by Rayna Morgan
Tom waited impatiently, tapping his fingers on the conference table. He knew his chances of catching the murderer decreased with each passing day. He badly needed a breakthrough in this case.
Amanda returned to the conference room beaming. "We're in luck. Those numbers are the combination for a locker in the employee gym. Neal asked me to make a note of his number in case he lost or forgot it."
Tom's jaw gaped. "The employees have a gym?"
"The entire sixth floor of this office building is a fitness center for employees and their families. Mr. Carson is a staunch supporter of the theory that a healthier person is a happier, more productive person. He maintains a vigorous exercise program himself and wants all of his employees to have access to the level of fitness he enjoys. The center offers free weights and machines, aerobics classes, even a kids club to entertain children while their parents work out."
"Very generous of him."
"His generosity reaps benefits. Our company has a remarkably low rate of sick days and on-the-job accidents."
"I need to see Neal's locker."
"I can take you down to the sixth floor and help you find it. You can stay for a workout if you like,” Amanda added with a coquettish grin. “Tone your six-pack, not that it needs toning."
"Maybe another time," he smiled. Following her from the conference room, Tom unconsciously sucked in his stomach.
He was quiet on the elevator, deep in thought. It seems unlikely Neal's gym locker is going to reveal the incriminating evidence whoever vandalized Neal's condo seemed intent on destroying. On the other hand, there’s little likelihood of that person knowing of the existence of the locker. It may, indeed, have provided safe storage.
The weight room was deserted this time of day. Amanda informed him that by six o'clock, all of the equipment would be in use and the classes filled to capacity. Making their way to the back of the men's dressing room, she pointed to the largest locker on the far wall.
Tom stopped her as she reached to grasp the lock and dial the numbers.
"Let me do it." He pulled on a pair of latex gloves before entering the combination.
The locker was crammed, but everything was neatly organized. T-shirts were on hangers; shorts were folded on the top shelf with training shoes stacked on top of them. There were no pictures, receipts, or papers of any kind. The only other item was a large plastic bag on the bottom. Tom pulled it out, emptying the contents on the floor in front of them.
Amanda gasped. "I don't understand."
"What's wrong?"
"These are some of the tools missing from the warehouse."
"You mean the ones Neal implied Juan had taken?" Amanda didn't answer Tom's question directly. Shrugging her shoulders, she spread her hands in front of her, shaking her head.
Their discovery had dismayed Tom as well. Until the pieces began to click together.
Neal not only dismissed Juan. He himself was the instigator of the theft which became the implied reason for termination. Neal had a personal agenda in all of this, and I’m beginning to understand what it was.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Lea was turning off her computer when she got a call from Paul. "I'm meeting Tom at the Crab Shack for a beer after work. Want to join us?"
"Sure. Why don't we order a couple of buckets of shrimp and crab and that can be our dinner? I'll tell Jon to have Michael over after basketball practice. They can order a pizza."
"Great. See you at the Shack at six." Paul had an afterthought before ending the call. "Lea, I have things to tell Tom about the murder, but it's not an invitation for you to start asking questions."
"Of course not," she agreed, crossing her fingers. "But give. What goodies have you come up with?"
"I had to interview someone today about the burglaries and took the opportunity to eliminate him as a suspect in the murder. You'll hear about it when I tell Tom."
"See you soon, sweetheart." Lea's finger jumped from the end call button to her sister's number. "Paul and I are meeting Tom at the Crab Shack for a drink and eats. Think up a pretense to meet us there, and we can get the latest on the burglaries and the murder."
"I don't need an excuse. I'm planning to stop by several restaurants tonight to drop off posters. I'm asking owners to display the posters for the 'Food and Music under the Stars' Fundraiser next month."
"Great cover. As a heads up, Paul already cautioned me about not getting involved."
"Then I guess I'll have to be the one to pry information out of our illustrious Detective."
"Tom's never been able to resist you. Just bat your long lashes and crinkle your cute button nose. He'll tell you everything he knows."
Maddy's laugh was infectious. "Oh, yeah. I'm so irresistible to Tom he's never seen me as more than a friend."
"You're the one who draws that line, Sis, ever since your divorce. You only let a man get so close before you shut him out."
"Oh, oh; this conversation sounds familiar. Gotta run. See you at six."
Lea ended the call shaking her head. In ways, I hope my sister finds another good relationship even if she never remarries. In other ways, Maddy's one of those women who seem perfectly capable and happy living on their own, calling their own shots. Besides, I can't imagine the man who could be a match for my irrepressible sister.
• • •
The tall wooden doors of the Crab Shack opened into a large room with a bar along one side. Every stool was occupied. The alluring clink of glasses and ice rattling could be heard above the buzz.
The zigzag of tables on the opposite side of the room included couples and family groups. Lea and Paul sat at one of the round tables sipping beer from frosted mugs, catching up on each other's day. The smell of marinated fish cooking on the grill wafted over their heads whetting their appetites.
Lea glimpsed the hostess embraced in a hug with a tall, blond man wearing khakis and a white button-down shirt. She reached to touch Paul's arm, nodding toward the entrance. "Tom's here."
The Detective strode through the room with his usual air of calm authority, scoring attention from the waitresses with the kind of good looks that stop people in their tracks. Muscles rippled across every part of his well-toned physique, but Lea knew he took care of his body more for his job than from a sense of vanity. Nodding and smiling at people along the way, he exuded coolness and quiet self-possession.
Lea waved to get his attention. "It's no wonder he's considered the second most eligible bachelor in town."
"With the passing of Neal Henderson, he's probably been elevated to the top spot now," Paul pointed out.
Lea winced. "Don't remind him. You know how he hates any kind of public attention."
Paul raised his mug in a salute as his friend eased his lanky frame onto one of four tall bar stools. "Hey, buddy; just in time. We're getting ready to order a couple of buckets of fish."
"Sounds great. I'm hungry enough to eat a horse."
"In that case," Lea laughed, "we'll double the order."
"Bring me a beer, please, Sue," Tom told the waitress who approached their table. "No, go ahead and make it two."
They were discussing softball league standings and the latest fires in the northern part of the state when Lea stood abruptly, waving her arm above her head. "Look who's at the front desk."
Paul and Tom swiveled their chairs to watch Maddy handing a stack of posters to the restaurant manager. Looking casually around the room, Maddy noted Lea's frantic waving and headed in their direction.
She floated across the room, swaying her hips like a runway model. With a voluptuous figure and legs which seemed to go on forever, she attracted her own share of attention. She plopped onto the remaining bar stool Lea held out for her.
"Look who the cat dragged in," Paul commented, staring daggers at his wife.
"Hey, Maddy, how's everything?" Tom leaned over to give her a peck on the cheek.
"Great, Tom, how's yourself?"
"You know my job. I'm either throwing swi
sh balls at the basketball hoop in my office going stir crazy, or I'm buried, no pun intended, in dead bodies and burglaries like I am now."
"The whole town's talking, Tom. Making any progress?" Lea let the question slip out casually. Squirming uncomfortably under her husband's heated glare, she refused to meet his gaze turning her attention to the beer Sue poured in front of her.
"Actually, there has been a development. As likely as it seemed initially, we're confident now the burglaries and the murder were not committed by the same person or persons. There may be a connection between the two acts, but there's more than one perpetrator."
Paul took a hot roll from the basket Sue placed on their table. "I'm surprised. How can you be sure?"
"We got plenty of fingerprints from the van. You'd think they would have worn gloves, but it's not the first time I've given burglars more credit for smarts than they deserve."
Tom leaned back in his chair, savoring the buttered roll he popped in his mouth. "The body was a different matter entirely. There were no prints anywhere. Considering the carelessness in dealing with the van, there should have been. Plus, the footprints didn't match. We discerned three different sets of footprints around the van and leading to a spot approximately three feet from the body. Footprints near the body had been hastily covered with sand, but the partial print remaining told us there was a fourth person."
Paul raised his empty bottle, gesturing to Sue to bring another round of beers to the table. "Were you able to trace the fingerprints found in the van?"
"Oh, yeah. We've put out an APB for the suspects. They're local Hispanics."
Paul's heart skipped a beat waiting for Tom to continue. "Three brothers, the oldest released from prison recently. He was sent up on similar charges. Guess he didn't learn how to stay out of trouble while he was doing time."
Maddy's eyes widened. "Wow, we were at the donut shop yesterday morning and—."
Paul jerked his head, looking at Lea curiously. Her hand flew out to grab Maddy's necklace. "Maddy, you didn't tell me you went ahead and bought this necklace. I love it on you." Looking at the two men, she put her hand to her mouth. "Oops. Sorry, guys. Didn't mean to interrupt. What were you saying about the donut shop, Maddy?" She looked pleadingly at her sister.
"I was saying I had two chocolate donuts so no dessert for me." She fingered the dessert menu in the napkin holder, as Lea expelled the breath she was holding.
Returning to Tom's story, Lea didn't hide her contempt. "And now the oldest brother is getting his younger brothers in trouble, willing to let them suffer the same fate?"
"Not exactly a good role model, huh?" Tom's eyes narrowed as he turned to Paul. "Until we found their prints, they weren't on our suspect list for the burglaries. In fact, from an anonymous tip we received, your client's employee was at the top of the list." Tom leaned back, arms folded across his chest. "Fingering, or should I say fingerprinting, the brothers lets your client's employee off the hook for those burglaries. But your client didn't know about the anonymous tip we received so what made him suspicious of Juan Martinez in the first place?"
"My client had a tip of his own. His site manager found a note taped to the door of the construction trailer suggesting Juan as someone they should look into. Jim asked me to intervene as a neutral third party to determine any possible involvement on Juan's part." Paul signaled the waitress, pointing at the bread basket for a refill. "After interviewing Juan, I completely eliminated the possibility of his involvement in my own mind, but I'm glad your findings have confirmed my judgment."
Lea nudged Paul's shoulder. "You've always been a good judge of people, sweetheart."
Tom lifted a beer to his lips, draining the bottle. His next comment took his listeners by surprise. "Actually, the fact Neal was apparently meeting the brothers gives us reason to believe Neal himself was the mastermind."
Paul's face registered shock. "What motive would Neal have to be involved in something so underhanded? From my dealings with Don Carson's company, I've seen he treats his employees generously. Surely, Neal's salary was more than enough to support even his lavish lifestyle."
"You'd think, wouldn't you? I mean, how much does a single guy need to live comfortably in this small town?" Paul had obviously touched a nerve involving Tom's pay as a public official.
"It turns out Neal was behind schedule and over budget on several of Don's projects," Tom explained. "His poor management of those jobs was threatening to tarnish Don's reputation as well as significantly reduce the developer’s net worth. From what Ken Crosby told me this morning, Neal was pouring his own money into the projects to keep Don from finding out what a bad job he was doing."
"Do you think he was worried about Don firing him?"
"Probably. It's common knowledge Don thought of Neal as a second son. But common wisdom also has it Don's going to pass his business on to his son when he retires, regardless of whether or not his son chooses to be involved in it. He would never tolerate his legacy being diminished before that event occurs."
"I still don't see what led Neal to become involved in the burglaries," Maddy interjected.
"We examined his financial records after his death. It was evident from credit card and bank statements he was living way beyond his means. He'd already been drawing more than his salary from the projects. When they went over budget, he needed money to pump back in to stop the cash flow hemorrhage. He turned to an illegal source, the sale of stolen goods across the border. Construction materials were the obvious choice to take because he had the knowledge and contacts in the business to pull it off."
"How did he obtain knowledge of the construction sites?"
"During their high school years, Neal and Don's son spent their summers working for almost every builder in the County learning the business. He either had information first hand or was privy to everything he needed to organize a team of thugs and instruct them explicitly on how to carry out the thefts."
Lea shook her head as she pushed her empty plate to the side. "Wow, he was a pretty cool customer, working every day in an industry he was robbing blind at night. How is his family taking all this? Did you tell them of your suspicion Neal was complicit in the burglaries?"
"Not yet. I didn't feel a need to add to their burden at this early stage of the investigation. I was the one to notify the father of his son's death. From the brief conversation we had, Neal and his father had barely talked in recent weeks.
“His second wife, Neal's stepmother, had nothing to offer. She was clearly more concerned with her husband's reaction to Neal's death than Neal's death itself.
“I may talk with the father after he's recovered from the shock, but I don't get the impression he was privy to Neal's private life. I'm interviewing the sister tomorrow. Maybe she'll know more about his current activities."
Paul brought his attention back to Tom's allegation. "If you believe Neal was behind the burglaries, doesn't that suggest he may have been the one who provided the anonymous tip about Juan to divert suspicion from himself?”
“And from the two brothers who were working on the construction site which was burglarized," Lea added.
"That seems to be the logical conclusion,” Tom said. “We may be able to prove it when we get phone records from Neal's office. A call to the police station and a subsequent call to Jim's site manager would certainly indicate he was the tipster."
"Maybe Neal arranged to have the brothers steal small equipment from his own site to set Juan up as a viable suspect in the burglaries," Paul theorized. He leaned forward. "He only needed to keep suspicion off himself and his activities long enough to finish the projects he was working on for Don. Once they started pre-selling, his cash flow problems would be over, and the burglaries could mysteriously stop."
Tom nodded. "Neal had probably instructed the brothers to drive the stolen goods directly from the heist to the border. The meeting at the Pier could have been their payoff from Neal before heading out of the County. Henderson may have alre
ady made long-term arrangements for the brothers to stay in Mexico to make sure neither they nor he, were ever tied to the burglaries."
"If your theory about Neal is correct, you've got the burglaries pretty well figured out,” Maddy said. “That leaves the murder, but Neal being the mastermind also rules out a motive for the brothers to kill him."
"Unless the meeting at the pier erupted into a spontaneous confrontation," Lea suggested.
Tom rubbed the back of his neck, twisting his head in both directions. "The time of death tells us Neal was already dead by the time the brothers got to the meet. The most likely scenario is they found his body under the Pier, panicked, and fled the scene, abandoning the truck."
Lea's eyes narrowed. "Which leads you back to the extra set of prints where the body was found, prints belonging to a fourth person."
Paul dropped a credit card on top of the bill tray and handed the plate to Sue. "The fourth person being someone who knew Neal would be at the Pier waiting for the van?"
"Exactly," Tom agreed. "Killing Neal at the Pier would provide a perfect trail to place the blame on the brothers. It would look like what we initially suspected, a meet gone wrong. Maybe there was an argument over the amount Neal paid them. It gave the killer the opportunity to create evidence directly linking the brothers."
Maddy raised a finger. "But you said the brothers' footprints were only in the sand next to the parking lot, not where the body was found under the Pier."
"That's the catch. We figure the killer's timing went wrong. He, or she, planned to kill Neal after the brothers left so there would be plenty of footprints and evidence of their meeting. But the murderer ended up killing Neal before the van arrived. Maybe Neal recognized the person and confronted him. Maybe the killer panicked when the van didn't arrive on time and decided to go ahead and carry out his plan to get rid of Neal. It’s one of those mistakes which occur in every murder. Something happens the murderer doesn’t anticipate. Something that later provides us with the clues we need to recreate actual events. In this case, it helped us decipher there were different perpetrators in two separate crimes instead of the same perpetrators for both offences."
