Otter Under Fire (23 page)

“You know there was something funny on that list, for silver…” Otter started remembering, but Michael thought of it in the same instant.

“Silver, the atomic number you changed it, I noticed when I was looking at the list that it was wrong,” He said.

“It should be number 47 atomic weight,”

“But it had 30 on it. That’s not right, 30 is zinc.”

“Maybe it’s not a mistake after all,” Otter said.

“Well I know what it could mean,” Michael said doubtfully.

“We know he was religious, but really? 30 pieces of silver?”

“It’s a little dramatic, even for Clark.”

“He thought someone sold you out.”

“Mackenzie might buy that I’m a diamond in the rough, but this would stretch my credibility.” Michael said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, that might be a little tough.”

“Now we know who he is pointing the finger at,” Michael said, “We just need to find out why.”

“Could be, and I might know something more,” Otter said. “I found out that Clark was trying to get the passwords to the personnel files, and watching for electronics purchases.”

“Electronics purchases--whatever for?”

“Don’t really know for sure.” Otter confessed, “But Greg tells me that a lot of surveillance pieces started showing up that were charged on the company account. Greg didn’t order it; the controller didn’t order it so did you by any chance?”

“No, I didn’t. Where is all this equipment now?”

“Greg has it in his supply cabinet. He’s only had it a few days.”

“So someone is buying equipment and knows the password for purchasing.”

“Apparently, but I would think they would have a better method of delivery. Greg knows it’s here and he has it in a locker.”

“I’ll need to talk to Greg; I bet we could set something up.” Michael looked fierce.

“Someone wants to play spy, they will have spy played upon them.”

“Something like that.”

“Greg will enjoy this, he loves playing the part of a secret agent.” Otter said with a smile.

“Knowing Greg as we do, he will have all kinds of extra things to add.”

“No doubt,”

Otter had been right; she thought as she tapped a panel in place, Greg’s face had lit up like a birthday candle when he was asked to help. She shifted position and screwed the panel in securely. Checking the angle of the garage roof, she put a couple of spacers under the next bracket and then screwed that into place as well.

Tempest hailed her from the back door. She waved to her, picked up all her tools and went up to the house.

“Your detective is here to see you.” She said as Otter stashed the tools in a toolbox built on the side of the patio rail.

“Thanks,”

“Miss Ottenberger, nice to see you again,” Detective Addison said shaking her hand.

“Thank you for coming back over.”

“I confess I have a hidden agenda.”

“Really? What would that be?”

“My hobby is security systems and gadgets, and you have a very intriguing system set up here. I wanted to ask you about it.”

“There’s nothing special about it.” Otter said while Tempest smothered a giggle.

“I still can’t get over you not having a front door knob; you say it’s part of your security plan?”

“Yes, there’s no way for someone to force the door open.”

“They could use a crowbar,” he said.

“They certainly could try, but there’s no crack for them to wedge a bar into,” she said. “The door fits perfectly into the frame.” Not to mention the electric current that would pass through them if they managed to pry against the steel door frame, she thought—but felt it best that she didn’t mention it.

“Or just knock the door in,”

“Solid steel,”

“Or pry up the garage door,”

“Stainless steel locking bars runs along the bottom on both garages when the door shuts.”

“You have four big windows facing the street,” He said, but you have some very nasty cacti planted closely together under all of them.”

“That’s true,” Otter agreed. She didn’t mention the other nasty surprises planted in the bed for the more determined.

“Skylights?”

“Steel grids over them,”

“What are you, Fort Knox?” He was playing with her, now, obviously enjoying himself.

“No, I’m just an engineer that has a creative imagination.”
And an uncle who is as crazy as I am,
she added silently, “ We tore this house apart to the framing, so I had some fun adding extras. It’s not impenetrable, but you would really have to want to get in here. ”

“How do you get in then, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Various codes programmed by the entrances that only Tempest and I know. It’s pretty adaptable if we want to include someone or exclude someone. Easy enough,” She opened the back door, “but as you see there are doorknobs on the back doors.”

“Someone could come over the back wall, no?” he said as Otter started shaking her head. “Don’t tell me you have tigers living in the back yard.”

Otter laughed. “Don’t be silly, that would be against the law.” And not half as fun as what happened if the wall detected an intruder. She went to the kitchen sink to wash her hands. “Can I offer you some ice tea or soda, detective?”

“Sure, ice tea would be great.”

“We’re two women living alone, Detective Addison,” Otter said as she handed him the tea. “We’d rather not have intruders if we can help it.”

“Makes sense,” he shrugged. He wasn’t buying her explanation, but he left it alone for the time being. Most women he knew got a decent system and had it monitored by a company. This system looked like it could take care of itself, no monitor needed.

“Susan said you found a code in the blackmail list,” He said, and took a drink of the tea, “That’s some tasty tea.”

“A potential new client of Tempest’s,” Otter said with a smile. “She has custom blends we found intriguing.”

“It’s very good,” he said taking another drink. “Now what was this code that you found?”

Otter described the code as best she could, she even brought out the cards for a demonstration, but she could see that Chris Addison wasn’t catching on.

“I was never big on science,” he confessed, “And I hated chemistry. I’m sorry, but this isn’t making sense to me.”

“Would it be possible for me to get the appointment book back?” Otter asked, “I’d like to see what he had in there now that I’ve figured out his code. There might be a lot more information.”

“The book is in an evidence locker at the station.”

“What if I went through it with you there?” Otter asked. “Or with you and Joel there--would that be ok?”

“Let me think about that.”

Otter was disappointed, but she answered his questions and told him as much as she knew. She didn’t elaborate on anything she wasn’t absolutely sure of, including the trap her boss was setting for a thief.

“Don’t worry, Otter, it will turn out all right,” Tempest said after the detective left. “He doesn’t know you’re one of the good guys.”

“I’m a lousy investigator,” Otter said, picking up Spooky and giving him a cuddle. “I made assumptions about the list and even Clark’s appointment calendar.”

“There’s no way you could have known all this,” Tempest said soothingly.

“No, but I’m supposed to be a critical thinker.”

“You are. Stop beating yourself up,”

“I saw Joseph leave here yesterday morning,” Otter said casually, “he didn’t mind that you left him all tied up and naked while you went out to a big meeting?”

“Well, he was a little unhappy at first,” Tempest said with a smile, “but I helped him change his mind.”

“I’ll bet you did. So are you two back together?”

“I don’t know. We’ll have to see.”

“You know, I wonder if I can get Joel to get me that book.”

“Speaking of Joel, what’s going on with you two?”

“I have no idea. I think we’re dating. He’s making noises about being in my life and all that.”

“But you haven’t slept with him yet. You don’t like him?”

“Of course I do, I’m just not ready yet.”

“C’mon who do you think you’re talking to?”

“I don’t want to spend the night with him just to find out he’s only dating me for information,” Otter said slowly, “I’ll be damned if I’ll let someone use me like that.”

“Make sense, why don’t you just kick him to the curb until this is all fixed?”

“Because I do like him, and to be honest he and his merry men are useful right now and a lot of fun.”

“OK, I can buy that.”

“But I saw something, Tempest, I don’t know what I saw, but it’s in the back of my brain. I saw something while I was dancing with Graham, just a flash and my brain can’t make sense of it.”

“Is it something to do with the murders or the list?”

“I don’t know. It’s just bugging me that I can’t remember what it was, but I know I saw something.”

“It will come to the surface if you let it alone.” Tempest said. “I know how your brain works. You will see two unrelated things and suddenly they will make sense to you and your brain will stop picking at it.”

“You’re probably right, but it’s frustrating all the same.”

“You’ll figure it out, you always do.”

“So where are the puppies?”

“Oh, I’m picking them up tomorrow. They’ll be here the rest of the week.”

“That should be fun. Isn’t your mother coming back to town this week too?”

“You bet. Chaos will reign.”

“It will be nice to see your mom again. I’ve kind of missed her.”

“Me too, kind of,” Tempest said, “she will enjoy hearing about what we’ve been up to.”

“And she will have all kinds of new dinner napkins to show you,” Otter laughed as Tempest gave her an evil look. “Hey, some mothers collect other weird things, yours collects napkins. It could be way worse.”

“It could,” Tempest agreed. “And you should be feeling excited that someone is going to test your security system again.”

“He’s an officer of the law. He wouldn’t mess with the home of a private citizen.” Otter said with a grin.

“I don’t think he’ll do anything illegal, but he won’t be able to resist checking it all out.”

“I hope he has fun,” Otter said.

“I hope so too,” Tempest said, “The last guy sure didn’t.”

Much later that night, a woman carried a light weight ladder through an alley. Otter had told people that she had a gas stove and water heater, which was useful information to have. So far, Otter had given no indication that she was messing around where she shouldn’t be, but it didn’t hurt to be careful. The front of the house was very secure, you couldn’t open any of the doors and all the windows had some nasty plants under them. Not worth messing with, she thought. Most people locked up the front and forgot the back, figuring the wall would protect them. She knew that from experience.

This was just reconnaissance, she told herself. Just to see where the gas hook up was and how easily she could make the house blow up if she needed to. She looked up the brick wall behind Otter’s house. It was eight feet tall, not the six feet it should have been. Tsk, tsk, Otter was breaking the law. She giggled a little at that. The Otter she knew probably had some kind of grandfather clause that said it was ok to have an oversized back fence.

She placed the ladder against the wall and climbed to the top and looked over into the back yard. It was really lovely the way Otter had it landscaped, she had to admit. The woman was certainly talented.

Something strange caught the corner of her eye, some kind of movement. She looked down at her hands and they were covered in spiders. Great big wolf spiders were crawling up her arms and more were swarming over the ladder. She felt them creeping over her skin and some had gotten in her clothes. Shuddering and slapping at the creatures she quickly slid back down the ladder. She brushed off her arms and all her clothes until she was convinced all the spiders were gone. Another shiver went through her as she imagined she could feel all those little hairy legs creeping over her body.

Checking to make sure there were no more creatures on the ladder, she pulled it away from the wall and carried it back down the alley. She checked every few steps to make sure none of those ugly critters had hitched a ride. With another shudder, she continued on. It would take her weeks to stop having the heebie jeebies. Ewww. She would have to come back another time.

The following day, driving down the I-10 and listening to the Mac and Gaydos show on the radio, they were joking about a spider falling on someone’s shoulder while they were driving. She couldn’t stop shuddering for several miles.

“It’s not him,” Otter said as the three of them watched the monitor. “That isn’t Ron Defray.”

“But he’s wearing Defray’s uniform and whoever is wearing the uniform is built like him,” Michael said, “Why don’t you think it’s him?”