Clint Faraday Collection C: Murder in Motion Collector's Edition (13 page)

The lawyer was a local firm. The bank used
was Citicorps in Panama’ and LA International Trust Reserve in the
states. That, at least, made it fairly certain the main connection
was there.

Clint thought for a bit, then sighed. He went
to Martin, Martin, Strent and Arauz, Abogados, and talked with
Lorenzo Martin. He handled the transfers and so forth and knew
about the murder. He would cooperate as much as was legal. He
didn’t know much past that a man had come with Dickerson with a
certified check from the states that he had taken his fees from
when they paid for the property. He had a copy of the check in the
files, no one said anything about not showing it to the police,
Clint represented the police and had a court order proving it.

It was just a cashier’s check. There wasn’t
any signature or mention who it came from. It was for one million
dollars. Martin had arranged for direct deposit transfer in
Citicorp Bank in David with his fees taken out the moment the
transfer was cleared. It’s three days wait for a certified
cashier’s check from the states. The transfer cost them $3,400.

Clint wrote down the number of the check,
thanked Martin and went back to the police station. Sergio couldn’t
get information from any bank in LA.

Clint called Manny and gave him the number.
It was less than twenty minutes later when Manny called and said
the check was bought by a large company with an account there. It
may be an Italian company. Napoli Diversified.

Clint went home, fixed dinner, cleaned up and
went back into town. Manny called and said, “Arno Napoli has a
company in LA that doesn’t seem to have a product or service on the
market, yet it takes in several million per year. They pay taxes on
that much. My dead ends keep running into dead ends on that company
and Arno.”

They chatted a bit, then Clint rung off. He
knew a lot now, but not what he needed.

Clint saw Franconi sitting in the parque
talking to a girl. He went by and said, “Good evening. I see I’m
your new job.”

Franconi laughed. “Yes. You have some very
damned dangerous and influential people busting their asses trying
to keep you from finding out who they are.”

“
Tell
Arno I know who he is. There’s no way to keep that much money from
getting attention.”

Franconi laughed again and saluted. Clint
went to the Toro Loco for a couple of cold Balboas and some
mingling, then went home. He didn’t quite know where to go with
this now. He had to discover what was going on with Dickerson and
company. Knowing who he had something on didn’t help a lot if you
didn’t know what it was.

It was time to consider different angles on
this thing. Why Panamá? Why not the islands near Panamá City? That
was where the ostentation wouldn’t be out of place. Why not Rio?
That was the kind of place they would fit a bit better than
anywhere in Panamá. Islands? There were some hundreds of them where
those people would fit better, though the type wouldn’t fit well
anywhere.

Was that stupid circus act for some reason?
Why make yourselves unpopular to the point no one would question if
you got knocked over?

Looked at that way, they didn’t come – they
were sent. Somebody wanted them where they could be eliminated
without a lot of comment or investigation.

Take it on: they were sent to where they
could be removed, but sending them cost one hell of a lot of money.
That left only one logical reason. Blackmail. They had the
“insurance” with them. They probably also had it spread around with
some system where it would be delivered to someone or some
organization in the case where they were knocked over.

So. When whatever part Lesterinni had in it
was neutralized he was eliminated as a problem here where there was
the chance that, done right, it wouldn’t be investigated much.

No one could take that chance. His killer was
one of them. That left that they were set up in a way they could be
gotten rid of. It still didn’t add up.

Clint was going to have to meet the others.
He knew the Dickersons well enough that he could say they had a
degree of fear that told him they didn’t have any connection with
his murder. Directly. All of them were connected.

He went to town and found Franconi at the
Golden Grill. He asked for a minute and was waved into a seat. “So.
Which one of them did Lesterinni?” he asked.

“
You
don’t think it was me?”

“
Not a
chance. Messy, which you’re not and unprofessional, which you’re
not.”

“
I think
Lucerne, but it could be Herman.”

“
You have
a clue what it’s about? Other than the obvious. I mean what they
base the blackmail on.”

He didn’t blink. He shook his head.

“
They’ve
gone a long time without drawing attention to themselves. This was
a big blunder and I think Arno, at least, knows that.”

He nodded and replied, “There’s no
‘them’.”

Clint nodded and bought them both Balboas.
They chatted for half an hour or so, then Clint headed back home.
He called Manny and told him what he thought. Manny agreed.

“
Oh. One
other little item I’ve learned. We can stop referring to
them.”

“
Them
who?”

“
It’s
‘him’, not ‘them’.”

“
Sure?”

“
Pretty
much.”

“
Then
he’s going to get the investigation he set this up to
avoid.”

“
I think
so. I want to know what this is about. I think Panamá’s being used
because there’s something here.”

“
Laundering,” Manny said. “Panamá makes that scene easy with
the offshores and so forth.”

“
Maybe
not laundering. Just the fact that he has those offshores. I wish I
knew even enough to get some information as to how much – in a
general sense.”

“
It’ll be
big.”

“
I think
so.”

Private
Talks

He had a direction if it was the wrong one.
He still had to meet the others. Frieda Herman and Frank Lucerne.
That would leave Julia Bianco to complete the roster at that house.
Clint got in his boat and headed out to Bastimentos. Maybe he could
make one of them slip so he would know who butchered
Lesterinni.

The whole bunch were on the dock arguing with
the officer there. Dickerson saw Clint coming in and called that
the damned cops wouldn’t let them take a trip over to David for a
couple of days.

“
A couple
of days? You have enough luggage stacked up there to go to David
for twenty years,” Clint replied. “I’ll try to clear this up so you
can skip, but you won’t get far if you run. Where would you
go?”

“
I don’t
think we have to worry about whoever killed Danny,” Frieda Herman
said. “He brought it on himself. He would actually go into town by
himself! These people hate us! He knew it was
dangerous!”

“
Nobody
from Bastimentos killed him,” Clint said sourly. “I have to talk
with you, all of you. Privately.”

“
You
ain’t talking to none of me!” Dickerson spat. “I said all I
know!”

“
Okay!
Your choice!” Clint replied. “When you want this cleared up to
where you can get off the island let me know.”

“
Hey!”
Dickerson yelled.

Clint waved and started his engine and
dropped it into reverse.

“
Wait!
What the holy
hell
!” Dickerson
wailed. “I only meant I don’t know nothing! I ain’t got nothing
I
can
tell you!”

“
Get off
the attitude or you’ll be here until you die of old age – if any of
you live to be old.”

“
We’ll
talk to you if we have to,” Catherine said defeatedly. “I can’t
stay cooped up here much longer. I’m going stir crazy! All the TV
has is in Spanish. There’s not even any good music or anything on
the radio. I can’t
stand
this much
longer!”

“
I don’t
know what you need, but I’ll give it a go,” Frank Lucerne said.
“Walk around the place and talk or the boathouse?”

“
I can
fish off the dock here. I like to fish,” Dickerson said. “Everbody
else can go away for two minutes while I tell you everything I
know.”

“
We all
like to fish,” Julia agreed. “That’s one of the main reasons we
agreed, uh, why we came here.”

“
We can
go out in my boat and fish while we talk,” Clint suggested. “Right
around the point there are some coral heads and the fishing’s
really good.”

Julia didn’t say anything. She went into the
boathouse and came out with a tackle box and a rod and reel. She
climbed into the boat and said, “Drive on, Jeeves!”

Clint grinned and backed out. He went around
the point and anchored between two colorful coral heads. They could
see the mangrove and yellowtail snapper around the reef. They
baited and dropped their lines.

“
Which
one of you offed Danny?” he asked bluntly.

“
God! I
wish I knew! I wish I knew
why
!”

“
What do
you have on Napoli?”

She studied him for a few seconds. “I have
some pictures of him with people he definitely doesn’t want to be
seen around. It could cause all kind of problems for him with
another bunch. They’re digital and printed. The pictures. They’re
in a place where nobody will see them as long as nobody bugs me or
... anything.”

“
They
found how to stop whatever Danny had. It put all of you in danger.
One or more of you knocked him over.”

“
Probably. It wasn’t me.” She got a bite and fought a large
corvel into the boat. She asked Clint if they ate them here. They
didn’t where she came from. Alabama, right above Pensacola,
Florida. She grew up there until she was 17.

Clint told her how to prepare them so they
were delicious. He told her to bleed them while they were alive so
the oils in the blood wouldn’t ruin the meat. She took a fileting
knife from he tackle box to cut off the tail like he suggested and
hung it over the side.

He caught a snapper and threw it back. He
said he had plenty in his freezer.

They went back to the dock. Frank Lucerne was
waiting with his gear and got in the boat. Clint went to a spot not
far from the first and anchored. Lucerne had much the same answers
as Julia. He was from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and had gone to
Hollywood to be an actor.

“
I was
always the type the women go for and thought that would make me a
star in a week. I was an idiot! I worked in a restaurant and as a
meatcutter to eat. Good thing my Pops was a butcher. I had a trade.
I did get in a couple of flicks, but they were mostly just hotrods
and ass. I was somebody the women flirted with. They could show off
their tits and asses with me.”

Clint had seen the type in those movies. No
talent, just another prop for background.

Frank caught two snapper. He said this was a
good idea because each one of them could catch their own supper. He
didn’t delude himself into thinking they were going anywhere soon.
They wouldn’t have made it out of the country and would just make
themselves look guilty. He wasn’t bothered by the murder much. He
never did like Lesterinn. They didn’t have much in common.

“
What do
you have on Napoli?” Clint asked. Lucerne looked shocked for a
second, then grinned. “Nothing he can stop. It’s all up to him if
it stays with me.”

“
How did
the bunch of you get together? Screw Napoli club?”

“
Sort of.
He was a little worried because we all had something and didn’t
even know each other. He said we could find a place somewhere where
he could keep tabs on us and he would give us each a million
dollars. He named a few places he said were like paradise and we
went to a place in Mexico, then Nicaragua, then here. He knew we
all liked fishing and just sent us where the fishing was good and
the place was really nice. We really like it here, but we don’t
fit. Henry and Danny are the worst. I can get along anywhere, but
he started it so the people don’t like us and I can’t change their
ideas. Frieda and I can get along. The others are what we call
rednecks and think they can order anyone around they like because
they’re millionaires. It don’t work here. Catherine has an attitude
and tries to flirt with the guys, but that won’t cut it. They as
much as tell her to fuck herself if she wants to fuck.”

“
That’s
about what I figured.” Clint went back and picked up Frieda. Much
the same. She had audio CDs and memory sticks. The way they kept
the information made it really bad for Napoli if anything happened
to her.

She caught a black sea bass. She agreed with
Frank that they could all catch their own supper. They didn’t cook
for each other except sometimes her and Frank, who wasn’t a bad
guy.

She cleaned the fish right there and threw
the guts, bones and fins overboard. She was fast and made very good
filets with minimal waste.

The Dickersons wanted to come together. Clint
agreed and said he knew they had their story worked out together so
nothing would be lost. He wasn’t going to put up with the arrogant
asshole act.

They were subdued and scared. They were
afraid Napoli had sent someone to kill them off one at the time.
He’d seen a man who he saw with Napoli in LA walking around right
there in Bocas Town.