As she passed the doorway, he reached up and turned up the flame of a small hurricane lamp. “Sit over there.” He motioned with the gun. The chair had loose pieces of duct tape along the arms and hanging from the legs.
It didn’t take long for him to bind her to the chair. When he stepped away from her, she could see her newly found sister, bound and gagged in a chair twin to her own.
“Now,” he said, “I’m going to kill you both.” He motioned to Rebecca. “Her death will be painful and prolonged and you will watch. Then I’m going to kill you. I will finally get rid of the woman who ruined my life. I really wanted you to live, Suzette. Live in prison for killing Derek, live knowing that you didn’t do it, but that you were suffering for it anyway. Live knowing that when you got out, if you got out, you would have nothing, no job, no money, nothing--just like you did to me. Killing you this way is letting you off way too easy, but I can’t afford to wait any longer or you might just get away and I’ll have to start all over again.”
He turned and picked up a long, sharp knife. Slowly, he stropped it against a whet stone.
Hoping for a rescue and fishing for information, she began talking, saying gently, “James, I think I may have underestimated you. I never dreamed you were capable of the sheer genius of this plan. You kidnaped Justin to get me down here. You manipulated everyone including that jerk, Sheriff Miner. But I’m confused. Did you kill Jeanette to set the plan in motion or did you just take advantage of her death?”
He laughed, a horrible jarring laugh. “So you underestimated me. You didn’t think I was smart enough to come up with this?”
“I thought you were smart enough, but I didn’t give you enough credit for the subtlety. This is absolutely brilliant. But, do satisfy my curiosity. Did you kill Jeanette?”
“No. I was there when it happened, but I didn’t stick the knife into her. I did use the blackjack on your stupid boyfriend. I was really angry when my partner stuck the knife into her. I was ready to kill him, but then I realized that I could use it to get you down here. I knew I could implement my plan a lot sooner. I really enjoyed hitting your boyfriend. It wouldn’t have hurt my feelings if he died, but as my partners pointed out, another murder might actually get the cops in this town to do something.”
“You are very mistaken about Justin. He isn’t my boyfriend. He never has been. I dated him because he was a suspect in another case, but since that case was solved, I haven’t even seen him, let alone dated him. We were friends, but that’s all.”
“But you jumped at the chance to rescue him.”
“I was hired by Cordelia’s nephew to investigate the fire because the fire marshal wasn’t doing anything. Aren’t you glad I did come? Otherwise, your plan would have failed.”
“I know you too well. You’ve got a do-gooder complex. You would have had to come.”
“Then when Derek got in the way, you tried to frame me by killing him.”
“It should have worked, but you wiggled out of it somehow.”
“The somehow is that you have a mole in your organization. My friend Mitch was warned that something was going down. That’s why I wore what I wore and why his hands were all over me. When this is all over, you’d better check into it.”
He looked thoughtful. “I will. I wonder if one of my partners is double crossing me. I didn’t think they’d care about Derek. They’ve cussed him often enough.”
“Then you tried running over me and Rebecca several times. That doesn’t seem up to your creative standards, so I’m wondering why?”
“I got tired of waiting so I tried a more direct way. But that didn’t work either so I decided to kidnap your sister and get to you that way. I knew you’d never let her die alone.”
“You understand me very well. I wish you’d satisfy my curiosity. Who killed Jeanette if you didn’t?”
James was turning toward Rebecca, but he paused, “I don’t think I’ll tell you that. It will be good for--”
“Freeze,” Sam shouted. “I’ve got you covered.”
Pivoting, James flung the knife at Suzette just as Sam pulled the trigger. James went down in a crumpled heap, a red stain spreading across his white shirt. The knife landed between Suzette and the door.
Quickly, Hallie thrust Sam out of the way. She dashed across the room to Suzette. With shaking hands, she tore the duct tape. Once Suzette was free, she turned and began tearing at the duct tape that held Rebecca.
Suzette stumbled over to Sam, who was kneeling beside James, feeling for a pulse. He stood up and put his arm around her. “Is he dead?”
“Yes. I was only trying to wing him, but he turned into the bullet.”
“I wasn’t sure if he was throwing the knife at you or at me.” Suzette pushed the knife away from the body with her foot while Rebecca staggered over to throw her arms around Hallie and then Sam. “Thank you, both of you, for rescuing me.”
“Hallie, you’d better call 911 and get the police here to take care of things. We don’t want to stay here all night.”
Chapter 39
Later that night, Justin said, “So it was all a plot to take revenge on you. The guy must have been totally crazy.”
Cordelia said, “Crazy, but obsessed. He was so possessive that he killed the love Suzette had for him, then when she turned away from him, he had to kill her.”
“So he killed my mother so he could kill you.” Hallie shook her head.
“No. He said that he didn’t kill her. One of his partners did that. He just took advantage of the situation.” Suzette said
“Then who killed her?” Mitch asked.
“I don’t know for sure. I have an idea, but that’s all it is. I have absolutely no proof.”
Mitch said thoughtfully, “it might be easier to find the proof if we knew who to look for. I think our big problem right now is that we’ve run out of suspects. Mike’s spent way too much time undercover as a Cuban illegal alien and gotten nothing. Deidre has petered out as a lead since we know now that she was meeting James. Derek is part of the group. We know that, but we also know that he isn’t the mastermind.”
Justin and Mike both nodded. Then Mike said, “Suz, I owe you an apology. We all do. We cut you out of the loop because we thought you were only interested in finding your sister. We put your life in danger. If you hadn’t turned to Sam, you would have died. Then you found Justin, you found your sister, and you found pretty much all we know about the organization the killed Jeanette and started the fire.”
“Don’t worry about it, Mike. I got over my hurt feelings a few hours ago. It surprised me more than it hurt my feelings. Normally you are very calm, but I understand that Justin is your partner and there’s a very special relationship between partners.”
“So give, Suzette,” Justin begged. “Tell us who you think it is. Give us a chance to redeem our self-esteem by at least finding the evidence that proves or disproves your theory.”
Suzette laughed. “Okay. Doug, Dustin, Dr. Lin, and Dorothea.”
“What?” Mike and Justin said together.
“No. It can’t be,” from Cordelia and Hallie.
Suzette said, “Let me explain. I think that Doug killed Jeanette. Sam said that Jeanette used to come into the Lobster Den to meet a couple of men. The last time she was in, he said that she seemed to be threatening them. That night she was killed.”
He looked over at Hallie. “I’m sorry, Hallie, but I think she was a member of the gang.” When Hallie didn’t say anything, Suzette continued, “She was angry and bitter because of her financial situation. She was jealous of Cordelia and, at the end, of Dorothea; but she also had high standing in the community. She got all the news and was invited to the best homes. She was an ideal member of Doug’s gang. I think that she got greedy and demanding; and when she went snooping after Derek and Deidre she gave Doug the ideal opportunity to get rid of her. Then Justin came along and gave James the ideal opportunity to put his plan for me into action because, at that time, he didn’t
know that Jeremy had hired me to protect Cordelia’s interests with the Sheriff and Fire Marshal. In case you haven’t guessed, James was a part of Doug’s gang, probably his partner or his number one assistant. I think he was a partner, though. I don’t think that James could stand to be second in command.”
She turned to Mitch. “Didn’t Ken Abbot say that he thought the money laundering and problems with the illegal aliens were based at the Palms?”
He thought for a minute. “Yes, he did say that in Miner’s office.”
“He was right for that part of it.”
Cordelia asked, “Then are Dr. Lin and Dorothea part of Doug’s group?”
“Yes. I think they were a subgroup.”
“What were they involved in?”
“Antiquities theft,” Suzette stated.
“You’re kidding!” Hallie exclaimed.
“No. Antiquities theft and forgery are huge underworld businesses. Just think what a good cover finding a sunken Spanish Galleon would be to distribute ancient Aztec or Olmec treasure. Mexico and all the other Central and South American countries have laws against stealing their national treasures that haven’t been discovered yet. But if those treasures could be smuggled out of, say, Mexico, and turn up as salvage from a sunken ship, they could be cleaned up and sold openly to the highest bidder.”
“But they’d have to have evidence of the ship,” Cordelia protested.
“Not necessarily,” Hallie said. “Salt water is very hard on stuff. Sometimes they find most of the parts of the ships, but usually the wood is mush and the metal is rust. They might find some piece of metal like an anchor; but if they didn’t, it could be explained by the storm that sent the ship to the bottom of the sea.”
“But wouldn’t the treasure be destroyed?” Cordelia asked.
“Some of it would be certainly and the rest would be damaged. But there are highly paid restorers to fix these things up.
Mitch got up. Turning to Justin and Mike, he asked, “Do you have to get back to work now that the doc says Justin is okay?”
“We ought to, but the Captain will probably give us a couple of extra days if you need us. Why?”
“I was thinking of the mole in the FBI office. I can get Abbot and Fontaine to work on the Doug group, but I could use some help on Dorothea and Dr. Lin.”
Justin looked at Suzette. “I was wondering who set the Gazebo on fire and why?”
Suzette shrugged. “I don’t have any proof, but I think it was Dr. Lin. I think he was afraid that his daughter’s trysts at the gazebo were going to get people curious. I think he was afraid that someone would see what the lights on the beach. Diedre wouldn’t listen to him and he didn’t dare tell her what he was doing, so he torched it so she couldn’t use it anymore.
Mike smiled. “I think we could help you.” He looked over at Suzette, Cordelia and Hallie. “Don’t you ladies want to be included?”
Suzette said, “Count me out. I’ve given you everything I know. You’re the professionals, as you have so often reminded me. Personally, I just want to spend time with my newly found sister.”
“Me too,” Hallie said. She blushed then laughed. “I mean count me out. I have two midterms and a Master’s thesis to get written. If I want to keep my scholarship, I’d better hit the books, hard!”
“I think Suzette is correct about Dorothea being involved,” Cordelia said, slowly, “So I think I would have a conflict of interest. Since Suzette and Jeremy got rid of all of my unwanted relations, I’m just going to enjoy living here without all my unpleasant relations.” She grinned at Suzette. “And I have my first ‘professional’ driving lesson this afternoon.”
“But--”
“Mitch, I won’t say anything to her, not that she’s speaking to me. If she is guilty, so be it! I expect you to do your job, but, don’t expect me to help find evidence to prove that she is guilty.”
“Fair enough, Miss C.”. Mitch said. “For your sake, I hope Suzette is wrong, but I’ll have to prove it one way or another.” He looked at his watch. “Where’s Dorothea?”
“She and Derek are looking for an apartment. She decided that she couldn’t stay in the motel any longer, since I told her I would only pay for a week. The problem is that she wants an apartment that doesn’t cost any money, but is as big and nice as this house.”
“Good luck,” Hallie said with a lopsided grin as she got up. “I’m going to the library. I don’t need any more distractions.”
As soon as the she shut the door behind her, Mitch looked at Mike and Justin. “Ready to go?” They too left the room.
Suzette turned to Cordelia, “Would you like to take a walk on the beach? I need to walk off some of this stress or I’ll go crazy.”
“Who wants to walk?” Cordelia shouted. “Get your swimsuit and let’s go body surf.”
Epilogue
Mitch, Mike, Justin, Cordelia, Hallie, Sam, Rebecca and Suzette sat on the porch on the west side of the house watching the sunset. Storm clouds were building, showing inky black against the lurid reds, yellows and purples.
No one had spoken since they had finished dinner and gathered on the veranda. Finally, Mitch said, “I just wanted to tell you that tonight will be my last night in your home. I really appreciate you letting me stay here.” He looked at the others. “I also want to thank all of you for your help. Like I said before, I’ve always wanted to work on my own, thinking that it would be easier if I didn’t have to answer to anyone; but I’ve discovered that having back-up is worth a lot.”
“We’ll be leaving tomorrow, too,” Mike said. “Captain isn’t really happy that we waited even three days to head back to work.”
Cordelia said, “Then you’ve solved the case?”
“Actually, Suzette did, but yes, we found the evidence once she pointed us in the right direction.” Mitch looked at her. “My boss wanted me to tell you that he thinks you are wasted in the insurance business. He would like to have you meet with him before you head back to San Francisco.”
Hallie said, “Enough already. Tell us what you discovered.”
Mitch laughed, “Okay.” He turned again to Cordelia, “Before I start, I want you to know that Suzette was correct on all of her theories except one. Dorothea wasn’t involved with the antiquities theft racket. She was a perfect dupe. In fact, she handed them the scheme on a silver platter.”
“And Jeanette?” Cordelia looked sad.
“I was wrong. She, too, was duped. We found out a lot of stuff. Like Suzette thought Doug, Dustin, and James Grey were partners. However, Dr. Lin’s racket was more than a subsidiary. Dr. Lin was the fourth partner.”
Suzette laughed. “Don’t look so worried, Mitch. I know I’m wrong, from time to time, just not very often.” She stuck her tongue into her cheek and crossed her eyes. Everyone laughed.
“Anyway, the Spanish Galleon, which actually did sink near here, was a scheme to unload the relics found in southern Mexico, some rich Aztec’s tomb that Dr. Lin discovered. But Doug took advantage of it to launder drug money. With that man behind bars a lot of crime is going to stop, especially since Grey was an obsessive record keeper. When we found his room, we hit pay dirt. There were over 300 people involved in the gang which is spread over the entire eastern seaboard. As we speak, all those people are being arrested.”
“Wow,” Hallie said, “That’s great.”
“Yes,” Cordelia said. “I think if you do some investigating you’ll find that Doug’s father was also a criminal. Dorothea’s never said anything but I think she divorced him because she found out what he was doing, not because he wasn’t a good lover as she always said.”
“Oh.” Hallie said, embarrassed.
Cordelia laughed. “Why is it that each generation figures that the earlier generations never knew anything about sex? It’s been around since Adam”
Mitch grinned, then continued, “Suzette, remember the pictures you found in Jeanette’s camera?”
“Yes, I do. I’ve been wondering w
hat happened to them.”
“My buddy didn’t have the equipment to develop that type of film. It’s a special infrared film that’s in the testing stage. He’d give a lot to know how she got a hold of that roll. So would the military, since it is top secret.” He looked around. “Anyway, Dustin shows up on that roll of film. I didn’t know who it was until he showed up at the funeral. I’ve had Abbot’s men following him constantly since then. They had him covered like a blanket, sometimes ten deep for fear of losing him”
“Why?”
“Several of the prints on that film are pictures of Doug, James, Derek, Dustin and Dr. Lin unloading a load of drugs. These are drugs that had been hijacked from a medical ship that was going to Africa. They were worth more on the black market than the Cocaine they usually deal in. The boxes are clearly marked and they show up in the picture very clearly. We have a picture of Doug and Dustin handing a box to James and Derek. Dr. Lin has a clipboard and is checking something off. That’s really good evidence, hard evidence, that they’re involved. It’s good enough to convince a blind jury, at least.
“Derek was interrogated first. He was easy to crack. He turned states’ evidence in hopes of saving himself. I don’t think the prosecutor will go for it because we have such good evidence. Anyway, he says Doug killed Jeanette because she was pressuring him for more money and she didn’t want to wait until it was safe to get her share.
“James was furious about Jeanette’s murder until he decided to use it to frame Suzette. Derek didn’t know that Suzette was James’ ex. He thought she was someone Cordelia had hired because of the fire even though everyone kept telling him she was a friend of Jeremy’s. James paid him extra to help kidnap Justin. Derek never liked Justin, who he says used to beat him up when they were kids.”
Sun, Sand and Murder: A Suzette Bishop Mystery (Suzette Bishop Mysteries Book 3) Page 23
