Clint Faraday Mysteries collection A Muddled Murders Collector's Edition (5 page)

“
Okay,
let’s lay this out with the bunch of you here, then I can go home
and get some sleep,” Clint stated to the group gathered for the
arraignment. “You will see exactly how Dr. Beckman was
caught.

“
It
started because Donna Dorman saw some strange irregularities in the
institute accounts and investigated the scheme. It took her a few
weeks, but she had a very solid case against two people from the
institute – you, Dr. Marcos and you, Dr./Mrs. Beckman – and you,
Mrs. Goldman. She discovered, as did Captain Menendez, that you,
Dr. Beckman and you, Mrs. Goldman, are sisters. The RE agency is
under suspicion for unethical and possible criminal actions
already. You two cooked up a scheme to defraud the institute of
funds. You then needed someone who could convince the institute it
should purchase the land the fraud was built on and Marcos was
obviously the weakest one on the board and the easiest one to use.
He was caught in a nasty divorce and desperately needed
funds.

“
Things
were going along beautifully! You could get the funds and get out
of Panamá and it would be virtually impossible to ever charge
anyone with anything, except maybe Marcos, who was purposely set up
as the goat if anything went wrong. The whole crooked deal depended
on nothing being discovered until it was done – then Donna
discovered it.

“
Now
Marcos couldn’t be the goat because it wasn’t completed to that
point, so the bunch of you would end up in the pen – unless you
could shut Donna up. You were suddenly in a panic. Marcos and
Goldman were going to meet with a representative of the institute
to try to lay a foundation where they could weasel out of direct
charges, but Beckman would then be the goat because it would come
out the scheme was her idea in the first place.

“
That was
NOT going to be allowed, so she made a plan. Marcos and Goldman
would go to the meeting to more or less feel out Dr. Goodwin to see
if their plan to get out of charges would work and Beckman would
try to get Donna not to testify. Maybe a big bribe. Perhaps that
was something you actually tried, but Donna wasn’t about to take
any bribe.

“
You came
prepared. Had you simply grabbed a knife and killed her it would be
murder two, but you bought a paring knife of the same type used at
the institute for the purpose of killing her if she didn’t make a
deal. Buying that knife and taking it there makes it murder one.
Period. The institute buys those items by the dozen or more. Did I
miss anything?”

“
Only
that I wasn’t the only one with motive and opportunity!” Beckman
cried. “Anyone could have killed her! This is crazy!”

“
Oh?”
Menendez asked. “Who, for instance?”

“
Hell!
Someone from the island in a boat!”

“
All
boats coming here are noted and none came in the time period,
though one left,” Llanas replied. “Boat four, with a single female
in it.”

“
Well,
anyone here at the institute!”

“
All are
accounted for,” Clint pointed out. “Even those who had the time
couldn’t have come out here without being noted. You are the only
one who has no alibi for the critical time. That’s what I meant
when I said people in a panic miss the details. Now and then things
work out very much like the books in the courses lay them out. This
was one of those times. I won’t count on it ever happening
again!”

The
Old Ways

(Author’s note: This story is based on an
actual happening. There is a scam that is exactly what is described
that has been going on here for quite a number of years. Certain
past administrations would turn their backs on it because they
obtained property using the method. This is what happened, with
some modifications to protect the innocent. The murder is, of
course, just a vehicle used to tell the story. No such murder has
taken place – as of this writing.)

“
Oye’!”
Ronaldo yelled as he passed by Clint as Clint came from the China
(super market) on Calle 1. He waved and smiled his infectious
smile.

Ronaldo Vesta was an Indigeno (Indian) from
nearby Isla San Cristóbal. He and his family were close friends of
Clint.

“
Oye’!
Motwoinyo!” Clint replied in the local Indio dialect.

“
Coin,
gracias, pero con pocos problemas con mi propiedad.”

(The rest is in Spanish, translated here.
Clint is learning Spanish and there are some problems at
times.)

“
Problems
with your property? I thought that group from Panamá City had
pretty much closed the deal where they would buy it. You went to
the trouble of getting the full title for them. What
happened?”

“
They
want me to divide it into two or three pieces so they can buy it
with two or three partners or something. I don’t have the plata for
that!”

“
I have a
bit set by. I can lend you enough until they pay and you can pay me
back. What does it entail?”

“
I will
have to get a new separate plano, then will have to fence the
sections, but they will do some of the work and will pay the
workers.”

“
No!”
Clint shot back sternly. “I will pay the workers so there is no
question later about who they were working for.”

“
But ...
Clint ... amigo! That is a LOT of money!”

“
A couple
of thousand. You’re getting almost a million dollars for that
property so can pay it back when you sell. This sounds like a thing
I’ve heard about here. They get their hands on the papers – like
they already have, hire people to work on the place – for them –
then claim the land. That could work with the old right of
possession bit, which is why I insisted you get a title. You’re
pure Indio so can get a title. They’re Spanish and mestizos so they
CAN’T get a title on those islands.

“
Please,
amigo. They aren’t above trying to steal your land. I’ll use the
time to investigate them. I’ve heard some things, like they’re
fronting for ... some other people who would never be welcome on
Cristóbal. At all! Find out what it’ll cost and I’ll finance
it.”

“
Clint
... you are a true friend,” Ronaldo replied seriously. “I think an
honest and good person ... I will do as you say.”

“
Yo,
Clint! Como esta?” Carlos Conant called as he passed in his boat.
Clint was on his porch over the dock at his Saigon Bay home having
coffee with his only close neighbor, Judi Lum.

“
Bien!”
Clint replied. “Usted?”

“
Very
well, thank you! Hear you’ve stuck your neck out for Ronaldo. Be
careful of those Indios. They never pay back a loan. Lending them
money is the same as giving them money.” Carlos was Black and the
Blacks and Indios here do not like each other. Unlike in the
states, Clint had found that the Blacks were the worst bigots,
followed by the pure Spanish. The Indios laughed at the Blacks,
mostly. They have entirely different cultures.

“
Lending
any Panamanian money is giving it to them – EXCEPT for the Indios –
in my experience. Hell, I’ve lent you a couple of hundred over the
past few months and you’ve never so much as bought me a beer. I
don’t expect to get it back. I learned that the first week I was
here. You do owe me favors, though.

”
What do
you know about that bunch of clowns at Forthingwells in
Panamá?”

“
THAT
crowd? Colombian mafia, I hear. They’re having that Montez
character and his wife front for them while they buy up a lot of
places to build resorts and drug drop-off spots. They own a lot of
politicians and judges and such, same as always.

“
Why?
Because they want that nice plot of land on Cristóbal?

“
You
can’t fight them. They’ll end up with the land and nothing anyone
can do about it. Ronaldo will get maybe a thousand dollars to get
him by, but that’s it!”

“
Oh,
there are ways to handle that type. I have friends ... well,
acquaintances ... in the states who’ve been in the organized crime
bit for centuries in Europe and in the US. THEY owe me some favors,
bigtime! I can get answers fast. Maybe I’ll have to go to Panamá
and have a bit of a talk with some of them.

“
AFTER I
make a couple of calls to the US!”

“
Clint,
check up on what’s really going on with this shit. Fifty-fifty you
end up dead if you aren’t VERY careful. This is NOT the
US!”

Clint nodded and went inside to the phone to
call a number he hadn’t used in ten years or more. The person who
gave him the number had died just after giving him the number. He
was a very big don in the states and made it a point to let his
sons know he – therefore, they – owed Clint Faraday any favor he
wanted. Anytime. Anywhere.

Of course, using a favor on that scale would
mean his house would become a drop-off for drugs or worse. He would
never resort to calling in any of those markers. Something like
information about this bunch wouldn’t be considered anything more
than a simple request by a friend of the family.

“
Marko?
Clint Faraday here. I was a friend of your father.”

“
Yo,
Clint! Remember! Otherwise, you ain’t got this number. Not ten
people in the world know this number. What can I do for
you?”

“
I just
need a little info about the Colombian mob here and what they’re
going to try to get a friend’s land – Oh! I’m in
Panamá.”

“
Gimme a
number and a connection and I’ll call back in mebbe a half hour or
so.”

“
Forthingwells in Panamá City. Four oh four nine eight seven
nine nine, area five oh seven. It’s a cell phone. Reaches me
anywhere in Panamá.”

“
Okay.
Later.” He hung up. Clint grinned. He would get information the CIA
would take a year to find in half an hour. Or so.

“
Learn
anything?” Judi asked as Clint went back out on the
porch.

“
I
will.”

“
Clint.
It’s the Mexican and Colombian bunch with a couple of Panamanians
thrown in,” Marko reported forty minutes later. “If it included the
Ruskies I’d tell you flat, no matter what Pops promised, I wouldn’t
touch it. These are a wad of amateurs who think they can think, but
they got sense enough not to deal with the Ruskies. Do NOT get
involved with the Ruskie mob. They’re looney as gooney birds. Don’t
have a concept of when to stop. Act first, think later.

“
I’m
gonna give you a name in Panamá City. Talk with her. She’s been
around. Corrupt as anyone you’ll ever meet, but with a sort of
charm. Don’t trust her and no deals with her. Just ask her to tell
you what she knows about that scam. Alicia G. Vargas.

“
Don’t
trust even people you know right in your back yard and go
everywhere with a piece. You got the license. Tell your Indian
friend to never go anywhere alone and do NOT go to Panamá City or
Santiago – and do NOT, under any circumstances, go to
Colón!

“
You
ain’t got a clue what’s goin’ on there, Clint. This Indian has land
worth about two mil he’s selling for one and they want it for
nothin’. Use my name to back them off of it. They got a real fancy
mouthpiece who’s as scummy a scumbag as ever walked the Earth.
You’ll think he’s a great pal – got what you call charisma – but
all you get from him is a knife in the back. Name’s Alfonso Cabriez
Ariel.

“
Ariel’s
are those cutter ants you got there that can take down a tree in a
night. Sorta apt, you know?

“
Call me,
anything else. I want to ask a favor, but it ain’t got nothin’ to
do with anything else. Personal. It’ll wait til you get this one
straightened out.”

“
Shit!”
Clint exploded. “Ronaldo went to Panamá City last night’s bus from
David! I can’t reach him unless he calls me!”

“
I’ll
call back. Ten minutes.” He hung up.

“
I don’t
like the look on your face!” Judi cried. “Clint! What
happened!”

“
Nothing
– I honestly and very sincerely hope!”

“
Clint.
We might be too late with this. I can’t find your Indian friend,”
Marko said twenty minutes later. “Clint, I can find anybody,
anywhere. They done what I think and you got an army to wipe those
scum off the face of the Earth.

“
Clint,
your friend is probably dead by ... gimme a minute. Call from down
there.”

Three minutes later: “Clint, your friend’s in
that big hospital near Via Espania. I got muscle right there in the
room. They tried to kill him – and ALMOST did, but he’s gonna be
alright in a few days ... Okay. You got a flight from the airport
on Bocas in thirty five minutes, but they’ll hold it for you if I
say. I’ll have a guy meet you in Panamá City at the airport. Carry
a piece. They’ll manage not to find it at the airport.

“
Kinda
excitin’, huh? Thought you left all this TV drama shit back here,
but it’s followin’ you.”

“
Excitement of this kind I can do without! What going
on?”

“
It’s an
old game. Vic’ll tell you about it and he’ll be with you a lot
unless you say no.

“
Clint,
this ain’t about the favors from Pop. It’s got personal and I got a
score with a couple in that bunch. I promised they ever mess with
me or my friends, I pull the roots. They messed with a friend and I
just needed an excuse. You ain’t involved and you’ll never hear
anything about it. The favor I want’s part of it because I don’t
want any of that mierda anywhere I’m at.