Clint Faraday Mysteries collection A Muddled Murders Collector's Edition (54 page)

After an hour Manolo called to say they had
found something in the medallion that they wanted a thousand to
hand over.

“
Tell
them a hundred bucks and they won’t end up on the wrong end of a
very violent mugging themselves,” Clint suggested wryly. “That’s
what they’re used to. Any idea what they found?”

“
I think
a key and a location. Something on that order. You realize if you
make the threat you have to follow through if they don’t come
across?”

“
Oh,
yeah. Tell them it’s the key to a place where he meets a girlfriend
he doesn’t care for his wife to know about.”

“
They
know he pays whores.”

“
But they
don’t know if he wants both his wife and girlfriend to not know
that?” Clint said. Manolo said it was worth a try.

Clint sighed and headed for the Hotel Bocas
del Toro for a bit to eat, then he’d wander around until he got the
word that the key was in hand. He didn’t have a clue as to what it
was about, but if Orison and Rasmussen were so concerned it had to
be something.

“
It came
down to me shrugging and telling Jaime that he could expect to be
spending time in the hospital. The person he took the crap from is
in with the Russian mafia, a group not known to be tolerant of
anybody messing with their turf. They own the clinic Orison
runs.

“
There’s
a big Polish guy we use sometimes who was in Panamá so he came over
and I was seen talking with him. I acted like I had ‘the problem’
in hand where they could hear. I said I’d let him know if
negotiations fell through. He said I have until four. He has to get
back to Panamá. It was all in English, but they speak English. He
put on a Ruskie accent for me. I’m going to tell Jaime he has less
than three hours to get that medallion and ALL it’s contents to me
or I won’t be responsible. I’ll give him ten bucks for his trouble
and that’s IT!”

“
Think
it’ll work?”

“
If you
ever saw Mikail you wouldn’t bother asking.” They chatted a minute,
then Clint said he’d come down to San Blas again if it was
necessary. Manolo said he’d put the thing in a box and send it Air
Panamá.

Clint went to his house.

“
The
medallion and all its contents are on their way,” Manolo reported.
“I gave Jaime ten bucks for his trouble and told him if he ever
messes with another stooge of the Ruskies I won’t get him out of
it.

“
The
location is in Santiago. I think it’s a safe deposit box. I sent it
to your name and passport number through Air Panamá. You can pick
it up at the airport there. I assumed you’ll want to go to try the
key somewhere there yourself.”

“
What
location in Santiago?”

“
That’s
the rub. The location is simply HBDT Santiago. There’s nothing
else.”

“
I can
find it. I think I know where it is. I stayed at the Bocas del Toro
Hotel several times and they have safe a few deposit boxes. I’ll
have to take the bus to David and change to Santiago there. I can
be there by midnight if the buses are getting through now. They
were stopped for a couple of days because the storm took out the
road. I have to hurry.

“
Thanks,
Manolo. I know this isn’t in your job specs, but it’s a great
help.

“
Oh!
Marko had a man get pictures of all the art in a few of those
people’s houses. Name’s Yuli. He knows you and will get you the
disk with the pics. He said there’s some jewelry that’s much too
expensive to be there, too. He thinks you plan to use it to put
pressure on them to supply your friends a little more dependably.
Marko told him the supply was getting to be a bit too sporadic when
somebody offered more for the product than they agreed on. They DID
have an agreement and they intend to see it followed to the
letter.

“
Nothing
at Knowles place of interest to you. He said there wasn’t anything
at that place that was beyond his budget.”

“
Thanks!
Know who else he got pics from?”

“
He’s in
solid with the Colombian crowd and was in Medellin until yesterday.
He’s on the wrong end from our perspective, but Marko has influence
with them. He’s more than willing to work both ends. He has a
guarantee that no one will ever know he was involved in any way so
make it look like you got the info elsewhere. You know how to work
that.”

“
Done!
Thanks again!” Clint hung up and grabbed a bag to pack for a short
trip to Santiago.

He was damned curious to know what was in
that box!

Depressing
Weather

It was raining in Bocas, in David, in
everywhere in between and now in Santiago. Bummer!

Clint went to the Air Panamá offices where he
showed his ID and got the little package. The medallion was more a
locket and held a key and a slip with the HBTD – Santiago note
inside.

He put on his favorite disguise and carried
the phony ID for it. He would be recognized as maybe an older
relative. His Hanrady disguise.

His next stop was the Hotel Bocas del Toro
where he said he was to get the things from the safe deposit box
that Dr. Rasmussen had. They said there was nothing from any
Rasmussen there. He said it must be in the name of Orison. They
said he had to have the key, which he presented. They brought him a
one foot by one foot by eighteen inch steel lockbox. He opened it
to find a package wrapped in brown paper. He took it and handed the
key to the clerk. He was thinking about staying the night in
Santiago, then thought better of it and headed for David and the
home of Dave in Quiteno. He wouldn’t open the package until he was
there.

Dave was in the mountains and wouldn’t be
back for a week or more because he would go to Bocas for a few days
before bringing plants to establish around the place. There was
food and beer in the fridge. Clint took a shower and warmed up some
chicken soup, then put the package on the table.

There was a thin steel box inside. He didn’t
have a key for it. The hinges were outside, so he drove the pins
out and lifted the lid. There was an envelope, a DVD and packages
of fifty hundred dollar bills each. He counted the packages of
bills and found there was a little less than seven hundred fifty
thousand dollars there.

He checked over the bills. They were good. He
knew what to look for on the counterfeit bills from Colombia. The
envelope was a letter from “F. L.” in California who said he/she
was sending a package by the normal route that was to be handled in
the normal manner. There was a CD included that could be kept in
Panamá as insurance to be sure the packages would continue
yearly.

Who the hell was F. L.?

He turned on the desk comp, booted up and
inserted the DVD. It was almost a documentary of how horse races
were fixed starring Donald and Lawrence Lesley, Frank Lindsay and
the lovely Frieda Helmut. There were others who looked a bit shady,
one they called “Buster” who was obviously the contact man. Landsay
seemed to be talking with Helmut quite a bit when the thing was
made. The rest of the family was in the background at times, but
didn’t seem to have any active role in what was going down. Even
Helmut and Lindsay seemed mostly to just be hanging around. They
would be asked questions they made a point of not quite
understanding and the answers were sometimes so muted that the
words couldn’t be made out. Lawrence, Donald and the rest of the
clan were celebrating but Lindsay was never there at those times.
Frieda always seemed to just be the cook or whatever.

There was a very short bit where Lindsay and
Helmut were at a party with none of the other major players being
there. It was some kind of anniversary or something. Why was that
in there?

Because F. L. was Frieda Lindsay, stupid!

Why hide the fact they were married? Why
avoid each other at work so deliberately? So no one would know they
were the...?

Ah! They were married as a strictly business
arrangement, maybe? That would put either or both of them as the
top dog. He was afraid this was going to happen! A murder or two
that ended up with a lot of stupid tangents! Helmut/Lindsay did not
kill Lawrence and Donald.

Directly? Maybe THEY hired someone?

No. No one but that family were in his room
to commit the murders. Back to square one.

Well, square two or three, but not very far
into the game. Maybe he should go up into the mountains with Dave
and research orchids until this one blew over.

Like it would ever blow over.

What a mood! He got an evil smirk on his face
and called the airline to book a flight back to Bocas the next
morning. Then he sacked out for a few hours, dressed and went into
David and to Las Brasas Restaurante for a very good filet mignon
and a couple of Balboas. He was on his way to the Condor bar when
he got a call from Manny. It seemed that friends Orison and
Rasmussen were in some kind of a panic because someone had used the
lost key to steal the contents of a safe deposit box in
Santiago!

“
How much
was in it?” Manny asked.

“
About
seven and a half hundred mil.”

“
And?”

“
And the
material they had been using to blackmail Lawrence and
Donald.”

“
Know
who?”

“
Frank
and Frieda Lindsay. There was a bit in it that I interpret as
meaning they’re married. That may be ‘way off, but I really don’t
thinks so.”

“
And they
studiously avoid each other, so the marriage is a business
arrangement. I don’t get the advantage.”

Clint laughed. “Why, maybe simply because you
can’t be made to testify against your spouse in a courtroom?”

“
Neat! If
Lawrence and Donald – or any others – get caught you’re the only
ones who can get off Scot free because your testimony can’t be
forced.”

“
But you
can be forced to testify against the others. Like, ‘Oh! Deary ME!
All I know is that he tried to get me to meet some people and I
didn’t want to so he said he’d get even! Oh, golly gee whiz! So
THIS is why! Oh, deary me!’ and a lot of that line.”

“
It can
backfire on you ... and that was the protection Rasmussen and
Orison had against THEM! I’ll bet you a thousand to one that those
two weren’t seen or mentioned on that little program!”

“
Y’got
it! They were on it, but always in an ambiguous situation. They
seemed confused by what was going on around them a lot of the
time.”

They chatted for a few minutes, then Clint
went on to the Condor.

Manny called Clint again in the morning and
informed Clint that Orison and Rasmussen were flying into Bocas del
Toro on the eight o’clock flight. Did he want them to think he was
there all the time?

“
Tell
them I’m at Dave’s place at Dolfin Point,” Clint requested. “I can
call José’ and have him tell them I’ve just gone to Zapatilla, then
will go to Bocas in the afternoon. I’ll take the bus so I can come
across on the water taxi. It would be a dead giveaway to come in at
the airport.”

They discussed the weather and what kinds of
damage had been done. Clint packed up his backpack and went to the
bus to Changuinola. They were a bit past the dam when he saw Dave
and two Indios taking pictures of plants on trees that had slid
down the mountain in a mudslide. They had to wait a few minutes
several times for the road to be cleared enough to pass, but made
it in just under four and a half hours to Almirante. Clint took
Taxi 25 to Bocas Town and requested that they let him off at The
Reef Restaurante. Orison and Rasmussen were staying at the Tropical
Suites. Travis said they’d been trying to find him all day, but he
told them Clint was out fishing or scuba diving somewhere.

Clint went to his house where Judi came over
to inform him that two men had been there four times looking for
him. She told them that Clint was out in a boat somewhere and would
be back today or tomorrow – probably.

“
If you
see them say I’m home.” She was going into town and might run into
them. She chatted a few minutes longer, then flagged down a passing
taxi and headed for town.

“
Why the
hell are they looking for me? Hell, that disguise works like a
charm! Because you talked to them in San Blas and are the only one
from here who even might know anything?

“
Crap!
Now I don’t know what’s happening or why again!

“
So have
a beer – and stop talking to yourself!”

He took a shower and opened a Balboa, then
went to his comp to see what was new in his e-mail. Not a lot.

“
Mr.
Faraday!” Orison called from Clint’s front door. “May we have a
word with you?”

“
A whole
sentence or so. Passe! Passe!”

Rasmussen and Orison came in. They looked
fairly ragged. “What the hell’s wrong with you?!” Clint exclaimed.
“You two look like warmed-over hell!”

“
We lost
some very important material and you are a detective. We hope you
can locate it for us,” Rasmussen said. “A mugging. A puta ... you
know the story. There was a key taken that has been used to open a
safe deposit box in Santiago. We MUST recover that box!”

“
You were
mugged in San Blas, a key was taken for a safe deposit box in
Santiago and was used? Obviously, whoever knew what was in the box.
The two places aren’t close in any wild sense of the word.
Santiago’s halfway or more across Panamá from San Blas.