The Silent Reporter (A Police Procedural Mystery Series of Crime and Suspense, Hyder Ali #1)

by Thomas Fincham

  He found it all very peaceful. It also allowed him to clear his head.

  Today was not like that. Darkness had fallen, leaving the boardwalk deserted. The wind was chilly as it came in from the lake.

  Hyder pulled his jacket collar up. His ears were cold to the touch. He rubbed his hands and blew hot air on them. His fingertips were becoming numb from the cold.

  He wished he had worn his hoodie, but he wasn’t sure what type of meeting this would be.

  Dunny had asked him to meet her at the yacht club. The club was almost eighty years old and one that still required members and non-members to dress a certain way. Behind the club was the club’s restaurant, which also followed the required dress code. Hyder assumed that Dunny might have wanted to conduct their meeting over dinner or at least over some light drinks. So, he had put on a nice dress shirt, dress pants and dress shoes. To ward off the cold, he had put on a light jacket. Now that jacket was doing absolutely nothing to shield him from the bitter wind. Worse, sand had made its way into his shoes.

  This is no place to meet, he thought, not on a night like this, anyway.

  He had found parking on the other side of the beach, which made his walk even longer.

  Hyder cursed and grumbled as he ambled over the boardwalk.

  He spotted the club in the distance. He was now shivering. He hurried his steps and reached it in less than a minute.

  He looked around. When he did not see Dunny, he decided to go inside.

  It was a weeknight so the restaurant was mostly empty. A man at the front desk eyed his attire from top to bottom.

  “Welcome, sir,” the man said. “Do you have reservations?”

  “I’m actually meeting a friend of mine,” Hyder said. “It may be under her name. It’s Caroline Dunny.”

  The man scanned his computer screen. “I’m sorry, sir. We don’t have any reservations under that name.”

  “What about under Hyder Ali.” Hyder spelled out his name.

  The man shook his head. “I don’t see anything.”

  “Um, okay,” Hyder scratched his head. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”

  “How about I get you a table? We are not fully booked today so it would be no problem. If your friend shows up, I’ll send her right over to you.”

  “Yes, that sounds great.”

  The man escorted Hyder to a table by the windows.

  A waiter immediately came over. “Wine, Sir?” he asked.

  “No.” Hyder shook his head. “Just water.”

  The waiter dropped off the menu and left.

  Hyder glanced at his watch. Dunny must be running late, he thought.

  He grabbed the menu and when he saw the prices, his mouth nearly dropped. There was no way he could afford these meals. Plus, he was now unemployed. He ordered something from the appetizer menu and waited. He dialed Dunny’s number and heard it ring on the other end. It then went to voice mail. “Hi, it’s me, Hyder. I’m here, so please give me a call.”

  The appetizer came, which consisted of marinated shrimp with garlic sauce. They smelled delicious, and it made his stomach gurgle. He decided to dive in. He was glad he did, because it was the best shrimp he had ever tasted.

  Hyder glanced at his watch again and then took his time finishing the appetizer.

  Why did Dunny want to meet him? He wondered. And why did she choose this location?

  He wasn’t sure, but his mind was conjuring up all sorts of answers. Maybe Dunny had had a change of heart. Maybe she wanted Hyder back at the Daily Times. This would explain why she had apologized to him. Or maybe it was someone higher up who had persuaded her to bring him back. Hyder had, in fact, been wrongly accused of something he had no knowledge of. Who this higher up was, Hyder had no idea. As far as he was concerned, he was another temporary reporter at the Daily Times who came through the revolving door like many other fresh graduates with a journalism degree.

  If, for instance, he was correct in thinking Dunny wanted him back, then this location somehow made sense. To save face, she had decided to meet here, knowing there would not be many people around to see it. She could beg, plead, or do whatever it took to get him back. That sounded good to him.

  A smile crossed Hyder’s face.

  He wouldn’t make it easy for Dunny, either. He would make demands. If he did decide to come back, then he wanted it to be on a permanent basis. Also, he would request his own desk. On top of that, he would request a raise. And if she did agree to his terms, he would tell her he would think about it.

  He would let her stew for a bit before he told her his decision.

  Right now, it was Hyder who was stewing. The waiter had already walked by his table twice. It was time to order his main course.

  Then reality sunk in. Dunny wasn’t going to show up and she wasn’t going to offer him his job back. This was just a sick joke, one he suddenly felt terrible for getting duped into.

  He glanced at his watch one last time and decided to leave. There was no point in sticking around.

  He apologized to the waiter, explaining his date had stood him up, paid, and left the restaurant.

  Outside, the wind was bitter and chilly. Instead of walking back through the boardwalk, he decided to take a shortcut and go through the pier. He walked past a row of parked boats and decided to call Dunny one last time.

  He was fuming. He would give her a piece of his mind. Job or no job, this was insulting.

  He dialed her number and heard it ring on the other end.

  He was walking past the boats when he heard a noise. It was a ringtone and it was coming from one of the boats.

  He hung up and realized the ringtone ended as well.

  Something wasn’t right.

  He dialed the number again.

  The ringtone sounded from somewhere close by.

  He began moving around the various boats, listening carefully. The ringtone was coming from a small boat covered with a blue tarp just ahead of him.

  He reached it and pulled the tarp up.

  What he saw underneath nearly made him scream.

  Hunched over, with her eyes open, was the body of Caroline Dunny. She was staring directly at him. Her skin was pale and her eyes were vacant. There was a hole in her forehead from which blood trickled down her face. She was dead.

  Hyder went to the side of the boat and threw up the shrimp he had just eaten.

  FIFTY

  Hyder was in an interview room. Instead of FBI agents sitting across from him, they were police detectives.

  Hyder had called 9-1-1 after clearing his stomach. He had told them about Dunny’s body. That was why he was now here in the police station.

  He had already been introduced to Detective Angelo Pascale and Detective Marina Lopez.

  Pascale said, “So, Mr. Ali, how do know the victim?”

  “Do I need a lawyer?” Hyder said. “I just want to make sure.”

  “Why would you?” Pascale made a face. “You didn’t do anything wrong, right?”

  “I didn’t, but the last time I spoke to the authorities, it was my lawyer who had to come and save me.”

  Pascale looked over at Lopez and said, “Just tell us what you know and we’ll tell you if you need a lawyer, okay?”

  Hyder nodded.

  “So, what is your relationship with the victim?”

  “She used to be my boss,” Hyder said.

  “Used to be?” Pascale raised an eyebrow.

  “Yes, she fired me.”

  “When?”

  “A day or so ago.”

  “Hmm.” Pascale rubbed his chin.

  “Hey, I didn’t kill her if that’s what you are getting at.”

  “I never said that,” Pascale said. He turned to Lopez. “Did you hear me say that?”

  Lopez didn’t say anything. She just quietly stared at Hyder.

  “What I’m saying is that a day or so ago the victim had fired you and now she was found dead, and on top of that you found her body. It kinda loo
ks bad, doesn’t it?” Pascale said next.

  “I know, I see it too, but I’m telling you I would never harm anyone.”

  Pascale frowned. “Maybe it was a crime of passion?”

  “No, it wasn’t,” Hyder said. “And if, for instance, I did kill her—which I am not confessing to—then why would I stick around and call the police?”

  “He’s got a point,” Lopez said.

  Pascale gave her a look that said you're not helping.

  Hyder continued. “Okay, what about the murder weapon?”

  “What about it?” Pascale asked.

  “Where is it?”

  “Maybe you threw it away.”

  “Okay, what about ballistics? You can check my hands, my jacket, everything. You will not find any gun residue.”

  “Are you a cop?” Pascale asked.

  “No, I’m a reporter, or used to be one,” Hyder replied. “Plus, I’ve seen my share of cop shows to know what you guys are looking for.”

  Pascale snorted, as if to say there’s one born every minute.

  Hyder bit back a curt reply.

  “Who did you work for?” Lopez asked.

  “The Daily Times.”

  “And she was your boss?” Pascale asked.

  “Yes, she was my editor.”

  “Okay, let’s get back to why you were at the pier in the first place.”

  “I was there to meet her.”

  “Why would you want to meet someone who fired you?”

  “I didn’t, she called me.”

  “So, she wanted to meet you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did she say why?”

  “No, that’s what I went to find out.”

  Lopez whispered something into Pascale’s ear and left the room.

  Pascale said, “Do you mind if I looked at your cell phone?”

  Hyder pulled it out and slid it across the table.

  “Do you mind if I check your call logs?

  “No.”

  Pascale scanned it. “I’m assuming the last call you dialed was the victim’s telephone number?”

  “Yes.”

  Lopez returned. In her hand was another cell phone. She said, “This is the victim’s phone. You said she had called you first, yes?”

  Hyder nodded.

  They checked the logs on the phones. Lopez said, “It does look like she contacted you first, a few hours earlier. So you are correct.”

  “Thank you.”

  Lopez said, “In her text logs we can also see that you left her a voice message. I’ll read it out: ‘Hi, it’s me, Hyder. I’m here, so please give me a call.’ What did you mean ‘I’m here’?”

  “I was at the restaurant waiting for her.”

  “Which restaurant?” Pascale quickly asked.

  “The Guildwood Yacht Club. You can confirm it with the staff there. I even paid by credit card, so they’ll have a record of my visit.”

  “I’ll go check it out,” Lopez said and left the room again.

  Pascale felt like he was losing the interview so he tried a more direct approach. “Listen, this is how I see it: you had a motive and you had an opportunity. The victim fired you so you were upset and wanted revenge, hence motive. The victim, for some reason, wanted to meet you, so you have the opportunity to take out your revenge. The semantics looks bad. If I were you I would confess and save us all the trouble. This way the prosecution might go lightly on you.”

  “I think I should call my lawyer now,” Hyder said through clenched teeth.

  FIFTY-ONE

  Lopez hung up the phone when she spotted Nolan coming her way.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “We found a female with a gunshot to the head,” she replied. “We’ve got a suspect in the interview room.”

  “Can I see?”

  “Be my guest.”

  On the way there Lopez filled in the details.

  “What’s his name?” he asked.

  “Hyder Ali.”

  Nolan stopped. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

  They entered the adjoining room and through the two-way mirror Nolan immediately recognized him. “I met him before. He came in with Freeland’s daughter.”

  Though the intercom, Pascale was advising Hyder to confess.

  “Is he leading the suspect?” Nolan said.

  “If you asked him, he’d say he was nudging the suspect towards the truth.”

  “I don’t like him,” Nolan said.

  “I don’t either, but I have to work with him.”

  “Do you believe him?”

  “You mean, Ali?”

  “Yes.”

  “There is motive but so far his story checks out. I just spoke to the restaurant and the manager confirmed Ali was there. And they even provided the exact time, which was less than fifteen minutes before Ali called it in.”

  “Does the pier have cameras?” Nolan asked.

  “It does and we have a person on it right now. Before we let Ali go we want to see what’s on those tapes.”

  Nolan made a noise.

  “What’s on your mind, Tom?” Lopez asked.

  “Something doesn’t feel right about this.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can’t say, but something doesn’t add up.”

  “Talk to me,” she said.

  “It seems strange to me that when he was helping Jessica Freeland, he was fired and the person who fired him ended up dead. Jessica Freeland had mentioned that someone was following her.”

  “You think the two are connected? Freeland and Dunny?”

  “I can’t see how but it does make me wonder.”

  Over the intercom Pascale was still pressuring Hyder, albeit more bluntly now, to admit he killed Dunny.

  Pascale said, “Why don’t you just admit that you despised Caroline Dunny.”

  “I didn’t despise her,” Hyder replied.

  “But you didn’t like her either.”

  “It wasn’t just me, others didn’t like her either.”

  “But you were the only one she fired, correct?”

  “Yes, but that didn’t mean I killed her,” Hyder replied.

  “Doesn’t it?”

  “I want my lawyer now.”

  Nolan listened intently. “I feel like going in and punching him.”

  “Ali?”

  “Pascale.”

  “He’s just doing his job.”

  “He’s a thug with a badge. You strip him of it and he’d be another gangster-wannabe on the streets.”

  Lopez’s cell phone rang. She answered. “Okay, describe him to me.” She listened. “And the time?... alright, thanks.” She hung up. “Our guy confirms that a camera caught a man dragging the body of a female along the pier.”

  “What did the man look like?”

  “It was too dark and the man’s back was to the camera, but our guy says the man looked like he was wearing a suit.”

  “He doesn’t have a suit on.” Nolan nodded in Hyder’s direction.

  “Also, the time on the camera would indicate that Ali was still in the restaurant.”

  “So, he’s telling the truth?” Nolan asked.

  “I’d have to say yes.”

  Nolan smiled.

  FIFTY-TWO

  Nolan stormed the room and said, “This interview is over.”

  Pascale looked at him, bewildered. “What?”

  Even Hyder was confused.

  “I’m Mr. Ali’s lawyer,” Nolan continued. “He has retained me to stop assholes like you from asking him any more questions. Thank you for your hospitality but we will be on our way now.”

  “What’re you talking about?” Pascale was red with fury. “Have you gone crazy, Nolan?”

  “You should have seen me last year. I was fully insane.”

  Lopez entered the room and whispered something into Pascale’s ear. He looked at her, not believing. She nodded and then his shoulders sagged.

  “You are the asshole,
Nolan.” He stormed out.

  Hyder looked around. “What’s going on?”

  “You are free,” Nolan said.

  “I am?” Hyder asked.

  “We verified your story and you have an alibi for the time of the murder. So you can go home now,” Lopez replied.

  Hyder was relieved.

  “I’ll drive you home,” Nolan offered.

  “I’ll be fine. I’ll take a cab,” Hyder replied.

  “Please, I insist.”

  Hyder looked at him.

  “I think you and I are searching for the same thing,” Nolan said.

  “Which is?”

  “The truth.”

  FIFTY-THREE

  During the drive neither said a word.

  Nolan kept his eyes on the wheel and Hyder kept his eyes out the window.

  Hyder’s foot hit a bottle as it rolled back and forth under the seat. Hyder made no comment about it.

  Nolan finally said, “I now believe that Eric Freeland did not commit suicide.” Hyder turned to him. “So you and your friend were correct.”

  “Jessica and I told you that at the beginning.”

  “Yes, but you didn’t have any evidence at that time.”

  “You’ve found evidence?”

  “I haven’t found any evidence that he was murdered, if that’s what you are referring to. The evidence I’ve found only proves he didn’t commit suicide.”

  “I don’t understand,” Hyder said.

  “Eric Freeland’s suicide was staged. Someone had gone to great lengths to make it look that way. I’m just not sure why.”

  Hyder bit his bottom lip, thinking. He finally said, “We’ve found something that may answer that.” Hyder proceeded to tell Nolan about Freeland’s diary, the cryptic message on the diary pages that were sent to him, and what his theory was. Hyder also mentioned that Jessica had been chased by a man.

  “What did this man look like?” Nolan asked.

  “Jessica wasn’t able to describe him. She only said that he wore a suit.”

  “A suit?” Nolan nearly jumped out of his seat.

  Nolan told him about the footage from the camera at the pier.

  Hyder rubbed his temples. “It has to be the same man, but what does Dunny have to do with all of this?”