Long Shadows

Chapter 58

L​ate the next morning Decker was waiting for White at the airport with a cup of coffee for her.

“Now that’s service,” said White, accepting the drink.

“Things to fill you in on,” he said as they walked out of the terminal and got into the car.

He told White about his conversation with Kasimira Roe and the blackmailing done to her by Lancer and Draymont.

“Damn,” she exclaimed. “That lady really held a lot back.”

“She probably thought she was caught between a rock and a hard place. And she still has her father’s disappearance to contend with.”

“So we know what Draymont and Lancer were involved in. People would have motivation to kill them both.”

“What about Judge Cummins?” asked Decker.

“I know you think it was two different killers, but I’ve never fully agreed with that. It makes a lot more sense if it were just the one.”

“A lot more sense does not always equate to the truth.”

“So, are we back at square one again?” she said.

“Do you think cases have this fine linear quality to them?”

“No, but it would be nice to be making some progress. Whoever killed them might have been blackmailed. That’s a prime motivation. We just have to find out who that was and we have our murderer.”

Decker didn’t appear to be listening.

“I said—”

“I heard what you said. I agree that blackmail is the motivation. For at least the murders of Lancer and Draymont.”

“But not Cummins?”

“Maybe a stronger motivation than blackmail.”

“Which is?”

“I’ll let you know when I think of it. And to my mind Langley’s alibi is a little shaky.”

“How so? Would he have had time to do the murders and get back to her house?”

“No, if Gloria Chase is telling the truth.”

“And you have reason to think she’s not?”

“We might find one,” said Decker.

“Where are we going now?” she asked.

“To check on some money.”

The internationally renowned investment house was large and distinguished and above reproach, or at least its marketing materials said so. Its Ocean View branch was housed in a granite building with marble floors and solid wooden walls and elaborate furnishings and other decorations. Oil paintings looked down upon Decker and White as they walked to their destination.

“Client commissions on the wall. Always does my heart good to see that,” said Decker.

“Capitalism at its finest.”

Julia Cummins’s personal financial manager was Stuart Jones. He ushered them into his large corner office and offered them tea, coffee, and water, all of which they declined.

Jones was a man of fifty with hair so carefully styled, Decker thought he could see the gel still gleaming among the whitening strands. The man’s suit was custom. His shoes looked expensive and no doubt were. His tie was a work of art. His teeth were too perfect to be real.

“It was awful what happened to Julia,” he said as he plopped into his leather chair. “Just terrible.”

“Yes it was. And we’re trying to find those responsible for it,” said Decker.

“And I wish you good luck and Godspeed on that,” said Jones heartily.

“I alerted you in my phone call as to what we needed,” said Decker.

“Yes, yes.” Jones sat forward and coughed into his hand. “I hope you can understand that client confidentiality is our utmost priority.”

“And I hope you can understand that finding who killed your client is our utmost priority,” replied Decker. “So I think my ace beats your king.”

Jones noticeably winced and looked down at his leather-topped desk. There wasn’t a scrap of paper on it. Decker strongly suspected that it, like the office, was mainly for show. He had the impression of a bank of computers with proprietary algorithms loaded in doing the work that people like Jones would later take credit for.

But honestly what do I know? I don’t have any money to invest.

“I understood from your phone call that you were thinking Julia was the target of some blackmail scheme?”

“She was wealthy. People are unscrupulous. That makes her a target.”

“So you need to know if she made any large or irregular withdrawals or payments?”

“Yes.”

Jones turned to a computer on his desk and started typing. “I would meet with her every quarter to go over her accounts. She was a very excellent investor and client. Her net worth was growing by leaps and bounds. It was so exciting.”

“Yeah, I’m getting all tingly just hearing you talk about it,” said White, the comment drawing a rare smile from Decker.

Jones continued, “For any truly large transfers she would have had to get on the recorded line and authorize it. That ensures there are no mistakes and the client intends for the transfer to happen.”

“And that covers your end, too,” said Decker. “No liability.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“So you would know if she made any large transfers,” said Decker.

“Yes, but she could have done it through her checking account. I don’t monitor that as regularly. And after all, it is her money.”

He scrolled through some screens and shook his head. “I see nothing out of the ordinary. And I’ve gone back six months.”

“All right,” said Decker. “Are there any transfers of monies or checks written to Alice Lancer, Alan Draymont, or Gamma Protection Services?”

Jones typed a search request in and waited a few moments. “No, nothing under those names.”

“And no large cash withdrawals?”

“No. Those would have been flagged. So, it doesn’t look like she was being blackmailed,” said Jones.

“Well, blackmail doesn’t always involve payments of money,” noted White.

“Right, yes.” Jones suddenly looked alarmed. “Oh my God, right. Oh, I hope that Julia... I mean...”

“Thank you for your help,” said Decker.

Outside, White said, “Well, that was a dead end.”

“No, it checked a box.”

“So if they weren’t blackmailing her, how did Cummins and Draymont hook up?”

“I think you already gave the answer to that. We just came here to rule out the blackmail piece.”

White looked surprised. “I already gave the answer?”

“I think Draymont caught Cummins’s eye. You used the phrase to explain how Lancer and Draymont hooked up on Capitol Hill.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Young and handsome. It happens. But with Cummins?”

“Gamma worked protection in her neighborhood for other clients, including the Perlmans right next door. They recommended Gamma to Cummins when she asked about getting security protection. And we’ve confirmed that Draymont was part of her security rotation. Maybe Cummins simply saw him and became infatuated. And from what I’ve heard of Draymont, he could be very charismatic, and the man would not hesitate to jump into bed with a rich, lovely woman like Cummins.”

“Okay, but then why the whole rigmarole about her needing protection because of threats? I know we went over this before, but it still seems a muddle.”

“She really didn’t want someone to know she was dating or sleeping with other men. Look at the precautions she took with Dennis Langley. They drove all the way to Miami to have sex in a hotel. He was never invited over to her house. But the only way she could get Draymont into her house was by pretending he was protecting her. That was probably another appeal for her to latch on to Draymont. He had that cover built right into his job.”

“Decker, she must have really been afraid of someone to go to all those lengths.”

“Well, as it turned out, she was right to be afraid, wasn’t she?”

“You still think it was her husband, don’t you?”

“He’s the most obvious choice. But he couldn’t have done it personally. With the Zoom calls and Tyler’s alibi for him. But he could have hired someone. Only we had his financial records pulled and they don’t show any weird payments at all. I was thinking maybe crypto, but I have no idea how that even works. But he did use the term ‘butchered.’”

“Maybe he had a friend kill his wife for free. That would explain the absence of payment.”

“I don’t think anybody has friends that good,” observed Decker.