Otter Under Fire (31 page)

“What else did he say?”

“That he had the surgery and the sexual re-assignment to be male and he legally became James Pennell.”

“Hmm, we should look into that.”

“Why?”

“I’d like to tie up all the loose ends. It makes a nice complete package when we put everything together.”

“I also think Victoria wasn’t the only one who was mentally ill. I suspect that Mitch just took some kind of medication that kept him less likely to go off the rails during the work day.”

“We found medication in the house, but we assumed it was for Victoria.”

“Who was the prescription for?”

“Prescriptions with an ‘s’,” he said

“Ok, who were the prescriptions for?”

“Several other fake names,”

“Unless the people the prescriptions really belongs to is are more of their victims,”

“Nope, we checked. They just got them under assumed names.”

“Thank goodness for that.”

“Did he tell you anything else?”

“Mitch sent Victoria after Clark when Clark told him everything he knew about Mitch’s past.”

“He actually told you that?”

“Yes, he said he thought that Victoria would just stop him. He also knew that Clark thought he was rescuing Victoria from his evil clutches.”

“Which explains why Clark let Victoria come up to him and shoot him in the head,” Joel said in disgust. “Stupid man,”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Otter said. “His cancer had come back and he knew he was terminal. Maybe he thought it was the easier way out. It would certainly explain why he left all the clues and made such a mystery out of it.”

“Are you telling me he committed suicide by murder?”

“It would make sense. Clark was good at making things more complicated than they had to be, but this was more than even he would do most of the time. I think he wanted them to kill him and he set up clues for me to find.”

“I think you’re wrong.” Joel said. “That’s not possible.”

“You know everything of course.”

“It doesn’t make any sense Otter.”

“I need to go and talk to someone else yet today.” Otter said. “You can drop me off home if you like, I’ll drive myself.”

“You can’t be thinking of leaving me behind.”

“You think I’m crazy.” Otter said, “No point in taking you. Besides, this one will have to be off the record. You probably can’t do that.”

“It would be at my discretion. I would have to determine whether a crime had been committed.”

“It’s not really a crime,” Otter said, “but it was sneaky.”

“C’mon Otter, I want to know what you are thinking.”

“OK, but let me do the talking.”

“Of course,” Joel said. “Just tell me where to go.”

The house was in a newer subdivision and sat on a quiet street. Halloween decorations were up on a few of the neighborhood windows and doors.

“That’s right Halloween is almost here,” Otter said. “I want to make sure I go to a Dia de los Muertos celebration before the end of the month.”

“Why?”

“Because I find the rituals interesting,”

“Ah, ok,”

“And I like to collect the little figures. One of my quirks, I guess.”

“They are not quirks, they are special features.” Joel said as he parked in front of the house she pointed out.

Greg’s jaw dropped when he opened his front door.

“Holy shit, Otter look at you.”

“It looked worse a few days ago.”

“I’m sure it did, but I had no idea how bad it was.”

“Can we come in?” Otter asked.

“Sure, come right on in. My wife is out shopping for Halloween costumes with the kids. I’m home by myself. Can I offer you a soda or tea or something?”

“I’ll take a soda,” Otter said. “I find I’m thirsty a lot lately.”

“Part of the healing process,” Joel said.

“Oh yes, Greg, this is my friend Joel. He’s driving me around town today.”

Greg shook hands with Joel and shut the door behind them. He disappeared into the kitchen for a moment and brought out a couple of canned sodas and a glass of ice.

“Can I get something for you?” He asked Joel.

“No, I’m good.”

They settled in the homey living room. Lots of family pictures were on the fireplace mantle and on nearly every table around the room.

“I wanted to thank you for all your help on this investigation,” Otter said, opening her soda and pouring it over the ice.

“You’re welcome,” Greg said, “I was happy to help.”

“So how much did Clark pay you to set me up? Or did he just blackmail you into it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Greg said, meeting her gaze.

“Sure you do,” Otter said. “This is me you’re talking to.”

Greg shook his head and looked away. “You know I didn’t like him at all, don’t you Otter?”

“He got under people’s skin.”

“He certainly had that skill. He was such a jerk.”

“I think Clark knew he was dying and he knew he had very little time left. He also knew his disease was a terrible way to go.”

“He once told me it would be painful and suffocating,” Greg said. “It’s a horrible way to die.”

“So what did he give you?”

“Me? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” He shook his head and stared at the can of soda in his hand.

Otter stared at Greg’s profile for a moment. “How are you related to Jeremy Redding?”

“Who says that I am?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense, you had some of the clues and Jeremy had the rest--I think you were in this together.”

“He’s my nephew,” Greg sighed, “My older brother was friends with Clark when they were in the army.”

“And Clark promised to take care of Jeremy and see that he got into college.”

“He promised my brother before he died. Jeremy has nothing else right now. I’m helping mom the best I can, but I have my own family now.”

“So this begs the question why didn’t you two just solve the puzzle yourselves and leave me out of it?”

“I don’t know anything about the periodic table,” Greg said in surprise, “All the clues that Clark put together were custom made for you.”

“And you didn’t tell me any of this because…”

“Because that’s the way it had to be.”

Otter felt Joel tense beside her and she patted his hand. “Don’t kill him yet; let him tell us the story.”

Greg’s eyes rounded in surprise and he simply stared at them for a few minutes.

“C’mon Greg, tell us the whole thing.” Otter pointed to her black eye, “I think I deserve to know everything after what I’ve been through.”

“Yeah, I suppose you do,” Greg conceded. “First of all, I’d like to say I didn’t like the idea. I figured we’d be found out and it would all be against the law. I didn’t know how it would be illegal, but anything that Clark dreamed up was usually more trouble than it was worth.”

“So this was all Clark’s plan?”

“Yeah, it was. See, Clark’s best friend was my brother Bill. They were in the army together. Actually I think Bill was Clark’s only friend. Clark had a lot of associates but he just had that way about him that made him hard to like, you know?”

“Yes, I know.”

“Anyway, Bill’s wife died when Jeremy was a little guy and Bill never remarried. He tried to raise Jeremy the best he could, but he was sick all the time, so my mom took care of Jeremy a lot.”

“You and Jeremy don’t have the same last name.”

“Bill and I had different fathers; anyway Clark was a good friend. He took Bill to appointments, took Jeremy on trips with his family and was great to my brother.”

“But your brother was sick.”

“Yeah, and one day Clark called us all together about four years ago and promised all of us—Mom, Bill, Jeremy and me—that he would make sure that Jeremy got the chance to go to college. He would take on the financial arrangements to see he got a good start in life.”

“You had a problem with that?”

“I didn’t believe him. I figured he was just saying that to make Bill worry less. It was obvious to all of us that once Clark made his promise, Bill was a lot happier. I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want him to suffer any more than he was.”

“That’s a tough situation to be in.”

“As a show of good faith, Clark told me about a job opening at AzTech when I was in between jobs. I wasn’t crazy about working with him, but it was a great opportunity and it worked out well.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“And then a couple of years ago, Billy passed away.”

“I’m sorry.”

“He was very sick. So Jeremy went to live with Mom. It was about the time that they found out that Clark had cancer.”

“Your brother never knew how sick Clark was?”

Greg shook his head. “No, and you know what’s weird, Mom would get a check once a month from Clark for Jeremy. He was so ill and fighting for his life, yet he still sent a check. I had no idea how he could afford it.”

“I think I do,” Otter said.

“Yeah, we know now, but I didn’t know then.”

“And eventually Clark went into remission,” Otter said, “and wanted to go back to work.”

“Yes, so I told him that there were positions open at AzTech so he went in to talk to Michael.”

“And the rest is history. So when did you get embroiled in the plan?”

“I think it was around May. Clark was told he had maybe three months to live, he wasn’t in remission anymore.”

“He didn’t tell many people.”

“No, he decided to use his disease to catch a killer—that’s the way he looked at it. He met with Jeremy and me both--separately and together and laid out the whole scheme. At first neither of us wanted any part of it, but he made it clear that if we didn’t participate, Jeremy’s college fund was forfeit.”

“Once an asshole, always an asshole,” Otter said.

“Jeremy didn’t know a lot of it. All he knew was that he had to help you with some clues and give you the box. He didn’t know anything else.”

“Protected him,” Otter said, “Sure.”

“So once he made the decision to involve me, Clark told me that he had found an imposter in the shop who might be very dangerous. He was working to get evidence, but he wasn’t sure he would live long enough. He told me that either the cancer would kill him or this traitor would.”

“That didn’t worry you?”

“Hell, yes it did, but Clark was sure nobody was in immediate danger but him.”

“And we all know that Clark was totally clueless about people.”

“No shit, he had decided that either you or Michael were the only two people who could figure out his clues. He put together a whole mystery for you to solve—custom made for you alone.”

“And why me particularly?” Otter asked, but she already knew the answer. “It’s because Clark figured I would be next on Mitch’s list once he was dead. Mitch would start worrying that Clark had told people.”

“Yeah, and neither Jeremy nor I were supposed to tell you anything about the story. We didn’t know who he suspected; we didn’t know the answer to the clues. Clark didn’t think you’d believe us and once you found out he had directed all of this you wouldn’t pursue it any more. We just had to help you out when we could and hope that you were as smart as Clark thought you were.” He paused a moment. “I didn’t have any doubt.”

“And explains why he had you as mercury on the table. Mercury was the messenger god in mythology.”

“I didn’t know that.” Greg said.

“I also think that Clark baited them to murder him.” Otter said.

“Why would you think that?” Joel asked.

“Because first of all his death would have been hard and painful,” Otter said, “and secondly I wouldn’t have necessarily gone looking for his traitor if he died of natural causes.” She paused, “He didn’t know they’d stage it like a suicide, he was thinking murder. If he was murdered, then I would know that the mystery was serious and be motivated to figure it out.”

“He put you in serious danger and left you a
game
?” Joel said in outrage.

“I was in serious danger already,” Otter said. “Clark signed my death warrant when he started poking into Mitch’s past. He provoked Mitch on the day he was killed by telling him everything he knew.”

“Mitch told you that?” Joel asked.

“Yes, he did. He says he called Victoria to take care of it, but honestly it could have been either one of them.”

“Clark assured me that you would solve everything quickly and you would be in no danger.” Greg said. “I had to believe him.”

“Because Jeremy’s future was at stake,” Otter said.

“Then why didn’t Clark just go to the police with what he knew?” Joel asked.

“Because it was important that they kill him first,” Otter said. “He was probably already feeling sick, and knew he didn’t have much longer.”