Chapter 44
CLOSING IN
When I saw Paula surrounded by the mob of reporters, I was concerned. I rushed over to her and put my arm around her for support. She was pale and obviously shaken by Jimmy's disappearance. It certainly wasn't the way you wanted to begin a high profile murder trial. She went limp in my arms and I almost had to carry her into the courtroom. She recovered quickly after downing a glass of water. I told myself she would be okay. She'd be fine once the trial began. Later, as she drove out of the parking garage, I began to worry again. She had brought financial stability to my life and a great deal of comfort too. I liked having her around. Practicing law could get lonely and even frightening at times and it was nice to have someone I could trust to talk to. Now that she was part of my life, I didn't want to lose her.
As I walked to my car I wondered how best to make use of the unexpected four hours I now had available. Paul Thayer was researching Skip Henderson's whereabouts on Black Monday. I wondered if he'd found anything out. I'd check on that first thing when I got back to the office. As I approached my car, I spotted Margie Baker and a younger man getting into a red Mazda RX-7. It was a gorgeous car and I had considered buying the same model when I'd been shopping for a new car recently. Margie saw me.
"Mr. Turner. Hi."
"Hello, Mrs. Baker," I said and nodded at the man.
"Oh, this is Earl—Earl Modest, our ranch manager."
We shook hands and I said, "Nice to meet you."
"What happened in there?" Margie asked. "What happened to Jimmy?"
"I don't know. He must have got scared and taken off. I can't say I blame him. A murder trial can be pretty scary, particularly when you're the one on trial."
Earl laughed. "Frankly, I hope they never find him. He did the world a big favor knocking off that little bastard."
"Honey. We can't let him get away with murder. That wouldn't be right. Who will be next? God knows he'd love to have me out of the way so he could get his hands on the Baker money."
"Well, I'm not so sure he killed Don and Amanda," I said. "What do you know about United Recycling and Continental Exporters?"
Margie's eyes widened. "Oh, you mean Captain Chamberlain's fiascos."
"Yes. Captain Chamberlain was a partner along with Congressman Manning and Speaker Potts."
"I told Don he shouldn't be getting Metroplex involved in foreign policy, but he doesn't listen to me."
"What do you mean?"
"Captain Chamberlain came to Don because the President had indirectly asked him to figure out a way to get money to the Contra Rebels in Nicaragua. He said the Communist government had to be ousted or Communism would spread throughout Latin America and be a threat to the United States."
"The President asked him to raise money for the Contra Rebels?"
"Honey," Earl said. "Should you be telling him all about this?"
Margie glared at Earl. "What difference does it make? Don is dead for godsakes."
"Yes, but—"
"Honey. Stan already has figured most of it out. I might as well make sure he gets the story straight. Anyway, I said indirectly. He made it clear that despite Congress he would help the people of Nicaragua free themselves of the Marxist regime that had them by the throat. Captain Chamberlain got the message and came to Don for help."
"What exactly did he want Don to do?"
"To help him figure out how to help the President accomplish his goal."
"So all four of them got together and came up with these dummy corporations?" I asked.
"That's right. Captain Chamberlain knew an ex-CIA operative who had gone into the arms business. They contacted him about a business arrangement. Metroplex would provide funding to buy arms and he'd sell them."
"This man wouldn't by any chance be Robert Huntington?" I asked.
"Why yes. Did you know him? Someone kidnaped him recently. Did you know about that?"
I nodded. "Yes, I'm familiar with that story. Go on."
"Well, it turns out Iran was in desperate need of weapons so Huntington began supplying them. It worked out very well until Congress got wind of it."
"What happened then?"
"The shipments to Iran stopped and then the money dried up. Don was left with a multimillion dollar loan default."
It all made sense now. Don had gotten himself involved in a very treacherous game—trying to help the President circumvent the express wishes of Congress. He had banked on the President's ability to control the political situation and lost. He was a casualty in the shootout between the President and Congress. But who killed him? Was it the FBI or the CIA? I didn't know whose side they were on. Was the CIA backing the President and the FBI going after the lawbreakers who had defied Congress? Or was Don murdered by his own partners who feared he'd spill his guts to the FBI or the federal regulators?
"The week before Don was murdered, did he have any contact with any of his partners?"
"I don't know. I was at the ranch," Margie said. "Betty told me the other day, though, that Congressman Manning had left several messages for Don on the day he was killed."
"Do you know what the messages were about?"
"No, but I'm sure Betty would."
I thanked Margie and left to get back to the office. I knew Paula would be wondering what happened to me. When I walked into her office, she was on the phone talking to Bart. When she hung up, I told her about running into Margie and getting an earful about Don and his arms dealing.
"So, you met Margie's boyfriend?"
"Right. He's a lot younger than she is."
"What does he look like? Is he as handsome as I've heard?"
"I guess. He's in good shape—must spend a lot of time outdoors judging by his tan. . . . Oh, he's got a Mazda RX 7 kind of like the one I almost bought. His is red, though. I wouldn't get a red one—the cops like to pull over red sports cars."
"Is that right?" Paula said thoughtfully.
"Yeah. Anyway, I'm going to go call Paul Thayer and see if he's found out anything on Skip Henderson. If he was in Dallas on Black Monday, he may be our killer."
When I finally got a hold of Paul Thayer he said he hadn't got his background check back on Skip Henderson, but he had learned that Henderson wasn't with the Congressman in Washington on the day of Don and Amanda's murder. That was great news and I felt certain Henderson was our man.