Without a Hitch

by Andrew Price

  “Done,” Beckett said. “We’ll stipulate to all of them.”

  A few moments later, Beckett and Morales notified the judge of their agreement. He was pleased.

  It started snowing lightly as Corbin and Beckett left the courthouse to walk back to the office. “Why didn’t you ask for something in return?” Corbin asked. “She would have offered something. That was pretty obvious.”

  “I didn’t want to risk it. Before she can offer anything, she’ll have to run it by Pierce, and that gives them time to think things through. I’d rather take the deal while it was available.”

  Corbin shook his head and stopped walking. “You know what? You’ve been going on and on about being super moral and super ethical and how you can’t let an innocent man go down for your crimes—”

  “What’s your point?!”

  “Doesn’t it go against Beaumont’s interests to have you stipulate to something like this? Philly’s a long way from D.C., and subpoenaing these people won’t be easy or effective. I’ll bet only one or two of them would even show up. That means most of the charges would have been dismissed. But you,” Corbin pointed at Beckett, “you just stipulated to them because it served your interests. You cut that deal to make your problem go away, and you never once thought about the effect on Beaumont.”

  “If we don’t stipulate, then everything blows up. Is that what you want?” Beckett shot back.

  “It’s no skin off my ass. I don’t care about Beaumont. I just want you to realize what you did.”

  “You want me to turn myself in right now?!”

  “Is that a threat?” Corbin asked acidly.

  “Get off my back, Alex,” growled Beckett and he turned to leave, but Corbin grabbed his arm, stopping him. Corbin started to speak, but didn’t, and Beckett jerked his arm away from Corbin. They glared at each other in silence.

  Chapter 32

  The next week passed unpleasantly for Corbin and Beckett. They barely spoke and rarely stayed in the same room. When they were in the same room, the tension and anger between them hung over them like a storm cloud waiting to burst. Toward the end of the week, however, the anger receded a bit as they began finding evidence that helped their case.

  “We may have gotten lucky,” Corbin said, sliding into the chair at Beckett’s desk.

  “What have you got?”

  “Take a look at this.” Corbin handed Beckett a packet of documents. “This is the bank paperwork from Penn Bancorp. The manager who opened the account is Maggie Smith. She’s on their witness list. Like most of the banks, Penn Bancorp’s application paperwork is about fifteen to twenty pages long, with everything except the first page being boilerplate. But take a look around page twelve.”

  Beckett flipped to page twelve where he found a photocopy of Alvarez’s fake drivers license.

  “I don’t know how they missed it, but this will blow up on them,” Corbin said. “I think they assumed everything after the first page was just boilerplate. I almost made the same mistake.”

  “This is good stuff,” Beckett said, but without excitement.

  “Should we ask for more paperwork from the other banks?”

  Beckett stared at the ceiling for a couple seconds. “No, let’s not risk tipping them off.”

  “I’ve also gone through all the videos; they have some problems. There is no one who remotely looks like Beaumont on the Penn Bancorp video. The teller from the other bank, Natasha Freet, she’s wrong too. There is no way the guy she fingers is Beaumont. But even more interestingly, I’m having problems putting together how this mystery guy actually opens an account.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It looks to me like the guy isn’t opening an account. He’s doing something else, maybe getting a safe deposit box?”

  “I’ll take a look,” Beckett said, again without excitement, which caused Corbin to raise an eyebrow.

  “Do we need motions on any of this?”

  “No, not at this point,” Beckett responded.

  “Do you want me to start contacting banks?”

  “For what?”

  “To see if they have more paperwork that might help us?”

  “No, let it go,” Beckett said indifferently.

  “Should we interview the guy from the mailbox store where Beaumont stole the mail?”

  “No, I don’t think that will help either.”

  “Something about his tone worries me,” Corbin said, rubbing his temple with his thumb. He stared at the gun in the open suitcase. He’d been staring at it the entire time he spoke with Alvarez. It was a black nine-millimeter semi-automatic with a fifteen round clip and no serial number and it gave him a sick feeling in his stomach.

  “What do you mean?” Alvarez asked anxiously.

  “We’ve found some good evidence, the kind we can use to make Pierce look like a fool at trial, but Beckett doesn’t seem to care. It’s strange. It’s like a personality shift. I’m not sure what he’s thinking.”

  “What do we do?”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “I know you want to give him a chance, but facing seventy-five years is a game changer. You need to do something now!” Alvarez blurted out.

  Corbin remained silent. He kept staring at the gun.

  “I’m just saying—”

  Corbin cut him off. “The trial is coming up in a couple weeks. I’m pretty sure he won’t do anything before the trial.”

  “You just said you don’t know what he’s thinking anymore,” Alvarez retorted. “Look, he’s unstable, right? What if he killed himself? What if he left a note and then shot himself? You could get off the case and no one would blame you. Beaumont could go down for his crimes and we could move on with our lives?”

  “Are you finished?”

  “No, I’m not. You’re playing with fire every day you let this continue. There’s not going to be some magic solution at the end of the day. You need to act. If you don’t, this isn’t going to end well. You’re going to wake up one morning and find out he’s ratted you out!” Alvarez’s voice became shrill as he spoke.

  “I’m going to say this once and not again,” Corbin replied harshly. “I will do what needs to be done, but I will do it on my schedule, not yours.”

  “No, you’re doing it on his schedule.”

  Corbin hung up the phone. He had another message from Penny. He hadn’t returned her call in a week now. He wouldn’t return her call tonight either.

  Chapter 33

  Nothing changed in the Washington office in the month Corbin was gone, though it felt different to him. Buildings often feel differently when you haven’t been in them for a while. The smells change, old sights seem new, and everything seems slightly out of place. In this case, the walls seemed more dingy and the threadbare carpet seemed a little more worn, the stale smell of old coffee seemed a little more sour, and the people seemed a little more depressed and gray.

  The only reason Corbin was here now was that Kak left him an angry message demanding that Corbin start personally handing in leave slips every two weeks rather than mailing them in. No reason was given for imposing this inconvenience, which was typical for Kak. Naturally, Kak was nowhere to be found when Corbin showed up to hand him the leave slip, so Corbin dumped it on Kak’s desk and told Kak’s secretary where Kak could find it.

  Corbin headed for the elevator. As he approached the elevator, he heard the familiar squeak of Stuart’s mail cart. Corbin pushed the elevator button and stepped close to the door. The squeaking came closer. He pushed the button two more times and took another step closer to the door.

  “Alex Corbin,” drawled Stuart, as he rounded the corner.

  “Oh, hey Stuart. How are things?” Corbin asked as he pressed the elevator button twice more.

  Stuart pushed his cart right up to Corbin. “It’s been boring around here without you. Everybody’s gone. Evan left. You’re not here. Nobody wants to talk these days. I think it’s the winter. People get upset in winter.”<
br />
  “Yeah, that’s true.” Corbin jabbed the button again, this time holding it with his finger.

  “Even Molly’s gonna be leaving. She’s got that interview in Philadelphia.”

  The elevator door opened, but Corbin didn’t move toward it. He turned to face Stuart. His eyes narrowed. “What interview?!”

  “It’s top secret, I’m not supposed to tell anybody.”

  “‘Anybody’ doesn’t include me, Stuart. Molly and I are friends. You and I are friends. We don’t keep secrets.”

  Stuart smiled and nodded his head. The fluorescent lights reflected off his balding head and glasses. “You’re right. Friends don’t keep secrets.”

  “What interview, Stuart?” Corbin let go of the elevator button.

  “I don’t know. I just heard her on the phone when I was dropping off her mail the other day.”

  “What did you hear?” Corbin pressed him.

  “You promise you won’t tell.”

  “Yes, I promise. What did you hear?”

  “She’s got an interview with some lawyers in Philadelphia. I think it’s for a job.”

  Corbin furrowed his brow. “Why do you think that?”

  “Because she was supposed to bring something with her, and they were talking about wearing a suit. That sounded like an interview to me.”

  Corbin bit his tongue.

  “You’re not going to tell, right?” Stuart asked.

  “No, Stuart, of course not.” Corbin looked over his shoulder to make sure they were alone. “Hey, between you and me, have you heard of anyone else going to Philly for an interview or anything?”

  Stuart cocked his head to one side and scratched his forehead. “Nobody’s said anything?”

  “No big mystery vacations or anything?”

  “Why?”

  “Just curious. I thought maybe some other people might be competing for the same job.”

  “I haven’t heard anything.”

  “Ok, thanks Stuart.” Corbin looked around again to make sure they were still alone. “No other interesting news, huh? No new hires, nobody left, no crimes or anything?”

  Stuart half-laughed and then hiccupped. “Crimes, ha! No. What kind of crimes?”

  “Anything? Anything interesting?”

  Stuart scratched his forehead again. “Nothin’ I can think of.”

  “Oh well. That’s life around here, isn’t it? Always dull.” Corbin patted Stuart on the shoulder. “Listen, I’ve got to go, but it’s been good seeing you again.” Corbin walked past Stuart toward Molly’s office.

  Molly sat at her desk reading the paper when Corbin appeared at her door. She wore a gray wool suit with its jacket closed high up her neck. No trace of Shoe Guy’s necklace was visible, if it was there at all. She looked tired. Her eyes were bloodshot, dull, glazed and puffy.

  “Hey there neighbor,” Corbin said, trying his best to sound cheerful.

  “Hey,” Molly responded. She set the newspaper on the desk next to the plastic coffee cup bearing her lipstick prints. Then she leaned on the chair’s armrest so she could face Corbin without turning her chair. “Long time no see.”

  “Yeah, I’m back to drop off my leave slip. Kak wants me to drop them off in person now.”

  “What a jerk,” Molly said. “I don’t think he can make you do that?”

  Corbin shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t mind, I’m back and forth a lot.”

  “Yet, this is the first time you deigned to drop by the office in a month?”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry doesn’t cut it. There’s no one to talk to here. Your roomie’s gotten more boring, if that’s even possible.”

  “I take it Karen’s not back from maternity leave yet?” Karen was Molly’s officemate.

  Molly smirked. “It’s only been a month and a half. How long does it take to make babies where you come from?”

  “Point taken. So how are you doing?”

  This was an odd question for Corbin to ask, so Molly paused as she tried to spot any potentially insulting angle in the question before responding. She found none. “Fine. Life’s just peachy.”

  “Wish I could say the same.”

  This piqued Molly’s curiosity. “What’s up?”

  “It’s my aunt. She’s really sick. That’s where I’ve been. She lives in Philadelphia.” Corbin paused to give Molly an opening, but she didn’t take it. “I’m spending most of my time up there taking care of her.”

  “I’m sure she appreciates it.”

  Molly didn’t take the bait, so Corbin tried another angle. From the prior summer, when Corbin drove Molly and Beckett to a training program in Richmond, he knew she had no car. She lived in the District and people who live in the District don’t need cars when their homes and offices are near Metro stations, as hers are. Perhaps, he reasoned, an offer of a ride to Philadelphia would loosen her lips. But the offer needed to be made subtly: “I’ll tell you though, the drive is killing me. I must have driven back and forth between here and Philly a dozen times in the past few weeks.”

  Molly perked up slightly. “When are you going to Philly next?”

  “Today, but like I said, I’m back and forth all the time. I should run some sort of taxi service.” Corbin saw Molly’s eyebrow rise ever so slightly. He was close. “Of course, it could be worse. Beckett used to take the train, and all he did was complain about it. . . said it was cramped, it smelled, uncomfortable, dirty, expensive.”

  “Yeah, the train stinks,” Molly said, tapping her thumb against her thigh.

  Corbin waited. He didn’t want to oversell his point.

  “Hey, let me ask you something,” she finally said.

  “Sure, what?”

  “I need to go to Philly in a couple weeks and I was going to take the train, but I’ve got some things I need to take with me. . .” She paused, and Corbin saw her bite her lip.

  “. . . and you want a ride?” he said, finishing her sentence. “Sure. No problem.” Corbin shrugged his shoulders to indicate this wasn’t a big deal to him.

  Molly smiled. “Thanks.”

  “What’s going on in Philly?”

  “It’s hush hush. I can’t talk about it.”

  Corbin winced, but quickly regained his composure. “No problem.” Corbin grabbed a pen and a yellow sticky pad from Molly’s desk. “Here’s my cell phone number. Call me as soon as you know what day you need the ride. That way I can plan my schedule.”

  Molly took the yellow sticky note and tossed it into her purse. “This isn’t going to put you out, is it?”

  “No, not at all. I’ll be happy for the company.” Corbin decided to add an incentive to be sure: “You can tell me all about your latest dating adventures. I might even tell you what Beckett and I were up to.”

  Molly smiled. “I knew it! Give me a hint!”

  Corbin shook his head and laughed. “Nope, you have to wait.”

  Molly exhaled melodramatically and rolled her eyes.

  “Hey, how are things between you and Shoe Guy?” Corbin asked. He wanted to change the topic before something happened to talk Molly out of accepting a ride from him.

  Molly shrugged her shoulders and frowned. She leaned back away from Corbin. “I don’t know, I guess they’re ok. It wouldn’t surprise me if things ended pretty soon.” She rubbed her neck through her jacket as she spoke. She didn’t mention he had already dumped her.

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Anyone else lined up?”

  Molly sneered at Corbin. “What am I? A bus stop?”

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

  “Now you need to wait for the ride to hear more.” She picked up her newspaper again. “If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

  Corbin phoned Alvarez after he left Molly’s office. Alvarez was not happy to hear the news Corbin gave him.

  “Shit! What are you going to do?”

  “I’ve already done it. I got her to ask me for a ride to Philly.”


  “How does that help? That sounds like you’re delivering the noose to the hangman.”

  “Think about it. When she gives me the date she needs to be in Philly, then we’ll have a better idea if she’s coming up as a witness or if this is something innocent. If it’s innocent, then I just have to put up with her in the car for two hours. No big deal.”

  “What if it isn’t?” His voice was jittery.

  Corbin paused. “Then I have a two-hour drive to find out what she’s up to.”

  “What if she’s coming to testify?”

  “Then I have two hours to talk her out of going.”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “What if you can’t?”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when the time comes. No matter what, we need to know if the prosecution is doing something with her. We can’t have her come waltzing into the courtroom unexpectedly.”

  “Are you going to tell Beckett?”

  “No way. Telling him would only complicate this.”

  Alvarez took a deep breath. “I hope you know what you’re doing. I have the feeling this is spinning out of control.”

  “It only looks that way. Have faith.”

  Corbin met Penny for lunch. He felt sick the moment he saw her. She sat by herself with her legs tightly crossed beneath her and her arms tightly folded. She hadn’t removed her heavy winter coat. She even had the coat’s collar up around her neck, buttoned to the top. An untouched cup of coffee sat before her, but no food. She scowled.

  “Hello,” Corbin said, as he slid into the chair opposite her. “Before you say anything, let me say that I am truly sorry.”

  Penny’s jaw dropped. “What happened to you?! You look horrible?” Her entire expression instantly changed. The angry scowl and the squinting eyes vanished. In their place was deep concern, soft eyes and almost-quivering lips. This was unexpected.