“Could it be she is the brains behind all of this?” Paul asks.
“I’m positive she has more to do with this than meets the eye.”
Susan walks in. “Well, guess what, boys and girl?”
“What? Since this morning has been full of surprises.”
“The gun you brought in with David Brenner.” She gets herself a cup of coffee. “That gun is the one that killed John Jacobs.” She smiles. “The grooves and ballistics are a match.”
“I thought it was a through and through?” I say.
“So did I initially, especially since the occipital bone was almost totally missing along with part of the parietal bone. But the bullet must have ricocheted into the frontal; I found it in the nasal passage.
It almost fell out the nose. I spotted it after I took an x-ray of his remaining skull.”
“I’ll go get the car.” Sharon heads out the door.
“I’ll be right down. Paul, fill Susan in on what was brought up here.” I set my cup down and head toward the door.
“Let’s head over to Mark’s first, as I wouldn’t be too surprised if he is there. Since we were just there, they might feel it is now safe.”
We get to the gate, and there is no answer from inside the estate. We leave the car in front of the gates and get out. We go to the side door. Sharon picks the lock, and we enter and walk up to the house. The front door is not locked, and we walk right in. The house even feels empty. As Sharon rushes upstairs, I walk straight out the back sliding veranda doors and to the guest house. I pull out my gun and slowly open the door. David is lying in bed, with his eyes closed as he faces towards me. I creep up to him not knowing what to expect. I place the barrel of the gun right in the small of his neck. Only then do I notice the big blood spot on the sheets.
I quickly feel for a pulse. There is, but a very faint one. I yell out for Sharon, who was already headed towards the guest house. “Call in for a bus. He’s still alive,” I say, as I am holding his chest and trying to stop the blood from flowing.
I could hear Sharon call for the ambulance. It seems like it takes forever, as I am keeping the pressure on the stab wound. Sharon opens the gates for the ambulance to enter. They finally arrive and take over the duties of trying to save his life. They put a tight wrap around his chest, with thick gauze at the place of the wound. They immediately start fluids. They find his driver's license and now know what his blood type is, and they call it in to have some available as soon as they arrive. We follow them to the hospital and stand just outside the curtain in the emergency room. I tell the doctor in charge as soon as he wakes up I want to talk with him. He informs me it might not be for some time.
I leave Sharon there at the ER telling her to call Susan and have her process the crime scene as soon as possible, and I head straight to the airport. I call ahead to have any plane held that a Martha Jacobson or a Martha Tan is on. I am quickly informed no one by that name is on any of the manifests.
I think, private plane, why not? Mark left in one, Mr. Tan owns one, and he might have even sent it for her. My suspicions prove correct, with one exception. I call the airport tower and find out the plane was always here. A private Boeing Business Jet 2 had just picked up one passenger and is on the runway ready for take-off, destination Paris. I tell them to delay that airplane at all cost. They tell the plane's pilot to pull off to the side and shut the engines down. Martha is yelling and screaming at the pilots to take off anyway. The pilot starts down the runway, but as a security car pulls out in front, he has to break as he sees there is no room for him to get the speed up to clear the vehicle. He pulls the BBJ over to the side, taxis down to the terminal, and shuts down the engines. Upon my arrival, I pull up in front of the left wing and stand outside. The door opens, and the steps come down. After waiting for about five minutes, Martha finally comes to the doorway and comes down the steps. Needless to say, she is not looking happy. She holds out both hands to be handcuffed. Sharon handcuffs one, and then places her hands behind her back and handcuffs the other. She reads her her rights while placing her into the back seat, and we drive to my office.
Chapter 57
“Well, since I only have a couple of days before I get an unwanted—much needed, but still unwanted—makeover, so why don’t we go exploring this island?” Mark asks Santane.
“Okay, we can go to the cave exploring.”
“Sounds like fun, let’s go.”
“I don’t think that is a real good idea,” Fred says as he looks at Santane.
She gets the drift. “Oh yes, I forgot. It's flooded right now, so we can’t go.” It happens to be on the path where the chauffeur had planted his “tomatoes.”
“Well, then, let’s go looking for more gold and silver coins at some of those wrecks you were talking about.”
She looks over towards Fred, as his head nods in approval. “I’ll get the tanks.”
They head off on the ATV to the beach, jump into the boat that is tied to the pier, and head out again to go scuba diving for lost treasures.
“The boat we are going to dive today is one of Edward Teach's lost ships.”
“You mean Blackbeard’s ship. You know where that is?” Mark asks in surprise.
“Mr. Tan has lots of old maps, lots of them treasure maps, especially of these parts and the Caribbean,” she says as if it’s not a big deal. “What do you know about this island? Do you know who found this island?”
“No.”
“Christopher Columbus first sighted these islands in 1503, when his ship was blown off course during a trip he was making to Hispaniola and Panama.” She goes on, “Do you know who named these islands?”
“No.”
“Sir Francis Drake. He was here in 1586 and named them after the large crocodiles he saw, or at least that is the story.”
“Very interesting.”
“During the times of piracy, pirates would use this island as a safe haven and a place to replenish their water and food supplies, as there are many freshwater wells here. The cave I had thought about taking you to is on Mr. Tan’s property. In fact, there are several on his property.” She is pointing. “To the far east point, is all the way from Long Beach to Cayman Brac Lighthouse back to where we entered his property from the airport. It’s almost two kilometers wide, and about the same deep.” She continues. “It has long stretches of white sandy beaches, as you can see, and the eastern face is where a lot of people climb the north wall. It’s what is called 'The Bluff' that rises steadily along the length of the island and is up to 43 meters above sea level. Brac is the Gaelic word for a bluff. You haven’t seen it yet, but it a limestone ridge and one of the island's most dominant natural attractions. So a nice chunk of the island, don’t you think?”
“Pretty good size, for such a small island.
“Yes, especially when the island is only 19 kilometers long and an average width of 2 kilometers.”
“Yes, yes, very impressive. But how about the dive down to Blackbeard’s ship?”
“We’re here.” as she releases a small anchor that slips down deep into the ocean.
They spend the rest of the afternoon diving onto the wreck, changing dive tanks several times. They saw a few boats drive right over them which shouldn’t have happened, as the dive flags were out, and usually, no one enters the waters this far east. Maybe a new tour boat operator, Santane thinks.
After the last of the tanks has been used, and both are quite tired from the long dives, they climb out and onto their boat.
Mark pulls open his dive bag and shows her the coins he has found, five gold and three silver. She opens hers and pours out her find: thirteen gold coins, eight silver coins, and one emerald.
“Here, these are yours,” she says, as she puts them back into her bag.
“Don’t you know how much these are worth?” he asks in amazement.
“Of course, I do, but you seem more interested in them than I. Besides I would just sell them, and you would keep them intact and
on display someday.” She hands him the booty.
“Thanks, I appreciate that. Now they will even be more special to me.”
They arrive back at the dock and tie up. They pack the scuba gear out of the boat, load it into the ATV, and head back up the hill towards the house.
“Where are those caves you were talking about?” he asks, as he senses he is not supposed to find out something.
“No, I don’t think so. Mr. Tan does not want us to go there, so I’m not going to take you.”
“Then I will go exploring on my own.” He gets out of the vehicle and starts walking.
“Shit, do you want to get me killed?” she says as she steps on the break and runs after him.
“He’s not going to kill you if you show me,” Mark says with a smile.
“Mark, just please stop, don’t go. I can’t take you and that’s final.” Santane says in a now-uncertain tone.
“Okay, okay, I’ll go back to the house with you. I don’t see what the big deal is,” Mark says almost apologetically.
They finally get back up to the house; she parks the four wheeler in the shed, unloads the scuba gear and sets them it to be refilled. She walks in as Mark is already talking with Mr. Tan.
“Santane!” Fred calls her over. “Did Mark ask to have you take him to a cave, and you said you wouldn’t?”
“Yes, Mr. Tan.” Her eyes glance down.
“You did right. It’s getting too late in the day for you to have taken him.” She notices he was pleased, but not for the reason stated.
“Dinner is almost ready,” Jacinta calls from inside. “Take your seats.”
“Sis, you outdid yourself again. This looks great.”
After a lot of talk about the day and what both of them had found on their dives, Santane mentions to Mr. Tan that a boat had crossed the path of their dive. This piques his attention, and he asks if she saw any special marking on the boat. She hadn’t, as it was too far off to be able to tell.
“I’ll have Alex check into it tomorrow. Thank you for keeping your eyes and ears open; I appreciate it. Maybe more than you know,” Fred says in a very grateful manner.
Chapter 58
I call into headquarters and have a replacement policeman go over to the hospital to stay outside David’s room. I want a 24-hour watch and protection for him. I don’t know if whoever attempted to kill him would either come back themselves or send someone to finish the job if they find out the deed was not completed. I have a number one suspect, and my choice is Martha. I call Paul and have him find more about her, as previous to this we haven’t given her too much thought. Our best lead is lying near death, and most of our hopes are on him coming to and telling us who it was that tried to kill him.
Sharon meets me back at the office. As soon as she enters, I call Susan to come up and bring anything new she might have since our last meeting. Soon, we are all together, and we take our seats around the table.
“Since our last meeting, we have learned a lot. A lot we didn’t know and more surprises than we could have imagined. Paul, what have you found out?”
He rises from his chair. “You asked me to find out more on Martha. Her name is Maria Martha Luisa Jacobson. She has never married. She met Franklin Fredrick Taylor Tan over 40 years ago in L. A. where she was going back to school, and he was a guest lecturer at U.C.L.A. Not long after that, voila, out pops Mark. Even though Mr. Tan’s name is on the birth certificate, she has Mark take her last name. As for Mark’s grandfather, the one we were told invented all those games and things, it seems he was not his grandfather, but Martha’s oldest brother. She came from a family of 12 children, and she was the youngest. He was an inventor, and Mr. Tan was the one who helped bring those inventions to market. The homes she owns in New York, Paris, and Brazil are in her name now but were once owned by a dummy corporation believed to be owned by Mr. Tan. The money she has is mostly royalties that have come in from her share of her brother's inventions.” He takes a breath and a drink of water. “Guess what she took in college and was for several years after?” He doesn’t wait for an answer as he goes on. “Surgical nursing. She was a nurse in the operating room and learned many of her skills there.” He takes his seat again.
“Susan, anything at Mark’s guest house?”
She stands up. “This is the first time I believe that anything was left behind. I found some hair. I believe it to be Martha’s, and, yes; I know what you're thinking, Mike. Her hair should be there if she is the maid, but we only found the one, telling me she doesn’t go into the guest house to clean it. Otherwise, there should be more. But still we have that, and it had blood on it, his blood. We didn’t find the knife, and I believe she must have taken it with her.” She starts to take her seat.
“Susan, if what you and Paul are saying is correct, then she is probably the one who murdered all these women. My question is, if she is as skilled with a knife or ice pick as we all believe, why is David still alive?”
She straightens back up. “I went over and looked at all the hospital has on his wound. My contention is that, because he was lying at an angle on the bed and he is a big muscular male, she just didn’t plunge it in deep enough. The angle was off just a little; otherwise, it would have been fatal.”
I look at Sharon; she gets up, “I just got off the phone with the hospital; he has been moved from the operating room to intensive care. He is expected to completely recover as several I.V’s, a couple of pints of blood, and a good surgical team seems to have done the trick.”
“When do they figure we will be able to talk to him?”
“They said he should wake up in the morning and be able to take questions.”
“Paul, any more from the N.T.S.B.?”
“They still haven’t located the black box. In fact, there is no signal coming from it as if there was never one.”
“I knew it; they never crashed. They just flew under the radar and landed on some island south of there, maybe Cuba or the Caymans. I don’t believe they landed in Mexico, especially since their flight plan was for Mexico City. Paul, check again to see if any one of these has either political ties to Cuba or has property on any of the islands.” Taking one more bite of my jelly doughnut, I add, “Since Mr. Tan is now such a prominent figure, check him out more thoroughly and any subsidiaries you can find. See what and where he owns them.”
“But what about the wreckage?” Sharon asks.
“Like I said before, it was planted. Paul, has the N.T.S.B. found any real evidence that the plane crashed?” I look over at him.
“They found the crew's clothes and passports, and some items of Mark’s. Isn’t that proof enough the plane went down?” answering a question with a question?
“No. I feel it. I feel it in my gut, and I know it in my heart. It was all planted. This has been very well thought out. A lot of expense has gone into setting this up.”
Paul mentions he just received an inquiry. “I just got back a message from Lear Aviation. They told me the pilot whose I.D. and passport they found at the wreckage was of their test pilot for the Learjet 85. That plane was due out from production in late 2013, but Lear canceled production as not enough orders were taken to make it worth while. Mike, guess who bought the very first one?” He looks over at me, and my stern glance back tells him he had just better tell me.
“Mr. Tan,” I blurt out.
“Yes, Mr. Tan.”
“Now it all makes sense, and that alone is, even more, the reason I know the plane did not crash. This is unquestionably a setup, a lot of money and forethought went into wanting us to believe all was lost on that flight.” Looking around the room, I say, “Hold on, I need to make one more call.” As I wait for the other side to pick up, I take another drink of coffee.
“Martin, yes, this is Mike. How are things going since I last spoke with you all of two days ago? Any news?” I wait for a reply. “You’re sure? Are you positive? Yes, can you send me those photos? Yes, we will wait. Thank you for following up with m
e.” I place the phone down. “That was a man I called the second I felt it wasn’t a real crash. He’s with the C.I.A. out of Guantanamo. He has not only good news but some proof that Mark is alive and well,” I tell the group with a broad smile on my face. “Paul, any minute now, you should be getting those photos sent to us. Put them on the screen as soon as they come in.”
We sit around for a couple of minutes; then Paul puts up the pictures that were sent. They were of Mark and Santane. Several shots, even a few photos under water. Some were when they parked the boat and got into the ATV. A couple was of the two of them in the boat itself while either putting on or removing their scuba gear. All photos have a time and date stamp on the bottom right corner.
“They have it, proof positive he is still alive. Now we have to figure out how to capture him and whoever else is on the island.” I just lean back in my chair, and just look up at the ceiling to think.
“It’s late, and I know we are all tired. Let’s just leave it where it is for right now, and meet first thing here in the morning.” I hear no arguments over that suggestion.
Chapter 59
Early in the morning, well before the sun comes up, Alex is out with night vision goggles walking along the beach, seeing if he can see anyone watching the boat area of Mr. Tan’s. He spends several hours watching, looking and listening but doesn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. While he's watching, he's also working, setting up several small cameras that will be able to be viewed from inside his quarters on the compound. He heads back to the house, as the sun breaks over the horizon. He checks the reception of the monitors; and all checkout. Alex walks up the stairs and lets Mr. Tan know what all went on that morning. He is dismissed and returns to his quarters.
Fred was up before even Jacinta. He made a pot of coffee, and the area smelled like fresh roasted Kona coffee, along with a couple of scrambled eggs and a slice of ham, since he sometimes makes his own breakfast.
The Hollywood Serial Killers: A Mike Kane Mystery Series Page 14
