Dead Deceiver (21 page)

“I would like you and Bruce to sit in on my questioning of Charles. The lawyer’s documentation will be impeccable should he deny the marriages and the lawsuits. Bruce, do you have the time?” She glanced over at Bruce.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” he said.

With two and a half hours to go until ten o’clock, Osborne busied himself making phone calls in hopes of finding someone who knew Walter’s niece while Lew called Ray and arranged for him to take Bruce along when he checked the area around Walter’s shack for footprints.

“Bruce,” she had said, “see if you can find fingerprints, bullet casings that may have been overlooked because of cracks in the floor—any evidence that might help us identify the party who killed the old man. Todd was working the crime scene when he got called away—one of his kids got injured playing hockey.

“Here,” said Lew, handing him a file, “I have his notes on what he managed to cover. If you could make some headway that would be helpful. It’s frustrating how shorthanded we are but that will change after the tournament, thank goodness. But tell Ray you need to be back before ten.”

Bruce returned a good twenty minutes before the meeting. “Good news and bad news, Chief,” he said. “That shack is a challenge. I’ve lifted a number of prints to sort through later though initially they look to be from the same individual. Oh, and I did find one bullet casing that had rolled through a crack in the floor. That’s worthless unless we find the actual murder weapon.

“I’ll doublecheck the prints to see if I can find any that differ from the victim’s but right now it looks to me like whoever it was who shot the old man just walked in and walked out.”

“Todd missed the casing? That doesn’t make me happy.”

“A lot of debris between those floor boards, Chief Ferris.
Years
of debris, plus it was under some bloody matter—tissue.” On that grim note, he paused.

“And the good news?” asked Lew.

“Oh that,” said Bruce with a wide grin. “While we were out there your friend, Ray, got a call on his cell that his ice shanty is one of four finalists in that contest they got going. A crew from the TODAY SHOW is flying in later today to cover the final judging for both the international ice fishing tournament and the shanty contest. He’s pretty excited.”

“I’ll bet he is,” said Osborne.

“That’s terrific news,” said Lew. “But did Ray say if he found any tracks in the area?”

“Not yet, but he’s planning to go back this afternoon. They asked him to stop by the officials’ tent before lunchtime to fill out some paperwork for the final judging.”

A gentle knock at the office door changed the expressions on everyone’s face.

Charles entered. “Good morning, Charles,” said Lew in a brisk tone. “Please, take a seat here at the conference table.”

Charles walked over to sit down across from Osborne. Bruce took a chair next to Osborne at the round table. Lew sat in the center facing all four and with Charles to her immediate left. She pushed her chair back and turned so she could speak to him directly.

“Charles,” said Lew, setting a hand on the manila envelope that had been delivered, “we know about Linda, Wendy and Kathleen.”

“Oh.” With a heavy sigh, Charles slumped back in his chair. He looked grayer than ever and his ponytail hung limp over his left shoulder. “I guess it was just a matter of time.”

“As of late yesterday, we were convinced you were a bigamist,” said Lew. “But just this morning we got records from your most recent wife’s lawyer that indicate your divorce was final last August. Would that have been
before
you married Patience?”

“Two days before,” said Charles, shifting in his chair and clearing his throat.

“You know you have the right to a lawyer if you wish,” said Lew. “You don’t have to answer my questions … Would you like me to read you your rights?”

“That’s fine. They’ve been read to me before. I know them by heart,” said Charles. “Not necessary.”

“All right, then,” said Lew, reaching for one of the documents from the law firm. “We know that Kathleen would not agree to the divorce until you repaid one hundred thousand dollars that you took from a joint savings account two years ago. How did you manage to repay that amount? That’s a lot of money. Did you take the money from Patience? Did she give you that money?”

“I had help from my family.”

“Dick?”

Charles went from gray to white. Osborne thought he might pass out.

Lew gazed at Charles for a moment before saying, “Charles, we know all about Richard. We know he is an escaped felon with warrants out for his arrest. Tell us where he is.”

The man leaned forward to put his elbows on the table and cover his face with his hands. After a long moment, he raised his head and said, “If I turn my brother in—he’ll kill me. He will kill Patience and, if you get in his way, he may hurt one of you sitting at this table.

“My brother has no conscience. He has infected my life since we were kids.” He spoke clearly, simply and Osborne believed him.

C
HAPTER
27

“O
ur parents were killed in a car accident when we were four years old,” said Charles. “Christmas Eve some woman driving drunk after an office party swerved and hit their car head on. My dad had just got his paycheck that day and my folks had been out Chrismas shopping or we would have been in the car, too.

“There were four of us kids. Dick and I are the youngest. At first one of my mother’s sisters tried to take care of us but she couldn’t afford it so my two older sisters stayed with her and we were put in foster homes. Dick and I grew up with different families. I was in two different homes over the years but Dick must have been in a dozen. He was always getting kicked out.”

“Why was that do you think?” asked Lew. Charles shrugged. “He’s a mean sonofabitch. I suppose sometimes he was put with the kind of people who take kids in for the money so they deserved what they got. Most times he was mean to the other kids, to the foster parents, to family pets. But to hear Dick tell—it was never his fault.”

“Growing up, did you two go to the same schools?” Lew asked.

“Sometimes. Grade school, yes. Different high schools because they kept moving Dick around. We were always in touch, though, through our sisters.” Charles sighed, “Even though he got kicked out a couple times for fighting, Dick pretty much breezed through high school taking shop classes and stuff. He’s good with his hands—can build anything.

“I managed to finish.” Charles gave a sheepish look. “The only class I ever got a decent grade in was art—so these past few months have been really nice for me.” He spoke with regret as if knowing that his days as an artist were over.

“Yeah, my brother is a lot smarter than me. A real whiz when it comes to numbers and computers.” Lew made a note on the pad in front of her. Osborne glanced over at Bruce who gave a slight nod though he didn’t take his eyes off Charles.

Charles’ voice was subdued as he spoke, so much so that Osborne had to strain to hear him. It was as if he was confessing rather than describing his brother.

“In our late teens, after high school—neither of us went to college—and when we were out on our own, I didn’t see Dick for quite a few years. I’ve always stayed in touch with my sisters, who told me he’d gone west where he got arrested for forging checks and hoodwinking whoever hired him—mainly hardware stores, I think. He’s been in jail or prison off and on for years. During one of his stints in prison, he studied accounting, which he’s good at. But,” Charles shifted in his chair, “his real talent is conning people … women especially.”

Lew resisted the urge to comment: “Like you, bud.”

“You can see from the divorce records you got there,” Charles waved a hand toward the documents on Lew’s desk, “that I’ve always stayed with low-paying jobs like being a sales clerk or stockperson in a warehouse. Construction, I’m good doing interior detail stuff, which is how I met Patience.”

“Let’s go back to your remark that your brother is good at conning people,” said Lew. “Wouldn’t you say that you’re pretty good at that, too?”

Charles’ face reddened. “See, I’m not proud of it, but ever since I was a kid, women have liked me.” He gave an apologetic look around the table. “Not sure why but something seems to work. “

“Oh, I think you know why,” said Lew in a dry tone. “Let’s not kid anyone around here.” Osborne hadn’t heard her speak with such an edge before. He was impressed.

Charles looked uncomfortable. “Well, three wives later, I’m ashamed to admit that I have behaved miserably with women who deserved better.” He shook his head.

As if he had made up his mind about something, Charles straightened up in his chair. He looked at Lew and said, “I’m not a very nice guy, I will give you that. But Patience is my first real chance to change things. She loves me. And she is kind. I’ve never known a human being so … kind.”

“Then why on earth would you steal from her?” asked Lew. “I admit I’m guessing here but from what we’ve learned about you and your own statement that she thought you had—makes me wonder if she was right.”

“She was right. She was very, very right.” Charles sat silent and the people in the room waited. Finally he gave a weak chuckle, “I’ve been stealing from women all my life. I stole from my sisters before my parents died. I stole from my foster mothers, I stole from teachers.

“Dick, too. We worked together. I would find some woman who had money, charm her, marry her—and get in touch with my brother. Dick would show up and together we would run a scam. He’s the one who knows how to get into bank accounts or fool around with checks. He would take the money, give me some and leave. It was a bad act but divorce isn’t jail time. I was able to persuade my ex’s that Dick forced me into taking the money so they never accused me of stealing—we’d divorce and I’d promise to pay it back. And, sometimes, I did pay some.”

“You did this three times, you and Dick?” Lew tapped a pen on her desk as she spoke.

“Well, there were a few girlfriends in there, too.”

“And your brother had no problem taking advantage of the women? Obviously you didn’t, either,” said Lew.

“I didn’t really love those women and he knew that. They were a convenient way to be safe, to have a decent life. After a while, I’d get bored or, you know, start up with someone else. Time to take the money and move on. Again, I’m ashamed to tell you these things but—”

“Why would you let him do that? Why would you let him just come in and ruin your ‘decent’ life?” asked Lew.

“He’s in charge. Always has been. He knows how to hurt me—I learned a long time ago not to let that happen.” Charles was silent. He cleared his throat. “When people tell you who they are, believe them. Dick told me once that he would kill me if I didn’t do what he said. He is always armed and, like I said, good with his hands.” Charles looked around the table: “If you don’t know people who can hurt you, count yourself lucky. Very lucky.”

“So he showed up here in Loon Lake? To run the same scam?”

“Worse than that. When he tracked me down here, which was a couple months ago, he needed a place to hide out for a while. Put together a new identity. Patience was out of town at a conference so I let him stay over at the house. That night we had a few drinks and I passed out. When I woke up the next morning, he was on her laptop in the den.

“Right away he could see that I had accessed one of Patience’s accounts and moved some money.”

“Ah-h-h,” said Lew, “so you did that on your own?”

“I used it to buy the gold to make our wedding rings. I was going to pay it back.”

“How much are we talking about?” asked Lew.

“Ten thousand.”

“And she didn’t know you took it?” Lew asked.

“Not at first. Then her accountant called to ask what she spent the money on. I tried to convince her that the bank made an error. That was right when Dick got here.”

“So he demanded some of the money?” asked Lew.

“No, he didn’t want the money. Actually, he had plenty of cash on him. I have no idea from where but he said he was willing to replace the ten thousand before she could accuse me of taking it—in exchange for …” Charles voice trailed off. Then he lifted his head resolutely.

“So he gave me the money, which I deposited right away. I was able to convince Patience that the fluctuation in the account balance was a computer glitch and when she saw that the money was in there, she believed me.”

“I think she
chose
to believe you,” said Lew.

“Yes. She gave me a break,” Charles voice was meek. “I don’t deserve Patience. I know that. Better to have this all over than have the one genuinely good person in my life get hurt. Dick’s spamming operation has already damaged the reputation of the college not to mention my wife. I’m willing to help put an end to this—but,” Charles leaned forward, voice hardening as he said,
“you have to help me keep Patience safe.”

“What exactly was the trade between you and your brother?” asked Lew. “Obviously you made it possible for him to hack in to the college system but how?”

“I gave him access to her laptop. He figured out Patience’s password and got into the college network. All that spam that was sent from her email address—that was Dick. All the spam that’s being sent today? The identity theft? The stolen credit card numbers? He has pros helping him. He told me it’s an international operation and all he has to do is ‘keep the door open.’ The key to his whole operation is that the spam must come from a computer within the college system—that validates the offers, that’s why the spammers pay him. The fact that some of the offers came from the office of the college president—”

“Like the discounts on textbooks?” asked Lew.

“Right. For Dick—that was stealing candy from kids.”

“So he uses the laptop in your home first, then various computers at the college,” said Lew, taking notes. “How often was he in your house?”

“Patience’s schedule is very predictable. On the days that Dick wanted access because he couldn’t get into the college for some reason, I would be sure to leave the doors unlocked. He would come by snowmobile, park back behind the garage—a trail runs back there—and let himself in. He never needed more than half an hour. But last week everything changed. May I have a glass of water, please?” Charles’ hands were shaking.