Square Snapper (Detective Inspector Burgess) (20 page)

“Mornin’ Pamela,” he greeted as he lowered his umbrella, leaving a puddle in the common area and laughing as she ducked to avoid the spray of droplets as he removed his rain jacket on the way to his office. He cast a quick glance back at her to see what sort of a mood she was in.

“Good morning, sir,” she replied breezily. Pamela was always mindful of his rank when in the office.

Good. All must have gone well last evening with Archie.
Fetching himself a cup of coffee from the machine in the kitchen, he settled down to read the post and his e-mails.

He came across a manila envelope resting close to the bottom of his mail. His name was written in a childish hand and it had obviously been hand delivered. He took his letter opener and slit it with care. Inside was a piece of lined paper probably torn from a notebook.

“You in trouble. They coming for you. Please believe me,” he read. The note had been painstakingly written. He could see the imprint of the heavy hand where the pen had pressed the paper, giving him reason to suspect that the writer was either poorly educated or a child. The simple words had started his pulse racing. For some reason, he found himself taking this seriously. The warning felt like it came from a reluctant friend as scared as he was. Pamela looked up in alarm as she saw him race out of the office towards the main reception area.

“You see who delivered this envelope?” Burgess’s voice sounded tight even to himself and the officer on duty at the front desk immediately sprang to attention.

“Yessir, a young school boy dropped it off about half an hour ago.”

“Can you describe him?”

“Yessir, brown skinned…about thirteen or so… big for his age - around five eight and 140 pounds. Hamilton Institute uniform; short hair parted to the side. He didn’t make eye contact or say anything, so can’t help you much more than that.”

“You did great. That’s about all I need to know. Thanks.” Burgess had a pretty good idea that the note came from Deon’s young cousin. No doubt he was holding money for the dog fights again and had heard something. He wished the boy could get away from that toxic environment.

Back at the office, he reached for the phone and placed two calls.

Archie came in as he hung up from the second call.

“Wassup bro’?” Archie could tell from Burgess’s body language that something was amiss and Pamela had shot him a warning glance when he came in.

Burgess handed him the note. “What do you make of this, Arch. Should I take it seriously? I’m probably an easy target at the moment because of all the press.”

Archie read the note through several times. He could not help but respond with his heart and not his head.

“Dunno, Buddy. Something about this makes me want to believe it. Can’t really put my finger on it, but it seems to be sincere. Call me stupid, but I don’t think you should ignore it.”

“Are you kidding? With the way you snore?” Burgess tried to lighten things up. “Thanks, Archie. No, I can take care of myself and Nana will worry if you start insisting on staying over at her place. Besides, this may just be meant to frighten. At least, if they’re really sending people after me, we know we’re on the right track. Somebody is obviously running scared.”

Archie was still concerned. “With all the press we’ve been getting, maybe it’s just a crank. A lot of people don’t like the police. Let’s prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”

“I agree, bro’.” Burgess tried to look reassuring. Inwardly, he was more concerned about harm to Nana than to himself. He was pleased that he would have Officer Max to keep an eye on her. Now, how to broach the subject without frightening her? He was beginning to formulate a plan and hoped Nana would not hold it against him.

Chapter 39

The Captain was feeling unusually stressed. The news from Frenchie had upset his sense of invulnerability. For the past few years he had moved untouched and unknown in the shadows. Now with the capture of the Jamaican and the shipment of tainted heroin, he began to understand the meaning behind the expression “house of cards.” He was wondering if everything was going to come tumbling down around him.

He sipped his coffee while he read the morning paper. His wife was busy putting away breakfast dishes and knew better than to engage him in small talk until after he had finished the paper. She had noticed that he had not been sleeping well recently and had been short with her on several occasions. Normally a doting husband and father, he seemed distracted and distant. She knew better, however, than to pry. She had an inkling that he engaged in deals that would not bear close scrutiny and preferred to remain ignorant of where some of their income came from. His passion for boats had made him a good broker, buying and selling yachts for the wealthy and he had done well with the business. It had also allowed him to mix with those in the elite society of Bermuda, both Bermudian and expatriate. Sometimes they crossed over, but it was hard for an expatriate to be truly accepted by the old Bermuda families. As a Bermudian, it was much easier for him to penetrate the cliques of the expatriates. They enjoyed a good social life and all the benefits of a wealthy lifestyle. She had known when she married him that he was ambitious but would never have believed they would have come so far. The only member of the family who had gone further was his cousin. He headed up one of the big reinsurance companies and was being given some prestigious award. She knew that he and his wife hobnobbed with the glitterati of Bermuda society. So did they, but not to the same extent. She had always been a little jealous of that. As she finished putting away the dishes, she hoped that whatever it was that was bothering her husband would soon be resolved. This new man was a stranger to her. She wanted her old husband back. She was a woman who needed a lot of attention. She watched him as he got up and went into his study.
I wonder what you
’
re up to.

The Captain, for his part, was tired of reading about the drugs and murders in the papers. The whole thing had gone so awry. Who would have thought that their lucrative, smooth-running operation could so suddenly come off the rails? He fervently hoped they could put things right without any more mistakes. The more he thought about it, the more he felt the Jamaican was at the root of his problems. He was the only link to him.
If we
’
re going to take out the detective, what difference if we take out the Jamaican? Might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb. Wasn
’
t that how the expression went?
Should he mention it to his cousin? He began to muse about how they could get to the Jamaican while he was in the hospital before he had a chance to talk any further. Or was it too late? He began to feel that the Jamaican had probably already made a deal and had spilled as much information as he had.

He got on to his computer and began moving money around. He had bank accounts in several countries and in several currencies. As he took care of business, he began to feel panicky. What if they raid my house and take my computer? Suddenly, he made up his mind. It was time to get off the island until things cooled down. He got on the internet and began to see what flights would take him to Saint Lucia. He could always tell his wife he was going to Fort Lauderdale to look at a yacht for a client. Yes, it was time to clear out for a while. The only thing was that he would have to stay for the dinner for his cousin. It would look very strange if he was not there to see him receive his award. No, he would have to fly out right after that. The decision made, he felt much calmer.

Chapter 40

“Leon, just who is this?” Nana, hand on hip, was taking a good look at Burgess’s escort before opening the screen door.

“Nana, can you open up? This is Officer Max I was telling you about. Actually, it’s really Officer Maxine. Max, shake hands!”

The enormous German Shepherd dutifully raised her paw.

“Oh, what good manners!” Nana was clearly impressed but still a little uncomfortable in the presence of the officer from the Canine Division. “Is this the officer who needs a place to stay for a few days?”

“That’s right, Nana. Her owner has to take a trip for a few days and asked if we could look after Max. She’s no trouble and it will be nice company for you.” Burgess hated lying to his grandmother and had wrestled with the decision not to tell her why he had “seconded” Officer Max to guard duty.

“Leon, you’ve been acting strangely since yesterday and I had a call this morning from Coral Cement for directions to the house to deliver a load of gravel. Now, are you going to tell me what’s going on or do I have to beat it out of you? I know when you’re up to something and I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

Officer Max went over to the corner of the kitchen and lay down with her head on her paws, obviously recognizing that a family dispute was about to take place. She then quietly closed her eyes and went “off duty” leaving the Detective Inspector to sort things out with his grandmother.

Burgess’s heart sank. There was no putting anything over on Nana. She was just too smart. It was time to sit down with her and tell her what the situation was. He hoped that it would not upset her. His subterfuge had only been to avoid her any worry. He knew she would understand that his motives had been noble. However, nothing was worse than a full-on row with Nana.

They both sat at the kitchen table with their coffee and pie while Burgess recounted the events from beginning to end. Nana was fascinated at the depth of the investigation and obviously concerned for the safety of her grandson. At the end of the conversation, Nana was totally on board with the idea of a gravel border around the sides of the house and reluctantly agreed to house Officer Max. Her only protest was that she felt Burgess should have the dog with him at home, in case anybody tried to break in.

“Alright, honey. Now leave that nice boy out of this. At least I don’t need to take Archie for a walk. Which makes me think… I’ll need you to take Officer Max for walks for me. I don’t think I can walk fast or far enough to keep such a big dog exercised.”

Burgess sighed. Nana was now going to give him the third degree. There was no escaping it this time. She looked at him and giggled her irrepressible giggle. When Nana laughed, it took years off her. Just then, they heard a honk and, looking out the window, saw a huge dump truck full of gravel coming down the driveway. Burgess secretly gave thanks for the excellent timing of Coral Cement.

Chapter 41

The Forensic Computer Lab was everything the police station was not: light, airy, high tech with a lot of glass and computer equipment. They even had an espresso machine.
Bunch of sissies are sitting around drinking cappuccinos, for Chrissake.
Gonzalez could not believe the contrast and had to bite his tongue so as not to say something inappropriate.

Contrary to his expectations, Aaron Jacobs was no computer nerd. He wore jeans and a tee shirt under his white lab coat. He wore his hair long, curling at his collar and looked more like a teen soap star than an FCL technician. In fact, he reminded him a little of Joey on “Friends.” He was ready to judge him like Joey too, until the young computer expert began to explain what he had been doing.

“The boy’s a brain,” he whispered to Hofstein.

Jacobs was in full stride. “There’s a lot of stuff in code. I have come to the conclusion that it’s one of those codes that you can’t break unless you know what book he’s referring to. You know, they might refer to a page number, sentence number and word number of a specific book to indicate the word. When you searched the lab, were there any books there that you could perhaps send over? What we need to do is match a book in the lab with, say, a book at the dealer’s office or home. I know it’s a long shot, but it’s the only thing I can think of at the moment. Look at all of this, I think it may be routes, countries, ship names, timetables etc. of shipments but I have no way of figuring them out without the key.”