"I didn't say that," said Salisbury.
"You didn't have to," I said.
"Look," said Salisbury, looking at me, "you can't get blood from a stone."
"And yet Ensor was trying to get more than he'd received in the previous five years. Some were saying he'd get, maybe, twice as much."
I looked at Jackson. Jackson nodded at me in agreement.
"Yes, that might have been the case at the beginning of the season, but this season has not been quite that good compared to the last few," said Salisbury.
"So you're saying you weren't going to get him more?" asked Jackson.
"I'm not saying that. I'm saying it was going to be harder. The Cubs were willing to renew at the same rate if he won the Championship."
"And if he didn't?" asked Dykes.
"I prefer not to dwell on pessimistic outlooks."
"Humor us, Fred," I said.
Salisbury looked up at me with disdain plain as dog shit on a putting green.
"From my understanding, they wouldn't renew for anything more than ten a year."
"And as an agent that goes above and beyond for their client, you were shopping around for a team, right?" asked Jackson.
Salisbury nodded.
"Absolutely. My desire is to get the most for all of our clients. It's a win-win. Unfortunately, nobody was going to pay more than his current rate, and that was only if he had a championship under his belt."
"And why was that?" I asked. "I mean a guy with a World Series ring has gotta be hotter than a fried egg at an all-you-can-eat buffet."
Salisbury smiled at that.
"Well yes, I suppose he would be." Then he paused for a moment. "If he were ten years younger and hadn't had any Tommy Johns. Unfortunately for Ensor, he was both peaking in age and in ability. Plus all the scouts talk and it was apparent that this season he was on the downswing. He might have pulled off a win but next season wasn't looking good for him."
"So with your biggest client walking away you've got a lot of money to lose," I said, always trying to stir the pot.
"I'm not sure what you're trying to insinuate," said Salisbury.
"I'm just saying. If you could get him for another five years at the same salary that's an easy two, three or more million in your pocket. Per year."
"That's correct, Mr. Carrick. You've missed your calling as a mathematician. Ensor might have been our most valuable client but he's hardly the only one. We have over two dozen sports clients bringing in over ten million in fees to this office."
"Exactly, you've made my point. Ensor was likely worth thirty percent of your take."
"Are you suggesting that we had him killed because he might have walked to a new agent?"
"I'm not suggesting anything, but since you are, did you?" I asked.
Salisbury wasn't getting as riled up as I'd hoped. He pushed his glasses back up his nose. They didn't seem to be sliding down, but what did I know.
"I don't see how you can make any reasonable case for us having him murdered. It's a preposterous and insulting idea. If he were to leave, which was only a small possibility, having him murdered does nothing for us. We lose out on the money regardless. And like I said, we do not depend on any one client for the ongoing survival of our business."
"So you say." I couldn't help but to keep poking the bear.
Salisbury looked up at me like an impatient parent at their wits' end from countless sleepless nights with a colicky baby. That's me, just crying and whining endlessly.
"Besides which, Mr. Carrick," said Salisbury, "I have an alibi."
"Is that right?" I said. "You thought of everything."
He didn't take the bait, didn't even go for a nibble.
"I was at home with my wife and kids."
Dykes decided to end this sparring. I was tiring of it anyway.
"I understand that," said Dykes. "You didn't murder Ensor. Doesn't make sense you would anyway. You've got nothing to gain from it regardless of whether he would have stayed with you or not."
"Exactly, Detective," replied Salisbury.
"But," said Dykes, getting to the thrust of his comment, "I think you might know more than you're willing to let on."
"How do you come to that?"
"I think you have more information than you've been sharing with us."
"Of course I do," said Salisbury, getting annoyed with Dykes this time. "It's called client privilege and like I said earlier I'm happy to give you further information if you ask the right questions, but I'm not going to offer anyone up on a silver platter. That's your job. I will however say that I believe my client is innocent of this crime."
"Your client being Celia Ensor?" asked Dykes.
Salisbury nodded.
"We didn't suggest she was guilty," said Dykes.
Salisbury shook his head slowly. We were clearly irritating him but he wasn't getting upset with us. He was a man very much in control of his emotions.
"You might as well have said it. Your questions last time were pointed and insinuating as they are now. If you don't want to get to the point, perhaps I will make that call to a friend of mine who will have this warrant nulled in minutes."
"I have a question," said Jackson, getting into the fun. "Was there a prenup between Ensor and his wife?"
Salisbury moved his gaze over to Jackson and nodded.
"Of course there was, it would be reckless of me not to have suggested one to my client."
"So at the beginning of your relationship with Ensor he was unmarried?" asked Jackson.
"That's right. Five years ago he was single. Happily single I should say."
"And when did he get married?"
"Not sure off the top of my head. I'd say a couple of years ago or so."
"And you advised him to have a prenup with his soon-to-be bride, Celia?" asked Jackson.
"That's right and he agreed. He was bringing in a lot of money. I saw no point of him losing half of it to a greedy gold digger."
"That seems like a harsh thing to say about Celia Ensor," said Dykes.
Salisbury looked over towards Dykes.
"Not really, Detective. I didn't know Celia at the time, but I know my clients and the sorts of women that go after them. It's just a fact that eighty percent, and I'm being kind, of the women who seek out relationships with these super stars are gold digging. Now, they might not be looking for a quick smash and grab but they're eager to get on the gravy train. You might not understand that as you've not experienced the problems that come with great wealth."
"I have," I said. "My wife turned into a gold digger after we'd been married some time."
Salisbury looked at me.
"Perhaps you didn't choose well at the beginning. My wife and I have been together many years. We were married shortly after I got out of law school and didn't have two pennies to rub together."
I didn't say anything to that.
"So Ensor agreed to a prenup and I imagine that Celia signed on?" asked Jackson.
Salisbury nodded.
"You assume correctly, Detective," said Salisbury. "We pride ourselves in airtight prenups but we can't get all our clients to use them. Sadly, that often ends up to their detriment."
"Tell me about that," said Dykes.
"Well, I'd say that those of our clients who have prenups, their divorce rate is roughly fifty percent. And they lose less of their assets. Those without prenups generally lose half of everything and their divorce rates are around eighty percent."
Dykes nodded his head with an upturned mouth.
"And how much are the prenup divorcees losing?"
"That depends on the client. Sometimes they're willing to offer more depending on how much they love their fiancees. Generally it's between twenty and fifty percent of their incomes during the time they've been married. Fifty percent is rare, but usually the minimum payout is a couple of million for our bigger clients."
"And what's been the largest loss to one of your clients who didn't have prenup?"
asked Dykes.
"North of fifty million."
Jackson whistled.
"Ensor was a smart man to have taken your advice," said Dykes.
Salisbury nodded.
"But it might have also put a target on his back."
"How so, Detective?" asked Salisbury.
"Well, now that he's dead, who gets the entire estate?"
"His wife of course. There is some for his parents as well. But his wife will get around ninety percent of it."
"And that ninety percent will be how much?" asked Dykes.
"Probably over a hundred million."
Jackson whistled again, I raised my eyebrow. But nobody saw nor cared. Salisbury looked over at Jackson.
"Ensor did well with his investments," said Salisbury.
"And yet Celia Ensor's not happy with their financial advisor."
Salisbury shrugged.
"I recommended Dennis to James when he was first a client. He was happy with him."
"This is Dennis Blaney?" asked Dykes, referring to his notes.
Salisbury nodded.
"You have to understand, if you want the best results you very often have to pay for them. Dennis offers the best results that's why we recommend him and that's also why most of our clients are happy with him."
"But not the wives," said Jackson.
Salisbury shrugged again and pushed up his glasses.
"I can't speak for all the wives. The wives are generally not our clients. Celia has become our client by default if you will. She's not particularly satisfied and once this estate has been transferred to her she can do what she wants with the money. But Dennis is upstanding, I'd bet my reputation on it."
"But he takes a large chunk of the money he invests," said Jackson.
Salisbury shook his head slowly like he was trying to explain something to his elderly forgetful mother.
"No, Detective, he doesn't. If you recall our previous discussions at your offices Celia told you how much he takes. Five percent management fee and twenty-five percent performance. That is, he only takes twenty-five percent of any profits he makes. Something Celia didn't tell you was that he only takes that twenty-five percent on the amount he's beaten the S&P 500 by."
"Still," I said, tagging off of Jackson, "Celia seemed pretty confident with her numbers. Seems she keeps a close eye on the Ensor money."
"It would seem that way. So what?" Salisbury asked.
"Well, it doesn't make the murder look less like her responsibility," I said.
Salisbury shook his head and looked at me.
"Wives often like to be part of the financial decisions. I know my wife does, doesn't make her guilty of murder."
"Getting back to motive," said Dykes. "Celia gets north of a hundred million now he's dead. How much would she have gotten had Ensor divorced her?"
Salisbury thought about it for a moment.
"I can't say for certain, the formula is in the prenup, but I believe in Ensor's case it was twelve and a half percent per year they were married. His made a little over thirty million the past couple of years, if they were married two years, just for arguments sake, then she'd get roughly seven or eight million."
"And what if she cheated on him?" I asked.
Salisbury looked at me.
"Then she gets one million and she'd need to consider herself lucky. There is an infidelity clause in the prenup."
I looked at Salisbury. He was a man who didn't miss much, and I'm sure he knew about Celia's wandering eye.
"And you knew about that, didn't you?" I asked.
"Knew about what?"
"Knew she was sleeping around. Specifically with Vance Gibb."
Salisbury nodded.
"And you didn't think to mention that to us?" asked Dykes.
"That's right, Detective. I told you I wouldn't help you out. Detective work is your domain. You have to ask the right questions if you want the right answers."
Now Dykes was shaking his head.
"So instead of getting seven or eight, Celia would be lucky to get one million," I said, "if Ensor was going to seek divorce. Was he going to seek divorce?"
Salisbury grinned at me. It seemed almost genuine.
"Now you're asking the right questions," he said. "Yes, he had come to me a few weeks back asking me to ready the papers to seek divorce based on infidelity."
"And did he have proof?" I asked.
Again Salisbury nodded and smiled.
"Yes. I'll give you a hand, he had hired a private investigator."
"Whose name is?"
"Robert Skeef."
"And you still don't think your client is guilty of murdering her husband?" I asked.
He looked at me and nodded.
"That's right, Mr. Carrick, I don't believe she's guilty of the crime. But then what do I know? Sure looks like she has motive. But I don't see her getting her hands dirty."
"Does she own a handgun?" I asked.
Salisbury shrugged.
"I don't know. You'd have to ask her that," he said. "In any event, unless you can pin this on her, she's getting the estate."
"And you didn't think of hiring a PI to investigate her, what with her vested interests in his death?" asked Dykes.
"Nope," said Salisbury. "That's not my domain. Sometimes innocent people commit heinous crimes. Sometimes the guilty are as innocent as baby lambs."
"Sounds like you have some knowledge of criminal minds," said Dykes.
"Just my observations about human nature. I've had clients that seem as pure as the driven snow and yet they're beating their wives, screwing around with hookers and snorting coke. Then, on the other hand, I've had highly disagreeable clients. Assholes really, and they're guilty of nothing other than rubbing people the long way. Perhaps like your friend Mr. Carrick here, though I can't vouch for that."
Salisbury didn't look at me. He pushed up his glasses again. After a long pause Salisbury spoke again.
"If there's nothing else, I'd like to get back to work," he said.
Dykes looked at Jackson and Jackson passed the gaze on over to me.
"We could dance around the floor with Fred here and still not get anywhere in the next couple of hours," I said. "Our time is probably better spent following up with others."
Jackson nodded. He folded up his notebook and put it away. Dykes flipped his closed. He looked at Salisbury.
"There's a lot you're not telling us," he said.
Salisbury smiled feebly at him but didn't say anything for a while.
"You've got to ask the right questions," he said.
"No shit, Sherlock," I said.
I was already standing. Jackson got up and waited for Dykes to stand. After a some time Dykes stood up too. He stared at Salisbury for a moment.
"We'll likely be back," he said.
"I'm sure of it," replied Salisbury.
"One last thing," I said.
Salisbury's smile almost fell of his face.
"Yes, Mr. Carrick," he said exasperated.
"I get the impression that you act as Ensor's agent."
"Yes, you could say that."
"And yet he had an agent already. Sunny MacKsay," I said.
"What about it?"
"Well, who really was Ensor's agent?"
"We were," he said. "Sunny was a hanger-on. He'd been Ensor's first agent, but when he moved over to us we took over."
"And Sunny was left out in the cold?"
"No, not really. Ensor was generous with his friends and he considered Sunny a friend. He made sure Sunny got a finder's fee. We had to give him one million each year from Ensor's take."
"So you were down a further million each year," I said.
Salisbury shook his head.
"No, Mr. Carrick, it came from Ensor's portion, not ours."
"How did Sunny feel about that?"
"He was upset that Ensor wasn't using him anymore, but that was a long time ago. I imagine he was happy with one million a year for not having to w
ork for it. Anything else?" asked Salisbury visibly weary at this point.
I turned to go but paused for a moment and then turned back scratching my head. I'd seen some Columbo reruns lately.
"At our first meeting, Celia said she'd heard her husband arguing with Sunny about something. Do you know anything about that?"
Salisbury shook his head.
"No I don't."
"Was Ensor going back to Sunny as his agent?"
I looked at Salisbury, seeking any tells that might give away more than his mouth was saying. I didn't find anything.
"I have no idea," said Salisbury, "like I said, I felt he was negotiating with us in good faith, but he could have been speaking with Sunny as well. Nothing to stop him."
Salisbury stared at me for a while. I looked him in the eyes. There was nothing else I needed for the time being.
"Well?" he asked.
"That's it," I said.
Nobody offered their hands to shake. We all turned and walked out of the office and out into the hallway and waited for the elevators.
"There's something more to this than Salisbury's letting on," said Dykes.
"That's for certain," said Jackson. "Slippery snake like him. No wonder I don't like lawyers."
"I liked him," I said, standing with my hands in my pocket and watching the red numbers above the elevator count higher. Jackson and Dykes turned to look at me. Jackson wore a furrowed brow. I looked at him.
"He gave us everything we need. I think a visit to Dennis and Bobby might be all we need to close this up."
"If you say so," said Dykes.
I looked at him and smiled just as the elevator beeped and opened up its gaping maw to swallow us in.
"I say so," I said, full of smug confidence that might have been as clear as false hubris. But I had a feeling we were getting places.
Jackson stepped into the paneled box. Dykes followed him and I entered last. Dykes fished out his Lifesavers and offered them around as the door closed. We all took one. I was feeling minty, but I was thinking we might have been the three stooges instead.
"Then let's go and see a man about some money," said Dykes.
I grinned and nodded my head.
"Works for me," said Jackson.
FOURTEEN
Blue Ocean LLC
NOT far from where Salisbury, Hill and Dale were located was another blue faced windowed building. Slightly different front entrance, but if you'd blindfolded me and taken it off in the lobby I coulda sworn we hadn't left the building where we'd had the generous chat with Salisbury.
Anthony Carrick Hardboiled Murder Mysteries: Box Set (Books 1 - 3) Page 63
