Clint Faraday Mysteries collection A Muddled Murders Collector's Edition (4 page)

“
The
latter. I always sound like I’m quoting from a sheet. Did that for
fifteen years as a professor and got in the habit to the point I
picture the sheet when there isn’t one. I did think about what I
was going to say, though.” He grinned at Clint. “Slipped in the bit
about Marcos because I don’t like him.”

“
She kept
the disks somewhere where THEY couldn’t find them or where WE
couldn’t find them? The ‘we’ meaning your group.”

“
Damn! I
thought I could slip that one by you!” he said with a humorless
chuckle. “I was included. Didn’t mean to sound like it pretty
obviously did. That was from the perspective of Donna telling me
about it. It wasn’t an intentional attempt to deceive
you.”

“
I didn’t
think it was. You have a solid alibi, I’d say, but you could be
part of the killer.”

“
Part?
What does that mean?” Judi asked, clearly puzzled.

“
That I
might have conspired with one or more others to silence her,”
Goodwin said. “Very astute. I think you’ll find our culprit. I
contend that I was no part of her death in any way, but you have to
be suspicious of all of us and you can’t leave out any
possibility.

“
I always
liked Donna. I want you to get the person – or persons – who killed
her. I also want you to find the one or ones who were embezzling
funds here. I rather imagine they will be the same.”

“
I
agree,” Clint replied.

“
Hello,
Dr. Porth,” Clint greeted. “Please have a seat and we’ll get this
over as soon as possible.”

“
Call me
Ed. Terrible thing. This will put my studies back quite some ways,
but that is hardly of any major importance here now.

“
I was
with Lydia – that’s Dr. Graham – until about twelve o’clock or so,
then went back to my room, showered and such and went to bed. I
believe, had I left during the morning hours, that the security man
would know it, but also realize there are any number of ways one
could contrive to have your whereabouts unremarked.

“
This is
a round-about method to tell you I have no alibi. I insist I
haven’t killed anyone. I left Lydia in her rooms – there is and was
no deeper relationship between us – so can vouch for where she was
until approximately midnight. I am and was no part of any
misappropriation of funds here or elsewhere, but that is something
that you will discover in your further investigations. I had and
have no motive to have harmed Donna.

“
Anything
I didn’t cover?”

“
We’re
just getting basic background information right now. Motive and
opportunity are part of that, of course.

“
Do your
studies include trips to Popa?”

“
Well,
yes and no,” Porth said, thinking. “What I mean is that there is
vast material for study there, but I have yet to visit the place. I
was aware there was some intention to purchase that and other areas
where permanent research fields could be established and was
certainly supportive of any such business-end endeavors, but don’t
personally involve myself in those kinds of projects. I’m in
research of a direct type and can’t spare the time or effort
required if you understand.”

“
I know I
do!” Judi interjected. “I’ve worked with you on two projects and
can say you do direct all your time and energy to the
work.”

“
You can
say it, but I wish you wouldn’t,” Clint said.

“
Sorry.”

“
Dr.
Graham, please have a seat. We’ll try to do this as quickly
possible,” Clint said. “There are a few questions I have to
ask.

“
You were
with Dr. Porth until after eleven?”

“
Yes.
Close to twelve or a few minutes after.”

“
You were
working on the research in the Popa area?”

“
No. We
were working on listing classification from all areas,” she
answered, volunteering nothing more.

“
Oh, yes.
Popa wasn’t Porth. I threw that in to trip you up,” Clint said. She
didn’t react and wouldn’t look at him directly. She studiously
avoided looking at him at all and seemed to flush a bit when she
did look at him. Judi smirked and mouthed “You. Nude. Yesterday
morning.”

He hid a grin and said, “Well, that sort of
agrees with Ed’s statement. Thank you.”

She stood, paused as if she wanted to say
something, thought better of it and left without comment. When she
was out of the room Judi grinned at him. He gave her the middle
finger salute.

“
Dr.
Beckman, I’m Clint Faraday, this is Judi Lum,” Clint introduced.
“Please have a seat.”

“
How
could such a thing happen here?” she asked. “I can’t bring myself
to believe it! I was in my room since about nine o’clock until they
got me up this morning, so have no alibi. I can’t think of any
reason I would have to ever kill anyone and couldn’t, anyhow. Not
like that. I’d use a more womanish method. Maybe
poison.”

“
We have
to establish where everyone was. It’s too early to make any
conclusions about any of ... this stuff. I have to get the disks
and will find my answers there, I suppose.”

“
Disks?”

“
According to Dr. Goodwin she has some stuff about the
embezzling on disk at her place,” Judi explained. “I imagine we’ll
get the embezzler and the killer at the same time.”

“
That’s
logical.”

When she left Judi raised an eyebrow at
Clint. “I just remembered something.”

“
She do
it?” Judi asked.

“
She’s on
the list. I think Porth is off and probably Goodwin. Maybe Graham,
but I have a few very pointed questions to ask about that one.
She’s got a lot to hide for some reason, but it may not be about
this mess.”

“
Well,
Donna did tell me she slept her way through college and there were
some ... ethical questions when she was beginning practicing
phytopathological medicine.”

“
Phytopathological?”

“
Mostly
fungal infections, from what I understand. I don’t know what it was
about.”

Clint sighed and nodded. “Tell Mario to put a
close watch on Donna’s place. The word will get out that there are
disks there and someone is going to try to get to them before we
do.”

“
Uh-huh.”

“
Dr.
Franklin, please have a seat,” Clint greeted. “We’ll take as little
of your time as possible. I think you’ll know the first
question?”

“
Of
course. I was meeting with Dr. Marcos and a real estate agent by
the name of Sylvia Goldman from about ten o’clock until a bit after
two thirty. I’ll tell you it had to do with the embezzling taking
place. I’m doing a bit of investigating and Goldman was the agent
who handled two of the deals and Marcos was involved in the
institute’s end of it. He may have just been a dupe.”

“
And
Goldman?”

Franklin wobbled his hand in reply.
“Something’s not adding up on this list, here. In total
confidentiality you understand, my personal leaning at the moment
is that Goldman is definitely involved in some manner, Marcos may
be and there is someone else who’s the, shall we say, mastermind of
the entire scheme. There may be two because one will be on the real
estate end and the other in the institute. It’s looking very much
like that kind of thing.”

Clint paused for a moment, an intense look on
his face, then he smirked and said, “Thank you, Dr. Franklin, for
your insights. You’ve brought something I’ve seen out of the
‘nagging at the fringes of thought’ phase.”

“
So you
know for certain who did it!” Judi accused.

“
Let’s
say it’s narrowed down to four, so it will be a matter of
separating appearances and facts. Two things have suddenly added
up. My problem is that number four is ‘somebody I haven’t
considered yet,’ so we keep on.

“
Who’s
next?”

Franklin grinned and stood. He saluted Clint
and took Judi’s hand as he left the room.

“
One more
here. Marcos,” Judi said.

“
So?
Let’s get it over with. Two words. ‘Looking’ and ‘list.’ It’s a
matter of finding what’s there by accident – or if it’s BY accident
or maybe BECAUSE of an accident.”

She gave him the finger.

“
Hello,
Dr. Marcos, please have a seat,” Clint said, as the slightly
“portly” man entered. “I only have a couple of
questions.”

“
I didn’t
kill anybody!” Marcos defended. “My god! This is horrible! How do
these things happen?!”

“
You have
a very solid alibi. You were with Dr. Franklin and Sylvia Goldman
when the murder was committed.”

“
Yes!
Thank god for that! This is horrible! That poor girl! Do you think
it was a jealous boyfriend or something? Did it have to do with the
money problem here?”

“
Definitely to do with the money problem here and the
investigation. She was shut up. She knew too much. Now she can’t
appear in court to testify, can she?”

Marcos looked a bit relieved and nodded

Judi didn’t miss that look anymore than Clint
did so couldn’t resist adding, “But the disks have everything she
knew on them and they’re as good, seeing she was killed to keep the
information from coming out.”

Marcos looked like he would pass out.
“Disks?” he squeaked.

“
Yeah,”
Clint replied. “She had back-ups at her place. Anyone who puts that
kind of stuff onto disks knows you have to keep back-ups in another
location. My only other question was about what you know about the
embezzling scheme, but I think you don’t really have any idea
what’s going on.”

“
I don’t
seem to know anything anymore! Nothing makes any sense!”

“
Well,
it’s beginning to. It’s a matter of your perspective. When someone
strikes out in panic they always miss the details and that’s what
ends up putting them in the pen for life.

“
Thanks.
That about covers it, I think. Now I have to talk to some people,
then I can either start looking elsewhere or close this one
out.”

Marcos went shakily out and Clint told Judi,
“Have Mario tag him when he runs.”

“
He do
it?”

“
The
murder? No. He’s ’way over his head in the embezzling end, though.
That will be my lever to finish this one.”

“
Ah!” she
said, grinning at him. “So his info about the money will tie the
killer up tight!”

“
And the
rest of their little select group of crooks.”

Finish

Clint went with Menendez and Llanas to
Donna’s apartment where they made a thorough search. They didn’t
find the disks, but Clint said from the moment they went into the
place that they wouldn’t find anything. The killer had probably
come directly from the murder to find those disks. There was a
computer and printer, but there wasn’t a disk in the place.

Clint turned on the computer and it went
directly to DOS. He groaned and tiredly said, “I’d say the drive
was formatted as insurance. There’s nothing here – except maybe one
little thing!”

He went to the printer, inserted two pieces
of paper, turned it on and punched a code on the keys. A page and a
quarter printed out.

“
The last
use is still there unless you delete the file. You can have it
repeat the last operation and this was it.”

They read the pages, but it was simply a
statement that all the preceding information was authenticated and
spelled out very clearly that those two people from the institute
and the one person from the RE agency were the perpetrators of the
embezzling scheme and she didn’t yet know who – if anyone – else
was involved.

“
Well, it
looks like we were thwarted there,” Llanas said, sourly.

“
Nope!
Motive has positively been established, Your Honor!” Clint said,
happily. “Now we have to establish – no! It could only be one of
them! Marcos and Goldman were with Franklin! You can arrest Dr.
Alice Beckman on a charge of murder one, Mario. There’s no other
suspect with all the motive and opportunity parts. I can even show
you where she got the murder weapon replacement if she didn’t toss
it. It could be in the garbage if she did! Hell! It was on the
institute account, so who cares if she did toss it!”

“
You
don’t make any sense!” Mario accused. “If I arrest her we can’t
hold her for more than three or four hours without proof. The
coregidor will let her go.”

“
I can
prove it,” Clint stated. Definitely. “To make it absolutely and
positively certain, all you have to do is establish the
relationship – BLOOD relationship – between two people.”

“
I see!”
Jose Llanas cried. “They look too much alike! They almost HAVE to
be related! It occurs to me one of them will have those disks or
evidence that they DID have them! I hope they haven’t burned them
or something. Maybe they erased them.”

“
I don’t
think there’s time yet,” Clint said. “They’ll have to read them to
find where else to cover their slimy asses. If Donna found the crap
someone else can.”

Mario and Jose both nodded.