Moratorium

by Chuck Sampson

  “But why frame him for murder?”

  “To get Kelsey to dump him. Then she could come to his rescue. She’s smart. She knew that Mike and Dana’s feud was public. She knew he’d be the first person we’d suspect. And she knew how Santa Barbara juries treat celebrity criminals.”

  “So she was betting he’d get a light sentence and then she’d snap him up from Kelsey.”

  “That’s right.”

  Max looked up from his computer screen and said, “I still see two, no, three serious problems with your theory.”

  “Go on,” Cyrus said as he got up from his chair.

  “First, there’s still the alibi. She didn’t leave the special effect guy’s house. Secondly, Thad says Mike was killed sitting in an upright position with something supporting the back of his neck. So we can assume he was murdered in his car.”

  Cyrus walked back over to Max’s desk and said, “So you’re wondering how could Deidra Jones have carried Mike’s body from the parking lot down a hundred feet of wooden stairs to the beach.”

  “Exactly,” Max said. “Yeah, and don’t forget she had to put a wet suit on him as well. All in about five minutes.”

  “She must have had help. Did you check that number I gave you back at the hospital?”

  “Not yet. Where did you get it, anyway?”

  “I got the number off of Deidra’s Blackberry. That number belongs to whomever it was she was talking to just before she left.”

  As Max input the phone number into the search data base, Cyrus heard the quick gate of Bernie Frizell coming down the hallway.

  “Hello Bernie,” Cyrus said, “you got any news on those fingerprints?”

  “Ten years ago, we couldn’t have lifted half the fingerprints we lifted off that bat. That new technique the geeks out at Los Alamos developed really works well. Micro-X-ray fluorescence they call it, the detection of fingerprints based on elemental composition using micro-X-ray fluorescence. It looks psychedelic, don’t you think? The technique shows the salts, such as sodium chloride and potassium chloride, excreted in sweat present in detectable quantities in human fingerprints.”

  Cyrus gave Bernie that glazed look he always gave him whenever he started talking forensics-ese. Bernie rolled his eyes, “Well anyway, it is a sixteen point match, good job Cyrus,” he said and then he turned to walk back down the hallway in the direction from which he came.

  “Wait Bernie,” Cyrus said.

  Bernie stopped in his tracks and turned around.

  “Did you find out about the ring?”

  Bernie cocked his head and stood silent for a moment or two. “Oh yeah, the ring Deidra Jones had on. You asked me to check on how much that diamond cost and who paid for it.”

  “Did she get it at Vernon’s?”

  “All seven point four carrots and she paid for it herself with a check.”

  “How much?”

  “Two hundred and two thousand, four hundred and fifty dollars, on sale too they said.”

  “Max stopped typing and said, “How did an unemployed writer and part time artist get her hands on that kind of money?”

  “Blackmail is one way,” Cyrus said, “Let’s go see the special effects man.”

  “Right,” Max said as he got up.

  “You coming, Bernie?”

  “Sure Cyrus.”

  When they got to Rincon Beach, it was late afternoon and the south side parking lot was half empty. The sun was still bright, but the Santa Ana winds had finally died down. Max parked the Charger in the same spot Mike had parked the morning he was killed.

  “Lets go down to the beach on the north side and walk around to the back of the estate.”

  “What are we looking for?” Bernie asked.

  “We’re looking for a hole or weak spot in his fence where someone could crawl out,” Cyrus said as they walked at a near trot toward the stairs to the beach on the north side. After five minutes of trudging through the soft sand, they arrived at the rocky section of beach next to the backyard of the sound effects man beach home. Cyrus grabbed two of the bars of the wrought iron fence with each hand.

  Letting go he said, “I didn’t set off any audible alarm. Max, call the dispatcher for 911 and see if they get a call from their security. And make sure they don’t respond to it if they did. Bernie come over here close to the fence.”

  Bernie walked over beside Cyrus and stopped.

  “See if you can squeeze through a space in the bars.

  Bernie squeezed his torso through the bars, but got stuck. Cyrus and Max had to pull him free.

  “It’s no good at this spot anyway,” Cyrus said, “It’s in plain view of the surveillance cameras. Let’s try over there, near the edge of the cliff.”

  When they arrived at the cliff’s edge Max bent down and pulled up a beer bottle, “Somebody’s been partying here.”

  “Let me see that,” Cyrus said. Max handed him the bottle. He looked over the label and tried to remember where he’d seen it before. “This is a very rare bottle of beer.”

  “How’s that?” Max said.

  “It’s Imperial Russian stout. Grigoryan drinks this stuff. He told me himself there are only a few bottles of it left. Seems the brewery went out of business in the nineties.”

  “What was he doing here?”

  “Waiting for Deidra Jones so he could help her kill Mike Tanner. Bernie, let’s try to find a spot you can squeeze through.”

  “Cyrus, wait. That number you asked me to check on; it was Grigoryan’s number.”

  Cyrus nodded his head and then said, “They must have had it planned for a while. He was here waiting for her that morning. Had a couple of beers to settle his nerves.”

  “Cyrus, look at this,” Bernie said. He was standing on the other side of the fence.

  “The bars are bent,” Max said.

  “There’s only one suspect on my list who has the strength to do that, Peter Grigoryan. So are you happy now, Max?”

  “Not quite, there’s still one problem.”

  “The scar, right?”

  “Yea, Briana seemed pretty adamant about having seen that j-shaped scar.”

  “Remember the tape we found in Mike’s Cooper?”

  “Sure, what of it?”

  “That’s what they used to make the j-shaped scar. They took a piece of string or something and taped it on his back. From thirty feet away anyone could mistake it for a scar. Especially someone like Briana who’s trained to look for distinguishing characteristics.”

  “None of this is proof, Cyrus,” Max said.

  “I know-it’s all circumstantial. But the evidence I get tomorrow when I meet Deidra won’t be, I promise you.”

  Chapter 22

  The next day Cyrus, Bernie, and Max got into the Dodge and drove down to Parmeneli’s Restaurant to meet with Deidra Jones. She was dressed for a picnic-a large hat, bright-yellow sunglasses, and a light, summer purple dress. It was a slow Thursday, and the place was sparsely populated. Parmeneli’s had most of its tables outdoors. Max and Cyrus sat down on either side of Deidra. Thad remained standing just behind her.

  Cyrus spoke first, “Hello Deidra, have you ordered?”

  “No, I am not really hungry. I think when the waiter comes I’ll have a salad.” She looked up at Bernie and then said, “Who’s the little guy?”

  “Bernie Frizell, our forensic technologist.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Miss Jones,” Bernie said, hiding himself partially behind Cyrus.

  Deidra nodded back and was starting to talk, when Cyrus interrupted her, “The salads are a good here. So what did you want to know about our investigation?”

  “First of all, I would like to know if you believe Dana Mathers is guilty of murdering Mike Tanner or not?”

  “Murder? No… he pled guilty to manslaughter. I guess, officially, we will have to assume that he is guilty of that.”

  “What do you mean, officially, I thought he pled guilty because there was so much evidence against hi
m?”

  “Well, there was at first, but after we took a second look -”

  “A second look?” Deidra said. She snatched her sunglasses from her head and exposed the tan colored eyeglass necklace she was wearing.

  “Those are nice glasses you have there Miss Jones. Could I take a look at them?”

  Deidra shrugged her shoulders and handed them to him, “They’re women’s glasses. I hope you aren’t looking to buy a pair for yourself.”

  Cyrus’s flushed red briefly and then he said, “I am mostly interested in the eyeglass necklace. You don’t see many of these.” He held the glasses up as he spoke, “I mean, light, tan colored ones-no, sort of flesh colored- made from real leather.” He handed the glasses to Max.

  “Why did you need to re-examine the evidence?” Deidra asked, “Dana Mathers was in jail. He admitted he killed Dana Mathers. I want to know- no, no, my readers want to know- why you are wasting taxpayer funds investigating a crime that has already been solved.”

  “You can tell your readers that they can rest assured that their tax dollars are being well spent. We weren’t investigating a closed case. You might remind them that someone tried to kill Dana, my partner Max here, and myself while we were transporting Dana to jail. That was the crime we were investigating.” Cyrus got closer to Deidra and searched her blue slits of eyes; they were red and teary. He could tell she was getting nervous. She didn’t like handing over her sunglasses. “Besides,” he continued, “We did have some inconsistencies in the evidence we had to clear up.”

  “Such as?” Deidra said.

  “It’s about Mike’s surfboard. As you know, Dana tried to cover up his tracks by trying to make it look like Mike hurt himself while surfing and then drowned.”

  “So?”

  “Here’s the problem. We’re not sure which surfboard Dana would have used. He claims he didn’t use either surfboard, but we know that’s not true. We think it may have been the small one-”

  “He didn’t use the small one; he used the big one. Mike’s big board that’s the one Dana used.”

  “You sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure.”

  “That’s even more odd.”

  “Why’s that? He used his old surfboard that morning. He was taking the new one to get some holes in it repaired. Don’t you believe me?”

  “Oh I believe you. It’s just that there are only a few people who can be sure which surfboard Dana used for his cover up. One is the cop who found the surfboard two days after Mike was killed, several hundred yards north of where they found Mike’s body. The other is the bailiff who was in charge of storing the evidence. Then there’s me, and now apparently, you know as well. That could only mean one thing.”

  “I just assumed he used it. I saw Mike’s Cooper, right after he had been killed. Only the new surfboard was left. He had the two of them in his car when we arrived at the beach. I just reasoned it out is all; I didn’t actually see Dana put the surfboard in the water.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure.”

  “How did you see Mike’s Cooper just after he had been killed?”

  Max got up from the table, got out a pair of handcuffs, and stood behind her.

  “What’s going on, here?”

  Cyrus shrugged off her question, “Where were you at eight fifteen am, the morning Mike Tanner was killed?”

  “I told you before; I was at Mr. Chad Resnick’s house. I did some special effects work for him a few weeks ago and he hadn’t paid me.”

  “Then you couldn’t have seen Mike’s Cooper just after he was killed. No, you left Resnick’s house at five or so after eight. He knew too. You were blackmailing him, that’s why he didn’t tell us and that’s how you got the money to buy that diamond ring you’re wearing.

  The reason you are so sure about which surfboard Mike used is because you are the one who shoved it out into the ocean. We found the gap in the wrought iron fence Grigoryan made so you could fit through. He went with you back to where Mike had his Cooper parked. When you got there, you killed him, didn’t you?”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “You’re lying Deidra. I know you are because you know about the surfboard. The only person who knew anything about Mike having the Pacific Systems board with him that morning was me, two other cops, and the murderer. It wasn’t on the radio or in the newspapers.”

  “Yes, I killed him,” she said, clenching her fists, “Mike told me how he was going to kill Dana and make it look like self-defense. He deserved to get a bat across the side of his head. That’s what I gave him too. He told me he had been cruel to me before because he was fighting his attraction to me. He said that he couldn’t fight it anymore and that he had to be with me. I believed that little jerk and I was going to go through with marrying him.”

  “You went through with accepting the marriage because he promoted you to the editorial board,” Cyrus said, “Why did you decide to kill him? I think you couldn’t let go of Dana.

  Deidre glared back and then she said, “I overheard Mike talking to Moon the night before he was killed. I can’t believe I actually slept with the little creep. I was desperate. I couldn’t let that little weasel kill Dana.”

  “You trying to convince me you killed Mike to save Dana?”

  Deidre put her head down and placed her hands on her knees, “Mike told me he didn’t care what Duncan said, he was going to kill Dana and use me to get him into a fight. That’s when I called Grigoryan,” she continued.

  “When did you call him, what time?”

  “It was just after dinner, after my disgusting tryst with Mike. I was in a rush because I couldn’t wait to shower.”

  “What made you think of Grigoryan?”

  “I knew how much he hated Mike Tanner from Kwan Li. When I explained to him about Mike’s plan to kill Dana Mathers he agreed to help. He didn’t know I was going to kill Mike. He just wanted to stop Mike from killing Dana. It was only after Mike was dead that he agreed to help me. I guess he figured Dana would be safer in prison. Besides, he liked me.”

  “He helped you because you convinced him that once Dana was in jail and you were his girlfriend again, you could deliver the Santa Rosa Report, right?”

  “Oh yeah, that too.”

  Cyrus was glad to hear that Grigoryan wasn’t a murderer. Cyrus nodded over to Max, who then read her rights to her. As the waiter walked over to the table to take their order, Max handcuffed her and led her away to the squad car. Cyrus and Bernie followed them.

  “I am glad I killed him,” she said as they drove away from the curb. “The lying jerk was sitting in his car when I walked up behind him. He had the music on full blast so he couldn’t hear. It was so easy. I saw the bat lying in the back seat. The handle read KT hearts DM. Too perfect. I picked it up and with both hands I swung it as hard as I could. I used to play soft ball you know. I could not believe he was still alive after I hit him the first time, groaning and bleeding. He was so pathetic. So I hit him again, this time in the front of the head, I think that did it actually, but I hit him once more from the back just to be sure.”

  “Then you put the wet suit on Mike’s body and had Grigoryan carry it down to the beach. That was quick thinking, I have to admit. You made that eyeglass necklace look just like Dana’s scar and you knew that Briana would be down there to witness it all.”

  “Of course. That was the idea. Then Miss High Society’s Daddy would step in and keep her away from the bad old surf bum-”

  “And you’d have him all to yourself.”

  Deidra stared into the rear view at Cyrus and then she smiled.

  Epilogue

  Peter Grigoryan was on his way to Russia by the time the Half Moon Police got to his house. Interpol lost him somewhere in Moscow. Deidra Jones received twenty-five years for first degree manslaughter. She deserved the death sentence, but the way juries were these days, Cyrus was just grateful she didn’t go free. Grigoryan got fi
ve years for being an accessory. Turns out he didn’t love Jack Tanner all that much after all. He wanted to make sure someone used his new drilling technique and he was afraid Jack Tanner wasn’t up to the task, so he changed sides.

  The jury bought Deidra’s defense about her wanting to protect Dana and unfortunately Kelsey and Dana believed her as well. Cyrus resisted the urge to prove to them that Deidra was a she-devil. As long as Deidra was off the streets for long while, he didn’t see the point.

  Briana Carswell never got the chance to interrogate Maverick Duncan. He was gone by the time she got to his hospital room. After a little investigation, she found out that an old, heavy set, yellow toothed, man had been seen near Duncan’s room just before she had arrived. He had been admitted to the emergency room with a wound to the head. He told the admissions nurse that his name was Charles Chan. He had disappeared too. They took the Santa Rosa Island Report with them as well. Duncan had managed to hide it under his shirt during all the confusion. It didn’t matter anyway; it turned out that even though Dana’s analytical method was ingenious, the data upon which his algorithm was applied was useless.

  Dana and Kelsey got married. Dana went back to work for Chevron at his old job. He was promoted to Senior Scientist within a month. He still went to jail to visit some of the friends he had made there and he even made some new ones. Kelsey and Kwan Li went with him, and helped Dana witness about how his faith in Jesus Christ had helped him through his recent trials.

  Kwan Li escaped a jail sentence and was given three years probation and community service. She lost her job at Chevron, but it turned out to be a blessing. Her new attitude toward life restored in her the pathos she needed to be a great pianist and she landed a job in the Santa Barbara Symphony.

  Jack Tanner paid a hefty fine to the EPA and the State of California for illegally operating an oil well in a restricted area. He still had a lot of money left over from the sale of his company and he gave his daughter a very nice wedding.

  Moon got twenty-five to life for his attempted murders of Dana, Max, and Cyrus. He was also convicted of arson and three first degree murders: the ombudsman, the Packages R Us driver, and Mr. Pony Tail. For his conspiracy to commit arson and sabotage, he was given an additional ten years. For his attempted murders of the oil workers on TANOCO’s ten offshore oil rigs, he received twenty-five to life for each worker.