Till Death - Mark Kane Mysteries - Book Four: A Private Investigator Crime Series of Murder, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Stories...with a dash of Romance. A Murder, Mystery & Suspense Thriller

by John Hemmings

  “I want both of you to work together. Duncan says you work well as a team.”

  Lucy folded her arms and looked as pleased as punch.

  Don pulled a checkbook from his rear pocket and wrote a check for three thousand dollars. He handed it to Lucy. He opened his wallet and extracted two photographs of Lisa which he handed to me − one full body, the other showing only her face. She was slim, with chestnut-colored shoulder length hair. Her eyes were light brown, the color of almonds. She had even features, a strong nose and slightly angular chin. She was an attractive lady.

  “How tall is she Don?” I said.

  “She’s five feet six inches. A couple of inches taller in heels of course.”

  “And what car does she drive?”

  “It’s a dark blue BMW three series coupe. Here, I’ll write the registration down for you, and my address.”

  I handed Don my black pocket book.

  “Lisa usually drives, but we live in an apartment near the North End and if she’s only going downtown she’ll sometimes take a taxi instead. Her car’s kept in the basement parking garage.”

  “If she uses her car tailing can sometimes be difficult,” I said. “We’d need to stay at least two car spaces behind and it’s possible to lose a car at stop lights. Would you have any objection to me putting a tracking device on the car? It’s a small magnetic device that I usually attach to the underside of the vehicle. If I lose the car I’m tailing, it’s the easiest way to pick it up again.”

  “You’re the expert. I authorize you to do whatever you think will achieve the best result. But the security in the basement is quite tight. It may be better for me to place the device there.”

  I went to get the tracker. It was an expensive active model which could be linked to my laptop computer and would send back a near real-time record of whatever route the car took. I handed it to Don and showed him how to activate it.

  “Okay, Don. Now you say that Lisa has told you that she’s meeting Cindy again tomorrow, and I understand that you haven’t said anything to her to suggest that you believe that she is lying about that?”

  “No, I’ve kept it all to myself.”

  “Then we’ll tail her tomorrow to see where she goes and who she meets. You say it’s a lunch appointment. I guess if we’re in the vicinity of your home by eleven that should be early enough. I’ll keep you in the picture about where she goes and whom, if anyone, she meets. Of course, I won’t be calling you every five minutes, but I’ll let you know as soon as I have something useful to report. You’ll get a full written report in due course. In these kinds of cases we just have to play it by ear. Try to keep everything as normal as possible at home. If for any reason Lisa changes her plans for tomorrow, then you can call me on my cell phone.”

  “It’s a weight off my mind to have you guys on it. I just hope it’s nothing too serious,” he said. “Whatever it is I’m sure it’s something that I can sort out if she’d just let me. You know Lisa’s usually such a bright girl, always goofing about. The change in her lately is disturbing, to say the least.”

  “We’ll do our best to get to the bottom of it as soon as we can.”

  “Okay, well I’d better be getting home. And thanks; I really appreciate it.”

  I walked Don out to his car and went back inside to talk to Lucy. She was unusually quiet and pensive.

  “What’s the matter Lucy?” I said. “I thought you’d be over the moon.”

  Lucy went and slumped down on the sofa.

  “I’ve been so excited at the prospect of actually being involved in an investigation,” she said, “and now it’s really happening I’m as nervous as hell. Do you think I’ll be okay? I mean what I’ll be doing is so important. You think I’ll be able to cope? I don’t want to let you down.”

  I went and sat down next to her and put my arm around her shoulders.

  “You’re going to be a natural,” I said. “The important thing to remember is that it’s just a job, and like any job you have to learn as you go along. But you’re bright and intelligent and if I didn’t think you were up to it I wouldn’t let you get involved. But remember, I’m still the boss. You have to listen carefully and do things my way. I’ve had a lot of practice at this game. Let’s go out for lunch, and then we’ll drive over to Don’s place and have a recce.”

  “Thanks Kane. I’ll do my best to make you proud of me.”

  “I’m proud of you already, Lucy. C’mon, let’s go spend some of Don’s money.”

  Don and Lisa lived in an apartment on the top floor in a block named The Prestige. After lunch we drove over there to get the lay of the land and find a suitable location where we could hang out so as not to be too far away if Don gave us a call. I tried the laptop to see if the device I’d given Don had been activated but got no signal. I guessed he hadn’t had an opportunity to fix it on the car yet. I could see what he meant about security – there was a grill covering the entrance to the basement parking garage.

  We found a couple of alternative places where we could wait undisturbed, and then we had a short drive around the vicinity to get acquainted with the area. It was a seven story block and some of the apartments had views towards the waterfront.

  On the way home we stopped off at the new office, which thankfully was taking shape more quickly than I’d anticipated. It was about a twenty-minute stroll from the street where we both lived, or a five-minute drive. There were two parking bays allocated to our unit. The entire building, a single story redbrick, was being renovated and a sign was advertising other units for rent. All-in-all I reckoned Lucy had found us a pretty convenient location. She hadn’t been her usual bubbly self during the afternoon so I decided to cheer her up by suggesting we go watch a movie at her place. She looked at her watch.

  “It’s only four o’clock,” she said. “So we’ll have time to watch two. We’ll look for something on Netflix that neither of us has seen before.”

  That did the trick of cheering her up. It doesn’t take a lot to cheer Lucy up.

  “It must be wonderful to be loved as much as that,” Lucy said, pensively. “Do you believe in love at first sight?”

  “Yes,” I said in my normal voice, and then, in my Joe Cocker voice, I sang, “I’m certain that it happens all the time.”

  Lucy thumped me on the arm and laughed. Lucky I wasn’t holding the wheel with that arm.

  Chapter Six

  The Prestige

  Lucy and I were in place nearby The Prestige shortly before eleven. I’d heard nothing from Don, so I presumed that Lisa still intended to keep her lunch appointment. From our vantage point we could see both the front entrance of the building and the parking garage entrance. I checked my laptop and confirmed that the tracking device had been activated. Now all we had to do was wait.

  While we waited I explained to Lucy how to use the laptop to track the route and location of the car. She might not need to use it during this assignment but it was as well to be prepared for the future. At twenty-five minutes past the hour Don called my cell phone; Lisa was on the way down to the basement.

  “We’re ready to roll,” I said to Lucy as I fired up the Chevy’s engine.

  The entrance grill started to move up and the blue BMW eased its way up the ramp and underneath the grill. I could recognize Lisa from the photograph Don had given me. The car turned right and indicated for a left turn at the next junction. I pulled away and followed, keeping a discreet distance behind. I followed the BMW through the Financial District and over the Congress Street Bridge towards South Boston. Lisa crossed West Broadway and turned left and then right at the next block. She eased the car to the side of the street and was obviously looking for a meter.

  “Lucy, you get out here and keep her in sight when she gets out. I’m going to park a couple of blocks away.”

  Lucy got out, pulling the collar of her knee-length black coat above her ears. She was wearing a black scarf, and black knee boots. She l
ooked like a million other people probably looked in cold places around the globe. She was carrying a newspaper. I drove a couple of blocks, spotted a meter and made a right. As I walked back to where I’d last seen the BMW I saw Lisa walking into a café, and a few seconds later Lucy followed her in there. I called Lucy’s cell phone.

  “I’m just down the street. I know where you are. Keep your eyes and ears open. I’ll mosey on down there but I’m not sure whether or not I’ll come in.”

  As I walked past the café window I saw that Lucy had seated herself in a booth by the window opposite an older gentleman who seemed pleased to have something nice to look at. That was perfect. Lisa was in a booth too, at the side of the café and about twenty-five feet away. Through the window I could see that she was sitting opposite a man who was facing towards the window. He looked about thirty or so and had a thin face and lank, greasy hair which was long and tucked behind his ears. They were talking quite animatedly. I called Lucy again.

  “I’m not coming in – I don’t want to disturb your admirer. You’re obviously too far away to hear anything, but watch the body language carefully. Call me the minute either of them gets up to leave. It’s damn cold and I’m going to sit in the car until I hear from you.”

  I went back to the Chevy, fired the engine to keep warm and waited. I didn’t have to wait long. Lucy called to say they were both about to leave. I walked back around the corner and watched as they left separately. The man came out the door and turned in my direction. Lisa came out about half a minute later, just as the guy walked on past me, and she headed towards where her car was parked. I called Lucy.

  “I’m going to follow the guy. Watch to see whether Lisa goes back to her car. If not, I want you to follow her. If she does, then get in the Chevy and crank up the laptop – let’s see if she’s heading home again.”

  The guy who’d been talking to Lisa in the café walked straight past me. I followed him at a distance of about forty feet. After four blocks he turned into a shabby three story apartment block. I turned in there too. I watched at the doorway as he pressed the button and waited for the elevator. There were fire stairs next to the elevator. When the man got into the elevator I took the stairs. The elevator didn’t stop at the second floor so I went up to the third. I watched him get out of the elevator and let himself into one of the apartments with a key. The number of the apartment was 3D. I retraced my steps and walked back to the Chevy. Lucy was already inside trying to warm herself up. I looked over at her and she smiled. “Piece of cake,” she said.

  “So did she go back to her car?”

  “Yes.” Lucy had the laptop open. “It looks as if she’s going home – anyway she’s headed in that direction.”

  “Okay, so what did you see?”

  “The guy was already waiting for her in a booth over near the kitchen. There weren’t any free tables but there was this older guy in the window and he smiled at me so I sat down with him. That’s when you rang me the first time. After you hung up I said “See you in a minute honeybun” into the phone so the guy would think I was expecting someone and wouldn’t try to hit on me. I didn’t want to be distracted.”

  “Honeybun?” I said. Lucy giggled. “So I guess you couldn’t hear any of the conversation?”

  “No. I was too far away and they were talking in low voices. But I could see the guy was pissed. It seemed like Lisa was remonstrating with him, and he kept slapping his newspaper on the table. Then he kept pointing at her and jabbing his finger towards her face. They had ordered coffees but I didn’t see either of them take a sip. Then the guy threw some coins on the table and left. He got up first, and then Lisa called over the waitress and paid. Then she left.”

  “A lovers’ tiff?” I said.

  “No, I’m sure it wasn’t that. The impression I got was that she hadn’t done something that she was supposed to have done. Something like that. It was just my feeling from the body language and the expression on the guy’s face. I could see his face clearly, but Lisa had her back to me.”

  “You did well. I followed the guy to an apartment building just a few blocks away. He let himself into an apartment on the third floor, apartment 3D. It’s kind of a shabby building. None of the apartments had names next to the bell pushes.”

  “So what do we do next?” Lucy said.

  “Well, she didn’t meet Cindy, and the guy certainly doesn’t seem like some Lothario. From your description of their brief meeting it seems they’ve got unfinished business of some sort. There’s no point in us sticking around – the guy from apartment 3D could stay there all day. I’d call Tony or June to sit it out for us but although I’d have no trouble recognizing him I couldn’t give Tony much of a description of the guy. He’s about five nine, thin build. There’s no point giving a description of his clothing because he might come out – if he comes out – dressed differently. I think we’re just going to have to leave it there for the time being. As I said, I think they’ll be meeting each other again – maybe we’ll learn more next time.”

  “In the meantime at least you can confirm to Don that she’s not meeting a secret lover. The guy looked like a real creep to me. Ugh,” she said, giving an exaggerated shiver.

  I looked at the laptop. Lisa was almost home. It was little more than an hour-and-a half since she’d left there.

  “It’s possible they could meet again sometime later today, so I think we should stay in this general area,” I said. “On the other hand Lisa’s brought us to a part of the city where there’s absolutely nothing to do or see. I guess if she does come back we’ll have at least half an hour’s notice from our tracker. Let’s get out of here and find somewhere nice for lunch. We can take the laptop with us.”

  “I’ve got a better idea,” Lucy said. “Let’s go to the downtown office while we’ve still got one to go to. You can help me face the music there.”

  Chapter Seven

  Office-less

  It was seven thirty and we were in Lucy’s place. She was cooking some dinner and I was raking through her movie collection to see if I could find something I hadn’t seen before. I didn’t, but I did find a copy of The Last Waltz –Scorsese’s movie of the Band’s farewell concert back in 1976 − so I put that on. As the theme music started Lucy waltzed out of the kitchen and handed me a cold beer.

  Nothing further had been seen or heard of Lisa, and I hadn’t had a call from Don either. I thought it better to wait for him to call me rather than vice-versa. It hadn’t been a completely wasted afternoon though because, much to Lucy’s surprise, I’d unexpectedly managed to pour oil on the troubled waters at the downtown office. As a result of a mighty feat of organization by Lucy the entire membership of the soon-to-be-defunct downtown headquarters of Mark Kane Investigations was assembled in the seldom-used conference room – five, including Lucy and me, seated on chairs, and the other three leaning against one of the windowless walls. I renounced my entitlement to my share of the advance rent and the deposit, and by a unanimous vote of the remaining members it was resolved that they would remain in situ and cast their net to see if they could attract another couple of tenants. They were to become fishers of men.

  At eight o’clock Lucy got a message from Don on her smartphone asking us to email him with an update. I checked my mailbox, read Don's email and sent him a reply. I told him about the rendezvous in South Boston, including the name and location of the café. I gave him a brief description of the man Lisa had met. It was possible, but a longshot, that he might recognize the description. I had no idea who the man was, but it was just possible that it was someone they both knew. I told him that I’d tailed the guy to his apartment and I gave him the address, but I stressed that under no circumstances must he go to either place or the whole investigation would be in jeopardy. Finally, I told him that although the man had appeared to be angry with Lisa there was no reason to think that she was in any danger. The meeting was conducted in a public place and anyway, if she met him again I woul
d be close by to see that no harm came to her. I told him that I expected them to meet again – probably quite soon.

  I waited to see if there was any reply – I pictured Don eagerly poised over his computer. A few minutes later I got his reply. He would call either Lucy or me immediately if she went out by herself. If he was unable to give enough notice for us to get over there, he hoped we could rely on the tracking device. He’d be at the gym again on Wednesday, so she might wait until then. He asked me to be sure to be ready just in case.

  “Don’s going to call us next time Lisa goes out on her own,” I called out to her. “It looks like Wednesday is the most likely time as he’ll be going to the gym for coaching again.”

  Lucy was in the kitchen. The Band was somewhere up on Cripple Creek.

  “Same time as before?” Lucy called back.

  I walked into the kitchen where Lucy was steaming some fish and mussels, and a pan of sauce was simmering on the stove.

  “I expect so, but if she goes anywhere at short notice we’ll have to rely on the tracker. Actually it’ll probably be safe to take a chance and head directly to South Boston anyway. It’s pretty certain she’ll be meeting the same guy and the rendezvous will be the same because it’s near his apartment. If I’m wrong about the location, we’ll soon know by checking the laptop. I’d like to get into that guy’s apartment and look around, but if the meeting’s as short as the one today there’ll be no time. We’ll see how things go tomorrow. I might just have to muscle my way in.”

  “What do you think it’s all about?” Lucy said.