“Well, you make good on paying back those commissions and people will see what a decent person you are, Helen.”
***
After we went our separate ways I still felt my friends were close with me. I had a sense I’d always have them close one way or another, in my heart. And, when I got home and saw my message light blinking on the phone I couldn’t have been more pleased by the sound of the voice on the other end. But, after I heard her words I knew there was trouble brewing. And, the warm blush of camaraderie I’d felt just moments before was threatened in an instant by the nettling news she was leaving on my recorder.
Gangster flew from the bedroom into the kitchen to see me and rubbed against and through my legs.
“You hungry, buddy?” He purred out a yes. It’d been an entire day since I’d filled up his kibble bowl only a few crumbs rested in its bottom. His water looked dingy and floated with hair and spittle from not refreshing it for over twenty-four hours, or was it the day before that? After tending to him, Gangster greedily ate the oily fishy smelling crunchy nuggets his head mantled over the bowl like he’d just killed another baby rabbit. When he was finished he jumped back up onto the travertine counter to offer his thanks. While I stroked his fur, one of my hands rested on the counter. It never ceased to amaze me how the marble stayed so cool in this desert’s heat.
My other hand automatically joined the petting. His back arched along my fingernails as I scratched from his nose down his back and off the tip of his tail. He had a little knot of matted hair down near his rump and my mind settled to a memory of how Bobby used to scratch my back for hours every Sunday morning without fail, our precursor to love-making. But, then my mind wandered back to the blinking message. I’d had too many messages lately all delivering bad news. I wasn’t sure I could handle anymore trouble this soon.
CHAPTER 31
“We’re here to speak with a Mr. John Chariot, he’s expecting us.” Detective Mark had been with Sunnydale only a few years when his wife insisted they moved north out of the crime-laden city to a smaller town where the kids had a better chance of avoiding urban peer- pressure. He and Willy met at Chariot with two Phoenix detectives he’d had the pleasure of working with during his stint here a few years back. They’d all first met at the station downtown to go over details of their impending interviews with Chariot and Pinzer.
“He’ll be right with you.” The receptionist remained cool even though she knew the men in front of her were officers of the law and even though Willy was donning his Sunnydale police uniform. She turned back to her keyboard and began typing without missing a beat. Another phone call, she pressed a button and spoke into her head set as she typed.
“Just a moment please, may I say who’s calling? Thank you.” She pressed a code into the switchboard keys and transferred the call.
Just then John Chariot came into the lobby and greeted the men. He shook each of their hands strongly and quickly.
“Hello, detectives, officer. Let’s talk in the conference room, shall we? Tamara, hold my calls, please.” “Yes, Mr. Chariot.”
Chariot turned and led the four men toward a lush room laden with leather and mahogany wood.
“Can I get you anything? Water, coffee?”
“Nothing, sir. We need to ask you a few questions. Would that be okay?”
“Absolutely. What can I help you with?”
“Are you familiar with the land purchase between Chariot and the town of Sunnydale?”
Chariot’s face tightened and became red. He spoke trying to mask his outrage with Pinzer. “Yes and no.” “Will you please explain what you mean, Mr. Chariot?” Detective Mark spoke deliberately and with little inflection.
“I remember one of my VPs was drawing up documents for its purchase. But, I intercepted them because the property, the land is corridor land. And, our mission is to build boutique malls within areas with an already established demographic. We don’t try to develop areas, we situate ourselves in already developed areas, like Phoenix, Carefree, Scottsdale, La Jolla, San Luis Obispo—areas like that. My mission has never been to try to develop a town, understand?”
“So, what you’re saying is you didn’t have knowledge of the purchase?”
“No, I did not. I told Zach to renege on the agreement. To tell the mayor we were going to have to pass. What has the mayor said about all of this? Did he say I was involved? Because if he did, he’s lying. I never wanted this transaction to happen.” Chariot was spilling like people do when the law is sitting staring them in the face.
“The mayor is dead.” “What?”
“He was killed in an automobile accident on his way to Sunnydale back from Phoenix.”
“Oh, dear god .”
Chariot seemed completely surprised by the mayor’s death and sincerely angered about the land purchase. “So, sir, you knew nothing about this purchase.
Money was exchanged, commissions paid.”
“I only knew Zach wanted this. Nothing more. Do I need a lawyer?”
“If you feel you need one, sir. We’re here to try and get to the bottom of a sudden burst of crime in Sunnydale. This information about the land just came to our attention yesterday.”
“Well, talk to Pinzer. I had nothing to do with this.”
***
Leyla leaned into Detective Mark seductively when she brought each of the men a bottle of water.
“Mr. Pinzer will be right with you, officer.” She said it close to his face.
“It’s detective.” He spoke without humor and absent of facial expression. Leyla stood straight when he corrected her.
“Well, he’ll be right with you, detective.” Her more professional demeanor returned upon Detective Mark’s curt retort. The men all looked at each other when Leyla turned her back on them to head back to her desk.
Fifteen minutes passed and the men had yet to meet Zach Pinzer. He’d been hiding out in his office too long when the men waiting outside his door began to whisper quietly among themselves.
That’s when Detective Mark stood and straightened his pants.
“Tell Pinzer we’ll return with a warrant and compel him to meet with us… downtown.” The others stood to leave when Leyla realized the seriousness of them being there.
“Wait, just a minute, I’ll call him again.” She dialed his extension and turned away to whisper the urgent message. Then, she hung up the phone. “He said he’ll be right out.”
The men preferred to stand rather than sit again and looked impatient in the next few moments before Zach Pinzer appeared. He opened his door slowly, coolly. Pinzer appeared to Detective Mark clean-cut, perhaps too clean-cut.
“Gentlemen. So, sorry about the delay, it’s crazy here today. Do come in.”
Detective Mark let the others enter Pinzer’s office before following them. Zach held the door open and when they were all well inside he followed them in.
“Leyla, hold my calls, will you?”
“Yes, Zach.” She said it seductively and let their intimacy seep into the comment. Zach pressed a look at her that meant for her to Stop! She looked at the papers in front of her when he closed the door behind him. Detective Mark caught it all and remained standing while Zach moved to a place that put him behind his desk, his barrier from the men in his office.
“I’m Detective Mark Dannon from Sunnydale. This is Officer Will Cleary from Sunnydale as well. And, these two gentlemen here are detectives from Phoenix PD, detectives Steve Falk and Tom Janzen.”
“What can I do for you gentlemen?”
“We have a couple of questions we hope you can shed a little light on.”
“Shoot.” As Detective Mark began he noticed a trash can filled with shredded documents, a box next to it, and another box next to it all filled with shredded documents with the shredder idling carefully center the last box to the left. The long shreds spilled out and over the trash bin and boxes. He had a pair of scissors on his desk and white-out next to the scissors. Pinzer’s sleeves were rol
led up just under his elbows and his hair looked damp around the edge of his reddened face.
“Been cleaning up?” Detective Mark pointed with his head to the shredding effort.
“Oh, that. Just some old papers I didn’t need anymore.
Old stuff.”
“Is that what kept us waiting outside, you were spring cleaning?” The questioning started out quickly and on a bad note.
“No, no. I was on a long-distance call.”
“With who?”
“Um, um. A guy in Nevada.” “What’s this guy’s name?”
“What can I help you with gentlemen? It certainly mustn’t be to learn about my latest sales call, is it?” Detective Mark felt a pang in his gut, a pang he’d felt many times while standing face to face with a criminal.
But, this one was more evil than the usual thug, he masqueraded daily as a business man, the worst kind of criminal there was.
“Do you know Mayor Harold Pyle?” “Hmm. A mayor, you say?”
“Yes. Mayor Harold Pyle. Know him?”
“Well, I believe I’ve heard of him. But, I can’t say I’ve ever made his acquaintance, no. Why?”
“Are you sure? We have a photo.” Detective Tom Janzen pulled out a photo from the coroner’s office and held it up to Pinzer.
“Jesus, he looks dead.”
“That’s ‘cause he is.” “Oh my god .” “Recognize him?”
“Uh, no, no… I don’t, know…” He sat slowly in his chair and looked as though he could vomit.
“You’re sure you haven’t met him?” Detective Mark pressed him harder.
“I told you, no.” Pinzer got visibly unsettled.
“Now, you see, that’s funny. ‘Cause we think you do know him, Zach.” For the first time Detective Mark got uncomfortably familiar with Pinzer.
“I’m calling my lawyer.” He sat down and pulled himself tight against the desk. The interview stopped. They’d gotten enough information to dig deeper into the connection between Pinzer and Harold Pyle. Pinzer had lied and the police officers knew it. They still retained original copies of contracts signed by both men copies of Harold’s. They would connect Pinzer to the mayor and the mayor meeting with him just before his untimely death. The other vehicle in Harold’s automobile accident fled the scene, the accident was now under review and they believed it to be an intentional act of violence and they were going to connect Pinzer to Harold’s death. That’s when Detective Mark spoke.
“See, Zach, it’s like this. We know you’re the last person to see the mayor alive. We also are looking into the car accident a little deeper. We don’t think it was an accident at all.” Zach’s face was an open book of concern. He held his head up with his hand. “You see, we have eye witnesses who saw the vehicle we even have a partial plate. We’re just steps behind the other person involved and we’re closing in on him, Zach, fast.” Mark continued after a meaningful pause. “So, you just call your lawyer. We’ll all see how he handles the information.”
Detective Mark gathered his team together and opened the door to leave. He let them shuffle out in front of him and moved to go too when he stopped and stopped Willy with him. “Hold on, Will.”
“Are mornings good for you, Zach? Or, is it better to meet with you in the afternoon?” The Detective Mark whispered something in Willy’s ear and Willy went over to the waste basket and boxes filled with destroyed paper.
“We’ll be confiscating this as possible evidence.” Willy doled out two of the three awkward containers to Falk and Janzen and they headed back out through the door passed Detective Mark.
“It’s garbage, right? Just think of it as us helping you clean your office!” Detective Mark winked and smiled at Pinzer, then shut the door behind him.
CHAPTER 32
“I’m here today to explain my involvement with the recent acts of my husband, the late Harold Pyle.” Helen spoke nervously into the echoing microphone outside at the town’s community center. She held a shaking piece of paper in her gloved hand as she talked. “I’m not here to make excuses for Harold. I only want you to know how deeply disturbed I am about the recent findings of his involvement with a Mr. Zach Pinzer and a Mr. Terrence “Tweeter” Wilson. It remains the detectives’ findings that Mr. Zach Pinzer was the mastermind behind the entire plan to purchase property and businesses in our fine town of Sunnydale. Charges have been brought against both men in the crime to defraud the good people of Sunnydale as well as for the murder of my husband, Harold Pyle.
“I’ll never understand what led Harold to become involved with such an underhanded plot. My only guess is that money was at the heart of his crime. He received over one hundred fifty thousand dollars in what he called ‘commissions’. I have a check here in my hand to repay these commissions plus interest to the good people of Sunnydale. The money will be kept in trust fund and will be held for the future of preserving the land around our fine town.
“Again, I’m very sorry my husband had any involvement in this deceit. After Mr. Chariot and Detective Mark say a few words, I will answer any questions you have.” She stepped back from the podium and sat back down into her folding chair on the makeshift stage. John Chariot stood slowly and walked up to the microphone. He coughed before speaking.
“People of Sunnydale, my company Chariot International Incorporated has become involved with a most heinous crime, the fraudulent transaction and transfer of land as well as a murder. Zachary Pinzer was the mastermind of this entire scheme of which I’m responsible only to the extent of allowing certain freedoms from my vice president. We’ve already begun to establish more stringent internal controls over the authority of people in positions to act without my say- so. The money we received back from Sunnydale for the purchase of the land was for over three million dollars. God bless you and your town for returning the fraudulent payments back to my company.” Then, he stood back a moment and coughed again into his fist. The crowd murmured during his pause. A light warm breeze kicked at the skirt of the podium and puffed through the microphone and out the speakers. He stood back up to the stand.
“However, in light of the loss your town has suffered directly because of my company. I am handing over the check to Mrs. Pyle to put in her preservation trust as a donation.”
Helen’s hands clasped together in amazement and her head dropped to her chest. The crowd gasped and a trickling clap began and filtered through the people until it built into a full-on burst of applause.
“Furthermore… thank you but it’s truly not necessary” He spoke over the crowd. “Thank you, please, thank you.”
A sporadic clap lilted off until the last was heard.
Chariot continued, “When a business donates money or property there comes with that donation certain tax benefits. And, so, at the end of this year after my accountants calculate that benefit my company will be writing another check for the trust. And, I’m thinking,” The crowd burst quickly into another set of thunderous clapping. When it died down he continued, “I’m thinking the check will be a six-digit figure, but again, the accountants need to be consulted about that.” He chuckled and won over the star-struck audience with his charm and generosity. Then, he stepped back to his chair next to Helen, handed her the check, sat down next to her and held her with one arm around her shoulder in a show of unity. Helen continued to clap.
After that, Detective Mark got up to explain the details as much as he was free to. And, then Helen fielded difficult questions from the audience, but she handled it like a queen. She was regal and honest, no less than would any woman in a position of authority in the lime light. She didn’t make excuses as she promised. But, after all was said and done, she appeared innocent to the entire devious plot. Detective Mark cleared her name. She was free to leave with a few bruises. After she answered many questions, Helen did the most amazing thing.
“There’s one more issue I’d like to take up with everyone gathered here today. Roberta? Are you here? Oh, there you are.” Roberta looked at her mother
and Vanessa shrugged her shoulders.
“You know, all of you, that Roberta Carlisle-Banner is a civil engineer, don’t you? Now you see, that’s exactly the degree a person managing a town or city should obtain. She’s been very active her entire adult life in community service and a very active civil servant in her own right. One day after Harold died and not long after she’d been shot,” Helen held her hand to her chest when she said these words and looked directly into Roberta’s face, “we spoke about all sorts of things. One of those things Roberta revealed to me was a desire to do more for the community… ‘become more active at the ground level’ were her exact words. Do you remember, Roberta?”
She nodded her head that she did.
“Well, I’m here with you all right now to propose we all stand behind Roberta Carlisle-Banner to nominate her officially as the new mayor of the town of Sunnydale.” The crowd stood to its feet when she put out the notion. Roberta lost her composure and began to weep but very slightly and held a hand to her mouth. “What do you say, Roberta? Will you consider it?” Roberta beamed her joy at Helen and slowly nodded “yes.”
“There you have it folks, our new Mayor of Sunnydale!” The crowd roared and the small high school band began playing a lousy rendition of “Hooray for the Red, White, and Blue.” Vanessa grabbed her daughter’s arm and yanked it high over her head.
I was standing behind them in the audience. Roberta and Vanessa were holding hands and slowly moving between other audience members toward the stage leaving me where I stood for Roberta to make some unprepared speech about how she would work her hardest for the people. When she got up to the podium she looked so very happy. In all my days here she’d never beamed the way she did that day.
“Well! What a surprise.” She put both her hands to her heart. Just then, Vanessa leaned into Roberta and whispered something in her ear. Roberta looked a little surprised but shook her head to indicate she agreed.
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