A Dead Nephew

by Anna Celeste Burke

  “He’s been John’s friend for years, but their friendship never made John a better man,” Auntie Agnes added.

  “Who else, Manny?”

  “I don’t know—maybe another member of the Casino Board of Directors like Horace Enders. He was saying how much better his company could have done if they’d been awarded the contract for the casino’s lighting. It’s no secret that there are other members of the Tribal Council who’d like to take Lugo’s place.”

  “Leonard Morgan’s name is on the report I’m talking about. How did Sacramento get the copy of the report he kept hidden?”

  “Not from me.” Manny squirmed.

  “Whoever gave it to him had to be an insider at the casino. You know your way around there. Someone had to have access to the company’s files. If you didn’t give it to him, who did?”

  “Ask Valerie Taylor, John’s secretary. Sacramento never told me for sure that he got if from her, but I saw them together several times before I took a job with the Agua Caliente Indians.”

  “Why would she give it to Sacramento? Was something going on between them?”

  “No, no,” Manny replied. “She’s young, attractive, and has done a decent job as far as I can tell. She was John’s girlfriend, not Sacramento’s. When John dumped her for a new woman, she was angry. He wasn’t nice about it. I saw Valerie bring papers for him to sign one night while he was having dinner with the new woman. I thought Valerie was going to rip her hair out or John’s. By then, Sacramento had already been talking about preservation being vital for the reservation lands, so I figured she decided to give the report to Sacramento to get even with John.”

  “That was two years ago when John got a new woman friend, and Valerie’s still his secretary,” Auntie Agnes said. “Why did she stay on?”

  “You’ll have to ask her. Maybe she wanted to be there when someone took him down. I heard a rumor that John had threatened to fire her if she made a scene or caused any trouble for the new woman, who’s a tall, gorgeous redhead hired as a cocktail waitress.” Manny peered deeply into the golden liquid in the glass he’d motioned for me to pour. “Sacramento was sure his father was behind the fraud. I assumed he was too. It never occurred to me that John Lugo would let himself be played for a fool. Sacramento was torn up about it and didn’t know what to do. He wanted to stop the project and expose the fraud, but he couldn’t bear hurting his mother and father.”

  “Did Sacramento ask you to hold a letter for him?”

  “Yes, and I agreed, but he never gave me the letter.”

  “Did he tell you what was in the letter?” I asked.

  “No, but I could tell it was important to him, which is why I said yes.” Manny and I locked eyes.

  “He must have told you where to send it if he didn’t come back to get it.”

  “No, and I didn’t ask because I figured it would be on the letter when he gave it to me.”

  “Weren’t you worried about him when he got to the part about not coming back to get it?”

  “A little, but he never brought me the letter. He made an appointment with a lawyer, so I thought that had solved his problem.” A sinking feeling hit me in the pit of my stomach when Manny said lawyer.

  “Please don’t tell me he went to Andrew Clearwater.”

  “Yes, that’s him. Sacramento figured that if he went to the company lawyer with questions, Clearwater would speak to his father. If there were problems with the report and the police got involved, Sacramento wouldn’t have to go against his father because he’d confided his concerns to his lawyer. Are you saying the lawyer’s crooked?”

  “I don’t know yet. Over the past few days, we’ve been running routine background checks on John and his close associates. As an attorney, Clearwater’s had to address a few complaints, but if he’d been in serious trouble with the law, he wouldn’t still be in good standing with the California Bar Association. Mr. Clearwater came running when Ridgeway and Castro got into trouble. Until I spoke to him today, I assumed John Lugo had sent the lawyer to bail them out. Now, I’m not so sure. Andrew Clearwater was Lenny Morgan’s man before John Lugo hired him.” Manny put a hand on his head.

  “What a sad story this could be if the lawyer went to Lenny Morgan rather than to John. At least, John cares a little about the community and the other tribe members. For Lenny Morgan, it’s strictly business.”

  “Tessa didn’t like that lawyer any more than she liked Lenny Morgan,” Auntie Agnes added. “She thought he was a phony Indian and used his distant ties to his ancestors to help Lenny. John told Tessa to shut up when she said not all of Lenny’s deals worked out as well as the new casino in Twentynine Palms. Tessa wanted John to stop letting Lenny and the lawyer make decisions about the tribe’s future.”

  “Lenny Morgan was always polite to me when he visited the casino, but I didn’t like that he wasn’t any better to his wife than John Lugo was to Tessa. He wasn’t any luckier at cards than he was at love, but he was persistent at both.”

  “Are you saying he ran up big debts?”

  “Not with us—John Lugo always covered his losses. It was ‘funny money’ to John since he considered it a loss like any other payout made by the casino.”

  “That doesn’t sound legal to me if it went on the books that way,” I said, wondering if the IRS might have a way to sort out some of this mess.

  “You’d have to ask the accountants. They’re the ones who know what goes into the loss column. If Valerie will talk to you, she might tell you if there was anything illegal going on with John’s use of funny money.”

  “What about the Cleaner Man? Did Sacramento ask you about him?” Auntie Agnes blurted out. She must have sensed that our time together was growing short.

  “There you are,” Bernadette said. “It’s time to eat.”

  19 The Troll

  We hadn’t made it to the dining room before unexpected guests began to arrive. That wasn’t exactly true. Betsy was sort of expected to join us, but not until after dinner. She and Laura had gone to a soup kitchen and were planning to eat there. Thanks to Brien and Tommy’s misbehavior, we were starting dinner late.

  “Come on in,” I said as I answered the door on my way to the kitchen. When she stepped inside, Betsy appeared tense. “Is Laura with you?”

  “I’m here!” Laura said. She was wearing a voluminous man’s shirt with a logo embroidered on the pocket. “I drove my own car to the soup kitchen and had a little trouble keeping up with lead-foot Betsy.”

  “It’s good you’ve recovered from the food fight.” Betsy smiled, and the tension flowed from the gentle giant.

  “Is that why you’re wearing someone else’s shirt?” I asked.

  “Yep, oh, perceptive one. We’ll tell you all about it. Is there any food left? The food fight sort of spoiled my appetite, but now I’m starving.” She paused for a second.

  “Hello, Auntie Agnes. I’d give you a hug, but I’m sure I still have chili in my hair. Who is your friend?”

  “This is Manny Ortiz,” Auntie Agnes replied.

  “Manny, wow! I’m glad you’re here. Jessica wanted to speak to you. Are you the one who warned Sacramento about how dangerous the Cleaner Man is?” Laura was so wound up that she didn’t let him reply. “I smell something delicious—and it’s not chili. Yay!”

  She started down the hall with the rest of us following her. A befuddled Manny Ortiz was staring as six-foot-two Betsy and four-foot-ten Auntie Agnes spoke to each other in Cahuillan. When they realized how puzzled Manny appeared to be, they switched to Spanish. From what I could make out, they were chatting about a Pow Wow to be held in the fall. The three of them were speaking rapidly, and it wasn’t easy to keep up. I quit trying when the front door opened.

  “Frank! What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “That’s a heartwarming greeting from the love of my life!” I rushed toward him as he stepped inside. He wrapped me in his arms, only babying his ribs a little and kissed me. Frank had left the door op
en, and George joined us. “Look who I found sitting in his car on the street.”

  “I thought you were in San Bernardino.”

  “I was, Jessica, but it turned out to be a wild goose chase after all.” He shut the door. “That’s not completely true. We now have a reason to revoke Ridgeway’s bail if we can find where the slippery rat’s hiding out.”

  “Why were you sitting outside in your car?” Frank answered my question.

  “He was waiting for you all to finish dinner before he came in here, so Brien couldn’t accuse him of showing up for ‘finer food.’ George is one of those new-age sensitive men.”

  “Aw, don’t tease him, Frank. The detective is always welcome. He doesn’t need to worry about Brien’s smart mouth. He and Tommy have both been severely reprimanded by Peter and had better be on their best behavior tonight.”

  “Uh-oh, there’s gotta be a story to go with that. I’ll stop teasing, so I don’t set a bad example for Tommy and Brien,” Frank responded. “Jessica’s right that everyone’s happy to have you at the table when we have these gatherings. Dinner together is the eye of the storm that whips up around our favorite Calamity Magnet.”

  I opened my mouth to speak and then closed it. Frank was in such a jovial mood that I didn’t want to say anything to spoil it. Besides, his teasing wasn’t far off the mark. There was a storm brewing, and we’d already been hit by a few of its first gusts.

  “You may be happy, but my wife isn’t. She’s used to me not getting home in time for dinner. What’s getting on her nerves is that I’m too full to eat the meal she’s saved for me.” As we walked into the dining room, George made another point.

  “I don’t know exactly what you said to John Lugo, Jessica, but the word’s out that he’s ordered the exhumation of his son’s body.”

  Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing, which mostly involved making room for Betsy and Laura at the table. Before Bernadette paused, she was a whirling dervish, seeming to be everywhere at once. Spinning at her side, was little Auntie Agnes, who suddenly came running to throw her tiny body into my arms.

  “Thank you, Jessica. Now we’ll find out what happened to Sacramento. I told you that she wasn’t afraid to tell John Lugo what he needed to hear today, Manny.”

  “What else could he do? Jessica had him mesmerized the moment he saw her. Calamity magnetism isn’t the only magnetism she wields. Her Palm Desert cop friend was dopey eyed too. If John Lugo had made one wrong move, Officer Parker would have been on him like Brien on a platter of nachos.”

  “Or like Anastasia on Brien,” Tommy quipped, snickering.

  “Look who’s talking,” Brien responded. Peter cleared his throat. Anastasia, who had already been dancing and prancing as she welcomed our guests, was delighted at the mention of her name. Apparently, she’d forgiven Tommy for his masquerade as an alien zombie because she ended up with her head resting on his arm.

  “It’s a good thing this table seats twelve,” I said as I gave Auntie Agnes a smooch on the cheek. I hoped her faith was well-placed and that an autopsy would determine, once and for all, how Sacramento died. Unfortunately, if the Cleaner Man was involved, it wouldn’t get us any closer to learning his identity or locating him. “Let me help you and Bernadette make room for our favorite detectives.”

  “What’s for dinner?” George asked.

  “Chili,” Betsy replied, completely deadpan. “I saw an enormous pot of it on the stove.”

  “You did not!” Laura exclaimed. “Peter, make her stop harassing me before I gag. I never want to see chili again after having a bowl of it thrown at me by a devotee of the Cleaner Man. As skinny as he was, he needed to eat it, not throw it.”

  “Wow! Did you have him taken in for questioning?” I asked.

  “No,” Betsy responded. “I know who he is and where he usually hangs out. I’m going after him tomorrow. He didn’t look well.” Brien quit munching and held up both hands.

  “Before you get too worried, Peter,” Brien said. “I’ll go with her. That way, she’ll have some muscle along—uh, more muscle—to wrestle that dude if he tries to throw anything at her.” Brien was in awe of Betsy’s physical strength. He also holds her in high regard because she can bench press her own weight.

  “What about the spray gas?” I asked Peter.

  “It wasn’t knockout gas,” George replied, assuming I was asking him that question. “Ridgeway used bug spray, and when the officer backed up to get away from it, he fell, hit his head, and knocked himself out. The hypodermic needle was real—filled with dope exactly like the one Castro intended to use on Louie.”

  “I was asking Peter the question about the spray gas, George. Now that you’ve brought it up, though, why would Ridgeway want to kill Xavier Oliver? How do you know Ridgeway was the culprit? You said he was in a hoodie like the guy John Lugo put up to leaving the little white Bible on the stairway leading to our office.”

  “Hold on, fellow Cat Pack members. This kitty-cat is lost. Apparently, it was a busy day. I have news for you too. Can we eat and start at the beginning—whatever that is.”

  “I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s lost,” Manny responded. “I saw the dog attack the men who were wearing hazmat suits, but that’s it. Well, except for my discussion with Jessica and Agnes about the environmental impact report Sacramento probably got from John’s secretary,” Manny said. “Maybe it doesn’t matter since I’m not a kitty-cat or a cat packer.”

  “It matters. Everyone brings something to the table, and it all helps,” I assured him.

  “Yeah, especially when it causes brains to storm. Then we really figure out stuff,” Brien said in a very serious tone. “Ow. Your toe hit a sore place, Kim. Isn’t what I said the same as brainstorm?”

  “No, Brien,” Laura replied instead of Kim, “and what I want someone to bring to the table is food.”

  Once we’d had a few minutes of peace and quiet in which to eat Bernadette’s Creamy Salsa Verde Chicken and Auntie Agnes’ Quinoa Pilaf, I started the round of updates with what I’d learned from my morning meeting with Sammy. When I mentioned that he’d suggested I speak to Manny, Auntie Agnes interrupted me. She explained that because Louie had already told us about Manny, Bernadette had already started tracking him down. She sent him a message through a friend they have in common, asking him to call her.

  I shared other bits of news from Sammy. That included the “tittle-tattle” that Lenny Morgan wasn’t any more faithful to his wife than John Lugo had been to Tessa. No one seemed surprised that even before Sammy had followed Castro to the hospital and laid him low, he had no use for him, or his “evil twin,” Ridgeway. I explained the deal he’d made before accepting the position as manager. I thought it was also important for everyone to consider the possibility Sammy had raised that Sacramento had agreed to become a management trainee at Sammy’s side so he could stick around to protect reservation land.

  “The environmental impact report Sacramento has hidden may be the original report. If that’s true, it was altered before it ended up in the EIR database. Manny says it’s possible John Lugo’s secretary, Valerie Taylor, gave that report to Sacramento after John dumped her for another woman. I haven’t had a chance to speak to Manny about it yet, but the last thing I learned from Sammy is that the only other person he’d heard say much about the Cleaner Man was Manny. When we’re done with our updates, I hope Manny will tell us what Sammy meant by that.”

  “Of course, he will!” Auntie Agnes exclaimed. “He doesn’t want any of us to get hurt by el hombre limpio.”

  “Isn’t that right, Manny?” she asked. Manny nodded.

  “Well, I can give you details about what happened with John Lugo, if you’d like, but George shared the punchline with us.” I shared a quick summary of my conversation, including the “message” he’d sent with a little white Bible. “My main purpose was to make him understand that he doesn’t have all the facts about who killed his son or how he was killed. And that the best wa
y to find out more about what happened to Sacramento was to exhume the body and order an autopsy.”

  “Which he did almost as soon as he left your office,” George acknowledged. “From what Jessica told me earlier, he doesn’t believe Agnes’ assertions that the Cleaner Man killed his son or that he even exists. Apparently, he had no problem exploiting the fact that Jessica’s given more credence to the idea. It wasn’t just the gag he played with the little white Bible he put on her stairs; Ridgeway’s assault on Xavier Oliver today was staged as a mock attack by the Cleaner Man.”

  “You haven’t said how you’re so certain Ridgeway was responsible for the attack on Xavier Oliver,” Frank said.

  “When he burst in on Xavier Oliver, our officer inside recognized Ridgeway immediately. He ordered him to stop, but Ridgeway dropped the hypodermic needle and ran for it,” George responded. “Not fast enough, since the officer shot him.”

  “Why do they want to kill Mr. Oliver?” Tommy asked.

  “That’s a very good question. Xavier is scared stiff, but he claims he doesn’t know why anyone, other than the Cleaner Man who hates all homeless men, would be out to get him. In fact, he’s convinced the attack was a message from the Cleaner Man who told his assailant where to find him. I’m more convinced it was a message from John Lugo, but how he knew where to find Xavier is beyond me.”

  “An attempted murder carries far more serious consequences than leaving that Bible on the steps. Not just for the messenger, but for the person who ordered the message to be delivered,” Frank argued. “Is there any chance Xavier Oliver knows Louie Jacobs, and they believe Louie passed the letter on to him?”

  “I asked Louie about Mr. Oliver right away, and he said no, but his memory is such a mess,” I said. “John Lugo or Lenny Morgan could have jumped to the conclusion that Xavier knows something important because he’s being held in protective custody.”

  “What? It

  “How Ridgeway found out where Xavier was being held is harder to understand than how Castro knew he’d find Louie in the locked ward at the hospital.”