Makeovers Can Be Murder (20 page)
Read Makeovers Can Be Murder Online
Authors: Kathryn Lilley
My graph didn′t jibe with what Luke and the other homicide investigators were saying. Maybe my bubble theory was for the birds.
I pinned the graph on the side of my cubicle and sat for a while, staring at it. I definitely felt that the exercise had been worthwhile. The bubbles were definitely showing me something. But I couldn′t get ahold of the image.
Clearly I′d need a genius like Seurat to figure this whole thing out.
I realized I hadn′t spoken to Shaina since her uncle Belmont had whisked her away to the Bahamas.
I called the cell phone number she′d given me.
Shaina picked up right away and said she was doing great.
″I′m coming back to Durham next week,″ she said. ″I want to talk to the police again. I feel bad.″
″About what?″
″I was so upset when I first talked to them about the carjacking. I just don′t think that guy who took the car shot Mom. I think there was someone else involved. Maybe someone who was waiting around the corner for them.″
Chapter 39
Stocking Talk
Lots of women these days don′t like to wear nylons. I totally don′t get this. (P.S. Wearing shoes without nylons makes your feet smell.) Stockings even out your skin tone and don′t have to be uncomfortable.
The Little Book of Beauty Secrets
by Mimi Morgan
″I′ve found out that the human-organ racket is fishier than my last name,″ Fish said.
″You mean it′s fishier than this crab cake? This dish tastes like last week′s haul from China.″
″I told you to order the steak burger. It′s the only thing here that′s decent, other than the booze, that is.″
I was pretending to nibble the early-bird plate at Fish′s favorite hangout, a sports bar named Hail Mary′s.
Fish was finishing up his second drink of the day even though it was only four o′clock. To keep up with him I ordered another club soda with lime, much to the amusement of our plump-armed waitress.
″I know there are some bad operators out there who get illegal body parts,″ I said to Fish across the table of our padded booth, ″but you make the entire human-organ business sound criminal, like sex trafficking. Don′t forget about all the people who are waiting for kidneys and hearts. I mean, some people
die
before they get a transplant. What about them?″
die
before they get a transplant. What about them?″
″Those people are the ten percent of the iceberg that′s above the waterline. Underneath, you have scumbags out there stealing body parts, paying broke people for kidneys. And even worse.″
″So please enlighten me, Fish. Exactly which part of this racket is related to what happened to Jana Miller′s body?″
″Here′s your answer.″ He slid a manila folder across the polished wood table.
I opened the file and scanned its contents. The folder was filled with pages of blurry printouts. They appeared to be copies of the fronts and backs of bank checks.
″Okay, I′m looking at a bunch of checks that were made out to some guy named Sateesh Kumar,″ I said, trying to make sense of it. All the checks were written for large amounts.
Fish tapped his fingertips on the papers, leaving wet fingerprints. ″Look at the—″
″Hey, don′t get these copies of the checks wet.″ I snatched away the papers. ″In case I need to get cut shots of these later for a story.″
Wiping off his hands on a crummy napkin, Fish said, ″This guy Sateesh travels overseas a lot. He′s hooked into a ring of thugs that kidnaps children. These kidnappers hold them in poverty-stricken places like the Ivory Coast and parts of South America.″
″Why?″
″Why do you think? For their organs.″
″Whoa. Wait a second, Fish,″ I countered. ″I′ve heard of people stealing human organs from dead bodies, but you′re talking about living human beings. About
children
, for God′s sake. Stop it.″
children
, for God′s sake. Stop it.″
Fish knocked back the last of his drink. ″You′re a reporter, aren′t you? Don′t be so fucking naive, Kate,″ he said. ″Some of these children are being held—alive—for their body parts.″
″They take the organs . . . the kidneys, you mean? Surgically?″
″I suspect it′s even worse than anyone knows. These animals could easily be killing the children, once they have them under their control. Even if they stay alive, they′re put into the sex-trafficking business.
″We′re talking about body snatchers, Kate,″ he said. ″Modern-day, walking vampires—they don′t value human life at all.″
The thought of children being kidnapped—being
harvested
—for their bodies and organs made me literally sick to my stomach. I shoved my crab plate aside.
harvested
—for their bodies and organs made me literally sick to my stomach. I shoved my crab plate aside.
″Why do you think Sateesh Kumar is involved in something horrible like this?″ I asked, staring across the table at Fish.
″His rap sheet, for one thing,″ he replied. ″In terpol has a big file on Sateesh. I heard he′s been holed up around here someplace. Shacked up with a hot-looking babe.″
″Bull
shit
, Fish.″
shit
, Fish.″
″What? You mean you′ve heard she′s not hot?″
″No. I mean if you and the cops know so much about Sateesh, why′s he free to walk around Durham?″
″Maybe they haven′t caught up with him yet,″ he said.
″Well, I′m not buying this yet.″
The waitress appeared at our table again.
″Another club soda for you, miss?″ she asked me.
″Actually, I think I′ll take a whiskey sour this time.″
The waitress nodded knowingly. ″Sure thing,″ she said. ″Everyone goes for the booze after talking to this pier rat long enough. Right, Fish?″
″Right, Pris,″ he said, rattling his ice cubes at her. ″And you know me . . .″
″Got it. Another hard one on the rocks.″
″Yup.″
As Pris returned to the bar, I considered the checks in my hand. ″But even if your information about Sateesh is correct, what could be the connection between Jana′s murder and her heart valve being stolen, I′m wondering?″
″Probably none,″ Fish replied. ″The stolen valve was just one of life′s weird coincidences. Jana′s body turned up in County Morgue at the wrong place, wrong time. But at least this crime we can track.″
Jana′s death seemed to be riddled with weird coincidences. That′s exactly what Luke had said about Anaïs Loring of the Newbodies being murdered six months before Jana—just a coincidence. Another dot of color on the canvas.
Fish, who′d been watching me think, added impatiently, ″Take a look at some of these parties who wrote checks to Sateesh. That′ll give you a good idea of who′s supporting this scumbag.″
″New Wave Technologies,″ I read the name slowly out loud. ″Prana Centers. Dr. . . .″
With unsteady fingers, I picked up the printout of the check to study it more closely. There was no mistake.
″What are you looking at?″ Fish asked.
″Hang on a second.″
That second was all the time it took for my heart to fall to the floor of my chest. On its way south it collided with an upsurge of bile, which flooded my mouth with a rancid taste of crab.
Written in flowing black ink, the signature at the bottom of the check read:
Dr. Xavier Medina
Chapter 40
Your Nighttime Skin Routine—It′s Good for the Skin, Good for the Brain!
Washing your skin at bedtime is important on many
levels. It removes impurities from your skin, and it also
serves as a signal to your brain that it′s time to relax.
This helps you wind down and release the stress from
your day.
levels. It removes impurities from your skin, and it also
serves as a signal to your brain that it′s time to relax.
This helps you wind down and release the stress from
your day.
The Little Book of Beauty Secrets
by Mimi Morgan
The address on the upper-left portion of the check was that of Medina′s office in Durham. There was no mistake. It was my Medina.
″This check,″ I said. ″It′s signed by someone I know. Dr. Xavier Medina.″
″Who′s he?
″A local plastic surgeon. A very well-known guy. He does charity work with children in Africa and South America,″ I said.
″Oh, yeah?″ Fish snorted into his drink. ″I′ll just bet he does. Does he steal their livers, too?″
I noted the check number and date. Three months earlier, Medina had written a check to Sateesh Kumar for $999. If what Fish was saying about Sateesh Kumar was correct—that the man was a ″modern-day vampire″ who plied his trade in illegal human organs—then Medina might be involved with a criminal.
Leaning back from the table, I said, ″It′s hard for me to believe that your information about Sateesh Kumar is true, Fish. In fact, I
don′t
believe it. Xavier has a wonderful reputation. He can′t be involved with anyone like that.″
don′t
believe it. Xavier has a wonderful reputation. He can′t be involved with anyone like that.″
″Oh, it′s
Xavier
, is it?″
Xavier
, is it?″
Grabbing the check from me, Fish made an elaborate show of examining it, then said, ″Tell me the truth, Kate. Are you sweet on this guy? Because you sound like someone who′s fucking someone.″
″Certainly I′m not,″ I said, as the tips of my ears began to burn. ″I′m just saying—what if your information about Sateesh is wrong?″
″And what if it′s right? Your honey-doc could be doing business with a world-class criminal.″
″I′m going to find out,″ I said. ″Right now.″
I reached under the table for my laptop. I was pleased to discover that Hail Mary′s had free Wi-Fi. I did a quick search for several Sateesh Kumars, cross-referencing the names with information from Fish′s file.
I looked at him. ″According to what I′ve just found,″ I said, ″the Sateesh Kumar who has an Interpol record has been sitting in prison in Chad for the last five years. And
this
check that was written by Xavier Medina was drafted two months ago. To a local Sateesh. On a local bank. So it can′t possibly be the same Sateesh Kumar, right?″
this
check that was written by Xavier Medina was drafted two months ago. To a local Sateesh. On a local bank. So it can′t possibly be the same Sateesh Kumar, right?″
Fish stared at the check for a long moment, then shrugged. ″Maybe.″
″
Maybe
, my ass. And for your information, Mr. Potato Head, Sateesh and Kumar are both common names in India. There are probably a half million guys walking around with that same name.″
Maybe
, my ass. And for your information, Mr. Potato Head, Sateesh and Kumar are both common names in India. There are probably a half million guys walking around with that same name.″
″Hey, I didn′t beat up anyone, did I?″ Smiling, Fish lifted his drink in a peace toast. ″We′re just doing a little partner research here.″
″Hmmph.″
″And speaking of research,″ he said, ignoring the fact that I was continuing to fume, ″Remem ber you asked me a while back to look into a rich stoner kid? The Putnam kid?″
″Chaz? Yeah—what about him?″
″Well I just got a callback from a pal at a credit agency. After I called to ask him about Chaz, he discovered that the kid is running a one-man server farm for fraudulent credit cards. My friend has already called the authorities to get him shut down. It′ll take some time, though.″
″What′s a server farm? And does it have anything to do with Jana?″
″Sure it does. Server farms are groups of computers that relay stolen credit information to other users. Chaz got a hold of Jana′s credit card numbers—and evidently tried to run them.″
″That makes sense,″ I said. ″Chaz told me he had computers in his room that he didn′t want the police to see, although I didn′t connect it with Jana′s death at the time. He must′ve gotten the cards from Jana′s purse. She left it behind at Trish Putnam′s house the night of the Newbodies meeting.″
″The thing is, according to my pal, Jana had already closed the credit cards by the time the Chaz kid got a hold of the card numbers. My guess is Jana had shut them down to cut off the money tree to that low-life husband she was about to divorce, Gavin Spellmore.″
″That′s right. She told me about that.″
″And here′s where it gets
real
interesting. I guess when Chaz couldn′t wring any dough out of Jana′s cards, he got royally pissed. According to another buddy of mine at the phone company, he placed a cell phone call to one Akito Carver. That last bit′s on the QT, by the way—it′s totally illegal for my phone buddy to have given me that information.″
real
interesting. I guess when Chaz couldn′t wring any dough out of Jana′s cards, he got royally pissed. According to another buddy of mine at the phone company, he placed a cell phone call to one Akito Carver. That last bit′s on the QT, by the way—it′s totally illegal for my phone buddy to have given me that information.″
″Akito Carver?″ I said. ″I heard about him from Antoine Hurley′s defense attorney. Akito goes by the street name Mad Dog.″
″Right, and word all over the street is that Mad Dog is Chaz′s drug dealer,″ Fish said. ″I can′t believe those broke-dicks over at homicide missed that fact.″
I leaned forward in excitement. ″I reported that Mad Dog may have been the guy who actually shot Jana,″ I said. ″And he′s also Chaz′s drug dealer? And Chaz phoned him on the night of Jana′s murder?″
When Fish nodded, I added, ″Maybe Chaz told Mad Dog to steal Jana′s car that night and it got ugly,″ I said. ″It became a carjacking and murder.″
″So that would mean that little ol′ Chaz Putnam lit the fuse on Mad Dog, who went out and murdered Jana,″ Fish said. ″While Chaz never even got his hands dirty.″
I sat bolt upright. Another surge ran through my body—this one of alarm.
″Uh-oh,″ I said. ″Evelyn′s evil karma.″
″What karma?″ Fish stared at me. ″Are you going California frosted flaky on me?″
″I′m remembering how Anaïs Loring was killed in a home-invasion robbery,″ I said. ″And the attempted break-in at
my
house. What if Chaz was behind those incidents? What if he′s targeting the women in his mom′s Newbodies group for their credit cards, and using Mad Dog as the muscle? If that′s true, everyone in the group is in danger.″
my
house. What if Chaz was behind those incidents? What if he′s targeting the women in his mom′s Newbodies group for their credit cards, and using Mad Dog as the muscle? If that′s true, everyone in the group is in danger.″
Chapter 41
Don′t Skip the Yearly Skin Checkup
Have your dermatologist check your skin once a year.
You need to keep on top of sun damage. Sun expo-
sure that you had when you were twelve years old
can come back to haunt you when you′re fifty.
You need to keep on top of sun damage. Sun expo-
sure that you had when you were twelve years old
can come back to haunt you when you′re fifty.
The Little Book of Beauty Secrets
by Mimi Morgan
Fish left the bar to try to get in touch with his former colleagues at the Durham PD to tell them about Chaz Putnam and the link to Jana′s carjacking. I wasn′t too sure they′d put much stock in information from ″a drunk and a psych case.″
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