Falling Star

by Philip Chen

  "Not that I know of."

  "How did he happen to come to you?"

  "He answered an advertisement in our local community shopping newspaper. He said he was from Canada. He's such a nice, quiet gentleman."

  "Thank you, Mrs. Brentwood. If you happen to hear from Mr. Trent, could you give me a call?" said Adams. He handed her a calling card.

  Mike and Adams bade farewell to Mrs. Brentwood and got into Adams' sedan. As they drove away, Adams asked Mike, "You were real quiet, what are you thinking?"

  "I was thinking how sad that such a classy lady has to take in boarders like Trent. Damn Navy pensions are for shit."

  "That guy Trent sure travels light."

  "Yeah."

  1993: Des Moines

  1000 Hours: Monday, June 14, 1993: Des Moines, Iowa

  "Excuse me, Mr. Clark, but there's a lady out here who wants to see you about Julie Davenport."

  "I'll be right there, Mandy. Please have her wait."

  Steve Clark, manager of Reedy Securities' branch office in Des Moines, was beginning to feel overburdened by the commotion caused by Davenport's death. Julie Davenport had been hired about two years ago to fill a vacancy left by Clark's long-time records clerk. Her credentials seemed to be good. She graduated from Grinnell College with excellent marks, after going back to school at a late age.

  Although Julie never discussed her background and kept pretty much to herself, she had been highly regarded by her fellow workers. As usual, he had submitted her personal information to National Association of Securities Dealers prior to offering her a permanent position. Julie had just taken her Series 7 examination, which qualified her to be a stockbroker, and Clark had been training her to take over some accounts.

  The entire office was upset about Julie's untimely death, but was puzzled why she had been in Washington, D.C. Clark had received an early morning telephone call from Julie saying that a personal problem had come up and could she have a couple of days off. The next thing Clark knew he was being interviewed by federal agents concerning Julie's tragic death.

  Clark put on his suit jacket and walked out to the reception area. As he approached the area, he saw the pleasant looking, older lady in the summer silk dress and blue linen blazer. She wore white cotton gloves and sat on the reception area sofa, reading a copy of Newsweek.

  He let himself through the low wooden gate. "Hello, I'm Steven Clark, the branch manager. Can I help you?"

  "You must be that nice Mr. Clark that Julie wrote about in her letters to her Uncle Lars and me. I'm Julie's aunt, Mildred Lutsen, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin," said Mildred, looking up at Clark and extending her hand. Mildred often used her maiden name as an alias.

  "I'm glad to meet you, Mrs. Lutsen. Please excuse my surprise; it's just that Julie never mentioned she had any relatives. But then she was very quiet and kept to herself. How can I help you?"

  "Lars and I wanted to retrieve Julie's personal things, if it's okay with you," said Mildred, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. "We were all she had after her mother and father died in that tragic snowmobile accident. She grew up with us, then went to Waterville, Iowa, as a secretary to an insurance agency and then went to school at Grinnell College. She was such a pretty girl with those beautiful blue eyes."

  "Mrs. Lutsen, I'm so sorry about what happened to Julie. All of us were dumb-struck by her death, it was such a waste."

  Mildred took out a handkerchief and started to cry softly. After a moment, she regained her composure and dried her eyes. In a soft voice Mildred asked if it would be okay to see Julie's personal belongings.

  Clark said, "Sure."

  Clark showed Mildred to the back of the building where a cardboard carton marked with Julie Davenport's name sat in an empty office.

  "I'm afraid that the federal agents went through this stuff pretty thoroughly. But you're welcome to take whatever you want," said a sympathetic Clark.

  "Thank you ever so much," responded Mildred. "Now I understand why Julie thought so highly of you."

  Going through the odds and ends in the moving box; Mildred was impressed by the lack of any trail left by Julie Davenport. Nothing. No spoors; a vacuum. How unusual.

  The box contained ordinary things like lipstick, a compact, some Band-Aids, birthday cards from her co-workers, matches from local restaurants, some business cards, hairpins, a little fuzzy white stuffed bear, Lipton tea bags, nail files, a set of NASD papers on taking the Series 7 tests, a Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, and a brown leatherette address book.

  Why didn't the feds get this, thought Mildred, picking up the book.

  Leafing through the address book, Mildred was again struck by the paucity of information. The book had mostly what seemed to be local telephone numbers. One number, however, seemed out of place. That number was for Walsh Auto Repair, a 612 area code telephone number. Mildred thought, why would Davenport have this number in Minnesota? Mildred quietly slipped the small brown leatherette address book into the pocket of her blue blazer.

  Mildred softly knocked on the doorsill of Clark's office.

  Clark looked up. "Is there anything else we can help you with, Mrs. Lutsen?"

  "No, Mr. Clark. I just wanted to thank you for your kindness and for your kindness to our niece, Julie."

  "Again, Mrs. Lutsen, I can't begin to express the sorrow that my staff and I have for your tragic loss."

  Clark escorted Mildred to the reception area. As they went up the aisle of desks, several people got up to express their sympathy to Mildred, who thanked them. At the door, Clark watched Mildred slowly walk to the parking garage, thinking what a lucky person Julie Davenport was to have had such a caring aunt.

  After leaving the Reedy Securities branch office, Mildred drove straight to the Normadie Arms Apartments, a small garden apartment complex on the outskirts of Des Moines. She parked her car and went up to the superintendent's apartment and rang the bell.

  "Who's there?" demanded a gruff voice.

  "This is Mildred Lutsen. I called this morning about my niece, Julie Davenport. I'd like to gather her belongings if it's convenient," said Mildred Swensen in her soft, grandmotherly voice.

  The door to the apartment opened to reveal a portly lady in her late forties wearing a worn house dress and apron. The lady's stringy hair was pulled back into a bun. Her ruddy complexion interlaced with a spidery network of tiny blood vessels was evidence of a hard life spent on liquor.

  "I'm the superintendent."

  "Can I see my niece's apartment?"

  "Not 'til someone pays her last month's rent," grumbled the portly woman.

  "How much does she owe?" said Mildred. "I have some money."

  "Deducting her security deposit, I reckon she owed me about one hundred fifty dollars."

  Mildred took out her billfold and counted out $150 and handed over the amount. The disheveled woman took the money, went to a desk, and returned with some keys which she handed to Mildred.

  "The apartment was rented furnished so don't take no furniture."

  "Thank you," said Mildred as she turned to head toward Apartment Number 16A.

  Approaching Apartment 16A, Mildred had an ominous feeling that something was not right. Her right hand slipped into her straw bag and grasped the small, seven-round Beretta Model 950 BS-4 given her by the CSAC Weapons Officer.

  She unlocked the door with the key supplied by the superintendent. Mildred slowly opened the door to the darkened room. Hearing no sound, she entered and switched on the light to the small efficiency apartment.

  The room was in disarray with a jumble of drawers thrown haphazardly about. The door to the closet was wide open. The few clothes that Julie Davenport had were strewn on the floor. Kitchen cabinets had been thoroughly searched. Davenport's toiletries were in a heap in the middle of the bathroom floor. Despite the jumbled mess, the apartment smelled distinctly of lavender.

  Uffda, thought Mildred, after satisfying herself that whoever had wreaked havoc on Davenport's apar
tment was long gone.

  Mildred went through the few possessions of Julie Davenport. She was amazed at the lack of personality in the room. It was almost as if Davenport had been camping out.

  Maybe, thought Mildred, that is exactly what Julie Davenport was doing.

  Gathering up a few dresses to lend credence to her cover, Mildred picked up the small apartment and returned the drawers to their rightful places. Mildred then returned the apartment key to the superintendent. Mildred told the woman that she could help herself to anything left in the room. Mildred walked slowly away from the office door.

  The portly woman stood in the doorway and watched Mildred through beady eyes.

  Mildred drove to the Des Moines Airport and boarded Northwest Flight 1092 to Minneapolis. Arriving at Minneapolis St. Paul Airport shortly after 5 p.m., Mildred went downstairs to the luggage area and headed to the Avis Rental Car counter. Using her maiden name of Lutsen, Mildred rented a Ford Taurus. She then went out the door, across the traffic lanes into the parking garage where she boarded the white trailer to the rental car dispatching area.

  After finding her car, Mildred drove out of the parking garage and exited the airport going west on Route 5 toward Interstate 494. On Interstate 494, Mildred drove west until she saw the Thunderbird Hotel. The Thunderbird, with its Indian motif, was Mildred's favorite hotel in the Twin Cities. She always stayed there while in Minneapolis.

  Once she was settled in her room at the Thunderbird, Mildred checked the Minneapolis and the St. Paul yellow pages on the chance that Walsh Auto Repair was in the metropolitan area. There it was, Walsh Auto Repair on Lake Street in Minneapolis.

  "This is getting too easy," Mildred muttered to herself.

  She would check out Walsh Auto Repair in the morning.

  1930 Hours: Monday, June 14, 1993: Des Moines, Iowa

  Steve Clark was working late at the branch office of Reedy Securities going over Julie Davenport's call records, trying to sort out what commitments needed to be attended to and which clients needed to be called about her death. Luckily, Julie had kept meticulous records, which facilitated Clark's task immensely. Like the others in the Reedy Securities office, Clark had come to appreciate the efficient but quiet Julie Davenport. Clark remembered that she was also quite attractive with the most beautiful blue eyes.

  It was a thankless job, going through the calling cards and order tickets, but it had to be done. Clark had been at this task since mid-afternoon. One by one, his staff had poked their heads in his doorway to say good night. Soon Clark was by himself. He normally enjoyed evenings like this because he could take care of those tasks that always seemed to elude him during the work day.

  This evening was different. The work was tedious and his mood was somber. The attractive Julie Davenport had caught his fancy. He had imagined that she was favorably impressed with him as well. After all, her aunt, Mrs. Lutsen, did say that Julie had written about him.

  With a start, Clark thought he heard a sound in the back of the office. That's strange, he thought, didn't everybody go home? Thinking that someone had come back to pick up something, Clark turned toward his office door and called out, "Anyone here?"

  Silence. He shrugged and went back to checking Julie's records. For a new account executive, Julie had really worked the telephone. There must have been a thousand records in her file. Too bad, thought Clark, Julie would have made one hell of a stockbroker.

  Another noise.

  Clark put down his papers. A worried look crossed his face. Maybe it's just my imagination, he thought, but I'd better check.

  Clark got out of his seat and carefully walked to his office door. Opening the door completely and looking out, Clark noticed the light in the back of the corridor. Funny, he thought, someone left their light on.

  Clark walked quietly toward the light, which he now recognized as Julie Davenport's old office. Mrs. Lutsen must have left it on, he thought.

  Clark reached the doorway and saw the craggy, blond-haired man about forty-five years of age sitting in Julie's chair. He was rummaging through her desk and the box of personal possessions.

  "Who the hell are you?" Clark said. "What are you doing here?"

  With deliberate slowness, the blond man, dressed in a pink polo shirt and stone-washed dungarees, looked up at the door. Clark stared at the silent intruder and looked into his pale blue eyes. He was startled. The eyes of the intruder fixed on him, but for the life of him Clark could see no acknowledgment, no surprise, no fear, no anger. All that Clark saw were pale blue eyes that bore right through him.

  The intruder said nothing. He raised his Colt .45 caliber combat commander auto pistol with the new silencer he had just obtained and took aim at the interloper. He squeezed off one shot. There was no report, just a soft sound.

  The round hit Clark in the forehead. The impact of the .45 caliber slug threw his lifeless body against the filing cabinets opposite the door to Julie Davenport's office. Clark's body then slid silently and limply to the floor. The intruder got up out of his seat and slowly walked over to the slumped body of the former Steven Clark.

  Dispassionately, Walsh squeezed two more silent rounds into the slumped lifeless body. Rivers of blood ran down the cabinets and soaked into the light tan carpet.

  Walsh placed the pistol into the belt of his dungarees, took some papers and the stuffed animal that he had once given Julie. He turned off the lights in the office and casually walked out the back door.

  Closing the door carefully, Walsh walked into the parking lot, got into his Jeep, and drove out of the parking lot on to Grand Avenue going east. At the junction of Grand Avenue and Route 65, Walsh turned north and quickly connected to Interstate 235 which became Interstate 35 to Minneapolis. Walsh looked at the clock on the dashboard. It was 8:00 p.m. If he pushed the speed limit, he could be home by 11:30 p.m.

  0900 Hours: Tuesday, June 15, 1993: Minneapolis, Minnesota

  After checking out of the Thunderbird Hotel, Mildred got into the rented Ford Taurus and drove out of the motel parking lot and back on to Interstate 494 headed east. Her route would take her around the Minneapolis Airport and on to Route 5 and then Route 62. On Route 62, Mildred headed west until she turned right heading north on Interstate 35. At the Lake Street exit, Mildred turned off and headed east on the busy commercial street.

  After passing Engelbretsen's, a favorite Scandinavian meat and gift shop, Mildred slowed down to find Walsh Auto Repair. As soon as Mildred drove past Walsh Auto Repair, she turned off on to a side street and got out of her car. She took the plastic cup of tap water she filled in her motel room and carefully balanced in the Ford Taurus' cup holder, opened the gas tank and poured the tap water into the tank. Mildred then put the empty plastic cup into the glove compartment of the car. She turned on the ignition and started to drive the car around. Pretty soon, the car was choking and wheezing from the water in the gasoline.

  Despite the laboring of the engine, Mildred was able to get the rental car to the entrance of Walsh Auto Repair. With a final wheeze, the car died and refused to start. Mildred got out and with a greatly concerned look, went up to the entrance of Walsh Auto Repair.

  The building contained only a garage. There was no separate office. In the dimly lit automobile repair bay, Mildred saw a man in blue coveralls working on a Toyota Celica. The mechanic was hanging down inside the engine well of the Toyota, a single incandescent bulb hanging by a cord lighting his work. Mildred could not see the man's face, only the pale blue smoke of a cigarette, which rose lazily from the engine well.

  Mildred stood at the entrance to the garage, wringing her hands in concern and helplessness.

  In a tiny voice, Mildred said, "Sir, can you help me?"

  No response.

  In a louder voice, but still extremely polite, Mildred again said, "Sir, can you please help me?"

  The fortyish, blond-haired automobile mechanic untangled himself from the Toyota engine and looked toward the pleasant looking older woman, who obviousl
y was distraught about something. Wiping his hands on an oily rag, he calmly put his cigarette out in an ashtray and walked over with a measured cadence to where Mildred stood.

  Tim Walsh's pale blue eyes fixed on Mildred. He had yet to say a word.

  Mildred said, "Hi, I'm Mildred Lutsen from Milwaukee. I came to Minneapolis to see my daughter, but my car started acting up just now. I just don't know what to do."

  "Let me see your car, Mrs. Lutsen." His pale blue eyes remained fixed. Mildred felt his eyes boring into her. It was quite uncomfortable.

  Walsh followed Mildred out to the stranded automobile. He got into the car and tried to get it started. The starter ground, but the car would not start. Walsh got out of the car and went over to Mildred.

  "How long have you had this problem?"

  "I don't know, I rented this car from Avis last night. It started acting up just after I turned on to Lake Street."

  "Have you called them?"

  "No, I was hoping that you could do something. I'm in such a hurry."

  Walsh just stared at Mildred with those pale blue eyes. Mildred couldn't discern any emotion, just the two pale blue eyes that bore right through her.

  "Is there anything you can do to help me?" said Mildred in her most sincere grandmotherly fashion.

  "Let me try one more time."

  Walsh once again got into the Ford Taurus, placed the key into the ignition and started the car. The car hesitated and the starter whined, then the car coughed and started with a heavy knocking sound. Walsh drove the car into the empty automobile bay and pulled it over the lift. After stopping the car, he pulled the hood latch and got out of the car. He then lifted up the hood and hung the mechanic's lamp on the raised hood.

  Mildred continued to stand at the doorway to the automobile bay, generally looking concerned and worried. When Walsh disappeared into the engine compartment of her car, Mildred took the opportunity to visually inspect the garage. It was a typical garage, nothing to give a hint as to the relationship between Julie Davenport and Walsh Auto Repair. Mildred decided this was a dead end.