Scamper's Find

by Terry H. Watson

  “Thankfully, I had little contact with Barclay and his buddies, Alfred Wysoki and Les Soubry. Les seemed to be the nicest of the trio. He would smile and say, ‘Hi’ when he passed by; the others ignored me, made me feel like scum. It was never meant to end in tragedy, sir. Lucy was to be returned home the evening of the crash. Barclay and Alfred wanted rid of Les Soubry. I was in an anteroom dealing with some of Anna’s stuff and overheard them talking. They didn’t know I’d heard them. I can tell you I was scared they’d find me. My heart seemed to thump so loud, like it was going to explode; I was real panicky.”

  “Can you recall what was said?”

  “Sure. There was only a thin wall between them and me. They had found out Les had called some cop with details of Lucy’s flight home to Chicago. They were furious.”

  Harvey did not disclose that he himself had taken the call from Les, having arranged with him to do so in return for leniency for his own part in the loan-shark business. The detective arranged for coffee for Rita and himself to give her time to gather her thoughts. His policy at this point was to play the good cop.

  Rita thought the coffee was the best she had ever tasted; her taste buds relishing the sweetness denied her for so long.

  She continued, “I heard Barclay say, ‘That bastard’s sold us down the river. He told some cop guy about the flight arrangements. It’s what we suspected Alf; he’s been going behind our backs, deceiving us.’ Alf said, ‘Want me to finish him off then?’

  “Sir, I was so frightened. There was no doubt that they were going to harm Les, but they’d no right to take sweet Lucy with them, had they?”

  She sobbed as she told of the last time she saw the group, and of her conversation with Lucy and Zelda, one of the reluctant captors.

  “We spoke for a long time, explained to Lucy about her aunt’s hold over everyone, and assured her she would be back in her own home that evening. Little did we know what lay ahead. Lucy was such a trusting kid.

  “Anna Leci was mad, sir, not bad. She began a crusade of hatred that got out of hand and worsened as her cancer took hold and she was drugged up. She could no longer think straight. The cancer had reached her brain and she had lost any sense of common decency. In her twisted mind her cruel plan had to run its course.”

  “What hold did Anna Leci have over the woman you referred to just now as Zelda? Who was she?”

  “Zelda told me that she and Kristof, that’s her husband, had entered America illegally and somehow Anna Leci found out and threatened to have them deported. Those weren’t their real names. I never knew what they were. I don’t recall much of the conversation. The past few years in here have played havoc with my mind and I get real mixed up at times.”

  Superintendent Harvey looked the distraught prisoner in the eye and asked the question he had most puzzled over.

  “Rita, at your trial you told how you were afraid of Anna Leci. How could that be when she was so near to death and therefore incapable of harming anyone? Why, at that fortuitous time did you not contact the authorities and put an end to Lucy’s ordeal?”

  “Sir, I often wish I’d had the courage to stand up to her, but, as I’ve said, she had such a hold over me. As it is, I’ve ended up in jail anyway. Lucy’s trip went on longer than planned due to the crazy weather that Anna sent them out in, and they all took sick and had to rest up for days. Anna was furious at the delay. That poor, poor kid; she didn’t deserve that, and nor did Zelda or Kristof, or kind George North. They were all good people; their only crime was to meet Anna Leci and get caught up in her deviousness.”

  “Sorry Rita, but that doesn’t make sense to me. What could Anna Leci have done at that stage in her life to control you? There’s more to this. Don’t stonewall me about this; come clean. Were you reluctant to give up the life of apparent luxury that you had in that monstrously lavish place? Did you hope to live there after the death of your employer? Rita, there’s much more to this than you’re telling me. Isn’t that so?”

  She lowered her eyes, refused to meet his, fearful that the truth might be released in a torrent of guilt-ridden shame. She sat in silence and waited for the onslaught.

  Tony Harvey stood up, pushed his chair away from him with such a clatter that it startled both her and the warden in the room with her.

  “I have my answer,” he bellowed as he stormed out of the room.

  CHAPTER 15

  For several days Tony Harvey’s mind could focus on nothing but Lucy’s end.

  Anna Leci’s lawyer! He suddenly thought. He has never been interviewed by us. How did we manage to overlook him?

  He put a call through to Carole to discuss his thoughts.

  “He never really came into the picture, Tony. He only came to our attention when we got to read Anna Leci’s letter to Lucy. Personally, I never gave a thought to such a professional man being involved in anything covert, but as you so often say, never presume someone is not the criminal type just because of appearance. What’s the plan then?”

  “Initially, I’ll give him a call and sound him out. I’d like to know what he knew of Lucy’s abduction. If he had any inkling of it and didn’t report it, he’s as bad as Rita Hampton and needs to answer for his silence. He must have known about it; perhaps he played a major role in the whole scenario and we’ve been fooled by him.”

  The telephone conversation with Jordan Garnett was unproductive; the lawyer claimed to have known nothing of Lucy Mears’ disappearance, causing alarm bells to ring for the suspicious superintendent of CPD. Once again he asked Carole Carr to accompany him on a mission to interview the lawyer face-to-face.

  “How can he say he knew nothing of Lucy’s abduction? Has he been living on another planet? Something is not right here. Has he been involved in the whole sordid mess? We have to do this ourselves, Carole. I won’t settle until all avenues of Lucy’s death have been covered. We owe it to her. It’s the least we can do.”

  “Tony, you can’t forever blame yourself for what happened. We were outwitted by a cunning, crazy woman, but, yeah, okay, let’s interview the guy but keep an open mind until we hear what he has to say. Surely you don’t suspect him to be the brains behind the abduction. Hey, now, you’ve got me thinking… ”

  Once again the duo found themselves flying over 700 miles across the USA.

  “At least the mayor has sanctioned this trip. He still feels guilty about how we were treated over the election fiasco and needs to make amends somehow. For the time being at least, he has given us an open cheque book.”

  ***

  Jordan Garnett’s office in Madison Avenue took the detectives by complete surprise.

  “I didn’t expect this luxury. Did you, Tony? I got the impression he ran a one-man outfit in a back street, but, hey, look at this! Don’t sink into the carpet pile, I might never find you again.”

  A junior partner escorted them to the penthouse suite where Jordan Garnett warmly welcomed them.

  “I appreciate you coming this way. I’m afraid my travelling days are over. I leave that to some of my more able members of staff.”

  The elderly, dapper gentleman regaled them with the history of the firm, proudly showing portraits of his late grandparents and father, whom he said, built the firm up from practically nothing to be the successful business it had now become.

  “I plan to retire at the end of the year and hand over the reins to my talented nephew, my late brother’s son. My wife and I never had children so I’ve been training young Edward to take over the day-to-day running of the firm. He’s a capable young man and I have total confidence that it will go from strength to strength under his leadership. I so wish to keep this business in family hands. Now, Detectives, you didn’t come all this way to listen to an old man’s rant. You want to know about dear Anna. How can I help? And what is this about an abduction?”

  Harvey and Carr looke
d at each other in surprise. Out of earshot, Carole whispered, “‘Dear’ Anna?”

  Harvey began to question him. The elderly man was taken aback at the line of questioning and the brusque, perplexing tone from the superintendent. Carole attempted to nudge her colleague to cool it, but Tony, emotions riding high, was on a roll.

  “Sir,” he addressed the lawyer, “how much did you know of the abduction of Lucy Mears by Anna Leci? I find it abhorrent that you did nothing to stop the suffering of the child.”

  From the startled look on his face, it was obvious that the poor man was genuinely stunned and taken aback at what he was hearing.

  “No, no, you must be mistaken. Anna Leci was a kind, sweet soul who was incapable of harming anyone. I knew her well and helped her compose a letter for her great-niece telling the dear child about the grandmother she never knew. Anna knew her end was near and wanted the girl to have a piece of family history. This is an outrageous suggestion. Abduction? By Anna Leci? The woman was dying!”

  He removed a pristine handkerchief, mopped his brow, cleaned his glasses, and stared somewhat unbelievingly at the two senior officials sitting in front of him. He felt as if something sinister was about to enter his otherwise sedate life like a predator ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey.

  Harvey passed over the document which purported to have been composed by Anna for Lucy.

  “Is this the document you prepared, sir, for Anna Leci?”

  Jordan Garnett donned his reading glasses and perused the document in front of him. He paled as he read. He flicked back and forward through the pages, brows furrowing as he read and reread the papers. It seemed an eternity until he spoke. The only sound in the room was that of the rapid breathing of the older gentleman and the irritating, impatient tap-tapping on the desk of Harvey’s pen.

  “I don’t understand this… believe me… this is a mystery. Yes, some parts of the document dealing with Lucy’s grandparents and their life together were indeed dictated to me by Anna and written up for her approval. But these pages here… these pages were most certainly not part of the original document. I am stunned to read about the child’s abduction and nightmare journey across so many states and Anna’s involvement. Detectives, please, please believe me. I am an honest man, too honest it seems. I’ve been duped. Someone has added to this… look… I did not draw up these pages here… This one here, and these two and this other one… ”

  The bewildered man wiped his brow of sweat and continued, “Anna Leci told me that her great-niece Lucy was coming to visit and how she was so looking forward to meeting her young relative. She had arranged for some staff to take the child to Montana to visit her beautiful cabin there. I presumed it had all been arranged with the child’s mother. I must say I did question the trip taking place in winter, but Anna assured me it was the most spectacular of seasons. ‘Jordan,’ she said to me, ‘I want the dear child to experience the most amazing scenery and I long to hear her recall her impression when she visits me.’ I am stunned and totally bemused by this. You have shocked me. I am finding this hard to comprehend.”

  It was obvious that the elderly man was telling the truth. Carole felt sorry for him as he attempted to puzzle out the mystery that had been devastatingly related to him by two senior detectives. He reached for a glass of water; his hand shook uncontrollably, his pallor changed from the ruddy-faced gentleman they had encountered less than an hour ago to a sallow, almost pasty-faced man, his breathing increased rapidly as he reached in his pocket for an inhaler.

  Tony, his attitude to the lawyer mellowing, looked at Carole for inspiration, hoping perhaps she could fathom out what was going on in the mind of Jordan Garnett. He assured the poor man that they would get to the bottom of this mystery.

  “Can you tell me, Mr Garnett,” asked Tony, “did anyone else ever visit Anna Leci on your behalf? Someone, I fear, has added to the document without your knowledge. From our understanding of events, Anna Leci was not the sweet lady you believed her to be, but a scheming mad woman. Did you really have no knowledge of the abduction of Lucy Mears? It was on every news report in the country. The child was missing for ten weeks or more. Explain please how you missed that.”

  “No Detectives, I was quite sick. I had major surgery to my eyes and spent many weeks in recovery. I was not allowed to watch TV or read. It was a miserable time for me. I had to lie flat on my back. I was so drugged up that I had no energy or inclination to listen to news reports. It was touch-and-go as to whether or not I would lose my sight. My dear wife was distraught at my plight and visited me every day. We just held hands and listened to some music, and never spoke of world events. My nephew was in charge of the firm and updated me on occasions on essential events within the business, but never discussed anything outside of it. He was so focused, Detectives, and I have every confidence that he will be an excellent successor in my family business. I had asked him to to deliver some documents to Anna Leci for approval. He was to have them signed and put in the safe for my return to work. These very ones, I believe… Oh, no! It couldn’t be Edward, surely not?”

  Jordan Garnett was about to press the bell to summon the young man, when Harvey stopped him in his tracks.

  “Let’s hang on a bit, sir,” he gently suggested. “We three need time to understand what we have uncovered here before we rush in. Let’s think this through. Do you have a record of your visits to Anna Leci?”

  The numb man rummaged in a safe and produced a pile of diaries.

  “I keep these for several years in case I ever have reason to refer to dates. This one here should cover the times I called on Anna.”

  He passed the book to Carole Carr to examine. As she flicked through pages, Tony attempted to reassure the man that he was not in any way at fault.

  “Here we have it, Tony. Look at this record of visits and expenses for the same, to Anna Leci. We have Mr. Garnett’s entries and over here are several visits by Edward Garnett Jnr to Anna Leci.”

  “Several?” questioned the lawyer. “I sent him on only one occasion. He was to obtain a signature and return the document to the safe, that’s all. I was to deal with it when I recovered from my illness.”

  “I’m sorry, sir, but it looks like your trusted nephew has colluded with a devious old lady and duped you. He must have worked with her on adding to the document but concealed it from you.”

  “I’m just a stupid trusting old man, Detective. Oh, and I passed that document on to Brenda Mears in good faith, not knowing the full contents of it. No wonder she looked at me as if I had no feelings about her poor child. Now I know why she was cold with me. I have to contact the lady and apologise for my behaviour on that day. She must have thought I had lost my mind.”

  Carole said, “Don’t concern yourself at the moment, sir, about Brenda Mears. We will explain it all to her. Perhaps you can contact her later. Our priority is to resolve this upsetting discovery.”

  “Oh, but I have failed to carry out my work properly. I made a dreadful error in handing over documents to a client without even reading them. I trusted they were all in order. Oh, if this is true, and I suspect it is, I now have to reconsider Edward as my successor. Should we confront him now? I’m anxious to get to the bottom of this.”

  “Before you do that, Mr. Garnett, do you have a copy of Anna Leci’s will? I would like to know if anything has been altered.”

  Once more the elderly gentleman shuffled over to the safe, where he retrieved a well-worn folder which he proffered to Superintendent Harvey who shook his head, saying, “I’d prefer you to look through it first, to ascertain if this document is the true document that you had compiled for her.”

  With his hand shaking even more markedly, the lawyer perused the document. The change in his expression and his rapid breathing told the detectives what they feared.

  “This has been doctored! It’s outrageous! But, Detectives, I am
totally to blame here. I trusted Edward implicitly and I’m at fault for not checking the documents; a very serious breach of protocol on my part. Thank goodness I did not leave it with Brenda Mears to read. I’ve put that poor mother through so much lately.”

  “Tell us, sir, what has been altered?”

  With shaking hands, the elderly man once more studied the document in front of him. His face was now red with rage and looking as if it had been badly burnt by the sun.

  “Apart from generous bequeaths to her staff, Anna Leci’s entire fortune was to be left to her great-niece, Lucy Mears, to be held in trust by my law firm until she reached the age of majority. That is what Anna Leci intended to happen, that and only that was her wish… but… but… oh, this is appalling… the changes made here… that monster of a nephew has altered this to allow Rita Hampton, Anna’s nurse, residency of the estate for the duration of her life and total control over staffing. Edward, it seems, was to remain in financial control, the conservator of the estate. This is outrageous.”

  Harvey questioned the distraught man further, “Mr Garnett, I don’t want to prolong this for you any longer than necessary, but what provision was made for the estate in the event of young Lucy’s death?”

  “I remember that quite clearly. In the event of the untimely death of Lucy Mears, the entire estate was to be placed in the hands of her mother, Brenda Mears.”