by Matt Day
He used his binoculars to scan the ocean, seeing nothing but the dark blue associated with deep water. He widened his circle, extending his radius another five miles, but still saw nothing but water.
Climbing back up in altitude, he headed back to the mainland, landing his plane on the Halifax River and slowly heading for his berth. After shutting down the plane and making sure his post-flight check had been completed, he exited the hanger area, noting that he didn’t have a shadow this time around.
He walked the two blocks over to his office, stopping at the corner when he saw two police cars parked in front of the insurance office. There was a small group of bystanders in front of him, so he casually asked what was going on?
“There’s been a murder!”
Chapter 35
He was told of this by a woman carrying her small schnauzer dog. He’d seen her on the street before and assumed she must live nearby.
The gentleman who owned the barbershop two blocks down turned to answer him next, “They’re waiting on the coroner to arrive.”
“Who’s been killed?” Charlie asked, not seeing any police officers in the insurance office.
“The man who rents the office upstairs,” a young boy told him.
“What?!” Charlie couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He looked around and spotted the nearest phone booth, one that would still give him ample view of the police cars. Dialing Chief Morgan, he was pleased when the man answered the phone himself, “Morgan.”
“Morgan, its Charlie Flanigan.”
“Flanigan?! You’re supposed to be dead.”
“That’s what the people who are watching from across the street just informed me. What’s going on?”
“We got a call from a lady about twenty minutes ago saying she had gone to your office and found the door wide open so she stepped inside. She reported there was blood everywhere, the place looked like a tornado had blown through it, and there was a man’s body lying behind the desk.”
“Well, it’s not me, but I must confess, I’m not sure who it could be at this point. And as far as the tornado going through, my office normally looks like that.”
Morgan was silent for a minute before asking, “Did you find anything new on the boat?”
“I haven’t gotten over to the impound yard yet. I did a flyover where both boats were found, but there’s nothing visible except for water. Lots of water.”
“Well, somebody evidently wants you dead, or believes they’ve already accomplished the task. Why not let everyone think it’s true for a bit?”
Charlie thought about the suggestion and it had merit. If it was reported that he had died, no one would be looking for him. That might lead someone to let their guard down and make a mistake. Then he thought of Carmelita, his parents, his siblings – he couldn’t do that to them. “No, that’s not going to work. I think I’ll go over there and see if I recognize the victim. That will also give me a chance to see if anything was gone through.”
“If you think that will work, okay. I’ll go with that. I’ll radio over and let Detective Tulley know what’s happening.”
“Thanks.” Charlie exited the phone booth, crossed the street, and headed towards his office. When Nancy from the insurance office spotted him, she started crying, rushing over to wrap her arms around him. He let her be for a moment and then disengaged her arms from around his neck.
He had taken Nancy out once right after opening up his office, but she was the type of female he detested. She was clingy! After only one dinner date, she had started baking for him – food that he had thrown away because he couldn’t eat it. She had tried to organize his paperwork one afternoon during lunch – he’s spent the next week messing everything up again. With the files placed in correct order, he couldn’t seem to find anything!
“Oh Charlie, I’m so glad you’re not dead!” she gushed, trying to wrap her arms around him once again.
“What’s going on?”
“Oh! It’s just terrible. There’s a dead man up there, and they think it’s you!”
“Well, as you can see, it’s not me. I should probably go upstairs and see if I can identify who is lying dead in my office.”
Charlie stepped around her and climbed the stairs, shaking Detective Tulley’s hand when he met him at the top of the stairs.
“Charlie, I have to say I’m glad that body in there isn’t you.”
“Didn’t you remember what I looked like?” Charlie asked, wondering how closely the stranger resembled him.
“Wish we would have had that option. Whoever he was, he took a beating before he died.”
“Do you know the cause of death yet?” Charlie stepped inside his office, glancing around at the chaos, but not seeing anything out of place.
“Bullet to the brain. What’s left of his head is pretty battered.”
As Charlie stepped further into the office, the smell was the first thing that alerted him to the fact someone’s brains were scattered outside their body. He briefly recalled the first time he’d come face-to-face with a suicide by shooting – he’d lost his lunch in the trashcan, and the memory of that smell had stayed with him. That was years ago, yet he could remember it like it only happened yesterday.
“Did he have any I.D.?”
“Yeah, right. And he left a note explaining who did this and why.” sarcasm lacing Tulley’s words.
Charlie started around his desk, intending to take a look at the man and see if he recognized him, but something on his desk caught his attention. It was a note, scrawled on the legal pad he normally kept there, but it wasn’t his writing. Leaning down, he read what was written there, “Give me what I want and no one else needs to die.”
Detective Tulley was reading the message as well, “Any idea what they’re referring to?”
“Not a clue. I was only working on one case, a missing kid, but he’s currently in the hospital recovering from being stabbed.”
Turning away, Charlie was about to look at what remained of the man’s face when the shoes of the deceased caught his attention. He knew those shoes. They belonged to the guard who’d been on duty at the marina yesterday. Those idiots had taken their revenge out on him!
“I do know him, kind of. He worked as a guard at the Halifax Marina. He was on duty yesterday. His name’s Lou.”
“Why would someone kill the guard from the marina in your office?” Detective Tulley asked.
“I need to go.” Charlie turned on his heel, heading for the door without pause.
“Hey! Wait, what else do you know?” Tulley asked.
“I promise I’ll tell you everything, but I need to go now.”
Charlie stopped in the insurance office, borrowing the phone and urging Wally to meet him at the impound yard with Tommy.
“I did what you asked. Tommy and I went over to the Skyline Hotel. Bernice was working, but there weren’t any suitcases in the Batistos’ rooms. Only a few duffel bags with clothing and personal items. Tommy and I had breakfast with Bill while we waited. “
“So she didn’t see the two suitcases?”
“No. I even gave her the description of them you gave me. Black, with a handle in the center of the long side, and a chain cuff link next to that.”
“Maybe they have the cases with them,” Charlie mused.
“Jimmy Spencer is improving, and only one person has tried to visit him. A co-worker.”
“Tommy.”
“Yeah. How did you know that?”
“Lucky guess. Did you ask him about it?”
“Yes. When I asked him about it, he admitted he had tried to visit him Saturday night. I saw one of the Cuban guys keeping vigil in front of the hospital, but he appeared to be by himself.”
“Okay. Head out and I’ll meet you there.”
“Oh, and I picked up your dry cleaning. They found some notes in your pockets so they put them in a separate plastic bag. They’re stapled to the hanger, and you owe me $1.50.”
“You’ll get your mon
ey, don’t worry. Meet you at the impound lot.” Papers in his pockets, huh? Guess I’ll have to wait and see if I recognize any of them. The only paper he remembered having stuffed in his pocket was the scratch piece of paper he’d taken from Pat Maclean’s dead hand. The piece of paper with random numbers and doodles on it. A meaningless piece of paper!
Charlie left the insurance office and headed back to his house so he could pick up his car. He was almost there when he noticed Scar leaning against the hood of his car. Darn it! Quickly back stepping, he walked over to the next block and then hailed a taxi.
Wally and Tommy were waiting for him when he reached the impound lot. “I found another of our Cuban boys. He’s waiting for me to come back for my car.”
Tommy blanched, “Things are getting pretty dicey.”
“That’s why we need to find a clue on Maclean’s boat.” Charlie stepped to the side, having a few words with the officer on duty. The man assured him he would make the appropriate calls and have the Cuban man, standing guard over Charlie’s car, brought in for questioning.
“Let’s go. We’ll start at the stern and work our way forward.”
The three men conducted a very thorough search, beginning at one end of the deck, checking inside every storage box or cubbyhole for some clue as to why the crew had been murdered. Next, they looked through the cargo hold. There were several hidden compartments, ones that Tommy was able to point out, but all of them were empty.
That only left the wheelhouse and the galley. Wally offered to take the galley, while Charlie and Tommy climbed the stairs to the wheelhouse.
Charlie let Tommy enter the room first, noticing the man went immediately to the map table, looking for something. He leaned against the opposite side, watching Tommy trace his fingers over several of the path lines, before shaking his head and choosing another to follow with his finger.
“What are you doing?”
Tommy was startled. He’d been so intent on locating the last known position of the ship, he’d forgotten Charlie was there. “Uhm…well…last Monday we found a pretty hot fishing spot and I was just wondering if Captain marked it here. He usually kept records of everything.”
Charlie looked at the myriad of lines on the map, with various symbols and colors marking the different fishing grounds and currents. “Is it there?”
Tommy shook his head, “No. That’s not like Captain.”
Tommy left the map table, sorting through other papers scattered around the small space, finding nothing of value. “It’s got to be here, otherwise, this has all been for nothing,” he whispered beneath his breath.
Chapter 36
“What was that?” Charlie asked.
“Nothing. I’m not finding anything.”
Wally climbed the stairs, “Nothing unusual in the galley.”
Charlie looked around the wheelhouse, “There’s got to be a clue here somewhere. Tell me what happened the last time you went out with the crew, last Monday wasn’t it?”
Tommy looked like he was going to be physically ill. Charlie watched him, knowing from the get go that the man was lying through his teeth, “Well, we hadn’t been out for a few days because of that tropical storm that came through. We headed back out to an area that we’d found fish in before.
“Some of the crew were questioning the Captain’s sanity, because the last time we went out, we didn’t catch anything in that area. But Monday, we caught more than we could handle.”
“It was a good day, and when we got back to port, we all headed to Mac’s Place, all except Captain Maclean. He usually went home to his wife and that night was no different.”
“Who all went to the bar?” Charlie asked.
“Well, there was me, Jimmy Spencer, and the Parker brothers. That was it.”
“Did everyone leave the bar at the same time?”
“No. I already told you this, didn’t I?” Tommy asked.
“Humor me and tell it again. Who left first?”
“The Parker brothers. Joseph didn’t drink and said he had a meeting to go to. I figured he was heading over to the church for the Monday night AA meeting.”
“Why didn’t you go?” Wally asked.
“I’m not comfortable in group settings. I’ve been meeting with Ed and Bob at least once a week and that’s enough for now.” Tommy wasn’t sure why, but he felt embarrassed that these men knew of his shortcomings.
Swallowing his pride and his embarrassment, he continued, “Anyway, after they left, Jimmy started drinking more. He was pretty drunk and I tried to get him to let me take him home.”
“Did Jimmy normally drink a lot?” Charlie asked, trying to reconcile the shy young man laying on a hospital bed with a kid who liked to get drunk.
“Well, not really. I mean, the kid is only twenty-two, and I don’t think he went to a bar unless it was with one of us.”
“So, Jimmy gets boisterous when he drinks?” Wally asked.
“No. He’s a happy drunk. But that night he was running his mouth off about some things to do with the fishing boat.”
“What kind of things?” Charlie pressed, having gotten to this point with Tommy before. “Aren’t the stakes high enough now, that holding on to your secret isn’t worth it?”
“It won’t matter now who knows. Without Captain’s notes, it doesn’t matter.”
“What happened last Monday, Tommy?”
“I’ll tell you, but I want to see Jimmy first. You take me to see him, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
Charlie nodded; he could live with that. “Fine, but let’s go. I have an appointment when the high school lets out that I can’t miss.”
*****
Eduardo groaned when the police car pulled up in front of Charlie’s car, “Excuse me, sir. Can you come over here for a minute?” the officer said, exiting his vehicle and keeping his hand on his gun.
Eduardo pushed himself off the car’s hood and sauntered over to see what the officer needed, “Yes sir?”
“I need to see some I.D. please. I also need to know what you’re doing in this neighborhood. We’ve had reports of someone trespassing.”
“I’m just waiting for a buddy of mine to get home. He’s supposed to give me a ride across town.” Eduardo gestured back to the blue Bel Air, “That’s his car right there.”
“I’ll get to that in a minute. I.D. please.” The officer was holding out his hand and Eduardo hesitantly handed him his passport. This was not good!
“You’re from Cuba?” the officer asked, giving him an assessing look.
“Yes. I’m thinking of moving to the U.S. and am here checking things out.”
“Well, unfortunately, I’m going to have to take you down to the station until we can get this sorted out.”
“Is that really necessary, officer?” Eduardo asked, reaching for his wallet.
The officer pulled his gun free of the holster at his waist, “Drop your hands and place them behind your back.”
“Officer, I was just reaching for my wallet. I’m sure we can come to some agreement…”
“Now I’m gonna add bribing a peace officer to the charge. Would you like me to also add resisting arrest?”
“I thought I was just going down for questioning?” Eduardo offered.
“Not anymore.” Officer Stanton was sweating beneath his dark blue peace officer suit, and when he heard his backup arrive, he breathed a sigh of relief. “Hands behind your back! Now!”
Eduardo did so, cursing both officers in Spanish and threatening to get even with him. They didn’t appear to understand him, so he made additional threats, all of which were noted by both officers who were fluent speakers of Spanish.
“Keep it up, man. Now we’ve got harassment, threatening an officer…Shall I continue?”
Eduardo shut up. He only hoped that someone was back at the hotel when he got his one phone call. He needed some help and he needed it now.
Chapter 37
Charlie hitched a ride with Wally
to the hospital, wanting to get this meeting with Jimmy over with so Tommy could finally tell him what had happened last Monday while at sea.
He grabbed a bite to eat in the cafeteria, after taking Tommy up to the third floor and making sure the floor nurses were aware that Tommy had permission to speak to Jimmy.
When Charlie had first stepped into the kid’s room, he’d gotten a smile upon his face, hearing that Tommy was waiting outside to speak to him. “Thanks man.” His voice was still hoarse, but his parents were planning to take the young man home the next morning if everything was still going okay.
He opened the door and gestured for Tommy to enter. “I’ll leave you two to talk for a while. I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes.”
Tommy nodded his head, his eyes locked on the kid lying in the bed and the various machines he was still hooked up to. “Did they tell you that Captain, Jacob and Joseph are all dead?”
Jimmy nodded, tears forming in his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You didn’t kill them.”
“But maybe I sent the killers after them by saying too much. Joseph…”
Tommy cut him off. “Joseph was a good guy. Remember that.” Joseph had definitely been one of the good guys.
*****
Monday evening, Mac’s Place, August 25, 1955…
Joseph had been heading home from his AA meeting. He was passing the bar where he and his brother had left their other crewmembers happily drinking, just in time to see Tommy being carted off in handcuffs. A small crowd had gathered outside on the sidewalk so he casually asked the man closest to him what had happened.
“Guy took exception to a comment made by one of those guys over there,” the man answered, cocking his head to the right where a group of four Cuban men stood together, answering questions from the police.