Un-Connected (26 page)

“Oh, by the way,” Jim said. “I was able to
get a phone to Rebecca’s parents, and their phone number is the same as yours
except the last digit is a seven.” Then he was gone.

Deb and I looked at each other, and she spoke
first. “Someone is cleaning up.”

Deb asked me if I thought New Hope
Properties, LLC was too ordinary. After thinking about it for a minute, I said
it had good content, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to vote for that one. I
told her our life had been so stressful and now so good that we probably did
want a name that spoke of the big change in our lives.

I told her I had heard that in Indian mythology,
there was a bird called the phoenix that rose from ashes of some kind of fire
or disaster. It was kind of a miracle or at least an amazing revival of spirit
and good fortune. Since we were so close to the City of Phoenix, someone had
probably taken all variations of the name, but I would like to try some
combination of that name if it sounded good to her. I said we had been blessed
by making the right decisions so many times, and those decisions were probably
inspired.

I pointed out that things would have been
different if I had gotten in the talker’s truck instead of hers. And what if
she had turned me down? It would have been my loss.

She jumped on the computer and searched the
internet for “Phoenix Properties, LLC” in Arizona and nothing came up. That didn’t
mean there was nothing in Arizona and the name was free for us to use, but it
seemed so. We liked it and told Otis it was what we wanted if it was available.
We asked what he thought, and he liked it. In a few days Tilly called and
wanted to meet us somewhere to sign some papers. We invited her to our home,
and she was there soon.

We signed the papers, and she said the
property was officially ours, named as we had asked. Then she said we might
want to get it surveyed to know exactly where the property lines were, but Will
and Jack would help us lay it out with stakes and flags that would be pretty
close. We agreed, and told her that the stakes and flags would be good for now.

“Can Will and Jack walk around out there on
the uneven ground?”

“Will is weak but as usual he does what he
wants to and Jack is getting around really well. He has scars, but he is
working out and says the strength has just about returned to where it was.”

We asked how Otis was doing. “His legs were
healing slowly, but he was walking some. It hurt him a lot to stand, so he didn’t
much, but you know how stubborn he is. He told me he’ll be walking soon. His
legs are sure torn up. Hunks of tissue are missing, leaving indentations in his
skin. And there are large ugly scars that have not fully healed yet. The
doctors said they could do plastic surgery and fill them in. Their surgery
would remove nearly all the scars.”

Otis told them no thanks. Unless it grossed
out the grandkids, he wanted the scars. It would be a good conversation starter
on those rare occasions when he wore shorts. And he said it would be a warning
to people that he was a tough old geezer and was hard to kill. They better
think twice about messing with him.

Deb and I laughed and said it sounded like
Otis. We apologized for not going around to see him more, but this case was
keeping us on pins and needles.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “He knows
you love him, and he told me he’ll come around and see you once you’ve been
married awhile. He didn’t want any newlyweds embarrassing him.”

We asked if he’d been out of the house much,
and she said not at all that she knew of. He didn’t when she was there, but he
was high maintenance. She was always running errands for him or getting
medications for him or whatever.

I called Rebecca’s parents, and we had a good
visit. I made sure they had my phone number. I told them that the FBI agents were
keeping an eye on them and making sure their house didn’t have any bugs. They could
talk to me from home but probably shouldn’t from anywhere else. With the new
phone they could call me anytime. That sounded good to them, and they were glad
to be able to stay in touch now and not get confused on who they were talking
to.

Before we hung up they told me that Rebecca’s
niece had been in a small fender bender. I told them the insurance should have
been paid for at least a few more months. It was the other driver’s fault
anyway, so she should not need to file on Rebecca’s insurance.

I told them I would take care of the insurance
payments. I told them I was now using Sam Adams’s name because the people that
killed Rebecca were still trying to kill me. I asked if they had the time or
the desire to meet somewhere. They wanted to so we began to make plans.

Jim called and said he was in Phoenix and was
picking up his rental car. He had talked to the police detective since he
landed, and they confirmed the doctor’s banking accounts had been cleared out.

“And get this,” he said. “The one that closed
the bank accounts flashed an IRS badge. The banks got a signature but it isn’t
really legible. They think the IRS person probably talked them into doing
things that are not legal but we aren’t sure yet. If all they did was legal,
then they sure skirted illegal.”

Jim would be talking to all the people
involved in the liquidations, auctions, banks, nursing homes, etc. Then Jim
said he almost left out one of the more important parts because he was so focused
on the illegal.

“None of Dr. Robinson’s current patients were
injured or dead.” Jim felt really good about that. He said we don’t know for
sure he was going to take them out, but we think he was, and the good work by
the Phoenix police probably saved their lives. There’s a lot we’re not totally
sure about yet, but we’ll be interviewing a lot of people this week and next,
so it will be interesting.”

“By the way,” he said. “Do you remember the
guy that you didn’t kill at the last dance? Well, we are beginning to verify
what he told us. He knows that his leniency in sentence is riding on the truth.
Anyway, they got hired by some men in a black SUV. But the one that did the
talking was really angry about the first attack. He wore a suit and tie while
the others were in SWAT-type clothing. He paid them $24,000 to have a little
fun one night with all expenses paid. And $3,000 for a night’s work for each
man was not considered to be too bad.”

“I bet that didn’t include burial,” I said.

“Probably not. Someone had stolen the cars
for them and the guns and grenades were in the cars. Everything sounded fun and
easy. They had told their wives and girlfriends they would be home for
breakfast.”

He had no idea who hired them. Twice they had
asked the people for a name but were not given one.

Jim said he wanted to see us one evening and
would be calling again when he had a better idea of his schedule. He said the
Phoenix police were all over this and had a lot of interviews lined up.

One time while we were out with Jim, he asked
how we were doing. He said we had been through a lot of stress but hoped things
were really good for us now. I said it really was. We were planning to build a
house. Our experiences had made us want a house that was safer than we would
have thought about otherwise. We had the truck on the road now with income, so
life was good.

Then Deb said to Jim in this happy little
voice, “Ask him how many times a week.”

Jim and I both looked at her. Jim smiled, and
I was amused at her tone, having no idea what she was talking about. So I asked
her.

She looked at Jim and apparently struggling
to keep a straight face said in a similar happy voice, “Ask him how many times
a week.”

I was beginning to think she was sharing
personal stuff.

“Three to six times,” she chirped.

“What!” I said raising my voice in disbelief.

Still looking at Jim, she was giggling. She
reminded Jim that he asked how we were doing, and her answer was three to six
times a week.

“That is how happy we are.”

We all sat there laughing and we both blushed
a little.  I couldn’t believe I did that but I couldn’t believe Deb would be so
candid about our personal life. 

“I’m not sure what she was sharing with you,
but it sounded personal.” I looked at Jim. “I believe I should take her home
now. I really can’t take her out much.”

We all laughed again.

I shook Jim’s hand and thanked him for
everything including the meal. Deb hugged him real big, and we headed to the
car.

“Are you keeping track, and was it really
necessary to share personal information?”

“Yes,” she said.

“That was two questions.”

“I answered them both. Jim asked a question,
and you gave him an OK answer about having a truck on the road and building a
house. You gave him a good answer, but I gave him a better one.”

“Are you really keeping score?”

“Like I’m putting notches on the bedpost
saying, ‘Got him again’? No, silly. But do I remember? That answer is yes.”

…

Shortly after that I got a call from
Margaret.

“Hi, I don’t know if you can help me with
this or not.  We found out a few days ago that Dr. Robinson had been killed at
home during a robbery.  We asked a couple of doctors that were in here for
other patients to look in on Dr. Robinson’s patients.  He had three here.  Two
are pretty feeble but are going to be okay.  But one has been sedated more or
less since Dr. Robinson brought him in about three months ago.  The doctors
that looked at him say that he doesn’t need to be here.  Dr. Robinson said he
was there because of a very week heart.  The doctors that looked at him said
that isn’t true.  His heart is good for his age.  Now that he is awake and
alert and off medication, he wants to go home and we don’t know what to do.”

            “In
addition part of his income has stopped and he can’t afford to be here any
longer.  I’m checking on that now and should have more information later. 
Since you guys are doing investigations and all, could you see what you can
find out about his home and help me get him back there?”

            “We
will do what we can.” I told Margaret. “Should we come by there and visit with
him or do you want to give me his name and let me see what I can find out?”

            “If
it isn’t too much trouble it would be better for us if you came by here and
talked to him.  He is kind of upset and he can probably tell you more than he
has told us once he settles down.  If I can tell him some people are coming by
to help him then he probably will be a lot calmer when you get here.  As the
sedation wore off he became quite agitated.  He has been a little bit difficult
and we don’t want to sedate him again.”

            “Yes
we will get there as soon as we can.  It might be a couple of hours but we are
coming, Okay.”

            “That
is great.  I will tell him and see if we can get him to eat something or at
least drink something.” She said and then paused. “Thank you, Sam.”

            Deb
and I grabbed a bite and headed to see Margaret.  I called Jim on the way and
told him about Margaret’s call.  We didn’t think it had anything to do with the
case but in interviewing the patient we might fill in some details.

            When
we walked in the door, Margaret was up and moving.  She was evidently very glad
to see us.

            “Thank
you so much for coming and for helping us with him.  This kind of situation is
so hard for us.  We are running a business and can’t keep people who can’t pay
but we really grieve over putting people out.  He should be easier since he is
really in good health for his age but it is still hard.  He has been a little
obstinate.”

            “His
name is Franz Andorfer.  He is in room 212 and he is expecting you.  I will
walk you down there.” She paused for a second and then asked. “Would you like
something to drink?”

            Deb
said no but I asked for water.  Margaret waved to an orderly who came over and
she told him to bring both of us some water.

            When
we walked into Franz’s room he was awake and sitting up in bed.  The TV was on
but turned down low and he wasn’t really watching it. 

            “Franz
this is Sam and Deb.  They are going to try to help you with your home.”
Margaret said with her hand on his arm. 

            I
pulled back a chair for Deb and we sat down.  We were lower than him and I
thought that might be a good thing since he might feel less threatened.

            “Franz
we don’t know if we can do anything but we want to try so we need a lot of
information and then we will go see what we can find out.  We want to help you
so we are on your side.  We want to help you get whatever it is you want,
Okay.”

            “I
want to go home.  I didn’t want to come here but they put me to sleep and I
woke up here.”

            “I
understand.  Do you remember the address of your house?”

            “Yes,
I lived there for almost twenty years.  It is 624 W. McLellan Blvd, Phoenix, AZ
85013.”

            “Okay,
we will go see your house and see if it is locked up.  Do you have a key?”

            “No,
I don’t have anything.  I don’t have my wallet or driver’s license or
anything.  They took it all away from me.  At first I was scared and then I was
angry but they kept me knocked out most of the time.  I asked the nurses for
help and they didn’t help me.  I couldn’t do anything.”

            “Okay,
Franz we will try to get your stuff back for you if we can.  You have been here
for about three months so we don’t know what has happened during that time but
we will go and find out.  We will come back and tell you what we need to do to
help you, Okay?”

            We
gave him a sheet of paper with our names and phone numbers on it.  We told him
to call us anytime he wanted to.

            “We
are working for you and we won’t charge you anything.  We are just here to
help.”

            “Okay,”
He said and he seemed to settle down a little.

            We
told him goodbye and went looking for Margaret. 

            “How
old is Franz?”

            “He
was born in 1930 in Germany.  His dad was forced into the German Army and was
killed in France.  His mother was sent to a concentration camp and he was
forced into Hitler’s youth program of some kind.  He was really too young but I
guess that didn’t matter.”

            “Here
is what we have for an address.  Do you have any way of checking in his records
to be sure this is the right address?”

            “No,
Dr. Robinson was thorough in some ways but giving us information was not one of
them.”

            “Okay,
we will see what we can do.”

            “Yes,
please we can’t keep him here much longer.  We should have put him out last
week.  I’m about to get myself in trouble.” Margaret said.

            Deb
and I went to a restaurant with wifi and started searching property tax records
and deed records.  We found out Franz had owned the house at that address but
it had sold about two weeks ago for $100,000.  The tax assessors said the house
was worth about $250,000. 

            “Wow,
someone dumped that property,” Deb said. “Looks like a quick sale to me!” She
said with emphasis.

            “Yep,
it sure does. It isn’t going to be easy telling Franz.  Maybe we should call
Jim and ask him if there is some way we can get his house back.  I’m sure he
didn’t sign over power of attorney or go to a closing or sign any sales
papers.”

            “No,
he couldn’t have the way they had him doped up.  Besides we know they were
falsifying paper work all over the place so this wouldn’t have been that hard.”

            I
called Jim and told him what we found.  I asked if there was anything he could
do or anyone could do to help him.

            “No,
we don’t get into that.  It breaks your heart but usually some kind of local
charity will step in and give him a place to live.  That isn’t what we do.”

            “I
know but I wanted to see if you knew of anyone here.  Thank you.” I said and hung
up.”

            “Jim
was nice but that isn’t what he does and he was busy.” I told Deb.  “What do
you think about calling Margaret and telling her what we found?  She surely
knows some place he can go.”

            “Yes
that is probably the next step.  Why don’t we go see the house?  If no one is
in it then maybe we could get a prosecutor to get involved and get his house
back.”

            “Okay,
let’s go.  I will make some calls while you drive.”

            I
dialed 911 and told them it was not an emergency and they transferred me to a
desk sergeant.  I told him what had happened and asked where we would start to
try to get Franz some legal help.  He gave me the names of two different
lawyers that did some pro bono work and said they might be able to do something. 
I asked him if the police could do anything.  He said not unless someone breaks
the law.  We have to have some evidence of that before we can do anything.

            The
first lawyer I called was Anne Sanders.  I told her about Franz’s house and
asked what could be done.  She took down the address and said she would see if
she could get some closing documents and see if we could prove Franz didn’t
sign them.  Then we might get some money out of the buyer’s title insurance but
that would be about all we had a chance to do.  It would be a slim chance she
said but it was probably all we had.

            When
we got to the house there was a lady in the front yard with two kids playing
close to her.  So there was a family living there.  Deb got out and went to
talking to the lady.  She was working in a front flowerbed.

            “Hi,
how are you today?” Deb said before she got too close.

            The
lady straightened up and just looked at her.  Then she shook her head

            “I
not speak englis.” She said.

            “Su
Casa?” Deb said.

            “Si”.
She answered.

            “How
long have you lived here?”

            “No
entiendo.” She said.

            Deb
just looked at her obviously frustrated.

            “No
savvy.” The lady said.

            Deb
looked at me. 

“I don’t know much more Spanish than you do
so we are out of luck.” I said.  “What she just answered you is that she
doesn’t understand.”

Deb sighed and shook her head
okay
.

“Gracious.” Deb said to the lady and we left.

“Okay, we know the house sold.  We know
someone has moved in.  So it is unlikely Franz will get his house back.  He
said he had a driver’s license.  I can’t imagine he would drive much but he
probably had a car.  So Franz fits the profile.  He was someone un-connected
with some equity in house and probably a car.  He also probably had money in
the bank or stock or something that could be cash.   And they cleaned him out. 
If we hadn’t come along they would have taken more time and gotten more for the
house.  That definitely was a hurry up job.  We probably saved his life.”

“If we hadn’t shown up he probably would have
lived about another three months while they took more time to get a better
sales price.  Then they would have ended his time.” Deb said.

Deb called Margaret again and told her what
we found.  She was quiet for a second and then said.

“I was afraid of that.  We are going to have
to get him out of here.  None of the charities can take him today.  I called a
few who will try to make room in the next few days but they said it might take
them two weeks.  He can’t stay here two weeks.”

Deb held the phone to her chest and looked at
me like what can we do?

“Ask her what it would cost for him to stay
there for two weeks without nurse care.”

Deb asked her and they talked about a few
things. 

“Okay, I got it.  We will see if we can do
something.” Deb said. She hung up and turned to me.

“Margaret said they can’t just leave him
alone because they are liable for his well being.  He owes $2800 dollars right
now and she is supposed to collect that before she lets him stay longer.  She
said she could cheat a little if we could come up with $2000 and try to keep
him for about ten days and then see how things look then.”

“He isn’t our responsibility but I think we
should help him.  What do you think?” I said.

“I agree.  At least for now.  I’m concerned
he will need help for a long time so I’m not sure what we are getting ourselves
into but for now I agree that we should do something.”

“If we take him somewhere that is less
expensive then we will have to get meals for him and check on him every day.  I
would like to save money by taking him somewhere else but that is risky.”

“I agree.”

We didn’t say anything for awhile not knowing
what to do.

Jim called later and said things had been
moving slowly on the case before but not so any longer. Jim had interviewed two
banks and had one more to go. The banks had little paperwork for the
withdrawals they’d allowed. Jim would not be digging into the legality of that,
but it looked like trouble for the banks. The information they had would be
turned over to the FDIC and the OCC. They in turn would not be happy with the
employee that let it happen. It looked serious. Especially since there were
hundreds of thousands of dollars involved.

But Jim called his supervisor. He told him
what had happened and suggested that the FBI put out a warning to all banks
reminding them of the law and their relationship with the IRS. It was tough for
a bank to walk that fine line. Many people felt like the banks act as an extension
of the IRS. They collect information about income, cash withdrawals, and money
transfers, for example, and turn all that over to the IRS. They are intimidated
by the IRS with good reason and dread their audits.