Hades w-4

by Russell Andrews

  "I think so. You said he's the one who set it up, right?"

  "Right." Justin looked at Reggie. "It means St. John wasn't the one who erased the material. If he had, he would have figured out a way to erase Belinda's, too." He turned back to Ben. "Right?"

  "Yeah. I mean, that's what I'd say. But I'm just the computer geek. You're the cop-you know what I mean?"

  Justin smiled. The broadest smile he'd managed in quite some time.

  "I transferred it all to your computer," Ben said. "Filed under St.John. It's a cool name. You want to see it?"

  Both Justin and Reggie dashed over to the computer screen. They said "yes" in unison.

  "What do you want to see first?" Ben asked. "How about his task list?"

  "Sure," Justin said. "And then go to his calendar book."

  Ben scrolled through Ellis's current task list and the past month's worth of his appointments. Nothing jumped out at either Justin or Reggie. His list of things to do was fairly mundane. And most of the names on his calendar were either unknown to them or seemed reasonable to be there. Until Ben got to the date that Harmon was killed. It was a Thursday. That morning's typed-in notation said "EH/EEH." In parentheses-even this guy's calendar was perfectly organized and arranged-it said "See directions/adbk."

  Justin looked at Reggie.

  "Too good to be true," he said.

  She nodded. "EH. The guy had a meeting with Evan Harmon. In EEH. Right here in East End Harbor."

  "Ben," Justin said, "I want to make sure of this. Go to the listing for Evan Harmon in the Outlook contact list."

  Ben typed in the word "Harmon" and clicked on "search." There was no mistaking the notation in the date book. In the space reserved for "Additional Information" under Evan's contact listing were specific directions to Evan and Abby's house. Seemed pretty clear. Evan Harmon was murdered on Thursday evening, six days ago, on Justin's birthday. Ellis St. John was at Evan's house that day-or, at least, his date book said he was supposed to be there. Justin looked at the next day's calendar. For Friday, all that was marked was another "EH." Same for Saturday and Sunday. Justin shook his head.

  "The secretary said he had plans for the weekend. Secret kind of plans. Said he couldn't be reached."

  "This guy Ellis was spending the weekend with Evan Harmon?" Reggie was incredulous.

  Justin shook his head. "Seems like. But I'm telling you, it doesn't make sense."

  "Wow," Ben said. "Is this really about the Harmon murder? This is so cool I can't believe it."

  "Ben," Justin said, "is everything you could find on St. John downloaded into my computer?"

  "Yeah, but like I said, it's not much. It's mostly just the e-mails and calendar stuff that was shifted to that Belinda girl's system."

  "I think you can still make a couple of classes today."

  "You mean I'm done?"

  "Call your mom to come get you. You're done."

  "But you're the hero of the day," Reggie added.

  "Yeah, yeah," Ben said, "but I'm still gettin' my money on Friday, right?"

  "I'll hand-deliver it first thing."

  The kid turned to Justin. "And my DVD recorder?"

  "Get outta here, Ben."

  "Lemme know if you need anything else. This is a sweet gig."

  "You'll be the first to know," Justin told him.

  Their computer whiz kid was finally out the door, and Reggie and Justin turned back to the screen.

  "So what happened?" she asked. "Ellis got dumped and he went berserk? And killed Evan Harmon?"

  "And then what?" Justin said. "He killed Ron LaSalle and Wanda Chinkle and hired a Sicilian hit man to take out Bruno and got a Chinese woman to kill that guy who worked for LaSalle, Stan Solomon? Come on. Ellis St. John's a gay Willy Loman. He's not a mass murderer."

  "Well, as long as you're coming up with things that make no sense," Reggie said, "care to explain how David Kelley's stun gun figures into all this? You got a connection between Kelley and St. John?"

  "I've got a better connection between Kelley and the man in the fucking moon," Justin said. "None of this makes any damn sense at all."

  He paced tightly out to the living room, veered into the kitchen for a moment, then paced right back out. He pounded his hand against the wall, a short, furious punch that cracked the paint.

  "That's not all that productive," she said, "but it's a little impressive."

  "All right," he said, rubbing his knuckles. "Let's see what we've actually got from all the stuff that Ben gave us. Let's just look at it in black and white."

  He spent a few minutes entering everything they'd culled through and organized into the Hades file in his computer. When he was done he printed up the lists and cross-references they'd made, as well as the sheets of information that Ben Jenkins had managed to steal, all separated into various sections. Ben had managed to tap into the Ascension travel records-and Forrest Bannister had indeed lied. All company travel was booked through one agent: conveniently enough, through the in-house travel agent for Rockworth and Williams-another service that primary brokers clearly provided. Records were also kept by Bannister's secretary for every single trip that every employee made. Ben had also gotten a list of every client who invested with Ascension, individual and corporate. Amazingly enough, he also had a record of how much the investment was. There were also pages and pages and pages (several hundred) that, as near as Justin could tell, were records of Ascension trades. He couldn't follow them in any kind of real detail, but he was amazed that the kid had managed to get them.

  He and Reggie started their organizing with the names. The first group of names needed no descriptive heading. It listed the three people who had been murdered up to this point (they didn't include Stan Solomon because they both felt he wasn't a target; he was an incidental victim, someone who'd just managed to get in the way during the course of a robbery): Evan Harmon, Ronald LaSalle, and Wanda Chinkle. Under each name, they listed any other names-of people as well as companies-that had a direct connection and could be deemed relevant to the investigation. Then they listed names that had surfaced to which there was no known connection, trying to pinpoint any gaps in the various chains.

  Next, because of the folder prepared by Ellen Loache and the work that Ben had done, Justin and Reggie were able to compare the companies that Ascension did business with that also did business with the LaSalle Group. There were fifteen overlaps: Cates and Herr (mining company in South Africa) Charles Chan amp; Associates Eggleston Catalytic Converters Flame Bros. Ltd. Goldman, Inc. Maroon Group Menking, Inc. (international company that trades in precious metals, particularly platinum) Myles Johnson International The National Beet Growers Association of America Pension Fund Noodleman America Corporation Pinkney amp; Associates Rossovitch and Sons Scarlet Knight, Inc. Silverado Jewelry Association The Tintagel Group

  Next, Justin and Reggie listed all the other names involved in the case, however tangentially, and lumped them together when connections were already known to exist.

  So the first group listed was: Forrest Bannister Lincoln Berdon Hudson Fenwick Daniel French H. R. Harmon Carl Matuszek Ellis St. John

  The second group was smaller: Pietro Lambrasco Bruno Pecozzi Leonardo Rubenelli

  The third was smaller yet: Abigail Harmon David Kelley

  And the final name wasn't even a name, just a figure that Justin insisted on adding to the compilation:

  Unknown Asian woman (seen at LaSalle Group break-in)

  Next, and perhaps most interesting, they traced the travel records of all the Ascension employees as well as Ronald LaSalle's movements. There was an early overlap: both LaSalle and Evan Harmon had traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa, and to Palm Beach, Florida. When Reggie checked the time line for both trips, she struck gold: the two men had traveled on the same dates to both places. A firm connection: On the third weekend in March the previous year, both LaSalle and Harmon had been in Palm Beach. Two weeks after that, they both went to Johannesburg.

 
; More direct hits followed. While Evan Harmon had not done more traveling to any places that corresponded to LaSalle's travels-Evan had made two trips to Detroit that didn't seem to match up to any other information they had-Hudson Fenwick's travel itinerary was almost identical to Ron LaSalle's. Their dates did not correspond, but their destinations did. Both men had, over the past fifteen months, been to Moscow, Vancouver, Colombia, New South Wales, New Zealand, Australia, Anchorage, and San Francisco.

  The only difference was that Fenwick's travels had been curtailed about five months earlier. Ron LaSalle had continued to travel, making repeat appearances in many of the cities, up until a week or so before he was killed.

  Reggie and Justin then listed the people and things that were physically missing. This list wasn't long but it was daunting: Murder weapon used on Evan Harmon (blunt, clublike instrument) Ellis St. John's computer Ellis St. John

  Reggie had wanted to include Bruno on the missing list but Justin pointed out that he couldn't be truly considered missing because they had yet to make a concerted effort to find or even contact him. Reggie concurred, and they agreed to leave him off the list for the time being.

  And finally they listed the things they just plain didn't know or understand and couldn't connect to any other facts or events: Who stole Kelley's stun gun to use in Harmon's murder? Meaning of Wanda's final message: Hades and Ali Who is the Asian woman? What is her role? Why was Wanda keeping her investigation of Evan Harmon and Ron LaSalle quiet within the FBI? Why did Pietro Lambrasco try to kill Bruno? Does Leonardo Rubenelli have a direct connection to any or all of the murders? Who was Wanda's inside source on this investigation?

  It was Justin who insisted on adding that last line. He knew Wanda well, he said. Knew the way she worked. She never attempted an investigation of this potential scope-something big enough to link organized crime to Wall Street-without having some sort of inside contact. He told Reggie he'd bet her everything he owned on it. She said, "No, but I'd like to bet a dinner." When he looked up, confused, she said, "If you're wrong you have to have dinner with me. My treat. I'll find someplace expensive where you don't have to wear a tie."

  Justin smiled sadly-or maybe it was just kindly, Reggie thought-and shook his head. "No bet," he told her. "Sorry. But… you know what? I don't have to explain. That's just not going to happen, though. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but it's not necessary. No dinner, no socializing. Okay?"

  She nodded, for the first time embarrassed in front of him. And then she did her best to recover, cleared her throat and said, "We've got to get somebody looking at the Ascension trades, see what the exchange of moneys is all about." He nodded in agreement; she thought he was embarrassed, too. Then she said, "And we've got to go through Ellis's e-mails. There are a lot of them, but they might turn something up."

  "Why don't you take the e-mails?" he said. "I think I've got the right guy to examine the trades."

  "Your father's guy?"

  "Roger."

  "Can he do it quickly?"

  "I'll try to get him down this afternoon. If he can't, we'll see if your guys can help. But Roger knows a hell of a lot. And what he doesn't know, he'll research to death."

  "And what about you?"

  "I need a little time to think."

  She cocked her head and both shook her head and grinned the smallest of grins. She couldn't help herself. "You've got something."

  "No," he said, "just a few things nagging at me."

  "What?"

  "I don't know," he said. "I can't tell yet. Maybe nothing."

  Reggie hesitated. She saw the quick look of discomfort cross his face; he was worried she was going to bring up a social dinner again, so she quickly said, "Listen, there's something I'm supposed to do, but I want to check with you first." He waited and she went on, "I have to report in to Zach Fletcher."

  "Okay."

  "Here's the thing. On this type of case, they like to work with the local authorities. So he'll tell Silverbush at least some of what we know."

  "You're asking me because…?"

  "I'm asking you because I want to make sure it's all right with you before I do it. I don't know how you feel about information getting back to the DA. And I thought you'd want to tell me if there's some specific information you'd like us to hold back."

  He thought about it for a moment. "Go ahead," he said.

  "With everything?" And when he nodded, she said, "You sure?"

  "Pretty sure," Justin told her. "Either his head'll start spinning when he realizes this case has moved so far beyond him, or he'll just go blindly on and dig his own grave."

  "An even deeper one than he's already been digging, you mean."

  "Exactly."

  "If we bring him in, you realize it means there's a chance the link between Harmon and LaSalle and Wanda might become public."

  He nodded again. "It's all right. Maybe it should now. Keeping it to ourselves hasn't helped us much. Maybe it'll bring something out we haven't been able to uncover."

  Her head bobbed up and down a bit in agreement. Then she gathered up the stack of printed e-mails. "Might as well go over these at the motel, huh?"

  He knew she wanted him to ask her to stay and work with him. But he didn't. So she said she'd check in later. Justin looked at his watch. 11 a.m. He went to the phone.

  "Dad," he said when he was put through to his father's office. "I'm wondering if I can borrow Roger Mallone."

  "You coming up?" Jonathan Westwood asked.

  "I was kind of hoping he'd come down."

  "When?"

  "I thought I'd try to hire a plane to get him here as soon as possible."

  "Today?"

  "Right now."

  "You paying him?" Jonathan asked.

  "Aren't you?" Justin responded. And he thought he almost got a laugh. He didn't. But almost.

  "What time do you want him there?" Jonathan said.

  29

  Roger Mallone was four or five years younger than Justin. Parts of him-his face, his ruddy complexion, particularly his eyes, which didn't have much sadness or much introspection-looked a lot younger than Justin. But Justin was surprised to see that his father's employee's body had started to look like an old man's. He'd put on weight, and his arms were looking heavy and fleshy. He couldn't yet be described as having gone to seed, but he was on his way. Since the last time Justin had seen him, just around a year earlier, Roger looked like he'd gone from being a tennis player to being a golfer. He was thirty-five and looked forty. Justin thought that, at this rate, Roger would be a forty-year-old who looked fifty. And at fifty he'd look sixty-five. Maybe this was the price of success. Justin sucked in his own gut and made a mental note that he'd get back to the gym as soon as possible. And maybe even start yoga lessons again.

  Roger was Jonathan Westwood's chief financial officer. He had rapidly moved up the corporate ladder to become the elder Westwood's most trusted adviser at the banks Jonathan owned and ran. Mallone was as thorough as a money man could be and equally honest and hardworking. Justin figured the guy never slept because you could name any stock, any company, any business-related matter at all, and Roger could immediately give you the up-to-the-second latest information on the subject.

  The one thing Roger Mallone wasn't was brave. Justin had brought him into a collision course with two earlier cases and, while Roger had proved invaluable both times, he was not happy with his proximity to danger. The first time Roger had been dragged in unwillingly-at gunpoint, in fact. And the gun had been held by Justin. The second time Roger had, more or less, volunteered; but he'd crossed paths with Bruno and, at their first encounter, a frightened Roger had done just about everything but piss in his pants. Justin was fairly sure that the man's bladder had not yet fully recovered.

  This third time around, however, Roger was being as cooperative as it was possible to be. Perhaps it was because he felt safe this time-Justin had assured him that there was no immediate danger lurking around the corner. Or perh
aps it was because Roger had, to Justin's surprise, been accompanied on this trip by Jonathan Westwood.

  Justin's father was at the door when Justin opened it to welcome Roger. They shook hands warmly, gave each other a partial hug, then Justin had welcomed the two men into his living room.

  "This is a surprise," he said to his father.

  "I decided as long as you were paying for the transportation, I'd take advantage of it."

  "My pleasure."

  "I'm assuming this has to do with what happened to Ronald," Jonathan said.

  Justin nodded. "And a lot more than that, too." He filled both men in on what had been happening. Not every detail, but anything he thought might be relevant, to take advantage of their financial expertise. Justin was not unhappy that his father was sitting in on the session. Jonathan Westwood had a clear and incisive way of looking at complicated problems. He'd helped Justin focus on potential solutions in the past. Jonathan was very good at weeding out extraneous information and zeroing in on the things that mattered.

  Justin had reached the point in his tale where he could give the details of his visit to Ascension and tell them the various elements of Ben's computer thievery. Justin's father sat passively, taking it all in, but Justin could see Roger's eyes light up at the thought of poring over another firm's trading history.

  When Justin had finished filling them in, Roger just said, "Give me everything and let me go through it."

  "It's a lot," Justin said.

  "I know it's a lot. So why don't you just leave me to it?"

  "Don't you want us to do anything?" Justin asked.

  "And what is it you think you can do?" Roger asked. And when Justin shrugged, Roger said, "This is going to be a lot of info to slog through, and a lot of it will be technical and boring. To you, not to me. So why don't the two of you get out of here? Come back in a few hours."

  Jonathan looked at his son and raised his eyebrows, a look that said, He wants it, let him have it. The two Westwoods wished Roger Mallone luck, and headed out the door.

  "Wait," Roger said just as the door was about to shut behind them. "You've gone beyond dial-up, right?"