The Original Alibi mk-1 Read online

  “Nothing would be gained. Podkin doesn’t know anything further and I’ve evened the score for what he did. If I’m going to wrap this up for the general, I need to avoid being sidetracked by things that won’t move the first down marker.”

  Cliff nodded. He understood. Everyone there did. The general was the only one who longed for this case to be solved. After eleven plus years the rest of them were willing to let it go. That would be particularly true for the one who killed Ileana Corrigan. That person had tried to slow me down until the general died, figuring I would then be paid something for my troubles and dismissed. What they didn’t know is even if the general died, I wouldn’t stop. I had the bit in my teeth and, since spending time with Podkin, I had skin in the game.

  “What do you think of the general? Give it to me straight, Cliff. No party line.”

  “He’s aces. I like the old dude. Apparently he was some top kick in the army. But I never knew him that way. My pa did and he swore by him. As for me, the general’s my employer. That’s it. But I like him. He’s honest with you. He don’t pull his punches when he’s got something to say. Treats you like you’re as good as him, which damn few of us are. Yeah. I’d cover his back.”

  “What’s your read on Charles?”

  “He’s a bit harder to peg. I mean he’s square. Honest. Hard working. Really cares about the general and his daughter. I’m not so sure he gives a hoot about Eddie.”

  “Have you heard that you’re in the general’s will?”

  “I’ve heard.”

  “Where from?”

  “I’d rather not say, Matt.”

  “Karen?”

  Cliff looked at me for a minute with no expression. Then he nodded.

  “One more thing, Cliff, what do you know about the bribing of Cory Jackson who was found dead in the surf a few nights ago?”

  Cliff went on to tell me pretty much how it happened. The flashlight, the two grand on the front end with the promise of eight more. I had told the general about all that when we met and the general demanded a full battle report, as he called it. Cliff said the general told Charles and Karen and Eddie in a family meeting. That Karen had told him.

  I left the Whittaker estate having learned that Karen’s father was Charles, not the general. Actually, after Chunky’s report I knew the general wasn’t her poppy, but Chunky’s report couldn’t identify whose sperm had swum the channel. The DNA from facial tissue was not the general’s. I figured Charles was a good candidate, because in part it explained his staying all these years. Then again, he saw the general as family and that might have been the only reason he needed. Karen’s mother could have had one or a series of affairs during those years, such that she might not be certain of the identity of Karen’s father. If Charles hadn’t known, I would have gone to Karen’s mother.

  Everyone liked and respected the old man, but then they were all in his will. That also spoke to why Charles had not revealed himself to his daughter Karen, also perhaps why some of them were still hanging around.

  Charlie Chan once said, “When money talks, no one is deaf.”

  Chapter 28

  When I got home, Axel was there. “Buddha said he could handle covering Eddie the rest of the night. That I should come back and see what I could do for you. How ‘bout something to eat? I’m hungry myself.”

  Axel offered me a choice of soups, but I held out for something to chew. He made some spaghetti with meat sauce, refusing to add meatballs or sausage. He also reminded me we still had half of Clara Birnbaum’s apple pie in the fridge. While he cooked and while we ate, we talked through the various members of the general’s family and what made each of them suspects.

  “Charles could have a strong motive,” I said. “With Eddie out of the way, his daughter would get the lion’s share rather than the vulture scraps from the general’s will.”

  “Two million plus would sure be enough to lay in winter groceries, boss.”

  His comment brought a smile since we had just heard that line in some old movie we had watched last weekend. Axel was right, most folks would be tickled to get two-and-a-half million. At least pleased enough to not murder to get more.

  “So, you figure, in the end Charles couldn’t let the general watch his grandson go to the chair. That led to a plan to save Eddie and pick up an extra two million through the shakedown of the general, for a total between Charles and his daughter of around six-and-a-half million.”

  “That sure ain’t chump change, boss.”

  “I hear ya, Ax, but all this is a stack of hash with no real facts for bones.”

  I could only figure a few reasons why the real killer would not want Eddie convicted of the murder. In a complex plan, Eddie murdered his fiancee and arranged for his own arrest and release. Charles did it as a gesture to the general. Someone else killed Ileana, likely a jilted lover, who decided to take the risk of the case remaining open in order to extort two million from the general. That would add a payday to a murder of passion.

  Axel ended up betting his chips on Clifford Branch, the chauffeur. “Boss, Cliff was a biker. He knew Podkin, so he could easily arrange to have you snatched. I’ll bet there’s plenty of guys in Cliff’s old biker gang that would have murdered Eddie’s lady for money. The shakedown of the general could have been about getting the dough to pay for the hit. And the alibi for Eddie was necessary to get the shakedown money from the general.”

  Axel had just presented what could be another reason why a killer would have needed to alibi Eddie. He needed to sell the alibi to the general to get the money to hire the killing of Ileana Corrigan and the bribing of Cory Jackson and Tommie Montoya.

  Axel brought me back from my thoughts. “Cliff’s in the will for a half a million. The shakedown was tide-him-over money while he waited for the general to croak. Those biker guys are always into some kind of crime so it fits. They’re like the renegade gangs that rode in the old west.”

  In my mind, Cliff was incapable of putting together the complex plan of murder, a frame and an alibi. But Axel wasn’t through nominating Cliff for the role of the murderer.

  “Didn’t you tell me that this Karen, the daughter, manipulated Cliff into attacking you down on the beach? If he’s twisted around her finger, she could have got Cliff to arrange the murder through the bikers so that Eddie would take the fall and she’d get the big bucks. She could have promised him a chance to move into the mansion and live the fat life with her.”

  “But then why set up the phony alibi?” I reasoned. “No. If that was the case, Karen would only want to arrange the witnesses that got Eddie arrested. She’d want him convicted and sent up to clear her path to the general’s will. If she also alibis Eddie then he stays in the catbird’s seat in the will negating her reason for doing it to begin with.”

  “It’s a real mess, boss. You got yourself a herd of suspects with no way to cut out the guilty one. Could Eddie and Karen be in it together? They split two million now for waiting around money, then split her share later. She’s grown up with Eddie. She might not have been able to see him convicted of murder. That would explain why Karen would be interested in an alibi for Eddie.”

  “We shouldn’t forget a solo performance by Eddie,” I said. “He could have done it. It would have been a brilliant and diabolical plan to murder his fiancee to get out of a marriage he didn’t want. Frame himself, while simultaneously crafting his alibi to get off for having committed it. He gets two million right away, minus expenses, and stays in the head chair when the will is read.”

  “Why, boss? I mean the guy’s in line to inherit beaucoup millions. Why should he risk that with a murder? It’d make sense for him to just cool his jets and wait until the chips rolled his way.”

  “That seems logical, but let’s say he found himself engaged to a woman he didn’t want to marry. There’s rumors that Ileana was a gold digger playing him for his money. That she had a sugar daddy on the side; the one who gave her the expensive jewelry found at the murder scene
. Maybe Eddie didn’t want a kid. He could’ve thought that he’d end up with the kid and she’d split with a divorce settlement. That’s what happened to him. His mother left after his dad was killed in Desert Storm. That’s why he was raised by the general. He didn’t want a wife who didn’t want her son, like his mother hadn’t.

  “If Eddie did it, this wasn’t a sudden murder in a heated moment. It would have been cold and premeditated. And remember, this guy thinks he’s smarter than the average bear, than all of the other bears, so he couldn’t see himself getting caught.”

  “How’s that spaghetti, boss? Chewing okay?”

  “It works in small, easy bites, and tastes great, thanks for preparing it.”

  “In the morning, maybe we’ll move you up to some scrambled eggs. Now back to the case. What about an old beau? Some dude who had the hots for Ileana and killed her when she dumped him for Eddie.”

  “I’ve thought about that. Back at the time of the murder, Fidge spoke to neighbors who had seen a couple of luxury cars visit her place, but never saw the drivers. He also found that expensive jewelry she couldn’t afford on her own. That her folks couldn’t have bought for her. Eddie claimed he didn’t give it to her. If she had some well off fellas on the side that alone could have driven Eddie over the edge, or the lover she pushed aside to marry Eddie. That sugar daddy could be the person missing from my poker game.”

  “Huh, boss?”

  “I keep having this feeling there’s a player in this I haven’t found. That could be him. Or I could be guessing another person exists because I’m not convinced any of the others did it. Let’s get back to your idea of a jilted lover. That’s certainly possible. He could have killed Ileana and framed Eddie for taking her away from him. But why would he wish to arrange an alibi for Eddie? No. He’d want Eddie to go up for it. That’d get him revenge and also close the homicide file.”

  “I don’t know, boss. The shakedown makes the murder a paying proposition.”

  “Could be, with time to think and set it up. But a jilted lover is usually a sudden, angry murder. Not cold and calculated.”

  “Well, so which one did it?”

  “We’re not done yet. There’s also the general.”

  “Why would the general kill Eddie’s fiancee?”

  “The general could have had his fill of unreliable women. His ex-wife, Karen’s mother, Mary, was flaky. His son Ben’s wife, Eddie’s mother, had been no better, effectively selling Eddie to the general after Ben was killed in Desert Storm. Karen, his own daughter, is rather promiscuous, at least by the standards of the general’s generation. He could have been of the opinion that Ileana had set herself up to get pregnant to trap Eddie into marriage. That way she’d get her hooks into the general’s estate when Eddie inherits. That could have pushed him over the edge. And I can tell you, the general is more than capable of designing the entire strategy. He is a master tactician. He could have framed Eddie and arranged his alibi. Thereby protecting Eddie from what would undoubtedly be a failed marriage while also protecting his own estate which would go to Eddie.”

  “But, boss, the general got a phone call about the alibi demanding the two million clams. Then he got another call while he was driving home from the bank telling him to throw the money over the edge down to the beach.”

  “Only the general knew of those calls. They came in on his cell phone. He could have fabricated the whole bit about the calls. The general never reported the shakedown, so his cell phone was never examined. The general could have taken two million out of the bank and brought it home to put in his personal safe. Not thrown it over the edge at all.”

  “What about the general’s health?”

  “Ah. Today, sure, but this was done going on twelve years ago. The physical demands of the scheme were all activities he could handle then. And mentally, for him, the complex plan would have been a piece of cake.”

  “That’s quite a yarn, boss. I buy the part about the killer setting up an alibi rather than getting the case closed by having Eddie convicted and sent up the river. Without that business about the alibi, there’d have been no shakedown. The best fit for that theory would be the general. He’d want to save his grandson. I don’t see why the others would. They’d want him convicted so’s the general might give them a bigger slice of his millions.”

  “Well, that’s my dilemma.”

  “Have you been able to identify an old jealous boyfriend?”

  “Ileana’s parents don’t recall one. Cliff had been friends with Ileana, nothing romantic, and he doesn’t recall one. I think Cliff would have been more likely to know than her folks.”

  “I got a question for you, boss.”

  “Shoot.”

  “You made a strong point that the general had the knowhow to strategize it all out. And like I just said, the general had the best reason to alibi Eddie, but why in blazes does he hire you? I mean the killing was over eleven years ago. It’s cold. Eddie’s under no threat. Why does he want you raking through the coals?”

  “That’s the snag on the theory about the general. The only thing I can think of is the general wanted to find out if there were any loose ends. He figured if I worked the case and couldn’t find the killer then he was home free. Of course, he knew he would die before he could be convicted anyway so he had no fear from the cops. It would have been more about someone challenging his will on the grounds of him not being in his right mind. Or perhaps to feel confident there was no basis for a claim by Mr. and Mrs. Corrigan for the murder of their daughter. That could explain two other unusual elements: The general provided in his will for a million dollars to Ileana’s parents. Several months ago, the general gave the Corrigans a two-week all expenses paid cruise for their fiftieth anniversary. That could be guilt or compassion for the parents of a woman who had almost been his daughter-in-law. He could also have been creating a good relationship to discourage them from taking action against the estate on behalf of their dead daughter. I’m just guessing here, trying to stack it up every which way.”

  “The general would have had an accomplice. You said his health was good enough to pull this off back when it happened. But Cory Jackson was murdered a few days ago. The general couldn’t have done that, could he?”

  “No. He couldn’t. Charles? Cliff? Either of them could have taken out Cory for the general. Then again, the police think the murder of Cory Jackson was unrelated to his claim of having seen Eddie kill the Corrigan woman. That could be the simple truth.”

  “You mentioned Karen could have boffed Cliff into doing her bidding. You said Cliff didn’t have the brains to plan it. How about the doll, does she?”

  “Eddie is a grandchild; Karen is a daughter. Most people would likely think she had the stronger claim. And yes, to answer your question. She had the brainpower to devise the plan and the proven skill to manipulate Cliff who could have performed the actual murder, bribed the witnesses, and hired Podkin to work me over. As you said, Cliff knows Podkin and a lot of other bikers with criminal records. If she did it that way, with Cliff carrying the water with all the contacts, nobody could directly finger her. If Cliff got arrested somehow and tried to cut a deal to testify against her, it would be his word against hers. In the end, that thinking brings us back to where we were before. Why would she arrange an alibi for Eddie? She would want him convicted. Otherwise, he still gets the bulk of the estate.”

  We could take it no farther. Axel went down to his condo and I decided to get ready for bed. First, I ate the last of Clara’s apple pie. The soft, cool texture felt nice in my mouth and also tasted good.

  I had no shortage of suspects and theories and they were all moving around in my head like tumbling cats caught in a clothes dryer.

  Then something Axel had said replayed in my mind. “You gotta get one of them to rat on themselves. A man’s tongue can work like a shovel to dig his own grave.”

  Chapter 29

  Axel had set the coffee pot to come on in the morning before going downst
airs to his condo. I had eased my way onto the couch to catch the late news before going to bed when the doorbell rang. I looked through the peephole to see Karen Whitaker.

  I doubted Charles had told her about being her father. I couldn’t figure what else would bring her here unless it was one of those I-don’t-want-to-sleep-alone nights and she had flipped a coin with heads for me and tails for Cliff. I opened the door.

  “Matt, I just learned about your having been beaten. Charles told me. Oh, golly, that looks really sore.” She came in and closed the door behind her.

  “It looks worse than it is. It only hurts when I move or breathe.” We laughed together. I winced alone.

  “Do you know who did it?”

  I thought about asking her the same question. After all, she had already manipulated Cliff into attacking me. She could easily have arranged for a more serious effort by Podkin. If she had, she wouldn’t tell me the truth, so I gave her the vanilla answer.

  “Some biker thug. I got free. He ran off before I found out who put him up to it.”

  “You think it had something to do with what you’re into for the general?”

  “Yes.”

  She moved over to the couch and sat down. “Couldn’t he have just done it on his own?”

  “I suppose he could have, but ask me if I believe that. He wasn’t demanding anything. He didn’t take my wallet or steal my car. No. Someone hired him to work me over.”

  She crossed her legs, her pullover jersey drawing tight high across her upper thigh. “I see,” she said. “I find it amazing how you can figure those angles.” She then patted the cushion beside her. “Sit down with me, Matt. Maybe I can make it feel better.”

  “Actually, right now I’m more comfortable standing. I’m in no condition for any physical activity. It’s difficult to even breathe without feeling it.”

  Unusual as it might seem, being impatient with a beautiful woman who had come to my room in the middle of the night, I didn’t want to drag out her visit. She could have come out of concern for me, which was nice, but I’d had enough of that from enough people. Then again, the fact that the general would soon die could be accelerating the moves that might be coming from the various players in this family drama.