Back to the Fajitas

by Leena Clover

  “We have had a wonderful time, haven’t we?” Motee Ba said.

  “Yes, Hansa. But I am ready to go home now.”

  Pappa must be so tired. It was amazing how he had endured so much time on the road.

  Barstow was a natural stop on the road between Vegas and LA. So we weren’t really going out of the way. Tony dropped everyone off outside a sandwich shop.

  “Meera and I have to go somewhere. Will you be alright here until then?”

  Dad gave a brief nod. Pappa didn’t look too happy at being dumped in the middle of nowhere.

  “Don’t take too long,” he warned.

  Tony pulled up outside a small building a couple of blocks away. The sign pronounced it as the office of Robert Eckerman & Associates. We pushed the door open and entered a small reception area. A private office lay beyond it.

  “Come on in,” a voice called out.

  An older man stood up from a plush leather chair and offered a handshake. His shock of white hair meant he was over seventy.

  “Robert Eckerman, at your service. I’m semi retired. Don’t have much of a staff, I’m afraid.”

  We assured him we just wanted a few minutes of his time.

  “I’m Meera Patel and this is Tony Sinclair,” I began. “We are from a small town called Swan Creek in Oklahoma.”

  His jovial expression turned serious and he asked us to go on.

  “A friend of ours was found dead a few days ago.”

  I wanted to make sure this man knew Charlie Gibson before launching into the whole story. Otherwise it was just a waste of everyone’s time.

  “Are you talking about Charlie Gibson?” he asked immediately.

  I nodded.

  “I had been trying to reach him for some time. A woman named Audrey finally answered his phone. She told me what happened. It’s so sad. I bailed Leo out as soon as I heard.”

  “So you know Leo too?” I burst out.

  “Sure do. He’s my client. Or has been for a long time, in a way.”

  Tony and I stared at each other. Could it be this man wasn’t aware of Leo’s fate?

  “Leo found your visiting card among Charlie’s stuff. We are on a road trip to the coast. It’s Spring Break, you know.”

  Eckerman nodded encouragingly.

  “Leo asked if we might stop to say Hi since Barstow is on our way.”

  “That kid should have called me by now, especially if he found the letter I sent to Charlie.”

  I must have looked blank.

  “My card was stapled to the letter I sent Charlie Gibson. I am thinking if he found the card, he found the letter.”

  I just nodded a yes.

  “Do you know why he hasn’t called me back?”

  Barstow looked like a small place. Apparently, the news hadn’t reached the local papers.

  “Er, yes!” I murmured, feeling tongue tied.

  My eyes welled up and Robert Eckerman leaned forward, sensing something was wrong.

  “He’s alright, isn’t he?”

  “Leo was found dead five days ago,” Tony cut in. “He left a note confessing to killing Charlie. The police deemed his death a suicide.”

  “That poor boy! What do you think?” he stared at us.

  “Leo’s innocent,” I flared up. “I believed that from day one. The police are finally beginning to think so too.”

  Robert Eckerman sat stunned in his leather armchair. He looked his age.

  “Leo had a lot to live for. There’s no way he would commit suicide. Not if he read the letter I sent Charlie Gibson.”

  “He mentioned some possible good news,” I said, staring at Eckerman. “Do you know what he was talking about?”

  “It’s a long story,” Eckerman sighed. “Can I get you anything before we begin?”

  I asked for some water and he pulled a cold bottle out of a small refrigerator.

  “I’m originally from Dallas. I had a big firm and wealthy clients. I moved here after I retired. My kids live in LA and I like to visit the casinos. This place is kind of in between, the best of both worlds.”

  “So you have clients from Texas and surrounding states?” I read between the lines.

  “You’re a smart one,” he smiled. “I took over this practice from my Dad. We have some clients that go back generations. My Dad handled their estates and I handle the estates of their descendants.”

  I tried to guess what was coming.

  “One such client was Leonard Cunningham. He made a lot of money in oil, millions. He had the Midas touch in business, but his personal life wasn’t that great.”

  It was a common story. Rich people often ignore their families.

  “He had a falling out with his son. Son wanted to be in the movies. He left home and came to California. Met a girl here, another wannabe starlet. They married pretty young.”

  “Did he ever go back?”

  Eckerman shook his head.

  “Leonard Cunningham’s wife died. The son blamed her death on the father. Their rift deepened. Leonard got a trophy wife, a woman much younger than him. He wanted more kids.”

  “What about the son?”

  “He had a daughter. They got some small parts in movies, and managed to raise the girl. Disaster struck again and the daughter became a teen mom.”

  “Seems like they had a lot of bad luck,” I clucked. “What about the trophy wife?”

  “She never had any kids. Leonard grew old and eccentric, and died pining for the grandchild he never met.”

  The story was sad alright. Where did Leo come in?

  “I’m coming to it,” Eckerman said, reading my mind. “Leonard’s granddaughter was a spunky one. She had the baby and continued her education. Her parents helped her raise the child. The child was called Leo after his great grandpa.”

  “Leo said he got his name from his birth month.”

  “That’s probably what he was told,” Eckerman said moodily.

  “Some time when the child was eight, they all got into a car accident. Only the child survived. He was shuffled around to some group homes, sent to foster families. Two years ago, he ran away.”

  “Why did he do that?”

  “Hard to say, Meera. Some foster parents are abusive. The kids are really better off on their own. And teenagers are moody. We don’t know who was at fault.”

  “So Leo was on the run for a while. And then he met Charlie.”

  “Charlie Gibson seems to have been good to the boy.”

  “He was,” I confirmed. “He wasn’t too touchy feely from what I gather. But Leo had a safe place to live in, and he was well fed. He was a happy kid. He was looking forward to college.”

  Eckerman blinked, and looked away.

  “I suppose you are wondering what my connection to Leo is?”

  I almost screamed yes.

  “Leonard Cunningham was a wily one. He created a trust for his next of kin. His new wife had use of his estate for life. Everything went to his great grandchild after that.”

  “Did his son know all this?”

  “He did. But he was stubborn. He didn’t want any of it.”

  “Not even for Leo?”

  “They might have told Leo about it when he got older. But then everything fell apart.”

  “What if Leo didn’t want this money?”

  “As long as there was an heir, Leonard’s second wife didn’t have control over anything. But she got it all in the absence of one. She could leave it to anyone she wanted, or just give it all to charity.”

  “Why did you start looking for Leo?”

  “Leo’s eighteenth birthday was coming up. According to our instructions, we were to contact him once and tell him about his inheritance. I initiated the process six months before the date, like we usually do. That’s when I learned Leo was on the run.”

  “So he had access to all this money, but he was still homeless.”

  Nothing made sense to me.

  “Once Leonard’s son and granddaughter declined the in
heritance, our instructions were to wait until the baby came of age.”

  “How did you find Leo?”

  “It wasn’t easy,” Eckerman said grimly. “I hired investigators. It was easy enough to trace him through the system. But the trail went cold once he was on the run.”

  “Did Charlie ever get back to you?”

  “He called me once. He wanted to confirm someone wasn’t playing a joke on them. He said Leo had some test coming up. He was going to surprise him with the news after that.”

  “Were you surprised Leo was all the way across the country in Oklahoma?”

  “It was ironic, that’s what it was.”

  “How so?”

  “Guess where Leonard Cunningham spent the last years of his life?”

  I didn’t have the patience for any guessing games. My face must have shown that because Eckerman answered his own question right away.

  “Swan Creek, Meera. Your town.”

  “Can’t say I’ve heard of him.”

  “He died before you were born,” Eckerman said. “His wife lives on his estate.”

  “You know her then?”

  “Rose Cunningham got rid of us the moment her husband died. She wasn’t happy she only got the income from her husband’s estate. She didn’t want Leonard’s old advisors interfering with her lifestyle.”

  “Did she know about Leo?”

  Eckerman shrugged.

  “I guess the information was out there for anyone who wanted to find it. But she wouldn’t know we were supposed to contact Leo when he turned 18.”

  “This is a lot to process, Mr. Eckerman.”

  “Who gets all the money now that Leo is dead?” Tony asked.

  “I’m afraid it will all revert to Rose Cunningham now.”

  “Do you realize what that means?” I banged my fist on the table in excitement.

  Tony and Eckerman stared at me.

  “We finally have a motive for Leo’s murder! And Charlie’s too.”

  “I suppose there’s no other reason anyone would have wanted Leo out of the way?”

  “No, Mr. Eckerman, there isn’t!”

  I was feeling confident about this.

  “Would you be willing to talk to the Swan Creek police?”

  Eckerman agreed and I asked for the use of his phone. Stan Miller came on the line and I told him the fantastic story I had just heard.

  “We haven’t been idle either, Meera. It’s all beginning to come together now.”

  Chapter 30

  I’m less than generous while talking about the Swan Creek police. But they come through when needed. Stan gave us a brief report on what they had been up to for the last couple of days.

  “You know that sand bothered me, Meera.”

  We were all listening to Stan on the speaker phone.

  “We posted a man there, outside the gates. We observed a few people coming in and out of the Palms frequently. One of them was a landscaping van. This man, a local guy we know, confirmed they have that kind of sand by their lake. He got us a sample. It’s being tested right now, compared against the stuff we found on Leo’s shoes.”

  “Does anyone named Rose Cunningham live there?”

  I just wanted to confirm it, inspite of what Eckerman had said.

  “The Cunningham estate is one of the largest inside the Palms. The old lady who lives there is kind of whacko. Her nephew lives there with her.”

  “How do you know that, Stan? We just told you about the Cunninghams.”

  “We have eyes and ears everywhere, Meera,” Stan said pompously. “Let’s say Doug Martin has raised a few flags.”

  “Who’s Doug Martin?”

  “Keep up, Meera! That’s Rose Cunningham’s nephew.”

  “Go on!”

  “Leo’s death has been talked about a lot in the papers. Almost everyone in town has heard about it. We showed his picture to the guards at the Palms. They admitted Leo came there the day he died.”

  “What happens now?”

  “All this time, we were trying to find a connection between Leo and someone at the Palms. Now that we know he is a Cunningham, things will be much easier.”

  Stan promised to keep us posted and hung up.

  Robert Eckerman cleared his throat.

  “I am willing to bet Rose and her nephew are involved in this. Will you keep me in the loop?”

  We shook hands again, and Tony and I stepped out of the law office. I was in shock. Life is so fickle. We really don’t know what’s waiting for us around the bend. If only Charlie had told Leo about Eckerman’s letter the moment he got it? Would they both have been alive right now?

  The family was waiting for us impatiently. We had been away for over an hour. Motee Ba had packed a couple of subs for us.

  “Everything alright?” she asked, sensing my mood.

  I looked at Dad. I wasn’t sure he would want to hear about all this. It might spoil the mood.

  “Speak up, girl,” Pappa boomed, tapping his cane. “Was this about Charlie Gibson?”

  I gave them a high level version. Everyone looked shocked. We piled into the car and set off toward the last point in our journey. I could see Motee Ba’s lips move silently in the rearview mirror. I was sure she was saying a prayer for Leo.

  Tony switched on the radio and I closed my eyes, thinking about what must be happening back in Swan Creek. The folks in the back must have dozed off. The traffic increased as we got closer to cities. Barely an hour later, Pappa made his usual demand for lunch.

  “It’s 1:30,” Pappa said. “Past my lunch time.”

  There was a discussion on whether we should drive on straight to Sally’s home and order something there or stop on the way.

  “Your mother’s tired just like the rest of us,” Motee Ba warned. “We are not going to make her work soon as we get home.”

  “Let’s stop somewhere along the way,” Dad reasoned. “I’m a bit hungry too, actually.”

  It turned out everyone wanted lunch. Tony entered a city and stopped outside a Mexican restaurant. Motee Ba’s words made sense. Sally had been living with us in Swan Creek for the past few weeks. We would probably need to hit a grocery store first for milk and juice.

  The food in California had its own taste. I had never given much thought to enchiladas before this. Now that I had eaten them in New Mexico, Arizona and California, I had a new appreciation for how versatile they could be.

  “How far is the beach from your place, Mom?” Jeet asked, biting into a giant burrito.

  “About thirty minutes,” Sally answered.

  “Have you ever gone surfing?” he asked her.

  Sally smiled. That meant a yes.

  “Leave your mother alone,” Dad ordered.

  I sneaked a look at my watch. It had been about two hours since we spoke to Stan. I wondered if there had been any more developments.

  “Do you want to call Stan Miller?” Dad asked.

  I felt like a deer caught in the headlights.

  “Take my phone,” Dad said, handing over his cell phone.

  He couldn’t have shocked me more if he had handed me a $100 bill. Sally patted his arm and smiled. This must be her idea.

  I got up from the table, having lost all interest in the flan. I almost jogged outside as I dialed Stan.

  “Hey Stan! It’s Meera.”

  “It’s over, Meera. We got him.”

  “Tell me everything,” I gushed. “Don’t leave anything out.”

  Tony had come out behind me. We got into the car and I put the phone on speaker.

  “Doug Martin confessed to killing Charlie Gibson and Leo Smith.”

  “Was it all for the Cunningham fortune?”

  “You better believe it.”

  “Does he get this money now?”

  With access to millions of dollars, Doug Martin could hire the best lawyers and even get away with his crime.

  “That depends on his aunt, Rose Cunningham.”

  “But how did you get him t
o confess?”

  “Things moved pretty fast after we talked last, Meera. We showed a photo of Doug Martin around. Both Audrey and Joyce Baker recognized him. He had paid some visits to Charlie in the last couple of months.”

  “But Eckerman sent Charlie that letter two weeks ago.”

  “It’s like this. Rose Cunningham hired Doug Martin to take care of the estate. He lived with her and acted like an estate manager. She led him to believe he was going to inherit everything after her.”

  “But that wasn’t true!”

  “Right! This lady kept Doug on a short leash, dangling her money like a carrot. She fell ill about a year ago. Actually, she’s counting her last days now. Somehow, she let it slip Doug wasn’t getting squat after she was gone.”

  “I bet that didn’t go down well.”

  “As I said before, that Martin guy’s a shady character anyway. He’s had a lot of spare cash and plenty of time on his hands. He got used to the posh life, being a lord of the manor and all that.”

  “Go on, Stan!” I urged, getting impatient.

  “Martin hired investigators to find out where this kid was. Once he knew the kid was missing, he began to believe he must be dead. But then the investigation turned up a nasty surprise. Not only was the kid alive, he was right there under his nose in Swan Creek.”

  “And Leo had no idea about all this!”

  “Martin kept a watch on Charlie Gibson, sort of got to know him. Said he was a sly one. He didn’t let Martin get close.”

  “Sounds like Charlie alright.”

  “Martin turned up at places Charlie went to. He took morning walks at Willow Springs, went to the library and the grocery store. Charlie began to trust him. He proposed some kind of scheme.”

  “Scheme for what?”

  “He just wanted to get into Charlie’s home. The plan was simple. He was going to kill Charlie and blame it all on Leo. Leo would go to jail and he would run away with the money.”

  “But Leo would catch up to it sometime?”

  “Martin knew Leo had no idea he was a Cunningham. That was part of why he had befriended Charlie. To get all the information on Leo.”

  “Then Eckerman started looking for Leo.”

  “Martin had no idea about that. He didn’t know about Leo’s bail. But Leo turned up at his door.”