Clint Faraday Mysteries collection A Muddled Murders Collector's Edition (3 page)

Clint answered that he would check out the
things that Donna asked about and replied that he would meet with
Dr. Goodwin tomorrow at noon (actual, not local time) at the Laguna
Restaurant.

(Here in Panamá one must get used to the way
an hour is specified for an appointment. Noon, local time, can mean
anything from two or three o’clock to sometime tomorrow or next
day. Actual or gringo time means the specified hour – CD)

There was a call from out front so he went
out to see three women and two men standing there. They were a
middle-aged couple and a young friend they met on the water taxi
from Almirante. They had read about him in the papers back home a
few years ago and were surprised to find he was here, recognizing
him from the pictures and not too many people spoke English here
and they just stopped by to say, “Hi!” to him and....

He was used to that, at times. He was about
to be pleasant as he told them he had a date, but noted that
Rebecca (“Call me Becks! Everyone does!”) was single and attractive
and did give him a speculative look. She was on vacation and wanted
an adventure.

“
Yo! Come
on in! I’m just fixing coffee. Want a cup?”

Becks did, but the Moores, Fred and Mabel,
would be awake all night if they drank coffee this late and it had
already been a long day, seeing they got the 6:00AM water taxi from
Almirante. They could only stay a minute because it would get dark
soon and they had to walk back to Bocas Town.

“
Grab a
taxi,” Clint suggested. “A buck for the two of you into
town.”

Becks noted he had said “Two of you,” and
grinned impishly at him. “Two?” she asked.

“
Well, I
figured, seeing you’re single you might like to stroll into Bocas
for a snack or something?” Clint replied.

“
Oh,
don’t be silly!” Mabel exclaimed. “We’re not prudes OR stupid! You
aren’t strolling anywhere!

“
Come on,
Fred. Let the kids have a little romp. It’s harmless fun on a
vacation. We can do the strolling and it won’t get too dark for the
moon tonight. This rain is almost over and it’s clearing
already.

“
You DID
take your pill, My Dear?

“
I love
walking in the rain.”

“
She’s
practical and pretty smart!” Fred confided. “You ain’t no kid and
this happens for you probably once a week, at least. I would be
jealous as hell if Mabel couldn’t handle that stuff better than
anybody you’ll ever meet!

“
Let’s
go, Hon!”

Clint grinned. Becks giggled. It was a great
night.

Clint went out on the deck with his coffee,
waved to Judi and laid back on the lounge. He was wearing a jock
strap in respect for Becks, who was still asleep. She hadn’t told
him she was a virgin, but he hoped he had made her first time a
memorable one. He also hoped she was, as Mabel warned, on the
pill.

Well, she was intelligent, so she would be.
She had definite plans when she came on this vacation alone and
Panamá, particularly Bocas del Toro, was known as a place where one
could find casual sex in whatever form one sought.

Clint grinned to himself and looked to see
the police boat heading for the institute at full speed. Something
must have happened out there. Maybe they found who the embezzler
was.

He sighed and picked up his phone to turn it
on and get any voice messages. There were several of them and they
all said the same thing.

Donna Dorman had been found with her throat
cut at the institute station about half an hour ago. Even the
police had asked that he go to the station to help. They weren’t
used to the murder bit other than “normal” rage or domestic
violences and he could probably be a valuable aide to them.

“
Yo!
Becks!” he called. She answered sleepily a minute later.

“
I have
to get to the station. There’s been a crime. Will I see you
tonight?”

“
Don’t I
wish! I have to get to Changuinola, then to the hotel in Costa Rica
tonight.

“
If I was
sure ... I’ve already paid for it or I’d change my schedule!
Damn!”

“
Well,
just set the catch when you go out. I really wish I could be sure
I’d be here and I’d convince you to stay, but these things can get
messy. They aren’t predictable and murder is pretty serious here.
There just isn’t much of it.”

“
Clint, I
think I had the greatest time I’ve ever had last night. I was a
little – I was VERY apprehensive, but you made it wonderful! I know
I’m just another silly girl to you, but I thank you for making last
night the most special night in my life!

“
So
far!”

“
You are
special. Don’t get into the trap of thinking it will ever be the
same again. It can be as good, but it will not be the
same.

“
You want
the truth? I thought it would be another good night, I’d get off,
you’d get off and it’s been great fun, let’s do it again sometime,
then I’d never see you again. It wasn’t like that. I don’t expect
much and ninety-nine percent of the time I don’t get much. You’re
special. Don’t cheapen it, okay?”

“
You’re
saying to not turn into a whore because I’ll just be disappointed
most of the time,” she said, seriously. “I think it would be easy
to do. I won’t. I’ll think about it a lot and look at the odds of
several things and won’t do it. Thanks.”

He kissed her solidly and headed for his
boat. Maybe she did have the sense to know that first time is
special – if you even remember it, that is. Clint wished he could
remember his first time, but he started when he was very young.
Twelve. With a babysitter. He’d been addicted to sex ever since. He
remembered the babysitter, which went (off and) on for three years,
but not that first time.

His boat wasn’t nearly as fast as the police
boat so they had been waiting there for ten minutes or so before he
arrived. He tied on the other side of the dock and went to talk
with Capt. Menendez and Sgt. Llanas, who said they had instructed
the people to seal the room and see that no one entered other than
to determine that Donna was really dead. They knew how easy it is
to contaminate evidence, but they didn’t have the resources found
in the states.

“
I doubt
this will require that kind of thing,” Clint advised. “We can take
the regular samples for DNA or whatever. I hope you have the
kit?”

“
We have
it, but don’t know how to use it except to read the instructions
and they aren’t clear unless you know science,” Capt. Menendez
pointed out. “Do you know how to use it?”

“
A good
bit of it. You have a good camera I see and I brought my digital so
we can cover that first part very thoroughly. I know how to take
DNA samples. You get them on the little Q-Tip things and put them
in the little test tubes, seal them and mark them with the number
on the tags. You take a picture before the tag is placed, then a
couple with the tag there, then put the tag number on the test
tube. Don’t try to complicate it and don’t try for a better system.
Simple is the only way to be sure we don’t screw it up.”

“
You can
show me how with the first one, then I can do it, I think” Sgt.
Llanas promised. Clint knew he was an intelligent man and wouldn’t
mess things up.

“
Fine.
Then let’s get at it,” Clint suggested. “The witnesses can wait a
few minutes until we have the system, then Mario (Menendez) and I
can question them while you get the samples.”

“
Something I heard. ‘Witness’ is what it well might be
about,” Menendez replied, drily.

Routine

The scene was a bit bloody, but a cut throat
almost has to be. Clint noted the spatter patterns as he took
photos and the fact Donna had been sitting in a chair typing on the
comp where she was attacked from behind. It didn’t take much
strength, so a woman could have done it.

Whoever did it didn’t know much about comps.
This one was on network so the fact the symbol box noting the hard
drive was erased and ready to accept programming would mean
nothing.

“
Mario,
get all fingerprints from the keyboard,” Clint advised. “Our killer
probably wore gloves, but may have screwed up when the drive
erasure was typed in. There would be blood on the gloves so they
might have been removed. Get the mouse, too. Maybe the disk drives
and ... get the disks themselves, though the important ones
definitely will NOT still be here.”

“
I agree.
I’ll print everything here, but there isn’t anyone here who
wouldn’t have a perfectly good excuse for their prints to be
anywhere in this room.”

“
But they
might have a problem explaining why their prints are on TOP of the
dead woman’s?” Clint finished for him. Mario nodded and gave him a
thumb up.

Clint took a few dozen pictures in the room
and the body and blood spatter from all angles, then went into the
common room to speak with the people there.

“
Yo,
Clint!” Judi Lum greeted. “I saw the police boat, then you, so came
out. I didn’t expect this!”

“
You’ll
have to handle this with some discretion,” Dr. Graham declared,
seriously. “The institute cannot be saddled with some sordid affair
if some clerk was killed by a jealous lover or
something!”

“
Lydia!
What .?! What a totally inappropriate ... How can you be so
insensitive!?” Dr. Porth cried, exasperated. “Donna wasn’t killed
by any jealous lover! She was always ... what is the matter with
you lately!? You never ... what is the matter with
you?!”

“
Alright,
can it!” Clint demanded. “Save the theatrics for someone who’ll
fall for it! I’m only here in an advisory capacity. Captain
Menendez is in charge. He’s asked for help because he’s shorthanded
and no one here has much experience with this kind of murder. You
can answer my questions or you can refuse. I suggest you remember
you aren’t in the states or Canada or wherever and we operate with
different rules – but you’re still in a position to decide who
questions you – and how. I have a list of your names and have met
some of you. I’ll call – Judi, you want to help so you can be the
one who takes whatever notes if you will. You can call the people
as they appear on the list. We’re to use ... consultation room
three. That’s the second on the left down that hall.” He pointed to
the hall to their right and handed Judi the list, then headed
toward the room as Menendez came into the room to announce that
Judi, being a suspect, might not be a good choice.

“
I’m a
suspect?!” Judi cried, just as Clint said, “Judi?
Suspect?”

“
The
condition of the body suggests she died late last evening or early
this morning,” Menendez said. “Miss Lum was here yesterday
afternoon.”

“
So! Why
did you off her?” Clint asked, grinning. “Like being a suspect in a
murder? Isn’t it great fun?”

“
No. I
can take the notes. After all, Clint will hear the answers so will
know if I change anything.”

“
Smart
broad,” Clint said to Menendez.

“
Yes.
That’s what I’m afraid of,” Mario replied.

“
Mario,
Judi didn’t kill anybody. I don’t suspect her for one second. She
may know something important about these people and might spot it
in their answers.”

“
I’ll
defer to your experience. I do wish I could be as certain as
you.”

“
Please
be seated, Dr. Goodwin,” Clint greeted. “This sort of thing can be
a real pain in the ass, but I have to ask some questions. Please
don’t pretend to be offended or any of that crap because even one
night of watching TV makes it damned obvious those questions will
be asked.”

Goodwin grinned and replied, “I think I like
you. No shit, just answer the damned questions so we can all go
home.

“
Okay,
ask away. If you want to know where I was and what I was doing
since about midnight last night, I was entertaining a girl named
Carlotta Donatti at the Bahia. She’ll confirm that I’m sure because
several people knew we were exploring the movements of heavenly
bodies together.

“
Let’s
see. Donna was to be a witness in that missing funds thing so,
unless she was sleeping around – and she wasn’t – it will be about
that. She could have been sleeping with Enzio – Dr. Marcos – if she
likes the overweight studious type. He’s going through a nasty
divorce right now because he tends to stray. She’ll clean him out.
Neither here nor there. Sorry. I do gossip a bit.

“
I was
pretty suspicious about that Popa deal all along and even went out
there once. Donna asked me about it and I told her it was either in
or next to the preserve so she should keep right on checking out
where the requests and disbursements came in. I rather tend to
imagine that’s what she discovered and that’s why she’s in there
sliced up.

“
Jorge
took me out to Popa. I know he’s a friend of yours. So he’ll tell
you I was a bit perturbed ... Donna put information about all of us
on data disk! She updated regularly so you can find the answers
there! I’m sure of it!

“
Faraday,
was it? Listen! She kept those disks somewhere where she knew they
couldn’t find them! Find those disks and you’ll likely find your
killer!

“
Did I
cover it?”

“
Had that
rehearsed or do you just have a file-case mind?” Clint asked,
looking interested.