MURDER AT THE PIER (A Sister Sleuths Mystery Book 1)

by Rayna Morgan

  “I repeat, why did you care?”

  “I live next door to Beth. We grew up together. Neal was cheating on her. I didn’t want to see her hurt by that moron.”

  “Big brother steps in to save his sister’s honor?”

  The anguish in Brad’s face told Tom this was a case of more than brotherly love.

  “You’re in love with Beth.” It was a statement, not a question.

  Brad’s shoulders drooped. He turned his head to one side. “Since the first day of high school. We were like brother and sister through elementary school. In middle school, we were more like best friends, hung out in the same group. We talked about people we had crushes on and gave each other advice. Freshman year of high school, it all changed for me. I started seeing her differently. I fell really hard.”

  “Did she feel the same way?”

  He laughed. “Not even close. I was a big brother, best friend, and confidante. Nothing more in her eyes.”

  “Didn’t you tell her how you felt?”

  “She hooked up with Neal before I had a chance. Apart from break-ups which happened every few months, they were a steady couple through high school and university. I wasn’t surprised when I heard they were engaged. Everyone expected them to get married.”

  “Weren’t you happy for her?”

  “I would have been. Once I knew she’d never feel about me the way I felt about her, I only wanted her to be happy. But she was never going to be happy with that jerk. He was incapable of caring for anyone but himself.”

  “What happened when you confronted Neal?”

  “I waited until the next day. Around noon, I saw him standing alone by the fountain at the front entrance. I didn’t mince my words. Came right out and told him I saw him in the garage cheating on Beth.”

  “How’d he react?”

  “He burst out laughing. Told me I needed to get over my pathetic big brother complex. Said she was a big girl. If she had a problem with the way he acted, she’d tell him herself.”

  The muscles in Brad’s neck pulsed. His fists doubled. “I pushed the guy. Walked right over and shoved him as hard as I could. Trying to knock the smirk off his face.”

  “Did he push back?”

  “Hard enough to knock me off balance. I fell backward into the fountain. I can still see the obnoxious look on his face when I stood up in the middle of the fountain, clothes dripping, hair mussed, glasses water stained. He doubled over in laughter, turned, and walked away. I wanted to kill him.”

  Chapter Seven

  Tom rode the elevator to the penthouse suite. Pushing open a large oak door, he walked into a plush reception area. The office was fitting for a developer, showing off lots of tinted glass, recessed lighting, and wood paneling.

  "Tom Elliot here to see Amanda Hughes."

  "She told me you were coming, Mr. Elliot. Amanda's in with Mr. Carson at the moment, but she should be out momentarily. Would you care to wait in the conference room?" She gestured toward a large room at the front of the building.

  Entering the room, Tom was met with a sweeping vista provided by floor to ceiling glass windows. Depending on which direction he looked, he had a view of the city straight ahead, the mountains to the right, and the ocean including the Pier and the Boardwalk to the left. He imagined what it would be like to work in an office with this view.

  The voice behind him echoed his thoughts. "Sometimes it's hard to focus on my work with that view in front of me. I’m new to the top floor. I'm not used to all this grandeur yet."

  The young woman extended her hand: "Amanda Hughes. Sorry to keep you waiting. Mr. Carson is getting ready to take another trip so I needed to get his signature on some papers before he leaves town." She gestured for Tom to sit across from her.

  "No problem. Does he travel frequently?"

  "When Neal was here . . ." her voice faltered and she lowered her head. "Sorry, I'm not used to Neal's being gone."

  She composed herself and continued. "Mr. Carson felt comfortable leaving the operations to Neal so he's been traveling more in the last two years, taking his wife to places she's wanted to visit: Asia, Europe, and Alaska."

  "Must be quite a treat for the two of them."

  "If I can be candid, I think after the first trip, Mr. Carson would have preferred to stay home. He enjoys working more than sitting down to full-dress dinners on cruise ships and visiting art galleries in Italy. But his wife sacrificed a lot during the years Mr. Carson built his business. He feels he owes it to her.

  He comes home from those trips saying 'at least my wife exposes me to culture. Whether or not it rubs off is still open for debate.' He has a wonderful sense of humor, one of the reasons people love working for him."

  "How do you happen to be working for Mr. Carson now? I know you were Neal's Administrative Assistant which is why I've called on you today."

  "After what happened to Neal," Tom noticed she still couldn't bring herself to refer to it as murder, "I was expecting to be looking for a position with another company. Mr. Carson was kind enough to insist I come up to this floor and work as an additional assistant for him. He knew he would be assuming areas Neal had been supervising. He felt I could be a big help to him since I had worked so closely with Neal."

  "How is it working out?"

  "I love working for Mr. Carson. His other assistant was very welcoming. We've become close already. I was so grateful to be able to stay with the company. I've made friends here and would have hated to leave."

  "You say Mr. Carson is good to work for. From what I've heard, Neal was quite the opposite. You probably knew Neal as well as anyone in the company. Tell me, Amanda, how would you describe him?"

  She took her time before answering. "Even though Mr. Carson is the owner of the company, he's kind and friendly. So approachable. Always willing to listen, offer advice, or to help. He's there for his employees in a genuine way. Neal was aloof, not the kind anyone would go to with a problem."

  Tom sensed her reluctance. "You're not being disloyal, Amanda. Anything you tell me about Neal may help me figure out a situation he got into which ultimately resulted in his death."

  Reassured, she continued: "An example might be the easiest way for you to understand how Neal saw things. One Monday morning, a group of us were in the parking lot before work admiring the new sports car the manager of the leasing department bought over the weekend. Neal broke in and slapped the guy on the back, saying something like 'Nice wheels, Bob. Bet you feel a lot better getting rid of the old beater you were driving. Just like clothes make the man, everybody judges you by the car you drive.' After he left, we all broke out laughing. None of us bases how we feel about ourselves on if we're driving the right car."

  "I can understand how material possessions would be important to a man like him."

  "Image is what was important to Neal. Material possessions were the means to creating the image he wanted."

  "He had a reputation for being difficult and demanding to work for."

  Amanda stiffened. "Who told you that?"

  "It seems to be the general census of opinion."

  The young woman's shoulders relaxed in resignation. "He expected a lot of the people who worked under him. He was somewhat of a perfectionist himself and wouldn't accept less than one-hundred-ten-percent effort from anyone. He got especially upset if projects were behind schedule or over budget."

  "A frequent occurrence with Neal's projects?"

  "It happens to everyone, but bringing projects in on time and under budget is a big part of the construction business. Neal took it personally if his projects failed to meet the goals set by Mr. Carson and the other investors. He felt it reflected on his reputation in the industry."

  "Would you say he was willing to go to extremes to protect his reputation?"

  Amanda frowned. "What exactly are you implying?"

  "We're following leads suggesting Neal was involved in the construction burglaries around the County. Apparently, he needed money to cover sh
ortfalls in the projects he was supervising."

  Her response was not as adamant or as immediate as Tom anticipated.

  "I'm not in any position to respond to those allegations. I can tell you Neal was under a great deal of stress in the weeks preceding his death."

  "Trouble with his projects?"

  "He did, in fact, have two projects going sideways. An apartment building and a mixed-use project. First, there were problems with materials not being delivered on time. Then the General Contractor walked off the job and Neal had to hire a replacement, putting him weeks behind schedule. With all the construction work going on in the County, most contractors have work lined up years in advance, especially the good ones. You don't just put an ad in the paper and find the perfect candidate."

  "Why did the Contractor quit before the projects were completed?"

  "He and Neal didn't get along. They argued incessantly. The last inspection on one of the projects didn't pass code compliance standards. When the Final Permit was denied, Neal really lost it. From reports we got, he went ballistic and reamed the Contractor out in front of his crew. The Contractor said he'd had enough. Walked out and took his entire crew with him."

  "Did Neal try to get him back?"

  "Sure he did. But as soon as the news got out, one of the other builders got hold of the Contractor and put his crew to work the next day. He gave an added enticement of a bonus if the project was completed before the due date."

  "Are incentives unusual in the industry?"

  "Bonuses aren't standard. They're usually given for exceptional jobs or when a contractor has put in extra effort. Neal never gave a bonus. He sometimes implied a bonus would be given but he always found a reason not to award it."

  "Did Neal get Final Permits on the projects?"

  "Yes, he worked it out. I'm not sure how he managed it, but he came in one morning saying everything had been taken care of and we were back on schedule. He seemed overly pleased with himself. Told us we could begin leasing and pre-selling on both projects which meant the money would start rolling in again."

  Tom took out his notepad. "Do you know the exact day Neal told you the Permits were issued?"

  Amanda hesitated. "Let me check my computer. I remember entering an item in my calendar to tell the Marketing Department about the completion of the projects so they could schedule an advertising campaign."

  She returned with her laptop, sitting next to Tom where they could both view the screen. When she found the note to the Marketing Department, the color drained out of her face.

  "What's wrong, Amanda?"

  "The morning Neal told me everything would be alright again was the day he was murdered."

  "Anyone besides contractors Neal fell out with?"

  Amanda narrowed her eyes. "There was one unusual incident a couple of months ago. Neal fired one of our in-house construction workers."

  "What do you mean in-house?"

  "The way the company is structured now, Neal as Construction Manager supervises a Project Manager or contracts the work out to a General Contractor. General Contractors bid on each project and the job is awarded to the Contractor with the best bid. In Neal's mind, the best bid was usually equivalent to the cheapest bid. Before he came, we only had a Project Manager on the payroll of Carson Development Company who reported directly to Mr. Carson."

  "Ken Crosby?"

  Amanda seemed surprised that Tom had that information. "Yes. Ken managed projects for Mr. Carson for years. Neal consolidated the title of Project Manager into his own job description since the company was only doing a single project at a time. When business picked up and the company started doing multiple projects again, Neal started hiring a General for each individual project, leaving him in the position of supervising the Generals on all the projects."

  "Sounds like a lot of work for one person."

  "It is, but believe me; Neal gets enough hard work from everyone working under him to get the job done."

  "And make himself look good in the eyes of his boss?"

  The young woman looked at the floor, displaying a reluctance to agree with Tom's assessment of her former boss.

  "So where do in-house construction workers fit in?"

  "We have a crew of five or six workers who do tenant improvement work in our buildings. When a tenant negotiates a new lease, they typically ask the landlord for an allowance to expand or improve their office space. The tenant and landlord agree on an amount the landlord is willing to spend for the improvements. Most tenants lack the experience to deal with the design and construction process so they hire the landlord's Construction Department to do the actual work. The landlord has a list of trades familiar with the building and knows the ins and outs of local agencies involved in the Permit process. The employee who was fired worked on Tenant Improvement construction. He was on the payroll of Carson Development Company."

  "Did Neal supervise the in-house construction workers?"

  "No, he didn't. That was the odd thing. It wasn't his position to hire or fire those employees. Tenant Improvement Construction is a whole separate department. They office in a different building next to the equipment warehouse."

  "So how did Neal get involved?"

  "That department was experiencing minor thefts of equipment at the time. Employee theft of small amounts of materials isn't highly unusual in this business. It's like office workers taking pens, paper clips, or notepads home with them at night. Neal told the head of the Tenant Improvement Department he had received information on who might be responsible. He told the Department Supervisor he lacked definite proof so preferred to handle the matter discreetly himself. The next thing I knew he had fired one of the employees."

  "Which one?"

  "Juan Martinez. That was one of the most surprising things. Juan’s a great kid. Everyone liked him a lot. He was one of my personal favorites. Whenever he was working in our building, he stopped in to give me a wave and a big smile. Sort of a flirt, really, but in a cute way."

  "So what was given as the cause for termination?"

  "It went in his employee file as termination for lack of work instead of firing. Neal actually dictated a letter of recommendation for me to prepare for Juan. It was like he wanted Juan out of this company, but he wanted to make sure he found employment somewhere else."

  "Seems like a generous thing for him to do considering the circumstances."

  "Yes, it was, and completely out of character for him. He avoided personnel issues like the plague. He rarely wrote a letter of recommendation and never for someone at Juan's level of employment."

  "I've been informed Juan was not given a reason for his termination and did not understand why it happened."

  Amanda hesitated. "That statement is probably not entirely true on Juan's part. He had to have known the reason given for dismissal wasn't a lack of work. The Tenant Improvement Department had more work than they could handle at the time."

  "What did he think the real reason was?"

  "According to what Juan told me after his dismissal by Neal, there was a vague reference to tools missing during their conversation. Neal asked Juan if he had any idea who was responsible but Juan had no clue. Neal didn't pursue the topic any further, but the implication had been made."

  "You mean Neal thought Juan was responsible?"

  "That's what Juan was afraid of. But next thing he knew, Neal was thanking him for the work he had done for the company and handing him a letter of recommendation. Juan didn't ask outright if Neal thought he was guilty. He needed a job badly so he wasn't about to risk losing a good reference."

  "You mean he might have been shooting himself in the foot if he had attempted to learn the real cause for his termination."

  "Exactly. Besides giving him the reference, Neal suggested another building company where Juan could apply for employment. He told Juan to have the company call him and he would be happy to confirm the reference he had given Juan."

  "Whole thing sounds pretty confusing for J
uan."

  "It was. After Juan was dismissed, there were no more occurrences of missing inventory. Juan's direct supervisor never felt Juan was responsible and would have liked to clear any doubts about Juan. Unfortunately, it was easier for everyone to let the matter drop rather than incur Neal's displeasure by investigating further."

  "It sounds like Neal may have had an ulterior motive in terminating Juan."

  "I thought so at the time. But if that was true, I never figured out what Neal was up to."

  "Speaking of thefts, was your company ever hit by the Construction Site Burglars?

  "Yes, but we were lucky. A forklift was stolen from one of our sites. But Neal asked me to review the insurance coverage on all of our equipment the week before the theft so our loss was fully covered when it happened."

  "Fortuitous timing on Neal's part," Tom suggested, skepticism registering in his voice. He didn't believe in anything happening by accident or chance when it came to crime.

  "Yes, it was, wasn't it?" Amanda lowered her head, deep in thought.

  Tom gave her a moment to consider what she had told him, wondering if she would see the connection in the sequence of events.

  "Let's get to the purpose of my visit." Tom pulled a picture from his shirt pocket. "This appears to be a picture of Neal taken at a local event. First, can you tell me where this picture was taken?

  "It's the annual ‘Protect Our Marine Life’ charity event. They hold it at the Fairgrounds by the Boardwalk to bring attention to the whales, dolphins, and other aquatic life dying or being killed because of the pollution in the ocean. This picture was taken in front of Santa Rosa Hall, the big hall equipped with a full kitchen. They can fit more than three hundred tables in the main room and they fill all the tables every year. It's a very successful event."

  "There are six facilities at the Fairgrounds. How do you know this is Santa Rosa Hall and that event?"

  "Neal's standing in front of his car. Look closely. Directly behind him is the entrance to the building. Attached to the large window above the door is a dolphin, the signature banner for the event."