Mystery: Double Cross - The Davenport Mysteries (Suspense novel series of adventure mystery books and Crime mystery thrillers)

by V. S. VASHIST

  “Then, let’s meet him,” Robert said immediately.

  “Yes. That’s where I need your help. I want to see his collection. I’m pretty sure that he has some illegal stuff with him. If we could trace that, he will have to cooperate,” Kiara suggested.

  “Let me see if I can find anything against this guy,” Robert said. “But if he is clean, then we will just pay him the visit. I believe a person like him will have lots of connections. Even a visit will rattle him.”

  “You are right. He could be the missing link that we were looking for.”

  “Let me fix an appointment for tomorrow morning,” Robert said and was about to disconnect.

  “One second, Detective,” she said. “Anything you got out of Rebecca?”

  “Nothing much. She claims that she doesn’t have any knowledge about anything. We did a background check on her. She was a good student, straight A. Her mother died a couple of years ago. She met Brendon a year back, dated him for eight months, and got married earlier this year. She has no criminal background; no activity on her bank account either. I don’t think she knows much.”

  “Still, I would like to meet her once. I have a few questions of my own,” Kiara said thoughtfully.

  “Let’s finish this meeting first. If I make progress in my case, I will help you make progress too,” Robert said in a demeaning tone.

  “So now it’s give and take?” Kiara asked with a hint of anger in her voice.

  “It always is. See you tomorrow,” Robert said and hung up.

  Kiara put the phone in her back pocket and started thinking about what she was going to ask Burt. He has to be a link to the case. Otherwise they were not left with many options.

  On the other hand, the day antique theft theory got associated with Brendon’s murder, Detective Robert knew it was going to be a high profile case. And now after Burt Lehmann got associated with it, he knew the time to make noise had come.

  Kiara did not know about any of this and wondered why Carlson had called her early morning. She was also surprised that Robert had not reverted on the timings of their meeting with Burt Lehmann. Her doubts were raised further as she saw Robert with another senior police officer sitting opposite to Carlson.

  “You are late,” Robert said, looking at his watch.

  “Well, I was informed only half an hour back,” she said drily while pulling a chair from the corner.

  “Kiara, this is Captain George Perry. They’re here to discuss the case you’re handling, or rather, they want to discuss who will get the credit.” There was a hint of anger in Carlson’s voice and for the first time, it was not directed towards her. This was going to be interesting, she thought.

  “Hello, Captain,” she said and turned towards Carlson. “I don’t understand what they mean by sharing the credit.”

  “They don’t want to share it. They want to take it completely,” Carlson replied in frustration.

  “Now, don’t get angry,” the captain said in his scruffy voice. “Robert told me that this is becoming a very high-profile case. You’re pulling the biggest names out of your hat. Now, people like … what’s his name? Yes … Burt Lehmann have connections right to the top. Chasing such people has its own repercussions. We are putting our jobs on the line going against such people.”

  “So, you feel that we should get aside. That our jobs are more important than maintaining law and order?” Kiara said in a firm voice.

  Carlson gestured her to keep calm. “What are you proposing?” he asked the pertinent question.

  George looked at Robert. “If this case backfires, we all will feel the heat. Now, we don’t care about you or your team, but we’re not used to suspensions or desk jobs.”

  Kiara wanted to break his jaw, but somehow controlled her emotions.

  “We would get into this only if we get to lead it. We want the full credit if the case gets solved,” he said.

  “What if it doesn’t?” Carlson asked.

  “Then, all of us will take the hit,” he sneered.

  “And what makes you feel we’ll agree to this arrangement?” Carlson asked.

  “We found a box in the house of Brendon Jones. It had jewelry worth fifty grand. We were pretty sure it did not belong to him. Am I right?” he said and looked at Kiara.

  Carlson also looked at her and gestured her to explain what it had to do with her.

  “Don’t trouble her. Let me explain,” Robert interjected, adding to Kiara’s anger.

  “The jewelry was stolen from one Natalie Underwood’s house according to Rebecca; that is, in Lake Sivan. We thought of reaching out to her but before that, we checked with the captain of the local station. Luckily, Ms. Natalie had registered a complaint. Guess who was mentioned as the suspect in the complaint?”

  “Who?” Carlson asked.

  “Agent Jake Carter.” He smirked.

  “What?” Carlson could not believe what he had heard. He looked at Kiara, who herself did not know how to react.

  “That … that was a misunderstanding. He has cleared everything with her,” she retaliated.

  “But she hasn’t taken the complaint back yet,” George said. “We will question her why she thought him to be the suspect. And it will be easy for us to create suspicion towards him because of his record: not following the law, regular suspensions from the job, etc.”

  “That’s blackmailing,” Carlson roared.

  “Blackmail is a strong word. We just need the credit. The day this case gets solved, we will give the jewelry back to her and make sure that she takes her complaint back,” George said nonchalantly. “What do you say?”

  “You will pay for this someday,” Carlson said knowing that there was no other option, at least at this moment. He was again in trouble because of Kiara and Jake. He looked angrily at Kiara.

  George and Robert got up. “You two have lots of things to discuss. We won’t impose ourselves any longer.”

  “What should I do with the two of you?!” Carlson shouted as soon as George and Robert left his office. “Every time I think you can’t sink any lower, you surprise me. That’s why I don’t want to give any high-profile cases to you. But who am I to assign cases to you? Even if it’s a trivial one, you will make it high profile.”

  “But, sir, this is a mistake. They’re defaming us based on nothing,” Kiara pleaded.

  “Just get out of my sight or else …” Carlson’s face was burning with anger.

  “But, sir,” Kiara tried to reason.

  “Out!” he shouted.

  Kiara knew there was no point arguing. She pushed the door forcibly and came out. By the time she reached her desk, she felt as if her head was going to explode. She punched the table with anger. Bob and the others turned to her. She looked at them and then buried herself into her computer. There was no point venting anger on anyone or anything. Carlson was right: they had created trouble for themselves and now they had to find a way out.

  The whole day, she kept thinking of ways to make it work without Robert’s assistance. However, she knew that he had played his cards well. He had all the evidence and suspects in his custody. Besides, even if she tried to go against him, it was going to hurt Carlson’s reputation more.

  She left for home early; every moment spent in the office reminded her more about how she had let down Carlson one more time.

  Chapter 8

  The next morning, she got a message from Robert regarding their meeting with Burt. She knew that to make any progress in the case she had to endure the insult of partnering with Robert. She knew he was going to create trouble, but even she was not going to let him take the whole credit as he had wished. She never wanted credit for her work, but did not believe in giving it away for free. At least she owed that much to Carlson.

  “That guy, Burt. What do you know about him?” Robert asked as they drove past the station.

  “Nothing much. Only that he helps his clients get a good deal on rare pieces,” Kiara gave a dry reply.

  “Hm �
� I hope I’m not going to get surprises when we talk to him,” he said and looked at her for a moment.

  “Well, I’ve been in this case for some time. There may be certain things that you may not know,” she replied.

  “Like what?” he asked firmly.

  “I don’t know. They may come up during the conversation.” Kiara clearly did not want to give him any clues beforehand.

  “You know I still have the stolen jewelry,” Robert said.

  “This thing is not going to work if you keep blackmailing me,” Kiara said with anger. “You have to understand that for you to get credit, your case needs to be solved. And it will not be solved until my case is solved.”

  “Or vice versa,” he replied immediately.

  Kiara did not want to argue further and started looking out the window.

  Robert knew he had enough fun for the morning. Both went silent till they reached Milton Towers.

  “His office is on the tenth floor,” Robert said while showing his badge to the security guard. “He’s given us fifteen minutes.”

  “We are the one to decide how long this conversation will go,” Kiara said while looking at the building as they drove past the main gate. The building housed offices of the biggest names in the city. Having an office in such a location gave a strategic advantage to Burt. Maybe half of them were his clientele. She came out of her thoughts as Robert pressed the brakes with full power. She looked at him with anger as she balanced herself against the glove box.

  “We are here,” he sneered.

  “Concentrate on the case,” Kiara said to herself and got out. Robert took his time before coming out of the car. Every act of his was adding to Kiara’s frustration.

  The ground floor was very quiet except a few guards who looked at their uniforms with suspicion. Robert smiled back at some of them as if he was a star officer and they knew him. None of them responded to him.

  A thought passed Kiara’s mind that moment. Maybe he wants the fame because he has never handled a high-profile case before. Maybe this is his first big chance. She turned towards him.

  “Let me do the talking. I’ll let you know when to pitch in,” she said while pressing the elevator button. “Before you get angry, let me explain. This guy is way smarter than either of us. He has the biggest connections anyone can have. We can’t ask him direct questions. Let me start first as I know few things about him already. Once I make him talk, you can use your interrogation skills. I know you’re good at it.” She almost cringed while saying the last sentence, but it looked to have the right effect on Robert. He agreed with her.

  As they came out of the lift, they noticed that there was only one office in the entire floor: Lehmann Real Estate.

  They looked at each other. “Real estate? He’s playing safe,” Robert said.

  “Not anymore,” Kiara murmured as they entered.

  The receptionist got up as they walked towards her.

  “Oh … sir has been waiting for you. Please come with me,” she said while carefully looking at them.

  Kiara noticed that the hall and the waiting room were empty, as if Burt had no other appointments at that time. Either he did not want to meet any clients while cops were in the office or may be the whole real estate business was a façade.

  “No, call me after six!” Burt was shouting at someone as the secretary reached out for the glass door of his cabin.

  He disconnected as soon as they entered. He was a middle-aged man, probably fifty-five with a patch of white hair in the middle surrounded by dyed hair. He was wearing rings on all his fingers.

  “Welcome,” he said while forcing a smile.

  “Detective Robert,” Robert shook his hand. This was clearly a big moment for him and that showed in his eagerness.

  “Can we get started?” Kiara asked while taking a chair opposite him. “You have given us only fifteen minutes.”

  “What would you like to have?” he asked.

  Robert was about to say something before Kiara interrupted. “We are fine.”

  Burt gestured his secretary to leave, who obliged immediately.

  “Mr. Lehmann, you know why we are here?”

  “Is it related to some property deal of mine?” he asked casually.

  “No, it’s not. It’s about your actual business,” Kiara said and leaned towards him.

  “What do you mean by my actual business? This is my actual business,” he said with a hint of anger.

  “Let’s cut the chase,” Robert interrupted. “We are talking about the illegal auctions.”

  Burt got startled. Kiara looked at Robert angrily.

  “You facilitate auctions of jewels and other high-end antiques for your client, don’t you?” Kiara asked.

  “Yes, I do. It’s my hobby. I help my clients by helping them know the actual price of the pieces. They pay me a percentage in return. But, I do that once in a blue moon. It’s not for money. Like I said, it’s just a hobby,” he replied firmly.

  “It’s clearly more than a hobby. You have declared around a hundred such pieces in your personal collection. Haven’t you?” Kiara probed further.

  “They all are perfectly legal. I can show you all the papers,” he reasoned.

  “We know that, but we also know that you deal with illegal stuff,” Kiara said and showed him the picture of the ring on her phone. As Burt recognized the ring, he started to sweat. Kiara knew she had hit the right spot. She just had to capitalize on it.

  “You recognize it?” she asked. “I know you do because I know the client who owns it. There are two of these that you have sold. I can make them testify.”

  Burt looked at her with fear in his eyes. She meant business, but he was not going to wilt under pressure. “I need to speak to my lawyer,” he said immediately.

  “Relax, we are not here to arrest you or raid your office. We’re here about another case,” Kiara said. “If you help us, we will never disturb you again.”

  “What is it?” Burt said while loosening his tie. Robert looked at her in admiration. She ignored him for the time being and shuffled the pictures.

  “Do you recognize these two idols?” she asked while giving him her phone.

  “These are the one found by the police in that car crash,” he replied immediately.

  “Yes, do you know anything about these?” she asked further.

  “I did not sell these,” he said while analyzing the pictures.

  “Do you know from where they were stolen?” she asked.

  “No idea. There are quite a few auctioneers like me in the city,” he said while returning the phone. “But there is one thing about the people who stole it.”

  “What is that?” Robert asked before Kiara could say anything. He pulled out his diary, thinking something important was coming their way.

  “The people who took them may or may not have the knowledge about what they were stealing, but they knew who owned the illegal antiques. They could have stolen anything else, but they specifically took these ones. The same thing happened a few days earlier as well. I heard they stole a few old gems and stones.”

  Kiara remembered the box that Jake had found outside the imitation jewelry shop.

  “Another thing: I heard all of these were stolen within weeks of auction,” he added.

  “So, maybe the people behind these were part of the auctions? How else will they know about who bought these antiques?” Kiara said. “We could get the details of the participants and see who’s common in both the auctions.”

  Burt shook his head. “It’s not like that. These are not exactly auctions. These are more like private meetings. If one of our clients wants to sell something, we check with other clients. It’s done by circulating the pictures. If they are interested, they text me back. Then I tell them the price range. If they agree, they become the part of the meeting. Generally there are two to three parties who are interested and sometimes, only one.”

  “Hm … I understand. It won’t be any use then,” Kiara sa
id thoughtfully. “One other thing that bothered me: how do you secure your own possession? You must be worried with all the thefts going on. You may have everything … um … legal, but still you need to ensure the safety,” she said and looked for his reaction.

  Burt’s face turned red, but he recovered immediately. “I have secured them in the basement of my house. There are three levels of security including full-time surveillance cameras.”

  With that he looked at his watch. Kiara knew their time was up.

  “I know you had given us fifteen minutes. I have only one last question,” she requested. Robert was confused by the change in her tone.

  “Yes, please go ahead,” Burt said hesitatingly. He was getting uncomfortable by the minute.

  “Do you know someone who goes by the name of Chief?” Kiara asked.

  “No … Never heard of him,” Burt replied at once.

  Kiara got up. “Thanks for your time, Mr. Lehmann. Let us know if you get any information that may be of any use to us.”

  “I will. I don’t want any trouble. I made a mistake with that ring. That’s the only one I have done ever,” he said in a low tone and got up. With that, the three of them came out.

  “You help us, we help you. That’s our motto,” Robert said before Kiara could say anything.

  Burt nodded and shook hands with them before going back to his office. Kiara did not say anything and kept looking around as they walked towards the elevator. Burt’s reaction to her questions had given her a hint that he knew something.

  Burt on the other hand was still recovering from the meeting. He was walking across his office frantically and was looking out the window every now and then. After five minutes he saw the police car leaving the building. He took a deep breath and dialed a number.

  “That was one heck of questioning. You were really great out there,” Robert said in admiration while looking at the road. “It’s a shame that we did not make any headway though.”

  “Well, it was quite an informative discussion, I feel,” Kiara said. “I need one thing from you. Can you check his phone records? I need to know who he made calls to after we left.”