A Game of Inches

by Webb Hubbell

  I explained about the hit ordered on Beth, and went over my reasoning to stay in the game.

  As Maggie had predicted, Beth blurted, “What about Jeff? I need to get back to New Orleans.”

  Clovis answered. “Beth, I know you’re worried, but we’ve already got protection in place for Jeff. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine, and you’re safer here. But I’m sure Jeff would love to hear from you.”

  Beth bolted from the room.

  When Maggie suggested that I stay at her house, Martin objected.

  “Let’s keep Jack at Barker’s for the time being. Once whoever realizes he hasn’t backed away from the case, all his attention will be focused on Jack. If he’s with any of you at night, your exposure increases. We have a good protection plan in place for you and Mr. Matthews at home and for Jack at Barker’s. Let’s not change anything if we don’t need to.”

  I hadn’t looked at it that way, but it made sense.

  Beth sauntered back into the room, looking cool as a cucumber. Whatever, she wasn’t worried about Jeff anymore.

  Micki nodded at Martin. “All right, we’ve got everybody snug in their beds at night, especially me. Where do we go from here, partner?”

  “Well, for me, no more hiding out. It’s time to quit pretending. Clovis, as of now you and Stella are not longer tourists. Let’s go over what we’ve been up to in the last couple of days, what we’ve learned. Micki, you first.”

  Micki related her conversations with Billy. He still didn’t remember anything, including leaving the banquet. He told Micki what he’d told me: that he couldn’t have been drunk because he seldom drank more than a single glass of wine or a beer. He did remember the girl to his right changing her empty glass for his full one throughout the evening, which might explain why someone thought he was drinking a lot. He had never met anyone at the table before that night except his agent. He’d also assumed the girls were with the men; they were very friendly.

  Micki said it was possible that he had been slipped some form of drug by one of the girls. She was supposed to get the prosecutor’s files today; maybe they had done a drug screen on Billy. She was usually only allowed an hour a day with him, so today she wanted to ask him about his family and other friends.

  “Anything else you need me to do?”

  “Probably, but let’s hear from everyone before we go to next steps.”

  Stella said she’d had no luck unearthing the source of the eavesdropping, but she was still working on it. Our offices and personal computers had been attacked multiple times unsuccessfully. She remained confident they couldn’t break in. Her work at Walter’s was almost finished, so she was ready to go full time on anything I needed.

  Beth and Maggie had been maintaining the offices and fielding press calls. Beth had gone with Paul a couple of times to interview Nadia’s neighbors. They had learned very little. Nadia seemed to have been a loner, kept totally to herself.

  I looked to Paul, whose eyes were still red and puffy. “Paul, you look like something the cat drug in. You okay?”

  “I’m fine. I went bar hopping last night, hoping to find someone who knew the elusive Carla/Nadia Diaz. As far as I can tell, the only place she actually frequented was the Mayflower. I met a lot of working girls last night, but not one recognized her or the other three girls.” He didn’t look fine.

  “Please don’t tell Debbie—okay?”

  “Not a word.” I repressed a smile. “You said she did frequent the Mayflower?”

  “Frequent isn’t the right word. I finally met a bartender who decided to talk after a hefty gratuity. He recognized her, but hadn’t seen her recently. She used to meet someone he described as an older gentleman for drinks on Thursday nights. They met at the same booth around eight o’clock at night, talked for a while and left together. He figured they were going to dinner, but didn’t really know.”

  Clovis asked. “Who paid? Can we get receipts?”

  “Funny thing. He said she always paid, and paid in cash. He assumed they were actually related, because no self-respecting hooker pays for her drinks. That’s why he thought they were meeting for drinks before dinner.”

  “Anything else?”

  “She always wore a blonde wig; she drank a Cosmopolitan, and he drank very good bourbon on the rocks.”

  “Do you think he would recognize the man if he saw a photograph?”

  “For enough cash, yes; otherwise, no.” Paul answered.

  I said, “Great work, Paul. Take a nap and some Alka-Seltzer—you may need to go out again tonight. Clovis, your turn.”

  “You know most of what I’ve found so far. Today’s the day to run down the room service orders for Billy’s room as well as the identity of the other guests on the floor. Management won’t like me poking around, but I’ll manage.” He looked pretty confident, so I didn’t ask how.

  Now it was my turn to tell them what I’d learned about Red Shaw’s companies and his competitor, Logan Aerospace. This included telling them a little about my weekend at Carol’s and meeting Chuck Morrison.

  Maggie teased, “Anything else about the weekend you want to tell us?”

  I didn’t take the bait.

  “Now that we all know what everyone’s been up to, it’s time to develop a game plan to get Billy out of this mess. Any ideas?”

  Silence, no one said a word. Finally, Micki drawled, “Shoot, Jack you’re supposed to be the coach.”

  53

  OKAY, SO I didn’t have a game plan, as such, but I did have a few ideas about getting into the game.

  “All right. We have lots to do in a short period of time, and we need to be organized and efficient.”

  “What’s the rush?” Micki asked.

  “The rush is that the longer we take to gather information and evidence, the more time whoever is responsible for Nadia’s death has to cover his or her tracks. We’re already playing catch-up.”

  “Well, then, where do we start?” Micki asked.

  “Stella.” I looked at her. She had gone from burnt orange hair to a purple and black mixture, and purple nails.

  “I know. Find out who’s hacking our computers.” She smiled.

  “That, too, but I have an idea I want you and Beth to work on. I want you to create a diversion on social media.”

  Now Beth looked interested. “What do you mean, a diversion?”

  “Whoever tried to kidnap Carol and thought about killing you in order to lure me out into the open. I want to borrow his tactic. I want to draw him out, maybe cause him to screw up. Three young women and their pimp are missing, possibly already dead. Why can’t we post their pictures on Twitter, asking if anyone’s seen them?”

  “Twitter, Dad? You?” Beth asked doubtfully.

  “I’ll have you know I have an account and have actually twit—tweeted on occasion. But you’re the expert. So think of ways we can shake up the real murderer. I’ve got some other ideas, but I have no idea how to get the word out. Maybe the three of us can talk about it after lunch.”

  “Do you want to call attention to the three girls like that?” Maggie asked.

  “Look, I bet whoever is looking for those girls as well, and not to thank them for a job well done. He won’t like seeing their faces show up on social media. Neither will they.”

  I switched horses. “Okay, Beth your turn.”

  “Didn’t you just give me a job?”

  “Yes, I did. But I remember that it was your research that broke the Cole case open. According to their financial statements, Logan Aerospace has recently received some very lucrative contracts to build fighter aircraft components. I want to find out about the legislation that enabled those contracts. I’ll help you get started. I just hope Lucy Robinson didn’t sponsor the legislation.”

  “Why do I always get the boring stuff?” she glowered.

  Her pout betrayed her age, and I ignored it. “Clovis, I’ve prepared a list of things we need from the Mayflower.”

  Maggie gave him copies of the list
I’d made last night.

  Clovis asked. “Okay if I get Stella’s help with this?”

  “Sure, whatever it takes.”

  Micki frowned. “Jack, if we obtain information illegally, we won’t be able to use it in court.”

  “I know, but right now we need information more than we need to worry about getting it into evidence. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  “Micki, I think it’s time for you to interview the Logan guys at the banquet. But I want you to make them think you aren’t going to limit your inquiry to the four who were at the table. Let’s make a few higher-ups sweat as well.”

  “What about Claudia?” Micki asked.

  “I don’t know. I have the feeling that Claudia’s up to her ears in all this, but I don’t know how. She could be simply a girl on the make—I understand she was recently promoted. But I don’t want her to become a target, and I don’t want to alert her Senator. What do y’all think?” I looked around the room.

  Clovis spoke first. “Well, from my point of view, an interview would put both her and Micki in danger. But I bet she won’t talk at all.”

  I could tell Maggie was upset; her leg was bouncing up and down. I nodded to her.

  “Jack, I understand your purpose, but you’re supposed to be a lawyer, not a detective. Why can’t you just take your suspicions to the property authorities and be done with this? This young woman could be a totally different Claudia. If you believe whoever is behind all this would actually attempt to kill anyone who gets in his way, then you have to turn over your suspicions and any evidence you have to the proper authorities.”

  As a Brit, she firmly believed in following established procedure. It was hard for her to imagine going out on a limb when the safety of friends was involved.

  “Maggie, I understand how you feel, but that strategy won’t help Billy Hopper one bit. The government will say thank you very much, and throw Billy in jail for a very long time. They have what appears to be an ironclad case against him, and they aren’t going to back off without ironclad proof on our part. Carol has left the country. She specifically asked us to remain silent about the recent trouble at her house. We only have the word of the Russian mafia that a hit was ordered on Beth. To save an innocent man we have to take some risks.” I said.

  “Are you prepared to live with the consequences of those risks?” Her voice was tight as she tried to control her rising anger. I let out a deep breath.

  “I am. I am because I believe Billy didn’t murder Nadia. Whoever did also tried to kidnap Carol and ordered a hit on my daughter. That someone will get away with murder and probably murder again if we don’t discover who he or she is. Yeah—I want to catch the bastard.”

  Maggie had no response—she knew she’d reacted too quickly.

  After a few long seconds, Clovis broke the silence. “I think wherever Micki goes for these interviews, we need Martin, Paul, or myself with her.”

  “I don’t. In fact, I won’t have it.” Micki’s response was no surprise. “You guys cramp my style.”

  “Sorry, Micki, but this time you get overruled. You were kidnapped once before, and I was helpless without you. Almost got myself killed, if you remember. Clovis, Martin, please make sure Micki has adequate protection.”

  “I thought we were partners. Don’t I have a say?”

  I caught Maggie’s eye, and she intervened.

  “Please, Micki, give in on this one. Jack is right. He made a complete fool of himself while you were in the hospital in Little Rock. Don’t do it for him, do it for the rest of us.” Maggie gave her a warm smile.

  Micki’s anger melted, so I decided to take advantage of the moment.

  “Micki, I know this comes out of the blue, but this weekend I want you to go to Tennessee with Paul. Try to find someone who knows about Billy’s mother—who she was, where she came from, whatever you can.”

  “What! Now I know you’re crazy. First, I’m not going anywhere without Larry, and, second, what in the hell does it matter who his mother was?”

  “Take Larry if you must, but you’re not going anywhere without Paul. If Marshall is right about Bibb, Tennessee, it could be dangerous walking up to people’s doors asking about Billy Hopper. I don’t know what you’re going to find, but my every instinct tells me the critical piece of the puzzle lies in Tennessee.”

  “I’m going, too.” Beth spoke up

  “No, you’re not!” I had reacted as a father and immediately pulled back. “I’m sorry, Beth. Why do you want to go, and why should I let you?”

  “Hear me out, Dad. It’ll look weird if Micki, Larry, and Paul drive into Bibb and start asking questions. If it looks like we are two couples traveling together, seeing the sites in the Tennessee Mountains, we’ll be less threatening. Besides, I’m pretty good at getting people to talk.”

  “She has a point.” Maggie said quietly.

  Martin added, “It might be good to have her out of town for a couple of days.”

  Micki said. “I can’t wait for you to meet Larry. You’re going to love him.”

  I’d been overruled. At least Micki had now agreed to go.

  Maggie spoke, “You’ve been handing out assignments, what about me?”

  “All these sleuths are going bring us back the pieces of the puzzle. It’s going to be up to you and me to fit them together. Then we have to figure out how to get the U.S. Attorney to drop the charges.”

  Micki laughed. “I wondered when you’d bring that up. You think if we present an alternative to Billy being the murderer, she’s going to just roll over? Not a chance.”

  “I hear you. But you bring me the puzzle pieces. Maggie and I will figure out a way to get her attention.”

  “How are we going to do that?” Maggie asked.

  I looked at the woman who had helped me prepare every antitrust case I had ever tried, my right arm and my best friend, and told her the truth.

  “I have no idea.”

  54

  MAGGIE AND I went to lunch alone at one of my favorites in the DuPont Circle area, La Tomate. Our thought was that anyone who cared would think I’d just come back to town. If all eight of us were seen together, what was left of our ruse would dissolve. It wouldn’t take long for whoever to realize I was back, but no sense pushing it.

  Lunch also gave us time to talk about her concerns. In the past Maggie had accused me of having a death wish, taking on cases outside of my area of expertise that had nearly gotten me killed. Now I’d involved Beth. She had every reason to worry, but I didn’t see a way to extradite myself. Maybe I should have gone with Carol to Bali or wherever she was. I wished I knew where she had gone, but I had to respect her decision. I hoped she knew what she was doing.

  We lingered over a glass of wine. I knew Maggie was upset because she seldom drank at lunch. If she’d ordered a single malt I’d have known she was really mad.

  “Do you really think you know who murdered Nadia and how?” she asked.

  “I don’t remember saying that. I thought I said I had no idea.” I was surprised by her question.

  “I know how you think, remember?”

  That she did. In our first trial together she was handing me documents while I cross-examined a witness—before I had a chance to ask for them.

  “Okay, what am I thinking?” I asked.

  “The way you were handing out assignments. You only act that way when you think you see how things are going to unfold. I’d bet you know exactly what Micki is going to learn from the four junior executives and how to push their buttons. I suspect you know what they are going to find in Tennessee, too.”

  “That I don’t. In fact, I think they’ll come up empty in Tennessee. What happened back when Billy was a little boy is likely to have been covered up a long time ago, but it’s worth a shot.”

  “What do you see that the rest of us don’t? I know you see a connection between Logan Aerospace and Billy. What is it?”

  “I do see a connection, but it’s mur
ky at best. I have a suspicion, but so far I’ve been wrong every time. First about Red, and I hope my suspicions about Carol were wrong too. What I do know is that if I tell any of you what I think the connection might be, everyone will try to shape the proof to prove my suspicion right. That’s where prosecutors always make mistakes. They think they know who committed the crime and why, and they go out searching for clues to prove their theory right, ignoring clues that would prove their theory wrong. For them, a conviction is more important than a man’s guilt or innocence. I don’t want that to happen with us; it’s too dangerous.

  “Let’s just gather the information and go where it leads us. Meanwhile, you and I have to figure out how we’re going to get the right person to listen to what we discover.”

  “Isn’t the prosecutor, Constance Montgomery, the logical person?”

  “Almost certainly, but let’s keep our options open.”

  By the time we got back to the office Micki had left to meet with Billy, and Clovis had gone to the Mayflower. Beth and Stella were meeting in the conference room, so I joined them.

  “How’s it going?” I asked.

  Stella answered. “I’ve set up a Facebook account and a Twitter account for “Free Billy Hopper” that can’t be traced back to this office or our computers. What we lack is content. Let Beth explain to you how they both work. Maybe you can give us some content to plug in. I have photographs of the girls, the table at the banquet, some of Billy in his Lobos uniform, that sort of thing.”

  Beth explained she would also create a “Free Billy Hopper” website where people could comment anonymously. The site was likely to get a lot of kooks and nuts, but Stella had set up some kind of filtering mechanism. I had a seldom-used Facebook account, and my understanding of Twitter was pretty basic. I knew we needed “Friends” and “Followers,” but that was about it. I wasn’t sure how one got people to visit websites and social media accounts. Beth assured me the sports networks and blogs would find us before morning—we’d see plenty of activity.

  I spent some time with them talking about content, first focusing on the girls and how they could exonerate Billy if they would come forward or be identified. I also gave them a few ideas about the tone of the accounts.