Davenport Mysteries 03-Perfect Crime

by Varun Vashist

  Before Kiara could have responded, Jake dialed Carlson’s number and placed the phone on the table. As soon as the call was picked from the other end, he put it in the speaker mode.

  “It better be something really important,” Carlson said in a low voice. “The kids are sleeping.”

  Jake looked at Kiara. “Sir, we think Shawn is being framed.”

  “What?” Carlson shouted and then realized something. “Let me come out.”

  Jake gave a mild chuckle. Kiara looked at him angrily.

  “What did you find?” Carlson asked.

  “We did a background check on Rafael Marconi. He never committed a crime himself. Instead, he specialized in misleading the investigations by becoming the prime suspect. However, he always had an alibi. He was never convicted, and the cases died their slow deaths,” Kiara explained.

  “You think that he was doing the same thing with this case? And, there’s someone else trying to frame Shawn?” Carlson asked. “But, just like the hotel lobby camera footage, this is also circumstantial.”

  “You’re right. But, we also have his autopsy report. He died a day before the kidnapping,” Jake pitched at this time.

  “Is he right?” Carlson asked Kiara. Jake gave a muffled grunt.

  “Yes, sir,” Kiara replied and gestured Jake to keep calm.

  “That means Lorenzo is not working independently. There’s someone else running the show,” Carlson said and then paused. “This will be good enough to question Shawn again, but we still don’t have any proof. If this is true, you two need to start the investigation from a new angle.”

  “You’re right, sir. If someone wants to harm Shawn, it has to be someone close to him—either someone from the family or some business partner. I was thinking of going through Cynthia’s old blog posts tonight, but now we have to go through the Hansen and Campbell families’ profiles, as well as Shawn's business dealings,”

  “Hmm. That will help. In any case, let’s call Shawn again for questioning. He could tell us about his rivals,” Carlson said. “This is good. Now we’re getting somewhere in this case. I had a discussion with the Italian agencies this evening. They’re looking for Lorenzo. Once, he and the mastermind of this plan are in our net; we can secure Cynthia’s release … anything else?”

  “That’s pretty much it,” Kiara said and looked at Jake, who nodded. “We’ll get Shawn for questioning, first thing in the morning.”

  “Okay … let me know if you find anything in the meantime,” Carlson said before disconnecting.

  “Isn’t this enough for tonight?” Jake asked while putting the phone in his jacket pocket. “What does he mean ‘Let me know if you find anything in the meantime’?”

  “You’re angry because he trusts me more than you,” Kiara said. “Get him some information by morning, and he’ll begin trusting you too.”

  “What more can we possibly get by morning?” he asked in exasperation.

  “Maybe we can find something about the two families,” she suggested.

  “You’re right, and it won’t be that difficult. The internet is full of it. For once, we don’t have to use Bob’s services,” Jake said. “Every time he helps us, it feels as if we’re begging him.”

  Kiara smiled. “Do you even like anyone on our team? You hate Bob, and you’re not a fan of Carlson either.”

  “Yeah … now can we go home?” Jake asked.

  “Yes,” Kiara said and got up. Jake locked his computer and joined her.

  “What do you think? Is it family or some business associate?” Jake asked as they walked toward the main door.

  “I’m not into speculations. Once we meet them, we will know. And I’m pretty hopeful we’ll get some clues from the internet too,” Kiara said as they swiped their badges at the main door.

  “I’m not sure about that, though. It’s already one in the morning; I think we should divide the work.”

  “What?”

  “I will take the Campbell family,” he suggested as they walked to the parking area.

  “Because they’re less influential, and there’s a chance that you have to go through less material and hence you could get more sleep?” Kiara asked with a smile.

  “No … because there will be less information, so I have to dig deeper. For you, most of the information will be readily available,” Jake said, trying to avoid eye contact.

  “You are such a liar,” Kiara said and punched him on the shoulder. “Okay, I’ll take the Hansen family,” she said and got in her car. “Good night.”

  “Doesn’t look like a good night to me,” Jake replied and pointed at his watch. Kiara smiled and started her car. Jake kept looking at her car till it disappeared at the corner. He strapped his helmet and started his motorcycle.

  Kiara kept thinking about the change in the course of the investigation as she drove through the empty streets. Carlson was correct that they were working in the right direction now, but they were still as far from Cynthia’s release as they were at the beginning of the investigation. A whole day had gone by without any real progress. She just hoped that whosoever was behind the kidnap had the intention to hurt Shawn and not Cynthia.

  CHAPTER 6

  “Wake up. There’s been a suicide in Fort Greene,” Kiara shouted as Jake answered his phone.

  “Brooklyn? What has it to do with me?” he asked while rubbing his eyes. “Come on, it’s six in the morning. I’m going back to sleep.”

  “Don’t add to our problems,” Kiara urged.

  Jake sat up. “What’s happening?” he asked.

  “Carlson called a few minutes back. A guy named Karl Bennett has committed suicide in Fort Greene. The police have found some documents with him that point at Shawn Hansen having an affair,” Kiara said in a single breath.

  Jake took a moment to digest the news. “This is going to derail our investigation again. It means that Shawn does have the motive to get rid of Cynthia. It’s the worst timing for this suicide—both for him and for her.”

  “And for us too. It so miffed Carlson that he summoned Shawn for questioning. The case is going in spirals.”

  “So, we need to go to the division or Fort Greene?” Jake asked.

  “Division. Shawn will be there any moment now,” Kiara replied.

  “I … I had some issue with my motorcycle last night—I guess something’s wrong with the ignition. Can you pick me up?” Jake asked.

  “You want to sleep for another half an hour, don’t you?” Kiara asked. “You don’t have any shame or concern for your work.”

  “Work starts only after reaching the office, and as far as shame is concerned, you know me better than anyone. Good night,” Jake said and disconnected.

  Kiara gave a smile, but it evaporated in a moment as she thought about the ramifications of Shawn having an affair on the course of the case.

  While Kiara was thinking about the new development in the case, Shawn was trying to reach James. Carlson had instructed his agents to let Shawn call his lawyer and to make sure that the questioning happens in his presence. He didn’t want a situation like the other night.

  “Shawn? I was about to leave for your house,” James said with surprise.

  “You better come directly to the F.B.I division,” Shawn said in a frail voice.

  “What happened?”

  “They’ve again called me for questioning. They’re saying that they’ve found something for which they need my help.”

  “Help? I think I wasn’t clear the other night. Don’t worry, I’ll meet you there. This time I’m definitely going to show them their place.”

  “I’m scared, James,” Shawn said.

  “Don’t be. You haven’t done anything wrong. Just don’t tell them anything. Let me do the talking,” James said.

  “That’s enough, Mr. Hansen,” the officer said and took the phone from Shawn. Shawn looked at him and then at the opposite wall that had a large photograph of Cynthia and him together.

  “Who is this Karl Benne
tt?” Jake asked as they drove to the division.

  “I got another call from Carlson after our discussion. He briefed me about him,” Kiara said while looking at the road. “Karl Bennett was a small-time detective. He worked on cases with the local police, but not very frequently. He did small jobs like helping parents find what their kids are up to or following cheating husbands and getting some proof that can be used against them. According to the local police, he was not active in the last few years.”

  “Okay. What did the police find? Any suicide notes?”

  “Nothing. The neighbor saw him hanging from the ceiling fan. There were no notes, but his journal has a detailed analysis of Cynthia Hansen kidnapping case.”

  “What kind of analysis?” Jake asked with surprise.

  “Several things: newspaper cuttings related to the case; a wall filled with the Hansen family tree; and most importantly, Shawn’s Secretary Amy Brook’s phone bill and account statement.”

  “Oh … So, Amy’s bill and account statement point at her and Shawn having an affair,” Jake said, putting the pieces together.

  “Yep. The interesting thing is that Amy is Shawn’s secretary. So, he can easily claim that the calls he made to her were official. Karl knew it too, and that’s why he took the pain to get her bank account statement. Apparently, Shawn transferred a substantial amount to her account last week—a six-figure amount.”

  “Wow! And, we thought he loved his wife more than anyone else,” Jake smirked. “Any idea who hired Karl?”

  “It looks like no one did,” Kiara said as she parked the car.

  “What?” Jake asked with surprise.

  “He had Alzheimers—in a pretty advanced stage. According to his neighbors, he was having trouble remembering and recognizing things for quite some time now. The police didn’t find any medications in his house. Maybe, he had stopped taking them.

  “He didn’t use any computers. No phone was found in his house either. The only thing that the police found was a small journal. There are no entries for the whole year, but he wrote something about a woman in the last week’s log—a woman who hired him and gave him five grand to find proof against Shawn Hansen’s involvement in Cynthia’s kidnap. The police didn’t find any money in the house beside a twenty-dollar bill in his wallet. There were no names mentioned in the log either—apparently there is a code of confidentiality between a detective and the client, according to Karl.”

  “Wow!” Jake said. “Maybe, in his mind, this woman gave him a case of another cheating husband.”

  “Yeah, that’s a possibility. His TiVo is full of news recordings of the case. And, he watched some of the news items fifty times.”

  “A sick person has done what all of us together couldn’t do,” Jake said and looked at James’s Mercedes parked in front of the division building. “Let’s see how he threatens us today. It’s going to be fun.”

  “Just keep your emotions in check. There’s still a great chance of Shawn being innocent. We still don’t have any proof of his direct involvement in the kidnapping.”

  “I know that, but now we have another player in the game—Amy Brooks—and Shawn is the key to finding out more about her before we confront her,” Jake said as he pushed the main door of the division building.

  Carlson was talking to James outside the investigation room. Kiara noticed that Carlson was hearing him patiently which meant that the conversation had just begun. It was a good thing; she thought as she walked to him.

  Carlson looked at her. “You know what to ask, right?” he asked, ignoring James.

  “What’s the problem?” Kiara asked and looked at James.

  “He’s trying to set some boundaries to our interrogation, or else he’ll take action against us,” Carlson said and looked at Kiara, who in turn looked at Jake. In a moment, the three of them burst into a laugh. James looked at them with wide eyes.

  “You think this is a joke!” James shouted. “You don’t know what I’m capable of doing.”

  Jake walked to him. Carlson and Kiara didn’t stop him this time.

  “You don’t even know what this case has become and how far it is from your reach now,” Jake shouted back at him. “To remove the tracks leading to the mastermind of this kidnap, Rafael was murdered and today a private detective working on this case committed suicide, which may be a murder too. If … and listen to this part carefully … if your client has even a slight involvement in any of this, we will charge him not only for the kidnapping, but we would also put the two murders on his head. We’ll make such a strong case against him that he’ll lose everything that means anything to him. And, as far as you are concerned, you can keep your tongue under control right now or else I will make sure that you go down with him too.”

  “This is wrong. You’re threatening me,” James said.

  “And, this time it’s not baseless. We’ve found something that will seal the deal from our end. Once you see it, there won’t be any need of threatening you or him. Let them question him as they want to without any interference,” Carlson said firmly.

  “What is it?” James asked, but the arrogance was all but gone.

  Carlson held a file out to him. Kiara snatched it before James could have taken it.

  “Shawn should be the first one to see this. I want to see his reaction,” she said and looked at the observation mirror. Shawn was staring at the door, waiting for his misery to end. He didn’t know that this was just the start.

  Shawn looked at the door as it made a scraping sound. James entered, followed by Kiara and Jake.

  “What took you so long?” he asked James nervously.

  “Don’t worry. You don’t have to tell them anything,” James said while pulling a chair. Jake looked at him angrily. Kiara patted on Jake’s shoulder and gestured him to keep calm.

  Carlson had taken his position outside the observation mirror and was waiting impatiently. The way this whole thing was going back and forth, he was getting more restless with every passing minute.

  “Mr. Hansen, there was a suicide in Brooklyn last night. The person who died was a private detective and was following this case closely. He was suffering from Alzheimer’s—”

  “Can we go directly to the point, or are you going to continue with your sob story?” James interrupted, making Jake furious. Before Kiara could’ve said anything, he walked near them.

  “Okay … I will come directly to the point. What’s your relationship with Amy Brooks?” he asked bluntly, looking into Shawn’s eyes.

  Shawn was taken aback. “What … what do you mean? She’s my secretary.”

  “What is he trying to do?” James asked while looking at the observation mirror to get Carlson’s attention.

  Jake ignored him and opened the file. “The private detective, Karl Bennett, was so obsessed with this case that he was damn sure you were cheating on your wife. Now, in a normal scenario any person having such a disease wouldn’t have been a cause of concern for anyone. Being a detective, he thought of your case as one given by a client and perhaps started following you or Amy or maybe both of you. Guess what, he was right.”

  With that, Jake pushed the file across the table.

  “Here… he has circled all the calls that you made to Amy in the last one month,” Jake said while James pulled his chair closer to Shawn.

  “You don’t have to answer that,” James said firmly while looking at the pages.

  “This is stupid,” Shawn said, gesturing James not to worry. “She’s my secretary. I call her all the time.”

  “Even during the vacation?” Kiara asked.

  “Yes, I don’t stop working on a vacation,” Shawn smirked.

  “So, this is the big reveal?” James mocked them while looking at the observation mirror.

  “No … no, it gets better. Karl knew that you’ll come up with such an excuse, so he went a step further,” Jake said while turning to the second page. “You paid Amy from your account… a significant sum and that too just two days
before the kidnapping. All those calls don’t seem to be official now, do they?”

  Shawn looked at the account statement a couple of times. “This is…” he was about to say something but stopped mid-way. He thought for a moment. “I’m an investment banker and a pretty renowned one too. I have been in the business for the last fifteen years. I’ve invested millions of dollars’ worth of client money and that too anonymously. Do you really think that I’ll make such a rookie mistake of transferring the money from my account?”

  “So, you think someone’s framing you?” Kiara asked while Jake chuckled. “It’ll take us two minutes to speak with Amy and know the truth.”

  Shawn’s face turned red at Kiara’s words. He looked at James.

  “My client didn’t transfer this money. You can do whatever you want to do,” he said firmly though his words had an opposite effect on Shawn. He started shaking nervously. James didn’t understand the sudden change in Shawn’s demeanor. Kiara and Jake looked at each other. They knew they had to keep pushing Shawn further.

  “We have another interesting note, which may be the last note that Karl Bennett had written before the suicide. We don’t think it’s significant, but you may want to see it…” Jake said and pushed the note across the table.

  “I know what you have done. I am coming for you unless…” James read it loud and smiled. “This guy was a total nutcase.”

  Jake looked at him while Kiara walked to Shawn. “Mr. Hansen, are you all right?”

  “I … I want to confess…” he said in a frail voice. Now it was James’s turn to get shocked. He moved closer to Shawn.

  “What’s happening?” he asked while looking at Kiara and Jake, who still couldn’t believe what they had just heard. Carlson had also moved an inch closer to the observation mirror.

  “I … I can’t hold it any longer,” Shawn said and looked at Kiara. “I want to save Cynthia.”

  “What are you doing? We had discussed that you’re not going to say anything to them before discussing it with me,” James said sternly.