“I guess every reporter and investigator has that one case that is a puzzle to him,” Orlando said.
“Yes, and this one was mine. I don’t drink, which is a good thing, or this case would have made me into an alcoholic. My father was an alcoholic and I had to live with that during my childhood. I swore I would never drink any type of liquor, and I haven’t. But a few times, in this case, I was tempted to grab a beer, or something stronger. I didn’t, thank God, but that’s the pull it had on me. I liked Lyndon Richardson and I respected the man. It burns my soul that his killer has gotten away with murder. Someone is out there walking the streets, having killed a good man, two good men, really. Allan Bayridge is often overlooked, but he was the second victim in the case. Two good men, and the murderer is still walking free.” He shook his head. “I’m not a religious man, but a case like this makes you pull for God. You would like to believe in justice beyond the grave.”
“I agree, although that would scare the hell out of some people, no pun intended.”
Harkness gave Orlando a long, hard look. He scratched his lip. “Mr. Orlando, I asked you to come out not just to talk to you, but to get your bearing. I thought you might have taken the case to squeeze a little money from the Richardson family. No one else has solved this case. You could have easily taken the money, come down here and spent thirty days on the beach. I assume the Richardsons are considering you their last chance, and I’m guessing they will pay well for one last chance.
Orlando understood what Harkness was saying. He nodded his head.
“But after talking with you, I sense you are going to do a legitimate and thorough investigation. I wish you well. As I said, I was obsessed with the case and I’ve kept my files. When my wife and I moved here, I brought them with me. I will loan them to you, if you like. My file has every scrap of paper or note that I collected about the murder. I chased down every theory, even the wilder ones, about the case. Two years after the murder, I heard a rumor that Bayridge had been fighting with a business partner, and that the partner thought Bayridge cheated him out of a large sum of money, at least six figures. So I ran that down, talked to Bayridge’s wife and other business friends. Turned out it was nothing. There was a disagreement, but the sum involved wasn’t even close to six figures. It was another wild goose chase. But everything is in the notes, even the wild goose chases. I also included a brief history of the city council, and listed some of the opponents of Richardson. You might find that helpful.”
“Yes, I would like to borrow that very much. That would be a gold mine for me,” Orlando said.
“Then I hope you have a good pick and shovel. I have a couple of notebooks I filled up. Most of my notes have been typed and printed. I also have a file I keep on my computer, so don’t worry about losing the written file. There’s a lot there, so it will take some time to go through. I will tell you frankly that I have been through it a dozen times, more than a dozen times, with no results. Maybe you can look at it with fresh eyes and catch something I didn’t see. I hope you do. I have it in my study. Come with me and I will give it to you.”
Orland got up and followed Harkness into the house and down a corridor. He went into a large office with a desk, a book shelf and a filing cabinet. He opened the desk and pulled out an extra-large plastic bag. Inside were two stuffed, manila folders. He handed the bag to Orlando.
“I hope you find something,” he said.
“I’ll do my best. Thank you, Mr. Harkness. You’ve been very kind.”
“The Richardsons, and a lot of other people in this city, have wanted to find the killer for years. So have I. He has eluded me. So, you are basically my last chance, too. If I can help you in any way, just give me a call.”
Orlando nodded and shook his head. As he walked out with the bag in his hand, he had the feeling that the bag contained great treasure, but a treasure much more valuable than gold.
When he arrived as his hotel room, he walked out on the balcony. There was still enough light to read by. He opened the bag, brought out a small amount of papers, zipped the bag shut again and took it back into the room. He scooped ice into a plastic cup, where green letters let drinkers know they were in Linwood Springs, Florida, at the La Quinta. He poured bourbon over the ice and sipped it, before returning to the patio.
Mentally, it was a turbulent time for him, but the waves and ocean did not share his emotions. The waves patted, instead of crashed, into the shore. The wind had died down, and not a branch, or even a leaf, stirred on the beach trees. The coastline curved to the East, and he could see a few lights from the other hotels and the restaurant.
He picked up the first page. He knew he was soon going to experience an affliction, common to the detective profession, never mentioned in all the books and films about detectives.
Eye strain.
It wasn’t glamorous, but it was realistic.
He drank two drinks, and was thinking about going to dinner, when he pushed his chair back from the table. His initial reading had focused on the politics of the city after Lyndon Richardson had been elected. The aftermath of the election was possibly as tumultuous as a city had ever seen. The city manager, the finance director, the city clerk, and the city attorney had all resigned. The city police chief didn’t submit his resignation, but only because he was a few months away from retirement. He figured the new council wouldn’t bother with him. And he was right, but, Harkness noted, the new mayor privately told the chief not to delay his retirement.
So, the first thing the new council had to do was replace city officials. They hired Mason Dunphy as city finance director. He had been in the private sector, but agreed to take a public job, and was excellent at the task. After six months on the job, the city finances were in much better shape. The choice of Anthony Howard was brilliant and fortunate. He was so impressive in his interviews that all five councilmen voted for him. He, too, had been a business executive, but wanted to enter public service, with an emphasis on the ‘service.’ Howard took a pay cut to serve the people of Linwood Springs. Orlando thought it must have been a hefty pay cut, too. Howard had been one of the vice-presidents of a company in New England. He ended up serving, and improving the city, for twenty-two years before he retired.
Orlando looked out toward the ocean. The dark waters flowed slowly to the shore. He thought for a moment about how many men would lose money to help a city and its citizens. Not many. The city of Linwood Springs had basically been run by a small coterie of rich citizens, who were not sticklers for honesty and made sweet deals that benefited themselves. It was not an unusual story. Many small towns, and large towns, in Florida, and other states for that matter, had similar problems. But the corrupt little band in Linwood Springs ran into two extraordinarily honest and decent men. One, Lyndon Richardson, came from the city, and one was an outsider. But they shared similar traits.
Orlando reflected that only a few days ago, he thought he had problems and was, to be honest, depressed, and probably grouchy and cranky with people. Now, his minor and, he thought, silly problems didn’t seem so bad, or even so important.
###
His stomach growled. Instead of thinking of food, he remembered he had another case he was working on. Perhaps he should pay a little attention to his two friends who, after the divorce, might not be friends at all. He reached for his phone and called Emily, via video conference. After three rings she answered in a friendly, almost laughing voice.
“Boss, how is night life in the metropolitan capital of Linwood Springs?”
He laughed. “It’s just as exciting as I want it to be, meaning there’s no excitement at all. My legs are tired due to the legwork, and my eyes are blurred due to all the reading I had to do. But it’s an intriguing case. A very tough one, but I’m going to do my best to break it open.”
“I hope you do, but what can I do for you?”
“Well, I remembered I have another case, too, and I need to know more about this Carly person.”
“Would you like me to assist you with that?”
“Yes. I know there are things you can do that I can’t. You were caught hacking into your school database when you were twelve.”
“Only for the very best of reasons. The English teacher back then should not have been teaching. He should have been in prison. So you want me to use my hacking talents.”
“Yes, you are more versatile in hacking into things than I am, and that is exactly what I am going to need.” He chuckled. “And let me assure you that I am not being sexist. I not only like you because you’re good looking, I admire your mind and hacking talents too.”
She exploded in laugher. It was thirty second before she could reply. “Boss, you are developing a sense of humor. I like that. And, just for you, I will exercise my hacking talents.”
“Thanks, Emily, but it won’t be simple. Carly has a security system at her residence, and it is located a private building. Getting into her home without being detected may be an impossible.”
Excitement ran through her veins. When she wanted to be his assistant, it was because she thought the work would be interesting, but she mostly spoke with people, set up appointments and took their money. Now, she had truly become Orlando’s real assistant.
“I do the difficult every morning. If you want impossible, it will take some afternoon work, too. And you might have to pay a bonus.”
“That sounds good to me. I really appreciate you doing this. I want to focus on this case down here. It’s becoming very important to me. It’s difficult to explain, but it’s more than a case.”
He couldn’t see her, but Emily nodded. “It is difficult to explain, but I think I understand.” She thought for a moment. “Since we’re talking, just out of curiosity, why did you want to be an investigator?”
Orlando was taken aback by her question, and he realized he had really never talked to her about the job before.
“I thought it would be a lot more fun than being a stuffy lawyer or tax consultant, like everyone else. I wanted to get involved in investigations and help people. Truthfully, I thought there would be more to it than these domestic cases.”
“And you didn’t want to be a cop?”
“Why would I do something silly like that? Cops have their job, sure, but they have limited power, and there are so many chains of command they have to go through that they can hardly breathe. By being an investigator, I don’t have to go through anyone else. I have the freedom to act on my own, without worrying about breaking some policy that prohibits me from doing my job.”
“So basically, you can do something illegal without being detected.”
He laughed. “Saying ‘illegal’ makes it sound so bad. Maybe there was a touch of that back then. I perform illegitimate actions in order to do my job, so I can help people get divorced a little more fairly, and it pays fairly well.”
“Phrase it however you wish, but some of what you do could send you to jail for several years.”
“Or I would get fined, but regardless, it doesn’t matter. By the way, why would you want to help someone do such a thing anyway?”
“For the thrill,” she smiled.”
“I probably shouldn’t ask who you hack.”
“I do not hack anyone unless I am asked to do so. And frankly I’m glad you trust me enough to ask that. Let’s just say we are both trying to do a good deed.”
“And how do you not get caught?”
She scoffed, as if it was a ridiculous question.
“I have my ways,” she said. She moved across the room to a desk where a computer sat. She flicked it on and moved the mouse a bit, and all the monitors came to life.
“Did you say that this Carly girl works with Martin?”
“That is what he told me.”
She started typing a few things into a search engine. A list of names that were highlighted came up and she picked one out of the list. Carly M. Everett. She had pitch-black hair and stunning blue eyes, and she was only twenty-one years old, compared to Martin’s twenty-nine.
“You are smart for a Luddite, Boss, because I now have all of her information on my screen, and she doesn’t even know it. Now I can see what she does. We can even go through her browsing history, but that isn’t all, either. I can access all of her medical records.”
“Now who is the one doing illegal activity?”
“It is not illegal if you don’t get caught,” she said. Her eyes were scanning over the computer, and she seemed to be able to process everything on her screens within seconds.
“And I was only caught once, and like most people, I learned from my mistake. What is the information you need to provide, in order for Sasha to win her divorce?”
“Any proof of infidelity. That way, she can prove that he is the guilty party.”
She focused on the screens.
“I have some e-mails here and, from what I’m reading, you’ve been lied to, as well” she said.
“Gosh, an investigator being lied to. What is the world coming to?”
“I think you should read this.”
“Can you save it, and I will read it in detail when I get back? Can you sum it up for me?”
“E-mails from your friend to Carly. Apparently, Martin already knew that Carly was pregnant, and that he is the father. The tone of the notes implies he was very excited about it, and was going to be the one to file for divorce before Sasha even had the chance. What else would you like?”
“I want more than that pregnancy test to give to Sasha. I want pictures. Hardcore evidence.”
###
“I got few e-mails between Martin and Carly, and, to be honest, they are somewhat disappointing.”
“Disappointing? What do you mean?”
“Well, at one time, a man and woman wrote eloquent love letters to one another. You know, ‘How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.’”
“I’m not sure Robert Browning put that in a letter. Or did Elizabeth write that?”
“One of them did,” Emily said. “But the letters between John and Abigail Adams are lovely to read.”
Orlando gave a sly grin. “The situation was different. John was brilliant, and Abigail was no slouch. And, secondly, John didn’t get Abigail pregnant before they married.”
“How true. Perhaps we have lost something over the years. Their e-mails are basically full of routine items. They read like a shopping list. No beauty, no eloquence, no…well, no romance.”
“Any mention of Martin’s wife.”
“No. None of that either.”
Orlando shook his head. “Sasha has been with Martin ever since they were in high school. She could have had anyone she wanted. Her brother, Rodney, sure as hell didn’t approve of them being together, but he kept his opinion to himself the entire time. He wanted her to be happy, and since Martin was always preaching the ‘one woman forever’ spiel, we all thought he was for real. Now it just looks as if he lied to our faces, and the moment Rodney finds out, he is going to be a handful.”
“I see,” she began. “I’ll help you get all the evidence, Boss. It is just going to take a while. Want me to check out Sasha and Martin?”
“It won’t be easy. I imagine Martin has the best anti-spyware tech equipment on his computer. I’m sure he has one of those newer top-of-the-line models.”
“You don’t know my talents, boss.”
“Wouldn’t top-of-the-line security be impossible to break into?”
“Everything can be broken into,” she said. “People are predictable, and that is exactly why it is easy to gain access to their information. Most people use the same passwords, and then, when they log into something, it remembers their password. They hit ‘yes’ for it to save, and it is uploaded into a database that can be hacked. It holds not only their passwords, but saved credit card information, their addresses, names, everything is saved. People put too much trust in technology and they all have this min
dset that their information is not going to be stolen, but it does inevitably happen.”
“Well, hopefully you can’t find anything on me,” he said, then immediately realized that, of course, she could.
She looked away from him and he heard her fingers striking the keys. As several tabs opened and disappeared, he wondered what she was doing. Then, he saw his own picture, but it was from back when he was in college, and there was all of his information on the screen.
“It looks as though I have found something,” she said, and there was a smile on her face. David was not sure how to feel at the moment. All of his information was right there in front of him, and anyone could gain access to it. His identity could be stolen. He realized Emily was much more talented than he was, when it came to hacking into things. He was very basic, but she was on a completely different level.
A thought came to him. A thought he immediately wanted to discard or bury in his mind, but he couldn’t. When Sasha came to see him, she looked pretty much the same as she always did. He knew she was under enormous strain, but he sensed something different about her. Something more than the divorce. He could be wrong but….
“Emily, if you could get some information about Martin and Sasha, this might be a good time…”
“I was always hoping to be able to do more than just take messages and schedule appointments for you all day.”
Family Ties Mystery Series Box Set Page 17
