Baptist DISTINCTIVE: An Adam Mykonos Mystery (The Adam Myknonos Mystries) (11 page)

Chapter
Ten

An hour later Stan had dropped me off at
the Lighthouse and I had brought my better half up to speed. Rita was not sure whether
to laugh or be annoyed over my conversation with Catfish so she went back and
forth on the matter. We drove over to the Fireside Grill located in the Ramada
Plaza about an 1/8 of a mile from Lighthouse and my comics store, which by the
way was named Tir Na nOG
 
which is the
land of eternal youth in old Irish Myth.

Fireside is one of the nicer places in town,
and we had been there once or twice but it was not our regular stomping ground.
If we were not eating at the diner, which in our case was almost like eating at
home, Rita and I preferred to support the downtown restaurants, like Flying Pie
or 28 South.
 
I am a big advocate for
Downtown Hagerstown, and would move the store there in a second if there was
not an older shop run by a nice old hippie type already near the town square

Ryder Mathewson was waiting at a table for
us when we came in. As I pulled the chair out for my wife my cell phone
vibrated.

“Excuse me” I said smiling. I checked the
text it was from Christina “Autopsy reports and forensics are in. Will have
copies sent over to your shop by 10AM.”

“Good news” asked Ryder as he watched my
face.

“Not bad, which may be the best that I can
hope for today.”

He laughed. “I am so glad that the two of
you could join me.”

Rita smiled graciously, my wife is one of
the most beautiful women on earth, as I am happy to tell you and her smile
filled the room. “Thank you for having us. It is always good for me to check
out the competition.”

Ryder chuckled “Well I am not sure how it
stacks up at dinner but I had breakfast here yesterday and at your place this
morning, and yours was better hands down.”

“Thank you.”

I nodded at my wife. “Best cook in town. So
you were here yesterday?”

Ryder nodded “Doug and I had meetings with
Dr. Longstreet concerning the station on Tuesday. And I had some other business
in town, a long term project finally coming though.”

“So you and Hallman were both here Monday
night when this all went down?” I asked.

Ryder smiled. “I was. Doug is from
Tennessee he drove up on Tuesday morning for our afternoon meeting. I was not
going to do that from Boston. And before you ask, nope I don’t have an alibi. I
am afraid I forgot the sound advice that Billy Graham laid down for all men
traveling for business, always have another man with you to avoid the ‘appearance
of evil’.
 
I was alone in my room.”

I shrugged. “I’m sorry; I have to ask these
things. There is a lot going on here I do not understand and most of it circles
around the radio station. I keep trying to figure out who owns what, and what money
is being lost or made.”

“It is rather complicated.” Said Mathewson.
“I’ll tell you what though, let’s us Northern Boys honor a grand old Southern
tradition and enjoy a good meal first and then I’ll answer any questions you
have.”

That was a deal I could not pass up.
 
Dinner was excellent, though my grilled Shrimp
was a tad over cooked.
 
The conversation
began as wide ranging and then, much to the dismay of my wife, narrowed down to
the only real topic of conversation that a Bostonian and a New Yorker can
share, Baseball and the merits of the Soxs and Yanks.
 
Needless to say it was a conversation
dominated, as it should be by the Yankees. Though Ryder may have a different
opinion.

After a fine dessert of key lime pie, I
sipped at my second cup of coffee and said. “So I really am in the dark when it
comes to this whole radio station stuff, can you kind of take me step by step
though the whole thing?”

Ryder leaned back in his chair and took a
drink of his tea, he’s from Boston what can you do, and said:

 
“Let
me take you way back to the beginning. As you may know Josh, Ivy and I all went
to college together.
 
My family has been
Christian for several generations and my grandfather was one of the early
pioneers in Christian radio broadcasting. My father moved the company into
publishing as well as radio and TV. My older brother Tyler had been groomed to
take over the family business, and I was bound for the noble service of
Pastor.”

He looked far away for a moment then went
on. “In my senior year, my brother Tyler was killed in a hit and run
accident.
 
In that grand tradition of
Boston Families I was summoned home to take his place as head of the company.”

“Was that when you and Ivy broke up?” Rita
asked.

“True love it wasn’t.” Ryder said with a
smile. “The woman God created for me was not Ivy, it was thankfully my wife
Jill, who is home even now in Boston with our children.”

“Was Ivy the woman God created for Josh?” I
said with a small smile.

He raised his eyebrows. “I think so; I think
they lost each other over the years. I was never sure how or why.”

We all sat and thought about that for a
moment, and then I asked “So you became head of FCB.”

Ryder nodded “Yes and over the years I have
tried to allow the Lord to lead me in the growth of the business. About eight
years ago, my old friend, and we had all remained friends, Joshua contacted me.
It seemed that a FCC license for an FM station in this area had been left to
him by a church member.”

“What member?”

He shook his head “I don’t recall, he said
it was a bequest so the person was dead, I am sure the name is in the paperwork
we did when WCBC became a FCB affiliate but off hand I do not remember. Sorry.”

I shrugged “It’s Okay. So, let me get this
clear in my head, the station license was owned by Calvary Baptist Church, and
then affiliated as a syndicated broadcaster with you guys, but the land that
the tower was built on was owned by Joshua personally via my Mother-in-Law.”

Ryder looked surprised. “Really that’s who
gave him the land?”

Rita grinned “Yeah, course heaven forbid
Mom should tell us before today.”

Ryder laughed “Ah mothers where would be
without them. In any event your right Adam that is the progression, the station
is useless without a tower to bounce the signal, but the tower is a big old
white elephant without a station to broadcast. And that was Calvary’s current
problem and the reason Doug and I were in town.”

“How so?”

Mathewson took a deep breathe. “You have to
understand on the one hand I feel like I am breaking confidentiality here on
the other I cannot believe that Ivy killed Josh or the Daniels girl and so I
want to help you.”

He drank some more tea than went on “Dr. Longstreet
set up the meeting. Apparently when the church split a large portion of the
tithes went with the split to Guiding Light, that left Calvary somewhat in a
lurch, with a high overhead from the radio station, which was still losing
money and the school, which was just about breaking even. Now understand that
while a Christian Radio Station may struggle a FCC FM License is worth a
considerable amount of money, so there was talk of selling the station. In fact
a number of the deacon’s board was quite adamant about the sale.”

“Who?”

“Jim Sinclair and Tim Lafayette were the
most vocal.”

“You were of course against the sale?” My
wife asked in a lovely Jamaican canter.

He grinned “Unless they were willing to
sell it directly to me, I was.”

“And they weren’t?” I asked

“For some reason no.”

I asked him. “How does the tower land play
into all of this?”

“Well clearly if they could lump the land
in with the station it would increase the value of both, it was one of the
reasons I was surprised that they would not consider my offer, as I did not
need to worry about purchasing the land, I was sure that Joshua would allow it
to continue to be used freely as long as a good fundamental station was on the
air, he was that kind of man.”

“Yes he was.” I agreed.
 
“So you and Doug meet with them. Doug seemed
very …err… anti-Josh when I spoke with him this afternoon, is that because of
this?”

“No.” said Ryder. “Doug ….Doug likes to
think he has good noble reasons for disliking the Lexingtons and the Blaines
but the truth is that he was in love with McKenzie and always had been, my
understanding is that they dated in college.”

“I thought he dated Ann Blaine” said Rita.
“In fact I know he did; she and I have talked about it.”

Ryder nodded in agreement. “He did that as
well, so imagine how annoyed he was at losing both of the women he loved to the
two brothers.”

I took a long deep drink of coffee “He came
up Tuesday?”

Ryder grinned “Yes.”

Rita twirled a piece of her hair behind her
ears.
 
It was summer and she was wearing her
hair short and tight to the head but the stray piece near her left ear had been
driving her nuts for days. Why she did not just cut it I could not tell you.

She smiled at Ryder “If it is not rude can
I ask how much you offered for the station?”

“Not rude at all Miss Rita, one million
flat.”

I almost spit the mouthful of coffee I had
out “And they turned that down?”

“Dr. Longstreet was willing to take the
offer but Lafayette and Sinclair convinced the deacon’s board to hold out for a
higher price. And they in turn convinced Pastor Longstreet to wait.”

“Would you offer more?”

“Not without the land and, as I said, I had
no need of the land.”

“The deacon’s board stopped the sale?”
asked Rita.

“Yes.”

“Deacon run church.” I said as a statement
of fact.

Ryder shook his head “I am not sure. Dr.
Longstreet was fit to be tied and I think if Sinclair had not been his son-in-law
he would have over ruled them, as was his right as Pastor, but I think he
wanted a chance to talk to Sinclair and keep peace in his own house.

“So are you expecting to be called back
into negotiations?”

“It is one of the reasons I am sticking
around.”

“One?” asked Rita

“I am also interested in seeing that Joshua
and McKenzie get justice and I have a vested interested in Miriam’s wellbeing.,
She refers to my wife and I as Aunt and Uncle and we think of her as one of our
own.”

I asked. “And your opinion on Longstreet’s
objection to the Blaine’s taking custody for now?”

“Well.” He said. “Clearly I hope we can
clear Ivy but short of that and for now I do not see where, as your friend said
this morning Dr. Longstreet has a horse in this race. I think again he is
looking for peace in his house.”

“And not finding any.”

“No. I am afraid not.”

Twenty minutes later we walked Ryder to the
elevator thanking him the whole way for the dinner.

“My pleasure.” He had said.
 
He turned to me and added “I am hoping that as
a trustee of the tower land we have occasion to enjoy more meals like this , you
and especially you, Miss Rita are delightful company. I have several places in
Boston I am sure that you would love if you are ever in the area.”

“I am a fool for Legal Seafood.” I said
with a grin

“He’s a fool for Seafood, Legal or
otherwise.” Quipped my wife.

Out in the parking lot the night air was
still warm and the stars were shining against a moon that would be full the
next night. Rita was driving a dark green Infinity FX35 that year. My wife is
much more of a car maven then I am. She likes luxury and style, I like getting
from point A to point B with limited fuss, thus my old beat up but still
amazingly reliable 2002 Mercury Sable.

As we got to the car, I pulled Rita’s arm
back and told her. “Stay here.”

I walked over to the car and was more than
a little revolted. Spray painted across the back window was a Nazi Swastika,
the hood was splattered in what looked and smelled liked the distinct iron odor
of pigs blood. On the windshield in the same color spray paint as the Nazi
emblem were the words ‘Mind your own businesses.’

As I took out my phone and began to dial
the police Rita came up next to me.

“Bloody hades.” She said. “Bloody right
mess.
 
Are we supposed to be afraid now?”

I nodded. “Yep I think so”

She laughed “They don’t know us very well
do they?”

Chapter
Eleven

Morning came far too rapidly, several hours
of questioning by the police was exhausting after an already long day.

 
Owning a diner gave my wife a relationship with
the local cops that I did not share and so I let her take the lead on answering
the multitude of questions that were inevitable asked.

We had agreed before the policed arrived
not to give them our thoughts as to the culprits, there were after all some
things that need to be handled personally. The police however being who they
are thought I was withholding something, not Rita mind you just me, and so for
a moment there it looked like I was going to spend the night in the tank. Cooler
heads, led by my wife, prevailed and after far too many hours we were finally
driven home, the car was impounded, apparently the Nazi sign made the incident
a hate crime, though I wondered if my wife was not black would a swastika still
be a hate crime?
 
I was not a fan of
political correctness, in my opinion hate crimes are crimes against people you
hate no matter what their background, of course it was statements like that
that made the police angry and so I created my own vicious circle.