Evil in the 1st House (3 page)

Chapter Four

Waiting was the hardest thing for Lowell to do. Once he had a lead he could follow it like a bloodhound tracking a coyote. But now he felt stuck on the front porch waiting for Mort's information.

But he was also working on a case involving the embezzlement of a company's retirement fund. With the twins' inquiry on hold, he took out that folder and looked it over.

It was a particularly nasty business. Someone had absconded with the retirement money that sixty-three people relied on. He carried the charts of the three main suspects over to the turtle tank. Buster perched on the rock waiting for him. She always was more interested in his astrological discussions than Keaton. He began reading the charts out loud.

“It's called The Happy Snappy Marshmallow Company, but I don't see anything happy about it. Most of these people have worked their entire lives for this company, putting away a little at a time for decades to ensure a decent old age. Now the money is gone. Even if I can identify the culprit and we can prove culpability, there's a chance they may never get the money back if it has been hidden or moved offshore. Time is more of an issue here than I first realized.”

He shuffled through the charts. “According to the president of the company, three main suspects had access to the accounts. Each has an afflicted chart in some ways.” He held out one paper to the turtle. “Here is the bookkeeper's chart. The ruler of her 2nd house of money and values is in opposition to Neptune, the most confusing and unreliable planet. She has never had a clear sense of reality when it comes to what's important, and she may have a gambling problem or some other spending issues. Her attitude toward money and possessions is convoluted and she is very capable of deception.”

Buster's gaze remained fixed on Lowell as he spoke.

He turned to the next chart. “This is the vice-president's horoscope. He has a Moon-Pluto square and Mars conjunct Saturn, both difficult and unsociable aspects. While I wouldn't want to be friends with this person, I don't think it's the chart of a thief. What do you think?”

Buster seemed to shrug and shake her head.

“I agree. I don't think it was the vice-president either.” He raised another chart. “Here's the third suspect, a junior partner with access to the accounts as well. Also an afflicted chart with Neptune in square to the Sun and Mars. He lacks self-confidence and can often be confused. But he doesn't have the ego or willpower to accomplish a theft of this magnitude. How this company ever lasted so long with this mishmash of neurotics is a mystery.”

He wrote a few notes on each chart, and then announced his decision. “It's the bookkeeper.”

Buster nodded, albeit slowly.

“Good.” He slipped the charts back in the folder and sat. “Now all we have to do is prove it.”

Buster didn't move. She was a more effective consultant than investigator.

He hit the intercom button. “Sarah, get me Buddy Ferguson at The Happy Snappy Marshmallow Company.”

She giggled. “Sorry, Boss, the name just cracks me up.”

“Well, try to contain your amusement.”

In a moment his phone rang. “Mr. Ferguson?”

“Buddy, please. Everyone calls me Buddy.”

“Okay, Buddy. I believe I've narrowed down the suspects to one. But now it's a matter of proof and finding the money before it disappears, if it's not already too late.”

“Who is it?”

“Your bookkeeper.”

Buddy let out a long exhale. “Oh no, not Harriet. She's been with me for more than a decade. Couldn't be. Are you certain?”

“Pretty much,” said Lowell. “And she's probably been planning this for some time. Is she still working for you?”

“Oh, yes. She comes in most days exactly on time. Although she occasionally works from home.” Buddy took a deep breath. “How can you know for sure? You haven't even met her.”

“This is what I do. I often interpret the charts of people I never meet. I don't think she was working alone. This is too much money to move. She must have someone in a bank or other financial institution who could handle that large a transaction without creating suspicion. The ruler of her 3rd house of siblings and relatives is heavily aspected, which means there may be a family member directly involved in this affair. Is there someone in her family in a position to move this kind of money?”

“Her brother is the vice-president of a regional bank in Georgia.”

Lowell nodded to himself. “That's where you'll find the trail. Act quickly or the money will be transferred offshore. I suspect that her brother will give notice, and they both will disappear forever. What's the brother's name, and what bank does he work for?”

“Southeastern Mutual. His name is John Collins.”

Lowell wrote down the information. He'd have Mort find the brother's birth date and then look at the charts anew.

Buddy was upset, though his voice kept its melodic lilt. “I'm going to confront her right now.”

Lowell tugged on his ponytail. “I wouldn't do that if I were you. You'll alert her to your suspicions and force her to move more quickly. Instead, contact the FBI. Let them know what's going on and ask for an audit on the bank.”

“We don't want this made public. Our company is a family business with a squeaky clean image to uphold. Publicity would be a disaster.”

“More so than your retirees losing their pensions?”

Buddy clicked his tongue against his teeth. “Damn it. No, I suppose not. Okay, I'll contact the Feds. You'll stay on top of it too, won't you?”

“Yes,” said Lowell, “until the money is either recovered or obviously lost. My associates and I will follow up on leads and do what we can to help.”

After Lowell hung up, he looked at the bookkeeper's chart again. He was quite sure she was the one. The 3rd house of siblings was ruled by an afflicted Jupiter in her chart showing the lack of restraint or boundaries in her sibling. The brother's chart would tell him more.

***

At about three in the afternoon, Sarah buzzed. “Mort's on line two and he sounds excited.”

Lowell picked up the phone and Mort started right in. “We're just leaving the hospital in New Brunswick. You might need this info ASAP. Found a sympathetic worker in the records department and she made me a copy of Williamson's original birth certificate.”

“Good work. How did you manage it?”

Mort chuckled. “I said I worked for an insurance company and had a large check to deliver, and needed proof of Williamson's birth. The woman was suspicious at first, but when I told her there was a hundred-dollar cash reward for any information, she was most helpful.”

Lowell smiled. “So what have you got?”

“Born March 4th, 1965, confirming the date I gave you.”

“Time?”

“10:03 a.m. eastern standard time.”

“Where are you now?”

“We're heading back to the office. At the moment we're on the Jersey Turnpike and it looks like we'll get stuck at the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. But I'll crank up the Stones, so it's fine. And I'll work on the wife's information from here.”

“Let me know when you're here.” Lowell was about to hang up. “Oh, I made some headway into The Happy Snappy Marshmallow Company case. We're going to have to move on that soon if we want any chance of recovering the missing funds.”

“It's the bookkeeper, isn't it?”

“You're right on the money, Mort. Listen, stay on the line while I punch in the good doctor's birth information and see if it jibes with what you feel.”

“Will do, Boss.”

Lowell entered Williamson's information into his Solar Fire program. “He's a strange duck. The birth time gives him a four-degree Gemini rising. This is quite a chart, especially for someone in the medical profession. He has five planets and Chiron in Pisces, ruler of medicine, as well as music and fine art. I wouldn't be surprised if Dr. Williamson plays an instrument or paints, and probably quite well.”

Lowell paused to review the chart in his hand. He smoothed the thinning hair on the top of his head, and patted the ponytail. He didn't like to think he was a vain man, but he knew otherwise.

He continued. “Neptune, ruler of medicine, is in his 6th house of employment in opposition to a 12th house Jupiter. Great potential in any Neptune-ruled areas. Definitely the chart of someone who belongs in the health field. However, those Pisces planets are in opposition to Uranus, Pluto, and Mars in a grouping in Virgo. The opposition of Pluto shows that Dr. Williamson has a strong personality, with a need for power. He is controlling, unbending, and capable of great deception. He's tremendously willful and plays by his own rules. The opposition of Uranus and Mars to the Sun indicates an explosive nature, possibly violent. He doesn't handle authority well, unless
he
is the authoritative figure.”

Mort had taken it all in, the new information jibing with his own instinct upon meeting the man in the office. “I picked up a bad temper when I first saw him. And that briefcase! He's a piece of work.”

“Undoubtedly. He has the capacity for outbursts and even violence. This is a difficult person to deal with on a day-to-day basis. And his idea of what's ethical may be questionable.”
Hence a million dollars cash to do his bidding,
thought Lowell.

“Does this help you locate his wife and child?”

“Indirectly,” said Lowell. “I still need the mother's chart to do the job. But Williamson's chart will show me things about his wife through his 7th house, and the children through his 5th house. When I get the wife's chart, I'll look at all the different connections and then add it up.”

“So what do you think?”

“All this confirms what I felt from the man when I met him. There's something very powerful and hidden in his personality, as the opposition of Pluto to the Sun shows quite clearly.”

“I had the same reaction when I met him. He's not quite what he appears to be. And it would take a personality such as this to leave one million dollars cash with a total stranger and not even want a receipt.”

Silence on the phone.

“Mort, we need to find the wife ASAP.”

Chapter Five

Sarah buzzed. “Mort again. He's on a roll.”

“I found Williamson's wife's birth date.”

“Well done, Mort. Not that I ever doubted you. Any difficulty?”

“Not as much as I had with the good doctor, but still most information about both of their lives since their marriage seems to have been wiped out.”

“Strange.”

“Definitely.”

“How did you find it?”

“I found her maiden name and used that. It was simple to access what I needed from the time before she met Williamson.”

“Seems easy enough. So why didn't Williamson send me this information?”

“Maybe he's testing you.”

“With so much at stake? I doubt it.” Lowell turned to his computer. “Tell me what you have.”

“She was born on September 11th, 1969 at 7:29 a.m. in New York City.”

“Good. Now I can really get to work.”

Lowell entered the information into Solar Fire. He looked over the chart and made a few notes.

“What do you see?” asked Mort.

Lowell projected the chart onto the flat-screen TV and began. “Gloria's natal chart reveals a complex person. She's a Virgo with the Sun in the 12th house of the unconscious, where much is hidden. This house is ruled by Pisces and is considered the house of self-undoing, frustration and confinement. It's also called the house of karma, where the lesson is one of service or suffering. People with this placement frequently prefer to work in the background and out of the intrusive eye of the public. She's also a dark of the moon child born right before the New Moon. Much of her life is spent trying to complete things and tie up loose ends. With the Sun, Moon, the south node, and Pluto all in the 12th house, it's difficult for her to express herself at times, and she probably has a bad self-image. The Sun rules the father in the chart. This placement indicates a powerful, but distant, father who could intimidate her. Yet she is drawn to powerful men who remind her of him.

“Mercury conjuncts Jupiter in the 1st house. This is usually an optimistic aspect. She's intelligent and can be quite charming and outgoing when she feels sure of herself. Unfortunately she doesn't often feel that self-confident. Self-doubt and insecurity, strong aspects of her personality, dampen that optimism. She's much more intelligent than people expect and her mind moves much quicker than she often lets on.”

Mort smiled to himself as he recognized a kindred spirit.

“Mars squares those Virgo planets, which could make her even less sure of herself and at times quite fearful. She has a temper, but probably hides it, holds it back, because of that Sun and Moon 12th house placement. Mars rules her 3rd house of speech, and it's difficult for her to express herself, even with Mercury conjunct Jupiter, which is usually very positive for communication. Neptune rules her 7th house of relationships, which shows that she will often play the victim in her one-on-one relationships and she's drawn to men who can be deceitful and remind her of her father. It's very difficult for Gloria to stand up for herself, especially to the men in her life.

“With Chiron in the 7th house of relationships, marriage would be difficult, and she would be inclined not to divorce. She would rather stay in an uncomfortable relationship and suffer, than leave.

“The Virgo Moon may very well be her saving grace. While the aspects to the Moon are difficult, Virgo energy tends to think rather than feel. Since the Moon rules the emotions, normally we would like to see it in a more sympathetic sign. But not in this case. Its placement in Virgo allows her to intellectualize her emotions and to create some distance between what is happening and how she feels about it. This is something the chart indicates she would need in order to balance out the rest of her personality. She will respond to emotional situations through her thoughts, not just forming a gut reaction. And that, in some ways, helps her to cope.”

When he was done he put the chart in his folder and turned off the TV.

“Mort, we're going to have to find her quickly. Call when you're back.”

“Will do.” He hung up.

Lowell then printed out about a dozen other charts: synastry and composites between the mother, her husband, and her twins.

The evening ahead promised tedious work that Lowell hated. He had spent much of the past three decades staring at astrology charts of one sort or another. Becoming a private detective was supposed to alleviate the boredom. Sometimes it did. Sometimes it didn't. Like now.

Sarah came in a little before six carrying a shoe box. “I'm leaving in a few minutes. I got a date.” She smiled broadly. “I met him in my acting class.”

“Is he nice?”

“I think so. I don't know him very well yet. But I'll get his birth information before the night's out.”

Lowell laughed. “I'm sure you will. Where are you going?”

“A movie premier. He's got a friend in SAG who gets free tickets.” She opened the shoe box and held out a pair of silver glittered shoes with three-inch heels. “What do you think? They're Charlotte Olympia. Cost a fortune.” She sat in the chair and put them on. Then she stood up and walked around like a shoe model.

“They're very nice. But don't you have enough shoes? From what you tell me you've got about ninety pairs.”

Sarah shook her head. “There's no such thing as enough shoes.” She giggled.

“Have a nice time. And tomorrow, if you're still interested in this guy, we'll peek up his skirt a little.”

“Will you be alright here alone? Maybe you should go home to the townhouse. This could be a very crazy week and you'll need to be rested.”

He took her hands in his. “Thank you for caring. But I'll be fine. I've got work to catch up on, and I can do it better here.”

“Okay, Boss. I'll see you in the morning.”

Lowell ordered dinner from Louie's and settled in for a night in the office. When he was enmeshed in a case he would sometimes stay put for days to avoid distractions. The leather couch was a pull-out with a king-sized orthopedic mattress. His private bathroom contained a full-sized tub and shower, and a small but complete modern kitchen was hidden behind one of the doors. He opened the couch, popped a bottle of Beck's, and worked until almost three. Two more Beck's and the last of the eggplant parm from Louie's. Then he took a hot bath and went to sleep.