Murder in the Dorm (22 page)

“I agree. Now, Charlie, you did have insurance, right?”

“Oh yes, we should be okay, but I don’t want to move back to that house. I’m going to start working on Kate tonight, at dinner, about moving.”

“Good luck, Charlie.”

Chapter 40

The Thirtieth and Last Thursday

Charlie and Kate had been living in their new condo for nearly two months. The insurance had covered most of the cost of the house, though it had fallen short on their paintings. Kate and Charlie had done the minimum repairs and put the house up for sale at an attractive price. It had gone quickly to a couple intending to renovate extensively. Both Charlie and Kate liked their new place. It wasn’t bigger in floor-space, but better laid out and all on one level. It also had a great view, which they’d not had before, and indoor parking. On the whole the fire had proven to be something of a blessing in disguise for Charlie. As a career minimalist, he felt rather relieved at having had his possessions trimmed to the essentials. He’d also enjoyed replacing two of the painting they’d lost with new works. As for the arsonist, the trial was still pending but DeVries had assured Charlie that Borden was going away for a good while. He’d even been dumb about the money, having opened a bank account with the fifty-thousand he’d picked up, in cash, from a dumpster described to him in the untraceable email. The money was now all but gone due to Borden’s need to pay his hotshot lawyer. Charlie had heard from DeVries that, as before, the arsonist’s lawyer had stopped being paid. With fifty-thousand in the bank, Borden couldn’t go with a public defender, so he was not only going to do time, what he’d been paid to set the fire was all but gone.

Charlie had stopped thinking about the case, knowing full well there was nothing more to be done. He’d seen Baynes a few times on campus but had kept his distance. For his part, Baynes still went to lunch at the Club, sometimes with Evan Jones, but avoided the Club table. He’d nodded to Charlie a few times when they ran into one another in the hall, but they did not speak. Then about three weeks earlier, Charlie had been told by Jones that Baynes had left Meredith and Kingsford. Jones knew only that Baynes was headed for Europe but had no other details. He seemed miffed that Baynes had only told him in general terms about planning to visit two or three countries. Charlie bet that “Europe” meant Brazil or some other place without extradition arrangements.

That morning Charlie was up early. He had breakfast, showered, shaved, and got dressed. He then did what he’d taken to doing as a sop to exercise: he walked a couple of blocks to buy copies of the
Times-Standard
and
The New York Times
and some muffins for Kate. Back at the condo he decided to have another coffee and one of the muffins while he read the papers. His decision cost him a scalded lap. Charlie browsed through the
New York Times
and then turned to the
Times-Standard
. He spilled his coffee on turning to the second page of the paper. What he saw there was a headline and a picture. The headline read: “Former Kingsford resident killed on in Sao Paulo.” The picture was of a younger but clearly recognizable Richard Baynes. The story was just one paragraph, but more than enough for Charlie:

Mr. Richard Baynes, formerly a resident of Kingsford and a professor at Meredith University, was shot and killed in Sao Paulo, Brazil, yesterday afternoon. Mr. Baynes flew into Sao Paolo from Grand Cayman Island and apparently went directly to a downtown bank, accompanied by a man police assume met him at the airport. The two bank employees who dealt with Mr. Baynes gave vague and somewhat conflicting descriptions of Mr. Baynes’ companion. Both left the bank together and Mr. Baynes was later found in the bank’s unattended parking lot. Police believe he was most likely killed by the man who accompanied him to the bank. We are following the investigation and will report anything we learn in the next few days.

– THE END –