Clint Faraday Mysteries collection A Muddled Murders Collector's Edition (30 page)

“
I never
considered life that way before. It is why I find you so amazing.
You, as they say in the US, ‘cut to the chase’ when you
speak.

“
I never
thought about it before, but I never had looked into my eyes in a
mirror directly unless I was looking for a bit of grit or
something.

“
I could
not! I tried, but I looked away!

“
This
morning, after speaking with Orlando, I looked into my eyes. Only
for a moment. I saw a possibility. I want to look into those eyes
again tomorrow morning and not look away. It has become very
important to me. I want to, as you, walk along the calle and have
everyone say, ‘Buenos dias!’ – and mean it. I want to reply, ‘Muy
buenos dias!’ and mean it.

“
You said
that is the big difference in Panamá and everywhere else. You say,
‘Buenos dias!’ and mean it. It is not just words.

“
It is
true. All my life I said it and it was just words. I didn’t mean
it. Now I find myself actually hoping you have a good day when I
say it.”

“
It was
the reason I moved here,” Clint said, simply.

“
The
Smiths tried to attack Nino this morning,” Obilio reported to
Clint. “You told us that they would. All four of them against one
of us. We saw them near the warehouse and he went ahead and around
the corner. He got cut a little, but Sergio Smith is no more.
Jorge, Manuel, and Nito are in serious condition in the hospital.
They are going by ambulance back to Colón with the word that they
must never be anywhere in Panamá where there are Indios or they
will die. Daniel Ortiz and his brother went into their house and
found two big maletas filled with hundred dollar bills. They took
them with seven other Indios to those people from the frente and
made a written denunciado with copies so they can’t steal the money
and not do anything. I think the three living brothers will stay in
carcel for the rest of their lives. They will receive sentences of
six years apiece, but they will not live long in carcel in Panamá
City. They are much disliked by their own type. That is worse than
SIDA (AIDS) as a cause of death in carcel.”

Clint nodded and warned that anyone coming
from Colón or parts of Panamá City should be watched. If one or two
came every day or two days, handle them before they had a small
army. It was a war of survival between the Indios and the people
from Colón – so don’t let them get enough of an army in the area to
do serious damage. Obilio had been joined by three others. They
agreed that those thugs from Colón would never be allowed in Puerto
Armuelles again.

Clint said Colón had a reputation they had
established themselves over many years. They insisted in living in
the stereotype they created. They had to accept that decent society
wouldn’t put up with them. They could go to Colón and stay there.
No one with any sense went there now.

They discussed things. Clint knew the local
police and went to talk with them about the situation. They always
had trouble with certain people from Colón and would manage to have
any charges of assault brought against the locals be changed to
self-defense.

“
Tell the
Indigenos not to use their knives or machetes unless there are
several of them who can say they were attacked with weapons. If
they are attacked they can pick up a rock or board and kill their
attacker in self-defense. They did not carry a weapon. Understand?”
Aldo said. “It is true that a machete is not a weapon – if it is
used in earning a livlihood here, so those who can show they do
that may defend with a machete, humm?”

Clint nodded and grinned a wry grin.

Back to
the Hotel Central. Yvon and Monica were just leaving. Gerald was
remonstrating about seeing a big cucaracha in the hall. Sylvia was
looking overly-shocked to the point that reminded Clint of Lucille
Ball aping shock on
I Love Lucy
of a
few years ago. Clint greeted them. Gerald started to yell that he
had seen a HUGE ROACH right there in the hotel and what were they
going to do about it?

“
Oh, I
suppose one of the maids will carry it back outside where it
belongs,” Clint said easily. “You overdo this silly act. You simply
CAN’T act.

“
Other
than that idiocy, what else have you found to make yourself
obnoxious with today?

“
Oh! A
friend met you in Panamá City – before this silly act – and wonders
what you’re up to. You overdo it so much you’ve managed to get
attention fixed on yourselves in a way I’m sure you didn’t
intend.”

He saw the little smirk and could see a very
satisfied look on Sylvia. So.

“
I have
no idea what you’re blathering about, Sir!” Gerald spat. “All I
know is that this hotel is a roach motel! It’s
intolerable!”

“
I mean
how you tried to take attention from the others to the point you’re
now having them watched much more closely than they would’ve been
without the act. As I’ve said repeatedly, you simply can’t act. You
don’t have a clue as to when to stop so you keep on until you
defeat your purpose.

“
Well!
Got a couple of meetings! Drop the act and you’ll find this really
is a great place.”

He walked off with Sylvia looking shocked in
a more believable way. Gerald had suddenly forgotten to work
himself into a rage and looked a little scared. Sara, behind the
counter, looked amused.

A thing or two fell right into place with the
confrontation. Now to find the connection. Clint felt he hit it on
the head. The Cartworthys were a deliberate distraction. The way it
now came together meant they were there to distract him,
specifically. That meant they had waited in Frontera for the bus he
was on. That meant they knew he was on it. That meant Bathner.

That didn’t make sense – until Yvon was tied
into the crowd.

He stepped onto the elevator as Rita ran into
the lobby to call for him to wait. He held the door until she got
on.

“
That
Sally Wallace person is dead! She was murdered right there in the
hospital!”

“
Murdered?”

“
Definitely. Someone held a pillow over her face and she
suffocated right there. They definitely wanted it to be known she
was murdered. There was no attempt to make it look like anything
else.”

They got off the elevator and walked to
Clint’s room and out on the balcony.

“
Was Vern
at the hospital?”

“
The
husband? No. He was on the wharf with Quint Sanchez. I checked as
much as I could because I know you have to know where everyone
was.”

“
Who was
at the hospital?”

“
Sam
Downy and Frank Abel were with Dr. Castillio. I don’t see how they
could have gotten to her room without anyone seeing them. The
Cartworthy people were there a bit earlier, yelling about the water
in the hotel being contaminated and they had what they kept calling
Montezuma’s Revenge or something. Diarrhea, but they were there for
almost an hour and never went anywhere near the banos. I gave them
tetracycline and told them it would clear it up in less than an
hour and that it probably was from eating raw vegetables they
hadn’t washed properly, not the water.

“
Bathner’s secretary slash whore was there to pay for his
stitches. The Monica woman waited for her out in the reception
room.

“
Nino
Sanchez came in with a cut and was treated. He was with Dr.
Williams all the time he was here. Orlando Ruiz was with him all
the time. They brought in that Smith person’s body and the three
brothers, who were beaten about half to death – which was a half
too little.

“
There
were other people, but I was too busy to notice all of them. There
wasn’t much time when someone could go into her room when I
wouldn’t see, but there were a few minutes now and then. She could
have been killed anytime within a fifty minute period. Seven thirty
until eight twenty.”

Clint sighed heavily. This tightened part of
it up, but he still didn’t have a clue as to what it was about.

“
Is the
body still there?”

“
Yes, The
police have a man coming in from David by helicopter to do a crimes
scene ... thing. Investigation.”

He nodded and said he’d like to look around a
bit. He had some experience and maybe could find something. He also
knew a thing or two about the victim and her friends.

“
Was she
conscious enough to fight back?”

“
Only a
little, but she did fight some by the way the room
looked.”

They went to the hospital. Enrico Holas, head
of violent crimes, was there. He knew Clint from another case and
invited him in, handing him latex gloves. Clint had impressed him
with the need for not contaminating the scene. She was just a bit
askew on the bed. A pillow from another room was partly covering
her face. Rico said Rita had moved it from completely covering when
she found her. There was a partial glass of water on the tray next
to the bed. Clint said to print it and do whatever analysis they
could. Rico raised an eyebrow and he said it wasn’t there for a
patient who was unconscious. The tray had been swung out and the
glass placed there. He pointed to the glass and pitcher of water on
a close end table.

“
Ah! So
it will be from another room or the comedor!” Rico noted, as he
wrote it on his report.

Clint lifted the sheet that was hanging to
the floor and pointed at a small black mark on the tile. “That was
where the foot of the killer was planted, solidly, when the lady
was smothered. You probably can’t find the shoe that made it,
because most shoes here have that Neoprene sole. It tells us it was
done by a woman or a small man.”

“
It
does?”

“
She was
sedated. She could fight back very little. Anyone more than one
fifty wouldn’t have to plant their foot to be able to apply the
pressure. Not enough to leave that mark. One twenty to one fifty
would be that mark.”

He lifted the pillow to study the face. There
was a small spot on her left ear. He called Rita and asked if she’d
noted the spot before. Rita said there was no mark before. Sally
had been washed thoroughly the night before.

“
What is
it?” Rico asked.

“
It looks
like that face powder the gringos use,” Rita suggested. “Maybe just
talc with some other coloring like the stuff you put on bites from
bichos. The gringos have to have the kind to match their skin
color. Tonteria.”

“
Yes. The
analyst will find it exactly,” Rico suggested. “It would seem our
assassin was a small bit careless.”

“
They
think we couldn’t find them if they left a signed statement if
they’re the gringos around here,” Rita said. She knew Clint agreed
with her and wasn’t included in the statement, as several others
weren’t.

“
Well, it
... was either one of the women or Carlos Vermont,” Clint replied.
“Carlos uses a bit of color on the old burn scars and none of the
men are that small, other than him. The women, I’d say Monica
Standing or Yvon Leonardo – my personal ... oh, shit! It almost
worked! That was why she looked shocked for real and he looked so
scared. I’d just said they ... and earlier ... I’ll be
damned!

“
Rico,
arrest the Cartworthys!”

“
They did
it? You can prove it?”

“
She uses
a lot of make-up. It will match that spot. I said earlier that they
were doing the obnoxious act so they wouldn’t be noticed if they
stopped. I then changed it to the fact they were trying to draw the
attention of everyone to keep it away from certain others. I was
right, except that they used it here for their own purposes. He
ranted and raved out there so no one would notice when she wasn’t
around for a few minutes. HE was there making a lot of noise to
keep you occupied, but where was she?”

Rita thought, then looked at the glass. “I
gave her the tetracycline and she went for a glass of water to take
it. He was acting so asshole ... I thought she went to the bano to
take the capsule. It will be ... no. She had on those cotton gloves
she always wears.”

“
Ah, yes.
Then who else would leave NO fingerprints?” Rico asked.

“
I think
a magnifying glass will find cotton fibers on the glass instead of
fingerprints,” Clint suggested. “No one else here wears cotton
gloves at work. Everyone wears latex gloves.

“
What in
HELL is this about?”

They found a small scrap of paper that may or
may not have anything to do with the case. Rico bagged it. The man
from David came and used a magnifying lens to say there were a
couple of fibers on the water glass. Possibly polyester fibers from
women’s gloves. They would appear to be cotton from casual
observation.

“
If she
wears polyester imitation cotton gloves that’s even better than
fingerprints!” Rita said. “You can’t get them anywhere but Panamá
City. They have only real cotton everywhere else.”

“
Careful!
Lots of people go from here to Panamá City,” Lopez, the
investigator warned. “You have to be able to eliminate them if you
bring it up in court – which means we have to eliminate
them.”

“
They ARE
eliminated!” Rita cried. “NO ONE else here today was wearing gloves
except doctors. Those are these latex gloves right
here!”