  “You were right,” Newkirk said when Tony Carvelli answered the call. “The grieving widow just called with suggestions as to why your friend might be the target.”

  “Well, now we know,” Carvelli said.

  “She could be right,” Newkirk said.

  “Sure. It’s possible. But why would she be the one to bring it up?”

  “That’s the question, of course,” Newkirk said. “How’s your guy doing?”

  “Okay. It’s been what, ten days since the accident? He’s still having memory problems. I’m on my way to the hospital now. I’ll let you know how he’s doing and if he starts to remember anything.”

  Carvelli entered Marc’s room and said hello to the elderly patient who was Marc’s new roommate. The man was in for a knee replacement and had been whining like a child about the pain. Every time the physical therapist tried to get him moving, the man almost screamed about how much it hurt.

  Carvelli pushed the curtain aside and found Marc and Maddy idly chatting. He said hello to Maddy, sat down and looked at Marc.

  “The bruising is pretty much gone,” Carvelli remarked. “When are you getting out?”

  “Probably tomorrow. They shaved my head,” Marc glumly added.

  “Well, yeah,” Carvelli replied. “They had to bandage it up.”

  “They just told me this morning.”

  “Bummer, dude,” Carvelli joked. “It will grow back.”

  “What if it doesn’t?” Marc asked almost pouting.

  “Bald guys are sexy,” Maddy said.

  “You really think so?” Marc asked perking up with her comment.

  “No,” Maddy said. “I just said that to be nice.”

  “It’ll grow back,” Carvelli repeated and laughed.

  “Samantha called the sheriff’s office in Foster,” Carvelli whispered to them. He whispered because he did not want Clarence, the elderly whiner in the next bed to eavesdrop. “Just like we thought, she tried to steer them away from Zach being the target to look at our boy Marc as the target.”

  “No kidding,” Maddy quietly said. “Now what?”

  “If we suspect her, then the question is still the same; motive. Who stands to gain?” Carvelli said.

  “The firm, Everson, Reed, would have an insurance policy on him. As a partner, they would want that to use the proceeds to buy out the widow,” Marc told them.

  “How much?” Maddy asked.

  “I don’t know. A firm of that size? A couple million at least,” Marc said.

  “There’s your motive,” Carvelli said.

  “Not so fast,” Marc said. “They’re already wealthy. The old man has tons of money. I don’t think another two million is going to get them excited.”

  “How about that he was cheating on her?” Maddy asked. “People have been known to murder for that.”

  Marc and Tony looked at each other, both frowning in thought. Tony shrugged and said, “Maybe. But I’m not too crazy about it. She knew about it for a while, didn’t she?” he asked looking at Marc.

  “I think so,” Marc said.

  “Knock, knock,” the three of them heard a woman’s voice say.

  They all turned their heads to find a familiar looking woman standing there watching them. The three of them all froze for two or three seconds staring at the intruder. It was Maddy who was the first to recognize her.

  “Paxton? My god! It is you,” Maddy said. She jumped up and stepped quickly to the woman, arms extended.

  “Yep, it’s me,” the woman said with a big smile. Maddy and Paxton O’Rourke exchanged a brief hug as Marc and Carvelli looked on.

  TWENTY />
  A floor nurse brought a wheelchair into Marc’s room and the four of them adjourned to a more private setting. They were in a visitors’ room; Maddy, Carvelli, and Paxton in separate chairs, Marc in the wheelchair.

  Paxton was formerly Major Paxton O’Rourke of the U.S. Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corp. Marc and company met her on a case he had tried. It was the court-martial of a soldier Marc knew who had been falsely accused of treason. Paxton had led the Army’s prosecution team.

  The trial was won by Paxton with a finding of guilt of Marc’s client. Eventually, the man’s innocence came to light and he was exonerated.

  “It’s nice to see you again,” Marc said to her, “but we’re all a little baffled by your presence. What?”

  “Well, I’m not with the Army anymore. After the fiasco of Samir Kamel, the Army needed a scapegoat and I was it,” Paxton began.

  “What did you do?” Maddy practically yelled. “You did your job! How can they blame you?”

  “Because they’re the Army and they can do what they want,” Marc said. “I’m not at all surprised.”

  “The good news is,” Paxton continued, “they got a job for me with the DOJ. I’m an Assistant U.S. Attorney out of Chicago now.”

  “So, you landed on your feet,” Carvelli said.

  “I landed on my feet,” Paxton agreed, smiling at Carvelli. She turned her head to look at Marc, the smile went away and with a sad look asked, “Are you okay?” She was close enough to reach his right hand and give it an affectionate squeeze.

  “They cut off all of his hair,” Maddy said.

  “And it’s not going to grow back,” Carvelli added.

  “Don’t say that! You said it would!” Marc almost shrieked.

  “Bald, older men are sexy anyway,” Paxton said.

  “Really? You’re not just saying that?” Marc hopefully asked. “Wait a minute. What’s this ‘older men’ business? I’m barely older than you, I think.”

  By now Maddy and Paxton were laughing hysterically.

  “It will grow back! Calm down,” Maddy assured Marc.

  “Probably,” Carvelli tossed in just to annoy Marc.