He knew that he had to find out the deal with the detective. That would answer a lot of questions and might possibly make any worries he had irrelevant.
22
It was late when Parminter and Nicole had just left Pompidou’s. As with everywhere they ate, it was so far off the register no one either of them knew would see them there. The secrecy was getting old, but sometimes the privacy really struck the right cord with Parminter. Because of the way his subdivision was designed, he was so used to there being people so close to him all the time, watching and listening to him—or at least feeling like he was being watched and listened to—that it was nice to be somewhat anonymous.
“I can’t wait to get back to the condo,” Nicole said, leaning against him in the crisp fall weather. Since the restaurant was in the country, the parking lot was rather dark. The only light was from one lone security lamp at the corner of the parking lot. But because the place was out to itself, it was not particularly considered by most to be unsafe. Also, it was a French restaurant in a place where there should not be a French restaurant so it was given a lot of slack on things that would have been demanded of it had it been in a different location.
“I can’t either. It’s just too bad that this place is all the way out here. It would be nice to go somewhere a little closer,” he said.
“I promise, John. As soon as everything is settled.”
“Okay.”
Parminter had just unlocked the passenger door and was opening it for Nicole when he felt a tap on the shoulder. He whirled around.
“John, what is it?” Nicole asked startled.
Both of them looked into the darkness. A figure was standing behind them. He looked somewhat familiar to Parminter, but he couldn’t quite place him.
“Clement, what are you doing here?” Nicole asked nervously.
Now Parminter recognized him. It was Clement Boatman, the guy who had made a scene at the dinner party.
“My family owns this place. Or at least it used to.”
“Clement, Raoul had nothing to do with this. You insisted that he make those investments. He warned you.”
“I trusted him and he betrayed me. After my father died, they counted me to run things. I was supposed to keep the family afloat. But I didn’t. And you’re to blame.”
Parminter stepped up. “Any problem you have with Raoul was between you and Raoul. It has nothing to do with Nicole.”
Clement ignored him. “I saw you two in there. The new owner felt sorry for me and hired me as a manager after we lost the place. I couldn’t believe that you would even have the nerve to come here.”
He stepped into the light a little. They could see he was holding a gun.
“Put the gun away,” Parminter said. His mind was racing to figure out what to do.
“You don’t want to do this,” Nicole said. “No amount of money is worth this.”
“It was to Raoul,” he said angrily. “You keep saying that it was all my fault, but it wasn’t. Raoul did warn me not to make those investments but that’s not all there is to it. He stole it. I told him to sell when they started showing gains, but he told me they still had potential. I listened to him and I told him to sell when they started to drop. He said it was just a temporary correction in the market. It wasn’t. He just sat there and watched until everything was gone.”
“So how is that Raoul’s fault?” Parminter said, getting more annoyed and nervous at the same time.
“It’s because there wasn’t any money to give me. He stole and pretended that he invested it. He fixed it so I would look like a fool who had squandered his family’s fortune.”
“That’s a pretty serious allegation.”
“It’s true and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Nicole and Parminter looked on in horror as he put the gun to his head.
“Except this. I want my blood on your hands. You’re going to live the high life on my family’s money. You should at least feel a little guilty about it.”
“No!” Parminter said as he lunged at him.
“I’m going to do it right this time,” he said and put the gun below his chin and pulled the trigger. The gun went off and he slumped to the ground. He was dead. Outside of the obvious horror of the act and gore which followed, it was such a textbook suicide that it couldn’t help but be somewhat undramatic. One shot and it was over. No hope for survival.
“Clement!” Nicole screamed. They ran over to him but it was too late. The blood was still pumping but there wasn’t any hope.
Nicole freaked out. “What do we do now?! What do we do now?!”
“Call the police,” Parminter said, trying to stay calm.
Neither of them said anything for a minute as they sat there for a minute until they caught their breaths.
“We can’t do that!” she said, almost on the verge of hyperventilation. “I can’t be tied to this!”
Parminter looked at her strangely. “We don’t have a choice. But he just shot himself in front of us.”
She was silent for a couple of seconds, but then turned toward him suddenly. “But no one knows yet!”
Parminter looked around. Apparently this was true because no one had come out of the restaurant.
“Well, what do you propose we do then?”
“I don’t know but nobody can see us here!”
Parminter stared at her, thinking it over. She did have a point.
She seemed to calm down for a second. “You can’t be here, John. Neither can I. Someone will find him. Let them take care of it.”
Parminter couldn’t believe how clearly she was thinking. She was acting like an emotional wreck, but was still seeing the big picture through the tragedy. She was much stronger than he had given her credit for.
“He was depressed!” she said suddenly, starting to become almost hysterical again. “He already tried to do it at my party! Everybody knows that! They’ll just see it for what it is! A suicide!”
Parminter thought about it for a second. He knew that she was probably right as far as convenience went, but still a man had just died in front of them. There was an implied moral obligation. Couldn’t she understand that?
“But what about that stuff he was saying? About Raoul stealing his money?”
“Who knows and who cares! I can’t worry about that right now! We need to leave!”
She had made up her mind. He grasped that from her perspective, she was right. Clement’s goal had been for his suicide to cause her problems and embarrassment. The only way she could escape the trap he had set for her was to ignore it. After a second’s hesitation on Parminter’s part, they got into the car and left.
23
The next few days went by uneventfully. Of course Clement’s body was found in the parking lot and there was some minor attention paid to his death because of the family to which he belonged. However, the suicide angle was downplayed in the news and the obituary simply mentioned that he had died. Naturally, among people who know about such people, it was the topic of many conversations, but as far as the average citizen knew, he was just another fellow who had gone off to his great reward far too soon.
Parminter was till slightly uneasy with the situation. He knew that Nicole had been right about leaving the body in the parking lot. If they hadn’t, what had been reported as a mere death would have been made into some sort of dramatic event that would have caused embarrassment not only to herself but also his family. It had been for the best that they abandoned him. Of course, Nicole had fallen apart in the car on the way back to her condo, but still, she had done well for a pampered trophy wife.
He drove his car downtown towards the Copper Cistern. He had another appointment to have lunch with Joan Garrity. He didn’t really want to but she had insisted and he figured that since she knew everything about everybody it might be a good idea to catch up with what the undercurrent of gossip was at that moment. Particularly if it involved Clement Boatman.
He walked in and saw th
at she was already sitting in a booth. And as usual, she was dressed as brightly as possible. This time, she was in bright red. He couldn’t help but think that she resembled some sort of warning beacon in the dark bar. She waved him over and stood up and gave him a hug. After dispensing with her usual harassment of whether or not he was going to sell his house, they ordered.
She leaned in a little. “What do you think about Clement Boatman?” she said, raising her eyebrows.
“I heard he died.”
Garrity leaned back and gave him a sly smile. “Well, he killed himself. And I have to say that I’m not surprised. Especially after what he pulled at Nicole Goldman’s dinner party.”
Sometimes Garrity really annoyed Parminter. She was always so smug and knowing and quick to talk about other people. She was likable, sure, but he always remembered what he had heard about people who talk about other people to you. They will most likely talk about you to other people. He had to be careful not to say anything that would be incriminating. Also since there was now a private detective in the mix, there was no telling what could happen.
“Really? I guess I’m not surprised.”
“Yep, they found him dead in the parking lot. I guess it was fitting since his family was known for that restaurant.”
“Were there security cameras?” Parminter asked hesitantly.
She looked at him as if to say, yeah right.
“I guess not,” Parminter said trying to hide the note of relief in his voice.
She leaned in again. “Guess what? He left a note.”
“Wow!” Parminter said, truly surprised. “I thought they found him in a parking lot.”
The waiter brought their drinks.
“Yes, they did,” she said matter of factly and took a sip of her sweet tea. “He had it in his pocket. He had written it on a napkin. Apparently right before he did it.”
“What did it say?”
“That’s the kicker. It said ‘This is for Nicole. I hope she enjoys the money.’”
Parminter gulped.
Garrity kept on without taking a breath. “Of course, the police just linked it to what he did at her party. But it was kind of a weird note, don’t you think?”
Parminter had the vague idea that Garrity was fishing for information and knew more than she let on. He made an extra effort to keep his mouth shut.
“Yeah, but he sounds like a weird guy.”
She took a sip of her sweet tea.
“He was actually a sweet boy. A little too sensitive, but sweet. He wasn’t really the business type but he sort of got thrust into because his family wanted him to because he was the only male.”
“Oh,” Parminter said.
She took a deep breath. “Just between you and me, I always figured that it was bound to happen. He was just fragile. He was a born target. If it hadn’t been this it would have been something else.”
“I see.” Parminter said.
“I think that he was gay, too, but his family wouldn’t allow him to come out. I mean everybody knew, but they didn’t want him to make it official, if you know what I mean. I’m sure that didn’t help things either for him. His grandfather was really hard on him about it. Kept trying to take him to brothels and places like that to turn him straight. It was pure torture for him from what I’ve heard.”
“Poor guy.”
“That’s why I’m saying I’m not surprised.”
“Some people are born doomed and he seems like he was one of them,” Parminter said. He couldn’t help but remember what Clement had said about Raoul stealing his money before he pulled trigger. He also thought about leaving him there dead on the ground. He supposed that it was a fitting end to a rather dismal life.
The waiter then arrived with their food.
“Oh, goody, I’m starved!” she said quickly changing the subject. Then she turned to him. “Are you sure there’s nothing I can show you right now? I’ve got quite a lot of new properties you would really love.”
24
Parminter was on his nightly walk around the neighborhood. His leg was better and he was feeling pretty good. Trading had gone well that day and had had made quite a lot of money. It was what he liked to term, a monotonously profitable day. Which was just the way he liked it.
As he walked, he thought a little more about the Nicole situation and had an idea. He hadn’t been to Ratledge’s house since the night he had followed Morris Fox’s car there. He decided that tonight would be a good idea to extend his walk and pay Ratledge a social visit. He didn’t know why exactly he wanted to do this, but his gut instinct told him that it would be a good idea.
Ratledge was a family man so he figured he would be home. He also knew that he probably wouldn’t be anything other than cordial at his house. He had two children who were sweet but slightly roly poly. They couldn’t help it though because both Ratledge and his wife were both on the plump side themselves.
Parminter looked at his watch and saw that it was only seven o’clock so he knew that most likely they wouldn’t be doing anything other than eating supper. It would be funny to see the look on Ratledge’s face when he opened the door and saw him standing there. Frenemies to the end. Anything he could do to make Ratledge squirm or be uncomfortable was always worth doing.
He began his ascent into the higher-priced homes of the development. The walk was much easier this time because his leg had had more of a chance to heal. He looked at the houses as he walked into the more expensive area and saw just how many empty ones there were. It was no wonder that Joan Garrity was always harrassing him to buy. There was simply so much to sell. No one was moving around anymore because they were so buried by their house payments. He was probably one of the only people she knew who could buy anything and that was only because he wasn’t a person to go around buying anything. The paradox was not lost on him.
After about thirty minutes he was Ratledge’s house. He was a little disappointed to see that no one was home. There was probably some sort of school function going on. But it had been a good walk and he was going to be sure to do it again.
He walked on past the house with the intention of turning around at the cul de sac when he noticed that there was indeed a car in the driveway. He had missed it because it was behind some newly planted shrubs. Maybe he would get to do his visit after all. The car was a small, generic looking Chevrolet. It almost looked like something a security guard would drive but was nothing like the security cars that normally patrolled the development. They drove Dodges. He crept up near it to get a better look. From the sticker on the back, he could tell that it was definitely a rental and it was filled with junk. Food wrappers and soda and beer cans littered the passenger and back seats and floorboards. Perhaps Ratledge was getting some work done on the Escalade? He had no idea and walked towards the door, hoping that Ratledge would be at home and this walk hadn’t been in vain.
He strolled up the driveway past the car and but then noticed something out of the corner of his eye. There was someone in the car. He looked closer and then saw that the person in the car was staring back at him. Before Parminter could do anything, the person got out of the car and started towards him.
It was Howie and he looked very angry.
25
Parminter braced himself as Howie came towards him. While Howie appeared to be in terrible shape, Parminter’s lingering leg injury would definitely be a disadvantage. Also, from personal experience, he knew that once Howie started, there would be no stopping him. If he was as truly unhinged as he had been acting, it could get pretty ugly pretty fast. Parminter was going to have to act decisively and in a split second formulated his plan of attack. He would take his one good leg and karate kick the side of Howie’s kneecap. If he was halfway accurate and just a little bit lucky, this would not only do some serious damage, but would also potentially break Howie’s leg.
Howie continued towards him, his expression was unreadable. Parminter got ready.
But then Howie smiled. “You lo
ok like you’re ready to kill me, John.”
Parminter relaxed a little.
“Listen, I’m sorry, John for the way I acted at the park. You know how I am. Besides I had been drinking a lot and it doesn’t mix well with my medication.”
“That’s okay,” Parminter said.
Howie came up and shook his hand. “I was really out of line and I’m really embarrassed about it. I mean, I accused you of some awful stuff. I know that you aren’t fucking Nicole. I was just mad because she pulled you into this. I just felt like she was getting you to betray me. I was terrible, I know. I just didn’t know how to talk to you about it.”
“I can understand,” Parminter said relieved. Regardless, he was still a little wary of Howie. The closer that Howie came, the more he could see just how far he had sunk in the brief period of time since he had come back to town. While he was never the flashiest of dressers, he was always clean. However, now, he was quite the opposite. He was disheveled, dirty looking, unshaved and he smelled. And not in a good way. If he hadn’t been in a rental car, Parminter could have sworn he was homeless.
There Will Be Fire Page 10