by B A Trimmer
“I couldn’t wait,” Les quietly said. “The vault was supposed to be empty, but I didn’t want to take the chance that the jewelry was actually in there. Elizabeth could have come back and found everything first. It was something of a race, you see.”
“So Frankie and I waited,” Morningstar continued. “Sure enough, about three hours later, Lester shows up and opens the vault. We simply followed him in. Along the way, I grabbed the little statue off the table. After all, if the jewels were in there, I didn’t actually need Lester anymore. Unfortunately, when Frankie found out he had waited for three hours and it had been for nothing more than a wild goose chase, he rather lost his self-control. Frankie began to shout and wave his gun in Lester’s face. I was afraid things would start to get out of hand and I didn’t want Lester dead. At least, not before he found the jewelry. I used that little statue to put an end to Frankie and his shouting. But, truth be known, he was a vicious man and the world is better place without him.”
“How could you kill your own man?” I asked.
“I already had Magic to help me find the chest. I didn’t need two men to do that. Plus, to be completely honest, I think that Frankie Two Guns was mainly down here as a spy to keep an eye on me. I don’t think my boss fully trusted me with thirty-million dollars’ worth of jewelry.” Morningstar gave a small chuckle. “Well, since I’m about to kill the three of you and disappear with the jewels, maybe he had a point.
“But why the deception about who killed Frankie?” I asked. “That doesn’t make sense.”
Morningstar gave me a look that showed he was disappointed I hadn’t worked out his plan.
“Really? I thought that was the best part,” he said, now looking at Les. “I know you saw me wiping down the statue. You might have thought I was wiping away the blood. But I was only wiping away my fingerprints. That’s why I had you put the statue under Frankie. I knew the police would find your prints on the murder weapon and they’d finger you for the crime. Since I was ultimately going to kill you and leave with the jewels, I thought it would be best if the police thought you were simply a mob killer who was avenged by one of Frankie’s associates. That would make it simple for them and they wouldn’t put a lot of effort into finding the killer.”
“You implicated Les just to fool the police?” I asked.
“Not only the police. I also needed to convince my boss that Lester was the one who killed his boy, Frankie Two Guns. Otherwise, he could have made it rough on me. I was covering my tracks. I’m not the kind of man who leaves things like that to chance.”
“What about Magic?” I asked. “How will you explain him?”
“Lester grabbed my gun and shot poor Frankie. Luckily I was able to get my gun back before I executed him.”
“Look, you didn’t need to have the deception,” Les said. “I know how to keep my mouth shut.”
“Yes, maybe you do,” Morningstar said. “But, in the end, I decided that you needed to be the fall guy for Frankie. I made sure you took your cab back to your hotel so there’d be a record of you being at the murder scene at the time of death. I was careful not to leave any traces so even if you told the police what actually happened, they’d never believe you.”
“But that’s nuts,” I said. “There’s like thirty-million dollars in jewelry sitting in there.” I pointed to the stone passageway where the jewelry chest lay. “Go get a pillowcase, grab five or ten million dollars’ worth of jewelry, and take off. We won’t even tell the police you have it. It’s only money. Take what you want and go.”
“I’m sorry,” Morningstar said. “But I’m getting rather tired of listening to you talk. Do you know how annoying you are? Move back against the bookcase, all of you.”
The three of us slowly backed up against a stack of books until there was nowhere left to go. I glanced around for something I could use to defend myself. I could pick up a book and throw it at him, but all that would do is get me shot sooner. I looked around for something to use as a shield, but again there was nothing. Being a trained killer, Morningstar had taken a position fifteen feet from us. There was no way any of us could try for the gun without being shot.
Morningstar raised his gun, pointed it at Lester’s head, and smiled. “Well Lester, who’s the stupid fat man now?” I could tell that Morningstar was savoring the moment. I knew he was thinking of all of the things Les had ever done to upset him.
Les didn’t try to run. I saw he had also looked around for something to defend himself with and had come to the same conclusion as I had. I could also see he was mentally preparing himself for what was about to happen.
I became overwhelmed with a sudden and deep sense of frustration and failure. Elizabeth and Lester had entrusted their safety me and now they were about to be murdered. I glanced at Elizabeth. She was staring at Morningstar in naked terror. Her body was visibly trembling. I reached my hand over to hers. When they touched, Elizabeth grabbed on to it with a tight death grip.
Hurry-up, Hurry-up, Hurry-up.
“Don’t worry Lester,” Morningstar said, as the smile broadened. “I’ll make it quick. One to the head should do it. I’ll tell you what. Stand still and I’ll make it a clean shot. You won’t even suffer, too much.”
I closed my eyes, held my breath, and waited for the explosion from the gun. I knew Les would take the first bullet. I also knew I would probably take the second. I felt horrible knowing that Elizabeth would take the third.
Anytime now, anytime now.
“FBI!” came a loud shout from the door to the library. I recognized the voice as Special Agent McCoy. “Morningstar, drop your gun. Do it. Do it now!”
“Drop it Morningstar,” yelled a second voice I knew was Special Agent Conquest.
Time went into slow motion as I watched Morningstar’s eyes. He first looked down at Magic, now lifeless on the library floor. Morningstar knew he would be charged with the murder. I then saw a look of thoughtful expression as he realized he had also confessed to the murder of Frankie Two Guns.
Morningstar’s face got the same strange twisted look I had noticed just before he had killed Magic. He raised his pistol and pointed it at Lester’s chest. I then saw his finger start to tighten around the trigger.
Mainly through instinct, I began to run at Morningstar. My only thought was to knock the gun out of his hand. I had made it two steps when he suddenly turned and fired off three quick shots toward the FBI agents standing in the doorway. These were quickly answered by two shots fired simultaneously from agents McCoy and Conquest.
Morningstar staggered. He tried to take a step towards the agents but his knees buckled. His fingers relaxed and his gun clattered to the floor. Like a great tree that had been chopped with an axe, Horace Morningstar slowly fell, face first onto the floor.
The room became still as the sound of the gunshots rung in our ears. Agents McCoy and Conquest ran into the room. Agent Conquest rolled Morningstar over and handcuffed his hands behind his back. From what I saw, Morningstar had taken a slug to the upper leg and one to the shoulder. Neither wound looked life threatening but there was still plenty of blood.
“Damn it,” I yelled as agent McCoy walked over to us. “You both cut it pretty fricking close. That jerk had already killed Magic and was about to start pulling the trigger on us. Don’t you think you could have maybe made it down the hall a little sooner?”
“We needed to get all of Morningstar’s confession,” McCoy calmly said. “We have the murder of Vannier Magic on video. Once he confessed to the murder of Frankie Cantone, we came in right away.”
“What? You knew the FBI was watching the whole thing?” Elizabeth shouted as she turned toward me. Her face was contorted with confusion and anger.
“How could you do something like that? We were almost killed.” Les shouted anger also rising in is voice.
“Don’t blame Miss Black,” Special Agent McCoy said. “We spent most of last night installing cameras and microphones in this room but I instructed her to keep
you in the dark. People who know they are being recorded tend to play to the camera. Morningstar would have picked up on that in an instant. Really, there’s no need to be upset. As it is, Lester you’re cleared of the murder of Frankie Cantone. Miss Murdock, both you and your brother have become very wealthy.”
Agent Conquest applied first aid to a semi-conscious Morningstar while agent McCoy called in the shooting and the murder. McCoy then went over to Lester.
“Mr. Murdock,” agent McCoy said, “You’ll need to decide what to do about your future. As you know, Morningstar has already informed his superiors that you killed Frankie Cantone. Now you’ll also be viewed by the group as being responsible for the deaths of Vannier Magic and the arrest of Horace Morningstar. They will come after you. I will repeat my offer of immunity and witness protection if you agree to testify against the group. And I mean against the entire group. It might even be possible for you to testify as a confidential informant. If that’s the case, we’ll let it leak out that you were killed today along with Magic. The gang won’t even think to look for you or to come after your sister.”
Les looked over at agent McCoy and nodded his head. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Yes, I’ll testify. The only thing I’ll ask is that you put me somewhere warm, preferably with a beach and palm trees.” He then looked over to Elizabeth. “I’m sorry,” he told her. “It looks like we won’t be able to be together again after all. But know that I love you and I’ll always have the best memories of us growing up together.”
When he was done talking to Les, I walked over to agent McCoy.
“I know the police and EMS will be here in a few minutes to take care of Morningstar and Magic,” I said. “But you know all about the treasure and what we’ve been through to get it. If the police find out about the jewelry, there’s a good chance they’ll want to impound it. Since this is a murder case with a federal connection, there’s no telling when they’ll choose to release it. It could be months or even years.”
“I understand Miss Black,” agent McCoy said with a smile. “And you’re probably right about them wanting to impound the jewelry. But I’ll be fair. You helped us in our investigation. We’ll help you with yours.”
Special Agent McCoy and Les went into the vault with the jewelry and then came out again, carrying the heavy chest between them. I lead the way out into the hallway and then three doors down the hall to a small storage closet. The men placed the chest on the floor and I covered it with a blanket that had been sitting on a shelf. Elizabeth could come by and pick up the jewelry as soon as the police were done.
I heard the first patrol car and the ambulance pull into the courtyard. I knew it would only be a matter of a minute or two before EMS came into the library. I grabbed a book off of a shelf, opened the vault door, and wedged the book in so it wouldn’t lock. I then hit the red button. The motors whirred, the statue rose, and the panel slid back into position. We then stepped back and it looked exactly as it had.
I knew that Lester would need to leave with the special agents and he would want some time alone with his sister before he left. But there were a couple of things I needed to understand before he disappeared forever.
“Why didn’t you tell us that Morningstar killed Frankie Two Guns?” I asked. “It put your life in danger with the goons from Chicago and it almost got you prison time in Arizona.”
“Morningstar said if I didn’t take the fall for Frankie, he’d kill Elizabeth. After everything that’s happened, I believed him. I knew I’d be in jail for a while but when I got out, I’d still have half the money. Well, that’s assuming Elizabeth would still have wanted to split it with me.”
Elizabeth walked over to Les. “Little brother, it was never about the money. I only wanted you to be my friend and not someone you played. Like Granddad said, you’re the only family I have left.”
Lester looked at Elizabeth. “I’m going to miss you sis. Wherever I end up, I won’t be able to contact you directly, but hopefully we can still write. I don’t want to lose contact with you again.”
Elizabeth held out her arms and hugged her brother. I couldn’t help but see they were both crying.
~~~~
The rest of Tuesday afternoon and the entire day on Wednesday was a blur of paperwork, answering questions, and swearing out statements. The library was sealed by the police, but Agent McCoy helped us again by getting the master bedroom released as a crime scene.
~~~~
Lenny was thrilled when we had called to tell him the jewelry had been found. With their new fortune, Lester and Elizabeth had agreed to pay Lenny his full fee for helping them find the chest. Although Lenny sort of tried to hide it, I could tell he was disappointed they hadn’t charged Les with murder. A rich client with a hopeless case is what Lenny lives for.
~~~~
On Thursday morning, Sophie, Gina, and I brought over a dolly and helped Elizabeth move the jewelry to the safe in the master bedroom. When the treasure chest was safely in the vault, Elizabeth spent an hour going through all of the drawers and explaining to us what she knew about each of the pieces. When Elizabeth found the eagle necklace that had been painted on Penelope of Prescott, she burst into tears. I put the necklace on her and she again looked like a princess.
We then had great fun trying everything on. Sophie took a picture of me wearing a crown that once belonged to the Queen of Sweden. Elizabeth took pictures of Sophie who had fallen in love with a necklace that had belonged to Raquel Welch. I took a picture of Gina wearing a ring that had belonged to Audrey Hepburn. Elizabeth took a group picture of everyone wearing at least a million dollars’ worth of jewelry. It was like being in the middle of a fairytale.
~~~~
On Friday morning, the three of us were back in the office. Danica’s wedding was later that afternoon and it had become the main subject of the day, even edging out a treasure chest full of jewelry.
Lenny came by to tell everybody what a good job we had done. He said I could have Monday and Tuesday off to make up for the days I had missed over the past two weeks. It wasn’t as good as a bonus, but I took what I could get.
Lenny disappeared back into his office and closed the door. Five minutes later, the front door to the street opened. We looked up to see Elizabeth come in. I wasn’t surprised to see she was still wearing the eagle and diamond necklace.
“I’m glad everyone’s here,” she said. “I’m heading to Sky Harbor in a few minutes to catch a plane back to Chicago. I wanted to stop by first and thank you again for everything you three did for my brother and me.”
“How’s Les doing?” Gina asked.
“They’ve already started the process of changing his identity and relocating him.” She pulled out a folded document from her bag. “Les signed a power of attorney for me to handle his financial affairs while he’s away. The lawyer in Chicago is going to file it. The FBI agents gave me an address in Washington DC where I can send Lester’s half of the money. They’ll transfer it to him, wherever he goes. We’ll even be able to occasionally write to each other.”
“Are you still going to auction off the jewelry?” I asked.
“I’ve already started talks with both Sotheby’s and Christie’s about an auction. Once I narrow down which one I’m going to use, the process will take about a year. There’ll first be formal appraisals on all of the pieces. Then they’ll photograph everything and create a catalogue, both an online and a print version. I didn’t realize how elaborate the entire process was going to be.”
“Are you still selling everything?” Gina asked.
“Well,” she said as she patted her necklace, “I’m going to keep a few pieces that remind me of Granddad, and there are the ones without documentation I can’t sell, but other than that, everything will go. Christie’s had one of their local appraisers look at the collection yesterday afternoon after you three left. She confirmed I couldn’t sell any of the pieces Granddad collected without documentation, but everything else is good. No
thing’s official yet, but she estimated the value of the collection to be put up for auction at between forty and forty-five million dollars.”
“Holy crap on a cupcake,” Sophie said.
The three of us clapped, yelled, and then congratulated her. It was wonderful things had worked out so well.
“What about the house, the bar, and the land?” I asked.
“Well, the land will go. I called the lawyer back in Chicago yesterday about that. He said Granddad was holding onto it until he found the right buyer. The parcels are rather large and Granddad apparently didn’t want to divide them up. But I’ll sell them now rather than hold out for years to get top dollar. Once they’re turned into cash I can send most of that to Les. He’ll need some money to get set up, wherever he is. I imagine the government is rather stingy on the lifestyle they choose for the people they relocate.
“We might know somebody who would be interested in the real estate.” I said. “He’s a developer who builds golf resorts. Some he keeps and some he sells to the big hotel chains. If you’d like, send me the information on the properties. I’ll find out if he’s interested.”
“Thanks, I’d appreciate that. I think I’ll keep the saloon on Whisky Row. I drove up to Prescott after the appraiser left yesterday afternoon. I had a long talk with the woman who manages the bar. She showed me the books and the place has turned a nice profit every year for the last sixteen years. I told her I didn’t see any reason why she couldn’t keep running the bar as she has been. Granddad never was active in the day-to-day operations, so nothing will really change. Besides, I think it would be fun being able to say I owned a real western saloon.”
“And the house?” I asked.
“I’m going to keep the house,” Elizabeth said with a big smile on her face. “It’s beautiful and it has so many wonderful memories for me. I’d hate to see someone else living in it. When I go back to Chicago, I’ll begin the process of settling my affairs there. I’ll need to sell the house I have in Northbrook, quit my job, and then I’ll move down here.”
