by David Bishop
Chapter 27
Slow traffic got me to the general’s house later than I had hoped. I spent the first ten minutes calming Charles after he saw the condition of my kisser. I described it as one of those beefs private investigators sometimes get in and don’t come out of as well as Sam Spade always did. Mostly, I watched his face. He had not seemed surprised to see me which he would have had he hired Podkin to keep me under wraps. Then he said, “I saw you through the window. You’re not moving all that well.” No verbal response was needed. I simply blew out some air and raised my eyebrows.
“The general is asleep,” Charles said. “I’ll be waking him in about an hour, when the cook has prepared his dinner. He’s taking his meals alone now in his room. This morning, the doctor indicated he should use a wheelchair as much as possible. Fortunately, we’ve always had an elevator for workers to get back and forth to the upstairs. It’s just outside his room.”
“That’s fine, Charles. I came to see you. Can we go someplace private?”
“We can use the study sir. The general doesn’t go there anymore.”
“No. Somewhere else, private.”
“You certainly have my curiosity aroused, Mr. Kile. It’s a bit irregular, but we can use my upstairs quarters at the end of the hall past Karen’s suite.”
When we got there he offered coffee or a soda. I accepted water, no ice; he had a glass with ice. We sat at his kitchen table that looked out toward the ocean. You couldn’t see the beach. The view showed calm water far out to the horizon.
“Well, sir. Please take my curiosity down a notch or two. What is this about?”
“I’d like you to indulge me by finishing a brief sentence: Karen’s father is?”
“What is this about?”
“Indulge me, Charles. Who is Karen’s father?”
“Why, the general, Mr. Kile, everyone knows that.”
“Her birth father, Charles. Who is Karen’s birth father?”
“The general.”
“No. General Whittaker did not sire Karen Whittaker, therefore her last name is not even Whittaker. I figure that only two people, not counting Karen’s mother, know the answer, you and the general. Do I need to ask General Whittaker?”
“No, sir. You do not. I am Karen’s father. The general’s wife, Mary, and I … well, you know. She was a frisky woman. The general was in his fifties, I in my thirties. Her needs exceeded his. Due to my living here then as I do now, my sex drive could best be described as involuntary hibernation. It just happened that once. No. That’s not true. It happened several times over a month or so. Then I put a stop to it. It was wrong. Mary always insisted the general was Karen’s father, but I doubted it, sir. When DNA tests became available, I had them run. She is my daughter. How did you learn this, Mr. Kile?”
Charles had spent a good part of his life serving his daughter as if she were the mistress of the house.
“Charles, do you sometimes use the general’s bathroom, the one between his bedroom and his private study?”
“Yes. Often when I am in the general’s wing, it is closer and the general finds my doing so acceptable. Not regularly, but several times a week I would imagine. I asked how you learned the general was not—”
“The same as you. The general’s DNA didn’t match. Someone else’s did. I figured you. Does Karen know?”
“No sir. I will tell her someday.”
“After the general dies?”
“Yes, Mr. Kile, after the general dies. That is something I cannot imagine. I mean I am here. I talk to the doctors. I know. But the general always seemed indestructible, a man who would always be here. Always be in charge. Yet the reality is now undeniable. The general’s deterioration is accelerating at a rapid pace.”
“Would you have stayed with the general had Karen not been your daughter?”
Charles got up and walked to the window and looked out toward the ocean. “I don’t know,” he said with his back to me. Then he returned to sit with me again at the table. “I have wondered. It has been a distinct honor to be his friend and companion all these years. After my tryst with Mary, I felt so dishonest to be here. But with time that eased and finally passed.”
“You said Karen doesn’t know?”
He shook his head. “No sir. I saw no reason.”
“Then there’s the inheritance. Yours and your daughter’s. If the general knew, he would likely remove you both from his will.”
“I would expect so, sir. Karen has been loving and loyal to the general, as I have been. She is entitled, I believe. Don’t you agree, Mr. Kile?”
“It is not my place to judge that. I leave that to you. My job is simply to determine who killed Ileana Corrigan. I don’t have much time left, so what else can you tell me about that?”
“Nothing. I have been fully candid with you on that entire matter. I know nothing further.”
“Have you ever heard the name, Ernest Podkin?”
“No, I have not. Who is he?”
“A biker. That’s all I know. And I’d appreciate you not repeating that name to anyone.”
“As you wish. You might ask Cliff, he rides a Harley and hangs out with those guys. Used to a lot. Less now, but he still does.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks for talking with me. I appreciate your honesty.”
“Where do we go from here, sir? Will you need to tell the general? I realize I have a selfish interest on this, but the general would not take the news well. He is weak now. I see no reason to … change his memories at this point, sir.”
“I think I agree. Then, I do work for the man which obligates me to tell him what I learn.”
“What you learn about who killed his great grandson. You were hired to learn that, not who fathered his daughter.”
“That’s a point. I just don’t know yet. If I decide I need to, I’ll let you know first.”
“Is there anything else, Mr. Kile?”
“One more thing. Did you kill the Corrigan woman?”
“Sir? Why would you think that? What reason could I have?”
“There was an attempt to frame Eddie. Had that held, he would have gone to prison. It is more than likely the general would have left his entire estate to your daughter, thinking she was his.”
“I understand you must consider every angle, your job and the nature of being a detective, but I don’t believe you think I did. Besides, while I could have arranged to frame Eddie in the manner it was done, why would I bribe Mr. and Mrs. Yarbrough to provide a defense to get Eddie released?”
“Yes. There is that, Charles. However, given your devotion to the general, it is possible you could not bring yourself to be the cause of him watching his grandson being convicted of murder. You could have used the Yarbroughs so you could shake down the general for the two million by selling him the alibi. That amount along with what the general is leaving you and Karen would set you both up without destroying the relationship between Eddie and the general.”
“Being a detective can be a disgusting business, can’t it, Mr. Kile?”
“Yes, Charles. At times like this, it can.”
*
Cliff was in the garage changing spark plugs on the general’s MG Roadster. It didn’t get driven much anymore. Karen took it out once in a while, but the general loved the car.
“I can’t imagine anyone getting their fists on you that much, Matt.”
“You could if you knew my arms were tied, as well as my feet.”
Cliff and I went over to the workbench and occupied two of the stools. “You okay for a beer?” he asked. I nodded, not knowing how it would go, but eager to find out. He brought them over, twisting the cap off mine before handing it to me.
“Ernest Podkin.”
“How do you know Poddy?”
“Poddy?”
“Yeah. We used to call him that because he had bad breath. Poddy mouth. You know. Potty mouth. It stuck. Where do you know him from?”
I circled the air with my index finger po
inting at my face.
“Poddy did that? I mean, he’s tough but …” He left the rest unsaid.
“Are you two tight?”
“We know each other. He rides with the gang I once did. We always got along, but never close. It was a big gang. I can’t imagine him doing that to you.”
“Like I said, my arms were tied. So tell me about Mr. Podkin.”
“Lifetime biker. Petty criminal. Hauls drugs up and down the coast. Strong arm work. Not a killer. Least not as I know. If he did this, he was hired by someone who wanted you worked over.”
“That’s right. Podkin told me so before I left him on a concrete floor down by the docks. He said he didn’t know who. I believed him. The way he was set up to do it, well, it was the same way as some others.”
“You say you left him on the floor in a place down in Pedro?” I nodded. “Tell me about the place. Describe it.” I did, including the conveying belt of hooks running along the ceiling. “I know the place,” Cliff said. “I don’t know what those hooks were ever used for. The general had me drive him there after he bought it. He had me go in with him. I asked him what he was going to do with it. He said it was an investment. He liked the location and that eventually somebody would need the space and he’d turn a profit.”
“How long ago was that?”
“More than a year, less than two.” Then Cliff offered to help me find Podkin.
“Nothing would be gained. Podkin doesn’t know anything further and I’ve evened the score for what he did. If I’m going to wrap this up for the general, I need to avoid being sidetracked by things that won’t move the first down marker.”
Cliff nodded. He understood. Everyone there did. The general was the only one who longed for this case to be solved. After eleven plus years the rest of them were willing to let it go. That would be particularly true for the one who killed Ileana Corrigan. That person had tried to slow me down until the general died, figuring I would then be paid something for my troubles and dismissed. What they didn’t know is even if the general died, I wouldn’t stop. I had the bit in my teeth and, since spending time with Podkin, I had skin in the game.
“What do you think of the general? Give it to me straight, Cliff. No party line.”
“He’s aces. I like the old dude. Apparently he was some top kick in the army. But I never knew him that way. My pa did and he swore by him. As for me, the general’s my employer. That’s it. But I like him. He’s honest with you. He don’t pull his punches when he’s got something to say. Treats you like you’re as good as him, which damn few of us are. Yeah. I’d cover his back.”
“What’s your read on Charles?”
“He’s a bit harder to peg. I mean he’s square. Honest. Hard working. Really cares about the general and his daughter. I’m not so sure he gives a hoot about Eddie.”
“Have you heard that you’re in the general’s will?”
“I’ve heard.”
“Where from?”
“I’d rather not say, Matt.”
“Karen?”
Cliff looked at me for a minute with no expression. Then he nodded.
“One more thing, Cliff, what do you know about the bribing of Cory Jackson who was found dead in the surf a few nights ago?”
Cliff went on to tell me pretty much how it happened. The flashlight, the two grand on the front end with the promise of eight more. I had told the general about all that when we met and the general demanded a full battle report, as he called it. Cliff said the general told Charles and Karen and Eddie in a family meeting. That Karen had told him.
I left the Whittaker estate having learned that Karen’s father was Charles, not the general. Actually, after Chunky’s report I knew the general wasn’t her poppy, but Chunky’s report couldn’t identify whose sperm had swum the channel. The DNA from facial tissue was not the general’s. I figured Charles was a good candidate, because in part it explained his staying all these years. Then again, he saw the general as family and that might have been the only reason he needed. Karen’s mother could have had one or a series of affairs during those years, such that she might not be certain of the identity of Karen’s father. If Charles hadn’t known, I would have gone to Karen’s mother.
Everyone liked and respected the old man, but then they were all in his will. That also spoke to why Charles had not revealed himself to his daughter Karen, also perhaps why some of them were still hanging around.
Charlie Chan once said, “When money talks, no one is deaf.”
Chapter 28
When I got home, Axel was there. “Buddha said he could handle covering Eddie the rest of the night. That I should come back and see what I could do for you. How ‘bout something to eat? I’m hungry myself.”
Axel offered me a choice of soups, but I held out for something to chew. He made some spaghetti with meat sauce, refusing to add meatballs or sausage. He also reminded me we still had half of Clara Birnbaum’s apple pie in the fridge. While he cooked and while we ate, we talked through the various members of the general’s family and what made each of them suspects.
“Charles could have a strong motive,” I said. “With Eddie out of the way, his daughter would get the lion’s share rather than the vulture scraps from the general’s will.”
“Two million plus would sure be enough to lay in winter groceries, boss.”
His comment brought a smile since we had just heard that line in some old movie we had watched last weekend. Axel was right, most folks would be tickled to get two-and-a-half million. At least pleased enough to not murder to get more.
“So, you figure, in the end Charles couldn’t let the general watch his grandson go to the chair. That led to a plan to save Eddie and pick up an extra two million through the shakedown of the general, for a total between Charles and his daughter of around six-and-a-half million.”
“That sure ain’t chump change, boss.”
“I hear ya, Ax, but all this is a stack of hash with no real facts for bones.”
I could only figure a few reasons why the real killer would not want Eddie convicted of the murder. In a complex plan, Eddie murdered his fiancée and arranged for his own arrest and release. Charles did it as a gesture to the general. Someone else killed Ileana, likely a jilted lover, who decided to take the risk of the case remaining open in order to extort two million from the general. That would add a payday to a murder of passion.
Axel ended up betting his chips on Clifford Branch, the chauffeur. “Boss, Cliff was a biker. He knew Podkin, so he could easily arrange to have you snatched. I’ll bet there’s plenty of guys in Cliff’s old biker gang that would have murdered Eddie’s lady for money. The shakedown of the general could have been about getting the dough to pay for the hit. And the alibi for Eddie was necessary to get the shakedown money from the general.”
Axel had just presented what could be another reason why a killer would have needed to alibi Eddie. He needed to sell the alibi to the general to get the money to hire the killing of Ileana Corrigan and the bribing of Cory Jackson and Tommie Montoya.
Axel brought me back from my thoughts. “Cliff’s in the will for a half a million. The shakedown was tide-him-over money while he waited for the general to croak. Those biker guys are always into some kind of crime so it fits. They’re like the renegade gangs that rode in the old west.”
In my mind, Cliff was incapable of putting together the complex plan of murder, a frame and an alibi. But Axel wasn’t through nominating Cliff for the role of the murderer.
“Didn’t you tell me that this Karen, the daughter, manipulated Cliff into attacking you down on the beach? If he’s twisted around her finger, she could have got Cliff to arrange the murder through the bikers so that Eddie would take the fall and she’d get the big bucks. She could have promised him a chance to move into the mansion and live the fat life with her.”
“But then why set up the phony alibi?” I reasoned. “No. If that was the case, Karen would only want to arrange the witnesses that got
Eddie arrested. She’d want him convicted and sent up to clear her path to the general’s will. If she also alibis Eddie then he stays in the catbird’s seat in the will negating her reason for doing it to begin with.”
“It’s a real mess, boss. You got yourself a herd of suspects with no way to cut out the guilty one. Could Eddie and Karen be in it together? They split two million now for waiting around money, then split her share later. She’s grown up with Eddie. She might not have been able to see him convicted of murder. That would explain why Karen would be interested in an alibi for Eddie.”
“We shouldn’t forget a solo performance by Eddie,” I said. “He could have done it. It would have been a brilliant and diabolical plan to murder his fiancée to get out of a marriage he didn’t want. Frame himself, while simultaneously crafting his alibi to get off for having committed it. He gets two million right away, minus expenses, and stays in the head chair when the will is read.”
“Why, boss? I mean the guy’s in line to inherit beaucoup millions. Why should he risk that with a murder? It’d make sense for him to just cool his jets and wait until the chips rolled his way.”
“That seems logical, but let’s say he found himself engaged to a woman he didn’t want to marry. There’s rumors that Ileana was a gold digger playing him for his money. That she had a sugar daddy on the side; the one who gave her the expensive jewelry found at the murder scene. Maybe Eddie didn’t want a kid. He could’ve thought that he’d end up with the kid and she’d split with a divorce settlement. That’s what happened to him. His mother left after his dad was killed in Desert Storm. That’s why he was raised by the general. He didn’t want a wife who didn’t want her son, like his mother hadn’t.