Cash Call, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 5

  Chapter 21

  Mid-America Life

   It was a cold rainy Saturday. I hadn't slept well because I couldn't keep my mind off of Don and Pam. I was racking my brain for solutions to their growing array of problems. I had finally made contact with Margie's friend, Lucy Patterson, and arranged to meet her for a cup of coffee at Denny's. Lucy was a short blond with pretty blue eyes and a cute smile.

   "So, Ms. Mason tells me she was with you Wednesday night, is that right?"

   "Uh huh."

   "Where did you go?"

   "We went to dinner and a movie."

   "Oh. Where did you go for dinner?"

   "Chili's."

   "What time did you get there?"

   "About 6:15, I think."

   "When did you leave?"

   "About an hour later. We went to a movie."

   "Where?"

   "AMC Park Central."

   "Why would you go to movie on a Wednesday night? Isn't that a little odd?"

   "No, we go out when we get in the mood. Margie was bored. Luther wasn't going to be home so she called and said let's go to dinner and a movie. Brad, my husband, was away at a sales meeting, so I was glad when Margie called."

   "Did you go home right after the movie?"

  Lucy hesitated. "No, we went to a club. The Rendezvous Club."

   "What time did you get there?"

   "About 9:15, I think."

   "Did you see anybody there that you knew?"

   Lucy smiled and replied, "No, but we had a drink with a couple of guys."

   "Do you know their names?"

   "No, never saw them before and probably will never see them again."

   "Was Ms. Mason with you the entire evening?"

   "Uh huh."

   "When did you leave?"

   "About 10:00 or 10:15, I don't remember exactly, too many margaritas, I guess."

   "Did you actually see Margie get into her car?"

   "No, we parked on opposite sides of the restaurant. We said our goodbyes at the front door and went our separate ways"

   "I see. Well, okay. I guess that's all," I said and grabbed the bill. After putting a ten dollar bill on the table, I stood up. Lucy nodded, grabbed her purse and got up too. "I appreciate your cooperation," I said.

   "No problem. I hope you find Luther's killer. I kind of liked him."

   I smiled, raised my eyebrows and said, "Well, you're the first person I've talked to who didn't hate him--except for Margie, of course. I guess I can take you off the suspect list."

   "Most definitely, I promise you I didn't do it," she said with a smile.

   After listening to Lucy Patterson verify Margie Mason's alibi, I went to see Clifford Walsh again. I had neglected to ask him a few questions that now seemed pretty important. Since Margie had an alibi, that only left Laura Bell on my list of favorite suspects. Walsh would have the information on her most obvious motive. Walsh's secretary escorted me into his office where I was invited to sit down.

   "Sorry to bother you again, but I forgot to ask you about Luther's insurance."

   "Oh, right."

   "I know most agents carry a good amount of insurance."

   "Yes, to be a good salesman you have to believe in your product. How can you ask someone to buy life insurance if you think so little of it that you don't have any yourself?"

   "Good point. So, how much insurance did Luther have on his life?"

   "Well, I'll have to pull his personnel file." Walsh picked up the telephone and got his secretary on the intercom. "Get me Luther Bell's personnel file."

   After a minute Walsh's secretary came in and handed a file to him. He searched through it and said, "Okay, he had $50,000 group term, $300,000 supplemental term and $400,000 variable life."

   "So if he died how much would his beneficiary receive?"

   "Seven hundred fifty thousand unless he died accidentally, then it would be $1.5 million."

   "And who is the beneficiary?"

   Walsh flipped through the file when suddenly his eyes widened and he said, "Well I'll be damned. Luther forgot to remove Laura as beneficiary. She gets everything since the divorce wasn't final. That was one of Luther's problems--details--you've got pay attention to details."

   "Does Laura Bell know she's still the beneficiary?"

   "I wouldn't know. Claims are handled out of New York."

   "Would you check and see if she has filed a death claim yet?"

   "Sure. Give me a minute. I'll call the claims department."

   Walsh asked his secretary to get the claims department on the line. After talking to them for several minutes he hung up the phone.

   "No, there hasn't been a claim filed yet."

   "Well, thank you for your help, Mr. Walsh."

   "No problem, if I can be of any further assistance, just let me know."

  I knew better than to jump to conclusions too early in a case. Sure, three quarters of a million dollars was plenty motive for murder, but not everyone was greedy enough to beat someone to death with a tire iron, even for that kind of money. This new revelation, however, had to kick Laura Bell to the front of the long line of suspects. It was obviously time to pay her a visit.

   The following morning, Rob and I met Assistant DA Paula Waters at the criminal courts building to prove-up our plea agreement. Rob waited in the courtroom while Paula and I went over the wording of the plea. I set my briefcase down on the table and rummaged through it to find the paperwork I had prepared.

  "Here it is," I said.

   "Good. Let me look it over. The judge will be on the bench in a couple minutes."

   She took the papers and began to read them. Then she looked up and smiled.

   "You remember the first week of contracts?"

   She was talking about the first week of law school. It wasn't one of my favorite topics. Law school was very hard for Rebekah and I with four kids and both of us having to work full time. I thought a moment.

   "Yeah, vaguely."

   "Remember the big pillars in the back of the room. It was so funny. You always sat behind them so Professor Mobley wouldn't call on you."

   I blushed and said, "You noticed that?"

   She laughed. "Yes, I thought it was so clever."

   I smiled. "I had to get to class early. Those seats were prime real estate." I gave Paula a good look. "Yeah, I remember now. You were always raising your hand. You always had the answer."

   "It was just a ploy. You see I had a strategy too. The first few days I studied really hard and volunteered a lot in class. Pretty soon Professor Mobley wouldn't call on me anymore, so I didn't have to worry about being prepared for class after that. Every once in a while I'd stick up my hand but he'd never call on me."

   "We were pretty resourceful, weren't we?"

   She nodded. "I just wish we could have spent more time together."

   I sighed. "I'm sorry I wasn't more sociable but, you know, working full time and trying to spend a little time with the family didn't leave me much spare time."

   "I bet. I don't know how you did it."

   "I don't either."

   "Don't forget you owe me dinner."

   I looked at Paula. I felt guilty--selfish. She knew all about me, what I had been doing--she obviously cared about me but I knew nothing about her. I barely knew she existed. There just wasn't enough time to get to know people. I often regretted not making more friends in law school. It would have been nice to know a few attorneys on a social basis.

  "I'm looking forward to it. You can fill me in on what you've been doing these last few years."

   Her eyes lit up. "Yes, I'd like that."

   Our eyes locked for a minute. Finally she looked down at the paperwork and said, "This looks fine."

   "Okay, I'll get Rob and we'll wait around for the judge."

   The prove-up went well, and Rob was very much relieved to have it behind him. I went back to the
office to prepare for Detective Besch's interrogation of Jim Cochran, which was set for 10:00 a.m.

   Jim and I had talked a few minutes before the detective arrived and were ready. I cautioned Jim not to volunteer information and to just answer the questions asked. Jodie served coffee and after a little chit-chat, Detective Besch began the interrogation.

   "I guess you heard about Luther Bell?" Detective Besch said.

   "Yes, it was terrible."

   "I understand you and he were partners?"

   "Yes, along with some other folks. It was a restaurant, a Chinese restaurant--the Golden Dragon."

   "Margie Mason says you came by her house the other night and threatened Luther, is that right?"

   "Well, I was pissed off. You know what that S.O.B. did?"

   "No, why don't you tell me."

   "We fired him as our manager for gross mismanagement of the partnership business . . . but that's another long story. Anyway, after he had been fired, he changed the partnership address and diverted all of our mail to himself! Can you believe that? Sure, I was pissed. I went over to give him a piece of my mind, but I don't kill people. I'm not a murderer. I'm a businessman. I get mad--sure--but I know how to control my temper."

   "Where were you on Wednesday night?"

   "At home talking with Don and some of the other partners about how to deal with our deteriorating financial situation."

   "When was that?"

   "Ah . . . well, let's see. It started about 6:15 or 6:30 and ended maybe an hour later."

   "Where did you go when it was over?"

   "I was pretty upset, so I drove around awhile."

   "So how long is awhile?"

   "Probably about forty-five minutes. Then I stopped at a club called the Sunset Strip. It wasn't very crowded on Wednesday night, so I got lots of attention from the staff, if you know what I mean."

   "How long were you there?"

   "I don't know. I kind of lost track of time, you know, after a few beers and all those beautiful women."

   "Can you give me any names?"

   "Sure. Julie. I spent most of the time with a girl named Julie. She'll remember me."

   "Do you go to the Sunset Strip often?"

   "On occasion."

   "Was your wife up when you got home?"

   "No, she was in bed. She's a volunteer at the hospital and has to get to work early."

   "Your wife doesn't mind you being out late during the week?"

   "I'm a workaholic. She doesn't look for me much before nine or ten. She gave up worrying about me years ago."

   "So, did you go anywhere after the Sunset Strip?"

   "Nope, straight home."

   "What time did you get home?"

   "I don't know, 10:00 or 10:30. I'm not really sure."

   "How long is it from your house to the Sunset Strip?"

   "Twenty minutes if there's no traffic."

   "Do you know who killed Luther Bell?"

   "No. Absolutely not. I'm sure a lot of people would have liked to, though."

   "What about Don Blaylock? Didn't he threaten Luther too?"

   "Well, yes, and he had good reason."

   "On account of Luther causing his wife to go to jail?"

   Jim shook his head affirmatively. "But I've known Don for years and I guarantee you he didn't kill anyone."

   "Oh really, he was with you Wednesday night?"

   "No."

   "Then you can't guarantee anything, can you?"

   "I mean, he's not a killer."

   Detective Besch raised his eyebrows and said, "Everyone's a killer, Mr. Cochran--given the right circumstances. And from what I've heard, Luther Bell pushed Don Blaylock to the limit."

   Jim looked at me then back at Detective Besch.

  Detective Besch continued. "He said Luther was going to pay for what he had done to Pam, didn't he?"

   Jim didn't answer.

   "I'm going to need your fingerprints, a blood sample and a lock of your hair," he said. "I've got someone waiting outside to get it from you."

   Jim shrugged.

   "Thank you, Mr. Cochran. Don't leave town. I'm pretty sure either you or Don Blaylock murdered Luther Bell, and I promise it won't be long before I figure out which one it was. I'll be in touch."

   Jim stood up. "I know you think you've got it all figured out, but you're wrong. We didn't do it."

   "Right," Detective Besch said.

   I stood up and showed Jim to the door. I whispered, "I want to talk to Detective Besch a minute so I'll call you later, okay?"

   "Sure. See you later," he replied.

   I went back into my office, closed the door and sat back in my seat. "So, you don't have enough to arrest anybody?" I asked.

   "No, I can't figure out which one of your clients did it yet. They all hated Luther, I'm sure."

   I smiled. "What about the ex-wife? I heard she pulled a gun on Luther earlier this year."

   Detective Besch looked surprised. "Where did you hear that?"

   "Walsh--Luther's boss told me about it. The day they split up I guess Luther didn't leave quick enough."

   "Funny. Laura Bell didn't mention that to me when I talked to her."

   "Funny thing. . . . Did you know she's still the beneficiary on Luther's insurance?"

   Besch's eyes widened. "I would have thought Luther would have changed that considering the pending divorce."

  "According to Walsh he didn't. Three-quarters of a million dollars is a pretty good motive for murder, don't you think?"

   Detective Besch shrugged. "Like I said, we're still investigating. We haven't reached any conclusions yet."

   "I'm not so sure about Margie Mason either," I said. "I know she has an alibi but going out to a movie on a Wednesday night with a girlfriend and then to a bar seems kind of strange. Why wasn't she with Luther or at home waiting for him?"

   "Like you said, she's got an alibi and so far the alibi checks out. Besides, what's her motive? We've established that she's not a beneficiary of the insurance and Luther and she were in love and planned to get married. You don't kill someone you love."

   "That kind of blows my mind too."

   "What?"

  "That anyone could love someone as evil as Luther Bell. How could she stand by and watch Luther do the things he did to Pam and the other investors? She can't be a good person."

   Walsh nodded, then stood up. "She may be as evil as Luther but as long as her alibi holds up she's not a suspect. . . . I'm afraid I've got to go. I'm due to testify to the Grand Jury in 20 minutes."

   "Just one last question, Detective," I said. "Did you find anything at the crime scene to implicate any of my clients?"

   Detective Besch gave me a long stare. Finally he said, "No, not yet."

   I stood up and escorted Detective Besch to the door. We shook hands and agreed to let each other know if we turned up anything important.

   When Detective Besch had gone I sat back and contemplated our conversation. It was a relief that Detective Besch didn't have any direct evidence to prove that any of my clients had been at the crime scene on the day of the murder. I thanked God for that.

  The following day, Rob brought Jennifer to my office so the attorney for the Estate of Dr. Windsor could take her deposition. Don was already there reading a magazine in the reception room. Jodie greeted them and asked if she could get them anything. They declined so she showed all of them into the conference room. When Jodie told me everyone was there, I joined them. We exchanged greetings.

   "Thanks for coming by early," I said. "I wanted to fill you in on my progress on the investigation and find out how everyone is coping with all that's been going on. I guess my first question is: How's Pam?"

   Don closed his eyes. Jennifer sighed. "Not well, after Friday night," she said.

   "Oh, no. What happened now?"

   Rob shook his head. "Jennifer, you tell him. I can't even bear
to think about it."

   I looked at Jennifer and then began telling the story.