Davenport Mysteries 03-Perfect Crime

by Varun Vashist

  “Have you attached Amy’s phone records and account statement?” Kiara asked Jake as he closed the file.

  “Seriously?” Jake asked irately. “That is my only contribution to this report, and you think I would’ve even missed that.”

  “If you wanted to write the report, you should have said so,” Kiara said with surprise. “Why are you getting so worked up?”

  “I don’t have to tell you that as it’s obvious. We’re partners, and we should equally divide the work,” Jake said.

  “I thought the flow will remain even if only one person writes it,” Kiara said in a low voice.

  “Yeah,” Jake said.

  Kiara kept looking at him nervously. Jake avoided her gaze for a moment, but she didn’t budge.

  “What now?” he asked finally.

  “Karl Bennett’s phone records?”

  Jake gave a muffled groan. “Just review my work. If anything is missing, then ask me.”

  Kiara was about to say something when her desk phone rang.

  “We’ll be there in a minute,” she said and disconnected. “Carlson wants the report now.”

  “Then go and hand it over to him,” Jake said dryly.

  “Come on, don’t be such a baby,” Kiara pleaded.

  “Okay, let’s get it over and done with, but the next time—”

  “We will equally divide the work,” Kiara completed his sentence.

  “NO. I’ll write the report, and you’ll file the supporting documents,” Jake said with surprise.

  Kiara chuckled. “Yeah, like I will let you do that.”

  Jake looked at her in disbelief and then walked to the stairs, shaking his head. Kiara gave a smile and followed him.

  “So, the rumors were right after all,” Carlson said as they entered his office. “She really is going to file for a divorce.”

  “There is always a limit to one’s patience,” Jake said and sat down. Kiara gave the report to Carlson, who placed it on top of the pile of other files.

  “Aren’t you going to read it?” Kiara asked with surprise.

  “I am so exhausted by this case; I don’t think I have the patience to go through it one more time,” Carlson said.

  “I got that idea when I saw the television set switched off,” Jake said with a smile.

  Carlson smiled back. “I just had too much of the family plot thing.”

  “Did anyone come to Shawn’s support?” Kiara inquired.

  “Who will?” Carlson said. “Even his parents have ditched him.”

  “What about Amy?” Kiara asked.

  “Why would she care? She has nothing to do with him now,” Jake replied.

  “Not that … I mean, she must be terrified of the consequences. She will not be in the Campbell family’s good books, and even Shawn’s family will be gunning for her. She may never get another job … at least not in New York.”

  “Actually, she’s smarter than we think. She has released a press statement …” Carlson said and looked at them with surprise, “What? You don’t know? Didn’t you see the news?”

  “Well…” Kiara said sheepishly. “We too were exhausted by the case.”

  “Hmm … she came clean about everything. She publicly apologized to Cynthia and her family and promised full cooperation in the case. She even gave vital clues about Karl Bennett as she’s the one who met him on Shawn’s behalf. So, she’s the only one who could establish whether he behaved normally and whether he was suicidal or not. So far, she has denied seeing all those newspaper cuttings found at the crime scene, and according to her, Karl was forgetful as others had stated earlier and was in desperate need of money— maybe for his medicine.”

  “That’s great. She can save her ass and also help us strengthen our case. Well played, isn’t it?” Jake said and turned toward Kiara, who was in deep thought. “What happened to you?”

  “What?” Kiara took a moment to snap out of her thoughts. She turned to Carlson. “Sir, can you keep that report in your office for few more hours?”

  “What happened?” Carlson asked with disbelief. “You want to make some changes to it?”

  “Actually, I’ve some questions for Amy,” Kiara said thoughtfully. “It’s nothing alarming. I’ve filed the responses she gave yesterday at the hospital, but she was under heavy medication that time. I just need to validate those answers one more time.”

  “And, there is nothing more to it?” Carlson asked while removing the file from the pile.

  Kiara shook her head. “She didn’t tell us the things that she said in the press conference. We may get a firsthand account of these statements for the report too.”

  “Okay, call her then,” Carlson agreed reluctantly.

  “Thank you, sir,” Kiara said and got up. Jake got up too and followed her.

  “It’s not about her being under medication the other night. You have a hunch, right?” Jake asked what he feared.

  “You are overreacting again,” Kiara said, avoiding eye contact.

  “Okay, keep it to yourself … as usual,” Jake said irately.

  “Stop whining. I do have a hunch, but I’m not entirely sure right now. Her answers will tell if I’m right or wrong. If I tell you about my hunch right now, you will think of me as a fool. So, have some patience. You just said that everyone’s patience has a limit. Let’s check yours,” she said.

  He looked at her. “Okay. Do I get to play any part in your master plan?”

  “Just take my lead,” she said. Jake ignored her and went back looking away from her.

  “What is this all about?” Amy asked as Kiara escorted her to their desk. “Shall I call my lawyer?”

  “That won’t be required. Like I said on the phone, we just need to ask you the same questions that we asked yesterday. You were under heavy medication, so we just need to see if you missed something,” Kiara said with a smile.

  “See, we aren’t even taking you to the interrogation room,” Jake said while pulling an extra chair for Amy from the adjoining desk. Amy nodded and sat down.

  “You won’t mind if I call my boss also? He’s the one who’s going to give the final approval on the report. It will save us some review time,” Kiara said, looking at Amy.

  “Okay, I guess,” she replied hesitatingly. Jake too looked at Kiara with surprise. She, on the other hand, she ignored him.

  With that, Kiara called Carlson, who took a few moments of convincing before agreeing to join them.

  “So, Ms. Brooks, how long have you been working for Mr. Hansen?” Kiara asked and pretended to take notes.

  “Since July 2012,” Amy replied at once.

  “And, where were you working before that?” Kiara questioned.

  “Are you going to do a background check on me?” Amy asked with surprise.

  “No … no,” Kiara said, “It’s just for our records.”

  Before Amy could’ve said anything, she got distracted by the sound of a chair being dragged across the hall.

  “Just ignore me. Please continue,” Carlson said apologetically.

  “Ms. Brooks, this is Special Agent in Charge Carlson,” Kiara said. Amy just nodded. She was too engrossed in finding out why she was summoned.

  “So, coming back to the case. When did Shawn move you to his house?” Kiara asked.

  “The same day my account statements became public. He wanted me to keep a low profile till Cynthia divorced him,” Amy said with sadness. “She’s divorcing him, but it’s of no use now.”

  “I know you are under a lot of stress,” Kiara said and patted on her hand gently. “Speaking of stress, you said that Shawn gave you those pills and told you to take four of them at a time and if required, add another one on top of that.”

  “No, he wrote it down for me,” Amy corrected Kiara’s statement.

  Kiara smiled. “See, that’s why we needed to have this discussion.”

  Amy smiled back. Jake was still not able to figure out where the discussion was headed. And, even Carlson was looking
at his watch, thinking why he was there.

  “Shawn transferred the money to your account so that when Karl Bennett gets hold of the account statement, your affair will be exposed, Right?” Kiara asked.

  “Yes, that’s right,” Amy replied.

  “Shawn sent you to employ Karl for this?” Kiara inquired.

  “I … I never thought that it was a trap for Karl too. Otherwise, I would’ve refused to be a part of it,” Amy said.

  Kiara nodded and looked at her notes. “How did you introduce yourself to him? I mean, you couldn’t have possibly told him that you wanted him to find proof of your affair with Shawn. That would have put doubts in his mind,” Kiara asked and looked at her.

  “You’re right. I met him as Cynthia’s friend and asked him to find out if Shawn was having an affair. Shawn told me to give Cynthia’s phone number to Karl. I used to speak to him under Cynthia’s guise. It went like that for a couple of days and then suddenly the phone calls stopped. The next day, he was found hanging in his bedroom. As the news of our affair became public, Shawn rushed me to his other house,” Amy responded.

  “That brings us to our last question. And, I'm terribly sorry to drag this discussion for so long,” Kiara said apologetically. Both Carlson and Jake were at their wit’s end by now, but the words last question meant that their ordeal was about to end.

  “We saw it on the news, but just to re-confirm: did you see the collage of the news clippings during your meeting with Mr. Bennett?” Kiara asked and tried to read Amy’s body language.

  “No … I clearly remember that there was just some old plaster hanging out of that wall … and not only that wall, but the whole place also looked like it was going to fall any moment,” Amy said thoughtfully.

  Kiara closed the journal and got up at once. “That will be all, Ms. Brooks. Thanks for your cooperation. I will guide you to the main door.”

  Amy was relieved, and that showed on her face. She got up at once and hurried toward the door.

  “What was this all about?” Carlson asked Jake while shaking his head.

  “I’ve no idea. I feel she had some hunch, but it was wrong. Amy gave the same answers that she gave yesterday,” Jake said with confusion.

  “So, what do you think?” Kiara said drawing their attention.

  “That you wasted our time,” Jake said while looking at her with disbelief.

  “You too think that?” Kiara asked Carlson, who agreed with Jake.

  “Okay, what was the extra question that I asked her today?” Kiara asked Jake, who gave it a thought.

  “Well, about the newspaper collage. But how does that affect…” Jake stopped midway. His face lit up at once. “Holy mother of…”

  “Yeah, the case is alive again,” Kiara beamed.

  “Will anyone enlighten me?” Carlson asked.

  “Where did Karl commit suicide?” Jake asked before Kiara could’ve explained anything to Carlson.

  “So, it’s now my turn to be questioned?” Carlson asked irately.

  “Be a sport,” Jake pleaded.

  “Okay,” Carlson raised his arms. “In his house.”

  “Where was the collage?” Jake asked again, this time with a bigger smile.

  “Again, in his house,” Carlson said with confusion. He did not know what game Jake was playing.

  “Where did Amy meet Karl?” Jake asked and looked at Kiara, who was already laughing.

  “In his house … no, she met him at his office.” Carlson said and paused for a moment. “Then how does she know that there was no collage at his house?”

  “Because she never met Karl,” Kiara said. “She has been told to say this story so that the real culprit is safe. The investigation team found Karl’s dead body and his journal in his house. The news only mentioned about his house because nobody knew about the office till…”

  “Till you found about it yesterday,” Carlson said with a smile. “So, they created a false story to implicate Shawn?”

  “Yes, and that would mean there was someone else who actually employed Karl, which will mean that Shawn didn’t even know about Karl till we told him,” Kiara said with exhilaration.

  “Just like James,” Jake said.

  “What?” Carlson asked.

  “I believe James helped Amy with all the answers. He was with Shawn every time we questioned him. He knew all the questions and the answers—the ones that Shawn gave and those that he couldn’t answer. He also knows all our theories too. He told all those theories to Amy and she in return told us exactly what we wanted to hear.”

  “You’re right. James was the only person apart from us who knew we were going after Amy when Shawn gave us the address,” Kiara said thoughtfully.

  “That’s why he left in such a hurry,” Carlson said with surprise.

  “Wow! I didn’t even think that far. She knew if she consumed the pills, we’ll find her and save her,” Kiara said, putting all the pieces together.

  “Not even that. This also clears who made the news of their affair public,” Jake said. “It’s James again.”

  “And, that’s why you asked her all the questions once again, lest anyone gets any ideas that we are after them,” Carlson said with a smile.

  “Yes, until and unless we find the actual woman who met Karl, we shouldn’t let them know about our intentions,” Kiara said.

  “Who could that be?” Carlson asked.

  “I have my money on Shirley Campbell,” she replied.

  “She does fit the bill,” Jake said while giving it a thought. “She has a fleet of black Mercedes, she fits the age, and has a strong motive too. She never liked Shawn, and now she’s getting what she always wanted – their divorce.”

  “Let’s summon her, then. The Campbell family has given me a lot of stress. It’s time for payback,” Carlson said and got up. “And, I believe she’ll bring James with her.”

  “Two birds with one stone,” Jake said immediately. Carlson nodded and left.

  As soon as Carlson disappeared into his office, Jake turned to Kiara.

  “That was some analysis.”

  “You were pretty good yourself, pointing the connection between James and Amy,” Kiara said and shook hands with him.

  Jake smiled back. The case had become even more interesting, and slowly all the layers had started to open one by one.

  James and Shirley were waiting in the interrogation room for half an hour. Kiara was getting restless looking at her watch. Carlson had called them in his office but hadn’t spoken to them the whole time.

  “Sir, shall we go?” Kiara finally asked.

  “No, let them wait for some more time. They’ve troubled me a lot. It’s now their time to suffer,” Carlson said while looking at the TV. “This case has given enough fodder to the news channels. It’s still breaking news.”

  “Well, they can’t be blamed. Neither of the families has made any statements. All the reporters are running behind them to get an exclusive bite.” Jake sneered. “As long as the media are after the families, they will keep running the story.”

  Kiara looked at the news to take her mind off the delay in the interrogation. Some of the reporters were fighting it out in front of the Campbell house while a few of them were standing outside the Hansen residence waiting for any bite.

  “They are persistent,” she said and paused as she saw someone coming out of the Hansen’s home. “Shawn’s parents are coming out. It will take them at least ten minutes to go through the sea of reporters.”

  “Well, that’s the price you’ve to pay for being famous,” Jake smirked.

  “I believe that’s the price of having a son like Shawn…” Kiara said and stopped midway. “I can’t believe this,”

  “What happened?” Jake asked.

  Kiara turned to Carlson. “Sir, can I have the report for a minute?”

  “What happened now?” Carlson asked and pushed the file across the table.

  Kiara shuffled the pages and turned toward Jake. “Where is
Karl’s journal?”

  “What?” Jake asked with surprise. “Oh … I must have forgotten it in the car.”

  “See, that’s why I keep asking you whether you’ve filed all the supporting documents or not,” Kiara yelled at him.

  “I’ll get it,” Jake said in embarrassment and jumped out of his chair.

  Carlson got up and looked at the TV. “What did you see?”

  “We were wrong all this time.” She took a moment putting her thoughts together and then walked to the television. “Now I know the whole game.”

  Carlson looked at her with confusion. He knew she wasn’t going to share anything till she was sure. It was wise to wait till Jake came back.

  “Here’s the journal,” Jake said as he rushed in.

  “That was quick,” Kiara said and shuffled through the pages. She stopped at a page and read it twice. She looked at the TV and smiled.

  “Karl Bennett may have kept the identity of his client a secret, but he wrote one particular detail that gave it all,” she said and walked to the TV, which was still showing Scarlet and Jeffrey as they tried to push their way through the reporters. “Did you notice the handbag she is carrying?”

  “What about it?” Carlson asked.

  “That is the same bag described by Karl in his journal: a brown leather bag with white borders and a burgundy pattern in the middle,” Kiara said and handed over the journal to Carlson.

  “You think she’s the one who hired Karl. Why would she do that to her son?” Carlson asked with confusion while reading the journal.

  “I guess, she never approved of this relationship either. She found an opportunity when Shawn was accused of Cynthia’s kidnap and made the most of it. She created a disguise so that even if we find out that someone hired Karl, we will think of Shirley—the black Mercedes and the motive would point further towards her. But, the handbag gave it away. The only questions that remain unanswered are how she got access to Cynthia’s phone and why did Shawn transfer the money to Amy’s account if she had nothing to do with Karl? We should talk to Shawn immediately.”