Black Monday, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 7

  Chapter 19

  SEARCHING FOR AN ALIBI

   

  Jodie seemed as excited about my wedding as I was. One afternoon we took a long lunch and went to Nieman Marcus to shop for wedding dresses. I must have tried on twenty dresses before I narrowed it down to three possibilities: a sleeveless satin sheath with a chapel train, a satin embroidery with a scooped neckline and a sweep train; or a chiffon over crepe with a scooped neckline and cathedral train. They were all so beautiful I couldn't decide which one to buy. I was glad Jodie was helping out because my mother had died of breast cancer a year after I graduated from law school. One of her greatest regrets about dying so young was that she'd never see me get married. I prayed that she'd be watching from heaven.

  When I got back to the office, I called Jimmy Bennett and told him we needed to talk. I wanted to go over with him what I had learned in my investigation so far and get his reaction. I had discovered a lot since I had talked to him last and now I had a long list of questions. He came to my office late that afternoon. We met in the conference room.

  "Why does Margie hate you so much?" I asked.

  Jimmy shrugged, "Because I was from a poor family, never went to college, and I'm from Arkansas. Bottom line—I'm not good enough for her daughter."

  "Yes, but it must go deeper than that. She really went on a tirade when I asked her what she thought of you."

  "Well, I was the one who informed her that Don was sleeping with her sister."

  "What?"

  "I caught them going at it one night at the office. I couldn't believe it. I wasn't going to say anything to her about it, but she got me pissed off one night and it just came out."

  The door opened and Jodie advised me I had a phone call from Stan. I excused myself and took the call. Stan told me about the FBI raid on the Continental Exporters' warehouse. He wanted me to know he'd be delayed in returning for a couple of days. I told him to be careful and to keep me posted on what was happening. After hanging up, I went back to the conference room.

  "Okay, I know Metroplex was in trouble, but tell me more about the specific problems it was having? Why was it in trouble?"

  "The biggest problem was loan defaults. Don had a lot of friends he lent money to and he didn't always get enough collateral. They had an appraisal company they contracted with that would evaluate the collateral and put a value on it. The amount that could be lent depended on the value of the collateral. What usually happened was that Don would call the appraiser handling the job and suggest to him what value the appraisal should show. The appraiser would then make sure it coincided with the needs of the bank. The collateral on Metroplex loans were usually 25-50% overvalued."

   "Who were some of his friends?"

  "Congressman Horace Manning and Speaker John Potts were the worst offenders."

  "Really? What did they finance with the money they borrowed?"

  "That's a good question. I'm not sure if they used it to finance their campaigns or invested in some private business ventures, but they borrowed nearly five million dollars between them. When they defaulted, Don nearly had a stroke. The OTS came in a hurry when they saw the nonperforming loan report that next week."

  "So, what did the bank do about the delinquent loans?"

  "The feds insisted they turn them over to an attorney. I believe there is a lawsuit pending against the Congressman and the Speaker."

  "I haven't heard about any lawsuit in the newspaper. You'd think if a prominent person like a Congressman or a state representative defaulted on a loan, it would be big news."

  "Those two men are very powerful and they know how to keep a lid on things."

  "Apparently so," I said.

  "Does it benefit the Speaker or the Congressman in any way that Don Baker is dead?"

  Jimmy thought for a moment and replied, "Well, Don was up to his elbows in their shady dealings. If he ever turned on them, they'd be in serious trouble."

  "What kind of shady dealings?"

  "I don't know exactly. It was all hush-hush. But it had to be illegal otherwise there would have been no reason to keep it secret."

  "Didn't you question him about it?"

  "Sure, but it didn't do any good. I think Don enjoyed keeping me in the dark. He liked to play games like that. I guess it made him feel important."

  "Were there any other problems between Baker and his partners?"

  "Baker Construction didn't pay payroll taxes. They considered everyone contract labor if they worked full time. The Texas Employment Commission did an audit and determined they should be withholding. That forced the IRS to follow suit. Don was assessed hundreds of thousands of dollars in civil tax penalties."

  "How did that play out?"

  "They pulled some strings to make it go away."

  "I see. The Congressman made a phone call to IRS and the Speaker made a phone call to the TEC."

  "Exactly."

   "Unbelievable. I didn't think that sort of thing went on any more."

  Jimmy laughed. "You don't even know. Don's given me grocery sacks full of money to deliver to people."

  "And you delivered it."

  "Yeah."

  I shook my head in disbelief. "Okay, another question. You told me the last time me met, that on the day of the altercation with Don, you went for a drive up I-30 toward Oklahoma."

  "That's right."

  "You said you were alone, but some of the people in your office think you had company with you. They claim you had a girlfriend. If that's true, I need to know about it. Withholding critical information could seriously jeopardize your defense."

  "They're full of shit. I don't have time for a girlfriend. Sure I've been with a lot of girls while I was out with Don, but none of them meant anything to me. I certainly wouldn't confide in them."

  "If you were with a woman, she could provide you with an alibi. Are you trying to protect someone?"

  "No! I told you. I was alone."

  "You've got to account for every minute from the time you left the office until they arrested you. I need you to sit down and make note of everything that you remember. I don't care how insignificant it is, write it down anyway, as it may help us find an alibi."

  I didn't know whether to believe Jimmy or not. He seemed sincere, but I wasn't a hundred percent sure. His drug problem was next on my list, but I was a little bit scared to bring it up. It was sure to be a sensitive issue. I took a deep breath and asked, "When's the last time you used drugs?"

  Jimmy studied me, took a deep breath and said, "I told you, I'm off drugs."

  "That wasn't the question. When was the last time you smoked a joint, took a snort, injected yourself, or whatever you do?"

  He frowned and looked to the side like he was thinking. Was he trying to remember or deciding whether to lie? He took a couple short breaths and replied, "Shit, I don't know."

  "Have you taken any drugs since Don was killed? I've got to know. It will come up at your trial. If you have been on drugs, we'll have to develop a strategy for dealing with that issue."

  He gave me a hard stare. "Okay, I still take a snort now and then, but I can handle it. It doesn't affect me on the job."

  "How often?"

  "Not more than once or twice a day."

  I shook my head. "When did you start up again?"

  He shrugged. "A few months ago. I've been under a lot of stress at home and at work as you know. I needed something to help me get through each day."

   "So, on the day Don and Amanda were murdered you had at least one hit of cocaine?"

  He nodded.

  "If this gets out, it's going to hurt your defense. Have you ever blacked out or had a lapse of memory?"

  "Yeah, sometimes."

  "So, you've woken up somewhere and can't remember how you got there or what you did for the previous twenty-four hours."

  "It's only happened a few times. I'm pretty good at pacing myself. I don't do more than I can handle."

  "Do you drink a lot too?" br />
  He shrugged. "A six pack of beer after work usually."

  "Is it possible that you had more than one hit of cocaine—a few extra beers perhaps—and while you were out driving you got angry and turned around and went to the condo? You might not remember it. But it is possible you killed Don and Amanda, isn't it?"

  "No! I remember exactly where I was and what I did, and I didn't go to the condo. I thought you were on my side?"

  "I am, but we've got to be prepared for this type of questioning. If you do testify, the DA will come down on you pretty hard. I need to know if you can handle it."

  "I can handle it from the DA, but not from my own lawyers."

  "I'm sorry. But this isn't a game. Your life is at stake and I don't care whether you like me or not. My job is to give you the best possible defense at trial and that's what I intend to do."

  We continued our discussions for another hour and then Jimmy left. If there was anything I was clear about in this case, it was that Jimmy couldn't testify at trial. The DA would destroy him. We'd have to find the actual killer or prove reasonable doubt, neither of which would be an easy task.