Mistaken Character

by R A Wallace

  “And then some. That woman you saw on television?” He pointed at the camera. “That wasn’t the real Crystal. She was a total psycho.”

  “Then why were you following her before her death?”

  He stared at her. “You got it all wrong.” He started to walk away.

  She quickly caught up with him and blocked his way. “Tell me what’s right.”

  “You don’t know anything.” The redness in his neck and face were back.

  “I know that her uncle died yesterday still wondering what happened to her. Were you involved in her death, Sam?” Her voice was raised but they were the only two left in the room.

  “No! And I didn’t know her uncle died. He was… he wasn’t like her.”

  “He seemed like a good man,” Callie agreed, her voice calmer now. “Why were you following her? Was it because she wanted to do the stories on her own?”

  “You know about that?” His hand came up to rub the back of his neck. “She was working a story without me. I figured she was going to try to get me fired. You know, if she didn’t need me anymore.”

  “What was the story about?”

  He shrugged and dropped his hand. “Something about the shopkeepers in town. You know there’s a problem with parking, right? Crystal seemed to think the shopkeepers were giving kickbacks to the parking service attendant to look the other way and not fine the customers.”

  ***

  Greyson stared at the computer in front of him and ran his conversation with Callie from the previous day through his mind again. He still couldn’t believe what he’d told her. It was no surprise that she’d dropped him off the way she had. He pulled up another web site and used the search feature to enter Adelaide Carson. No results. He looked down at his list and went to the next web site.

  The front door opened and the mail carrier came in. It was a welcome relief from his own thoughts.

  “Hey, Rosemary. How are you today?” Greyson looked at the usually cheerful woman. It was obvious that she was upset. At least he hadn’t been the one to cause it.

  “Are you okay?” he asked as he stood.

  Rosemary seemed to consider her response first.

  “I think I might be in trouble.” Her bag was slung over her shoulder as usual. She was holding some letters in her hand.

  Greyson took a step toward her.

  “What kind of trouble? The I should call nine one one trouble?” He reached his hand out for the mail.

  “It’s more like I may have agreed to give my money to someone who isn’t legitimate,” Rosemary said as she handed him the mail.

  “How much money are we talking?” He could see her bottom lip begin to tremble. “That much?”

  She nodded. “It was supposed to be a retirement investment.”

  “How much have you given to them already?” he asked.

  “Just a deposit so far, but it sounded really good when I talked to them. I would really like to believe that they’re legitimate,” Rosemary said.

  “But?”

  She sighed. “My sister said it’s probably not legit. The problem is, I just don’t know how to tell. I mean, I need to do something, right? I’m not getting any younger.”

  “I’m sure it’s just a matter of looking into it,” Greyson said. “Probably wouldn’t take long at all.”

  Rosemary looked hopeful. “Do you think you could?”

  Greyson recognized the irony. “Sure.” He set the letters down and picked up a pencil and notepad. After Rosemary left, he went back to his original search. The front door opened again a short time later. This time, it was Callie that walked in.

  “Hey.” He stood from the desk again. It was, after all, hers. “Listen, I’d like to apologize.”

  “For?” Callie walked toward her desk.

  “Well, for being an idiot, to start.”

  It wasn’t what she expected to hear. She stopped next to him and crossed her arms.

  “This is when you’re supposed to tell me I wasn’t that much of an idiot,” he prompted.

  She made a face as though considering it.

  “No, I’m pretty sure you were an idiot.”

  “Yeah, but still. You could be a little nicer about it. Especially since I have a favor to ask,” he said as he leaned against Michael’s desk.

  She laughed. “You have a favor to ask of me.” She waved her finger between the two of them. “So I should be nice to you?”

  “Exactly.” He smiled smugly.

  She shook her head and finished walking to her desk to stash her purse in a drawer.

  “Where are Michael and Sierra?”

  “They’re meeting with a client. I said I’d hang out here in case the contractors needed anything.”

  She sat at her desk. “What’s the favor?”

  “I may have promised our services to Rosemary.” He tried to look appropriately chagrined.

  She laughed again. “What kind of services?”

  “She needs an investment company investigated. Do we do that?” he asked.

  “We don’t. I do.”

  “If you show me how, I could too,” he pointed out.

  “You don’t technically work here,” she reminded him. “Speaking of which, what do you technically do?”

  “My background is a little more in the security area.” He met her gaze. “It’s an area that could benefit Indigo Investigations greatly. It got us the job that resulted in stopping a high-tech smuggling scheme.”

  Callie knew he was right. Her agency hadn’t been getting much work at all until he had shown up. Her entire world had changed when he’d walked into her life. Everyone who called to hire Indigo Investigations expected to receive both of their services.

  “Did I mention I’m sorry?” He flashed her a smile. The dimples bracketing his mouth appeared briefly.

  “I spoke with Sam this morning.” She watched him closely for his reaction. “Crystal’s camera guy.”

  He remained calm. “Did you get anything useful?”

  “He claims Crystal was working a story about a city parking service attendant taking kickbacks.” Callie reached down and pulled her purse back out. “In fact, if you can hang out here a little longer, I’ll go check on that.”

  “Where do you go in Pomelo Cove to find out if a parking service attendant is taking kickbacks?” he asked.

  “Ramona. She works in the downtown area. If anyone knows anything, it will be her.”

  Callie walked into the store where Ramona worked a short time later. Ramona was ringing up a customer when she entered. Callie checked out the clothes in the store while she waited. It didn’t take long before the customer left.

  “Well, what brings you in?” Ramona crossed the store. “I know you aren’t shopping at this time of the day.”

  Callie smiled. “I’m not. How are things going?”

  “Good. Made a couple of sales today. My boss will be happy.”

  “I heard something that I wanted to run past you. Have you heard anything about a parking service attendant taking kickbacks?” Callie asked.

  Ramona looked surprised. “That’s a pretty big accusation. Someone in the police department could get into a lot of trouble with just rumors about something like that. It could launch an internal investigation. They could be put on leave while it’s investigated.”

  “I know. I don’t want to believe it. That’s why I came here first.”

  “What specifically did you hear?” Ramona asked.

  “That the parking issue here in town is causing problems for the shopkeepers. They’re paying off the parking service attendant to look the other way, so the businesses don’t lose customers.”

  Ramona started shaking her head half way through Callie’s explanation.

  “I don’t see any of that being true. Yes, there’s a problem with parking, especially with people not wanting to pay meters, but it’s being addressed. There’s also a need for more parking. In fact, my boss talked about it at the last business community mee
ting. That committee is now working with the city planning committee to address the issue with more parking.”

  “Sounds like the city is handling it?” Callie said, more to herself.

  “They’ve already removed the parking fees for weekend parking completely and that’s helped a lot just doing that. You should see how many people come into town on the weekend now. The restaurants are full up, the shops are doing business. They’re talking about giving up to two hours of free parking each day during the week. I’m telling you, they’re working the problem out. I can’t see a parking service attendant risking their career and their retirement to take kickbacks for something like that. I definitely don’t see the business owners paying anyone when they are the ones working to solve it.”

  “Huh.” Callie wondered what Crystal was really working on.

  Ramona shrugged. “It’s a non-issue.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Now you try it.” Callie pushed the computer closer to Greyson. “The examples I showed you were potential investment companies that I’ve researched in the past. You need to start looking at the one Rosemary is interested in.”

  “Basically, I’m just going to work my way down this list. I want to check out the company using each of these tools?” Greyson began typing.

  “And to start, you want to make sure that you always check for the financial holdings of the company,” she reminded him.

  “That’s available online and you can use the search database to find the records for public companies.” He grinned at her after saying it because he was repeating what she’d told him a few minutes before.

  “Sounds like you’re ready to fly on your own.” She got up and walked over to the small fridge. “Water?”

  “Please.” He reached for the bottle she held out. “I’m assuming you typically produce some sort of documentation of your findings for the client when you have all of the information?”

  “I use a template for that. It’s in the documents folder that I showed you.” She unscrewed the cap on the water bottle.

  “Where are you going next?” He clicked on an icon on the desktop to look for the template.

  “Back to the television station. There are a couple more people that will be on shift now. I still need to talk with them.”

  “When Sierra and Michael get back, I’m going to work on my missing person case,” he muttered as he continued working. “But I’ll get this done too.”

  “I don’t know how long I’m going to be tied up with this,” she said. “I also have other cases I’m working.”

  He looked up from the computer. “What can I do to help?” He flashed another smile. “I need to earn my keep.”

  “It would help to have more background information on what kind of person Crystal was,” Callie said as she worked the known facts around in her head.

  “I have a lot of experience with questioning people,” he said.

  She’d noticed that about him.

  “What about the staff at Spencer’s house?” he asked.

  “They’re on my list. On the one hand, I didn’t want to intrude with Spencer’s death.”

  “Understood. I can take that first thing tomorrow. It will give them a little more time,” he suggested.

  She nodded her agreement. “Then I’ll see you when I see you.”

  Callie took her water with her and drove back to the television station. She waved to the receptionist as she passed through the main entrance. She was more familiar with the layout of the station now.

  She stopped at the station manager’s office first. Shannon Platt was on her phone but motioned to Callie to enter. Callie remained standing when she stepped inside. She could tell the phone conversation was winding down partly because of the impatience in Shannon’s voice and partly because she was tapping a long fingernail on the desk.

  “What can I do for you?” Shannon asked when she disconnected.

  “I would like a copy of the resumes for your employees,” Callie said.

  She was expecting an argument. She got it.

  “That’s not possible,” Shannon said.

  “I have a copy of the privacy policy of my company with me. I can assure you, the integrity of the records will be maintained. It’s imperative to my investigation that I have the information.” Callie spoke calmly and strove for a look of confidence.

  Shannon began tapping her finger on her desk again as she studied Callie.

  “What are you hoping to find?” Shannon asked.

  “There have been a lot of discrepancies with this case. I’m just following due diligence. It’s no less than what you would expect your own investigative reporters to do if they were following a story. Am I right?” Callie asked.

  The tapping stopped. “If you ever decide to switch careers, call me.”

  Shannon picked up her phone again and made a call. Callie listened to Shannon’s side of the conversation. When Shannon hung up, Callie thanked her.

  “The receptionist will have them ready for you when you leave. It’s not actually just the resumes. It’s the whole application. They enter the information online when they apply. We have all of that digitized.” Shannon leaned forward and pointed at Callie. “Remember that my station gets this story when this breaks. I’m hoping that happens soon.”

  Callie nodded before leaving the office to find the first person on her list. She found Amy Perez working in the same room that she had interviewed Fiona Hendricks in.

  The woman in her late twenties was working on a computer with a large flat screen monitor. It was obvious that she was working with graphics. Callie assumed they would be part of what was flashed on the screen at various times during the evening news segments.

  “Can I help you?” Amy was a natural brunette who had lightened her mid-length hair to near blond but left a dark smudgy root. It was an attractive look on her.

  Callie introduced herself. “I’ve been speaking with many of the employees here.”

  “About Crystal. I heard.” Amy continued working on the graphic.

  “That looks pretty good. You’re the graphics specialist here?” Callie already knew that she was but wanted to get the girl talking.

  “I am. I haven’t been working here all that long though. Before this, I was on the other coast.” Amy sat back and studied her own work before saving the file and closing it. She immediately began working on another.

  “Is that one for the newscast tonight?” Callie asked.

  “No. The last one was. This one will be on the web site with some news bites from the show tonight.” Amy minimized the window and pulled up a text file. After checking the spelling of something, she went back to the graphic. “I handle the web pages for them here. I’m the one who posts the pictures, at any rate. I don’t write the copy that goes with it. I just make sure it gets onto the web site.”

  “How well did you know Crystal?” Callie asked.

  “Not well. Not really. I mean, we didn’t work directly together, you know?” Amy glanced at Callie quickly.

  “But you still worked at the same place,” Callie said.

  “We did.”

  “What can you tell me about her?” Callie watched as the graphic emerged in front of her on the computer screen. Amy had some serious talent.

  “I honestly can’t tell you much, sorry.”

  “How did she seem to get along with everyone here?” Callie asked.

  Amy made a face to indicate she wasn’t comfortable with her response.

  “Well…”

  “I understand she could be difficult at times?” Callie prompted.

  “Yeah, but she was also really good at what she did,” Amy said quickly.

  “I hear she was pretty competitive?”

  Amy grimaced. “She could be pretty scary. I never had any problems, of course. Like I said, I never worked with her.”

  “You didn’t have the same kind of job.”

  “Right.” Amy flashed a grateful smile that Callie understood
her. “There wasn’t any need for competition between us.”

  “What about some of the others here?” Callie thought about Lindsay Gavin, one of the anchors.

  “Lindsay seemed to stand up to her pretty well,” Amy said.

  Callie knew that left one other anchor. “What about Jack Nelson?”

  “He seemed scared of her.”

  “Do you know why?” Callie asked.

  Amy finished the graphic she was working on and began another.

  “You’d need to ask him.”

  “Thanks. I will.”

  Callie left Amy and found her way to Jack Nelson’s room. It was an office similar to Lindsay’s in size. No doubt down to the inch if she was understanding the politics at the station correctly. In addition to a small work space with a computer, he also had a small makeup table.

  He was scrolling through a web page when she tapped on his door. His eyes narrowed when he saw who it was. Callie introduced herself as she walked into his room.

  “I’ve heard about you. I wondered when it would be my turn,” he said.

  “What can you tell me about Crystal?” Callie asked.

  “She’s no longer here,” he said.

  He was leaning back in his chair with his arm sprawled across his desk, his hand resting near the mouse.

  “I’m sure that must be a relief for you.”

  He straightened in his chair and dropped his arm down to his lap.

  “Why would you say that?”

  “I understand you were scared of her.” Callie watched for his reaction.

  “That’s not true.”

  “I wouldn’t blame you if you were. From all accounts, she seemed pretty scary,” Callie said. “I’ve even heard that she may have been gunning for a little more air time. You should have been safe though.”

  “Why is that?” he asked. His eyes showed his distrust.

  “The station has always had one male and one female co-anchor.” That had been true for as long as Callie could remember.

  “It was Lindsay that had to worry.” She chuckled, as though she found it funny.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. Of course, a guy can’t get too complacent. The station could always decide to switch things up. Sometimes I wondered if Lindsay and Crystal were plotting against me.” He laughed as though making a joke.