Numbers Can Be Deadly (Sage Gardens Cozy Mystery Book 7) Read online

  “I don’t.” Eddy looked at him with annoyance. “He provided you a receipt which confirms his alibi. There shouldn’t need to be any further questioning.”

  “And exactly who are you again?” Detective Jenson furrowed his brow as he looked at Eddy.

  “I’m a friend.”

  “Oh? Not a lawyer?”

  “No.” Eddy tightened his lips. The female detective leaned close to Detective Jenson and whispered in his ear. Eddy tensed as Detective Jenson’s expression shifted from impatience to exasperation.

  “I see. You’re retired police. Fine, I’m sure you think you know everything about this case. You should know better than anyone how important it is to follow the clues, especially those left behind by the victim himself. Perhaps if you were a little less concerned with showing off in front of your friend and a little more concerned with justice, this meeting could have been more productive.”

  “Or maybe if you were questioning the right suspect, you would have already solved it.” Eddy folded his arms across his chest.

  “Mr. Right, we’ll be in touch.” Detective Jenson led his partner towards the door. Walt’s eyes widened as the pair stepped out through the door. He sank back down onto the couch and tried to steady his breath.

  “It’s all right, Walt, they don’t have anything on you. Just try to relax.”

  “I’m trying.” Walt looked up at him. “But that detective looked very determined to see me in handcuffs.”

  “You’re the easiest target. He wants you to be guilty so that he can close his case and go home to dinner. Hopefully he’s an honest enough detective that he will not try to force a charge against you. He has to know from your alibi that you were not involved.”

  “I had no idea there were so many ifs before we started solving cases with Jo and Samantha. I always used to assume that if you’re innocent, you’re innocent, if you’re guilty, you’re guilty, but clearly there is a lot more that goes into it than that.”

  Eddy squinted. “There shouldn’t be, but yes there usually is.”

  “Do you really think they have no case?”

  “Yes. But to be sure, let me check in with one of my contacts. Why don’t you make us some tea?”

  “Okay, yes, I can do that.” Walt made his way into the kitchen.

  As Eddy watched Walt walk away he hoped that he would be able to keep his friend out of jail.

  Chapter Two

  Eddy dialed a lab tech who was one of his most valuable police contacts. They had a bond that had been formed from a mutual need to see justice served even if it meant breaking the rules, occasionally. Eddy leaned against the wall and stared into space as he waited for Chris to pick up the phone. Sometimes the young man was occupied, and sometimes he just waited a while to see if whoever was on the line would hang up. Eddy knew him well enough to wait until the very last ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Chris, it’s me Eddy.”

  “Oh Eddy. Sorry for the wait. I’ve got this detective all over me for some results that I told him wouldn’t be in until tomorrow and he just won’t give up.”

  “I understand. Actually, I’m calling to see if you can do me a favor.”

  “I’m pretty sure I already knew that.” Chris gave a short laugh.

  “Very perceptive, Chris.”

  “What case is it?”

  “The Magnus murder.”

  “Oh right, that’s a hot topic today. Someone else is assigned to it though. Why are you so interested?”

  “You’re not going to believe this.”

  “Try me.”

  “Apparently Magnus wrote my friend Walt’s name down on a piece of paper before he was killed. The detective on the case, Detective Jenson, is considering it a dying declaration.”

  “Wow. If I didn’t know who you were I wouldn’t believe you, Eddy. Does Walt know the guy?”

  “They worked together a long time ago. But Walt has no idea why he would write his name down. He’s very nervous about the situation though. I think the only way I’m going to be able to get him to calm down is if I have some idea of what the detective might have against him. I doubt it could be much, because obviously he wasn’t at the crime scene he was with me, but anything you can tell me would help me handle the situation.”

  “I understand.” Chris paused a moment. Eddy detected the hesitation in his pause.

  “What is it, Chris?”

  “This is a high profile case, Eddy. Magnus was one of the elite of the city, and everyone is going to have their hands in this cookie jar. I’m just warning you that if you get too close you might face some serious consequences.”

  “I’m not afraid. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Walt’s name is cleared.”

  “I’ll see what I can find out and give you a call back.”

  “Thanks Chris.”

  “Anything for you, Eddy, you know that.”

  “This one is for Walt. Keep that in mind. He doesn’t deserve to be faced with any of this.”

  “I’m on it, Eddy, don’t worry.”

  Eddy hung up the phone just as Walt stepped back into the room with two mugs of tea. He looked at Eddy and his hands were trembling from anxiety.

  “What did he say?”

  “He said he’s going to keep on top of anything that happens. We’ll be as informed as any of the detectives on the case, trust me.”

  “Okay.” Walt sighed and handed him a mug. “That does make me feel a little better.”

  “It’ll be fine.”

  Walt sat down on the couch. Eddy sat down beside him. The two sipped their tea in silence. Walt set his mug down on the coffee table and looked up at Eddy.

  “So, it’s not a good idea for me to fly off to some foreign country? I’m considering it.”

  “No.” Eddy locked eyes with him. “That’s as good as an admission of guilt. Whether or not you would actually be able to make it out of the country I’m not sure, but you would never be able to come back without facing the courts. Our best course of action is to clear your name, Walt, and I’m not going to let you run away from a crime that you didn’t commit.”

  “You’re not the one who is at risk of a lifetime of communal showers, are you, Eddy?” Walt raised an eyebrow. “I would not do well in prison.”

  “No, Walt you certainly wouldn’t. Which is exactly why you’re not going to end up there. Understand?”

  Walt nodded but couldn’t meet Eddy’s eyes. Eddy’s cell phone rang just in time to break the tension that brewed in the room. He saw that it was Chris and picked it up right away.

  “I found out some information for you. I confirmed the time of death is fixed between eight and ten, with the murder most likely taking place around nine. The deceased was killed by one hard blow to the back of the head with a blunt object of some kind, which was not recovered.”

  “What about the motive? Was it vengeance? Crime of passion?” Eddy asked.

  “There is some evidence that the computer system was invaded. Specifically, a financial program. The current theory is that Magnus surprised the intruder.”

  “Are they certain it was a man?”

  “Fairly, nothing can be ruled out at this stage. The blow was from behind so he might not have seen the person coming for him.”

  “And Walt, have they given up on trying to pin this on him?”

  “No, I don’t think so. The note is a big clue that isn’t going to be easily dismissed,” Chris said.

  “Is it possible that he was trying to write some other name, or something else entirely?”

  “No, I doubt it. The letters are rounded and complete, actually very well written for a dying declaration. There is something of interest though. Walt’s name wasn’t the only thing written on the note. There was also a set of numbers.”

  “What are they?” Eddy snatched up a pen from his pocket and jotted down the numbers on the napkin that Walt gave him with his tea. “Thanks a lot, Chris. Keep me up to date.”

  “I wil
l.”

  Eddy hung up the phone and turned to find Walt on the edge of his seat. “Well?”

  “He didn’t just write your name on the piece of paper. He also wrote four numbers. 6886. Does that mean anything to you?”

  “No, not at all. It’s not even one of my favorite numbers.”

  “You have favorite numbers?” Eddy shook his head. “No, never mind. Well, they must mean something.”

  “I have a few programs on my computer that I could run them through. Maybe they will spit something out.” He sighed and sat down in front of his computer. “I just keep thinking about why he would use the last of his energy to scribble down my name. The only reason I can think of is that he wanted my help. But why me?”

  “I don’t know.” Eddy rested one hand on the desk and leaned over Walt’s shoulder as he entered the same four numbers into several different programs. “But if we figure it out, we’ll probably have a good idea of what really happened to him.”

  “He was a very wealthy man. His business was nearly pure profit. I’m sure at his age there were plenty of people chomping at the bit to take over his position.”

  “Good point. He was likely a target of many. That’s a place to start. Maybe we can pinpoint who would have the most to gain from the situation.”

  “You know who would be best at discovering that?” Walt looked up from the computer screen.

  “Samantha.” Eddy nodded. “I’ll give her a call.”

  “If you call Samantha you should really call Jo, too.”

  “I will.” Eddy frowned and fished in his pocket for his phone. As he dialed Samantha’s number he walked away from the computer desk. Samantha answered after a few rings.

  “Morning Eddy, how are you?”

  “I’m okay. Walt’s not having a great day though.”

  “Walt? Why not?”

  “He’s had a visit from the police.”

  “How come?”

  “It’s a long story. Could you just come over to his villa?”

  “Sure. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Want me to call Jo?”

  “Yes, that would be a good idea.” Eddy hung up and looked over at Walt. “The recruits are lined up. You’re going to be just fine.” The four friends lived in the beautiful retirement community of Sage Gardens which meant that they were seldom further than a few minutes away from each other.

  “I’m trying to believe that.” Walt clenched his jaw. Eddy sat down beside him and rested his palm on his shoulder.

  “We’re all looking out for you, Walt. Your job is to think of any connection, any reason that he might have written down your name. If we can figure that out then we might be able to get somewhere.”

  “I’ll try.”

  Chapter Three

  A few minutes later Samantha was at the door. Eddy opened the door for her and she walked past him into Walt’s villa. He looked past her out onto the walkway.

  “Jo isn’t with you?”

  “No, she’s tied up with something, but she told me to let her know if we need her.” Samantha brushed her braided hair back over her shoulder and settled her gaze on Walt. He managed to look up at her with a slight nod.

  “It’s good to know that she’s on call.” Eddy nodded. He gestured for Samantha to sit, then filled her in on everything they knew so far. Walt didn’t speak a word. He folded and refolded a tissue in his hand until it was so tiny that Samantha thought it had disappeared.

  “Walt, how are you holding up?” Samantha asked. When he looked up at her, she met his eyes.

  “I’m okay,” Walt squeaked the words out.

  “I think that we need to come up with a plan.” Eddy balled up a fist and struck the top of his knee. “We’re wasting time here.”

  “Well, the first step is to get as much information as we can. Our best witnesses are going to be anyone that was in the building at the time of the murder, as well as friends and family that might have had recent contact with Magnus.”

  “Good luck with that.” Walt shook his head. “He wasn’t a friendly man, from what I can remember.”

  “Well, time changes people. Maybe he’d softened in his old age. I’ll see what I can find out. Do you mind if I use your computer?” Samantha asked.

  “No, it’s fine. There’s some hand sanitizer on the desk.” Walt offered.

  “Thanks.” Samantha smiled at him. She passed a look over at Eddy who cringed. Walt was not the type to survive even a night in jail. As she logged into his computer she began searching for any information she could find on Magnus. In her attempts she discovered that he had very few social media accounts, and those that he did have had very few connections on them. The only network she could find for him was business related and even that hadn’t been maintained or updated in months. She made a few calls to people she suspected were family members, but two didn’t answer and the third had no idea who Magnus was. She sighed as she hung up her phone and spun around in the chair to look at the two men in the room.

  “I have to be honest here, I’m not having any luck so far. It seems to me that Magnus didn’t have anyone that he was close to, at least not anyone obvious.”

  “The only way we’re going to find out any reliable information is if we go in person.” Eddy gripped his hat between his hands. “Playing phone tag is not going to get us anywhere.”

  “You’re right.” Walt nodded. “We can head out first thing in the morning.”

  “Actually, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Eddy met his eyes. “I don’t think that you should go.”

  “Why not?” Walt frowned. Samantha put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Eddy’s just looking out for you,” she said. “As long as you remain a suspect in this case you need to keep your distance from it. If the detectives spot you sniffing around, it will only make things look worse for you. Eddy and I can slide under the radar.” Samantha was used to covert operations from her days as a journalist.

  “I don’t know.” Walt looked concerned. “I hate to think of the two of you getting wrapped up in all of this. What if they figure out that you’re trying to help me?”

  “Don’t worry about that. We’re not going to do anything to cast any more suspicion your way. Samantha and I will visit the company in the morning and find out what the reaction there is like. That might give us some idea of other suspects.”

  “Yes, it might.” Walt stared down at his hands. “Because right now I might be the only one.”

  “You have a good alibi.” Samantha squeezed his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Walt, all of this will be over soon enough.”

  “Before I’m in handcuffs?” He looked up at her warily.

  “Absolutely.” She leaned down and kissed his cheek. “You’re in good hands, remember?”

  Walt nodded, but he still didn’t smile.

  “I’ll walk you out,” Eddy said as he walked towards the door of Walt’s villa. Samantha followed after him. The tension in the room followed as well. As soon as they were outside the door Eddy caught her elbow. “You shouldn’t have told him that.”

  “What?”

  “That he has nothing to worry about and we could keep him out of handcuffs.”

  “Isn’t that the plan?” Samantha searched his eyes.

  “Of course it is, but we can’t promise that.”

  “Look, Walt is going to worry about it no matter what I say. I hope it makes him feel a little better that I’m confident we can help him. What’s wrong with that?”

  “Nothing is wrong with it, I just don’t think that we should lie to him.” Eddy gritted his teeth. “I wouldn’t want to be lied to.”

  “Then let’s not.” She smiled a little. “Let’s solve this case before handcuffs get anywhere near Walt.”

  Eddy sighed and settled his hat back on the top of his head. “That’s easy to say, but not so easy to do, Samantha.”

  “With the four of us working together, I am certain we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

  “As always you
r optimism is refreshing.” He adjusted his hat. “I’ll pick you up at eight tomorrow morning.”

  “I’ll be ready.”

  Eddy watched as she walked away.

  Samantha did her best to keep her step light and her attitude positive. But she didn’t disagree with Eddy. Maybe her promise to Walt really would turn out to be a lie. But she would try her hardest to prevent that.

  Eddy walked towards his villa. He wondered if it was the right thing to do to leave Walt alone, but he knew that the man appreciated his privacy. He decided to make a few more calls to a few more contacts. If there was anything that he could do to help Walt, he would do it.

  ***

  Alone in his villa, Walt had yet to get off the couch. He knew that he should. There were things that he could and should be doing, but he couldn’t think of a single one. His mind buzzed with a vague panic that wasn’t strong enough to make him lose it, but was just enough to prevent lucid thought. After a few minutes had passed he forced himself to stand up. Eddy was right, he was the only one that could figure out why Magnus wrote down his name. Luckily he kept records of everything.

  Walt went back through boxes of files and folders until he found the one that he had collected during the time he had worked for Magnus. All of his financial records were kept there, along with other things as well. He looked over the job description and saw that he was working with a Chad Hillwick and a Len Lazario at the time. He remembered that although they worked in the same department they worked in different areas. Both Chad and Len were quite good friends and had become friendly with Walt in as far as they would occasionally have a coffee at work and discuss the different accounting systems in place. Becoming friends with people at work, or anyone for that matter, was unusual for Walt. They all left the company around the same time due to different reasons.

  Sometimes Walt would keep small reminders of certain times in his life. He hoped they would jog his memory in his later years. In the box from that year was an assortment of mementos. He noticed a coaster he had kept from the restaurant he would often have lunch at. Many of the other employees at Magnus’ company would meet at the restaurant for lunch or drinks. He smiled a little as he recalled how often the conversation was centered on Magnus’ lack of personality. He didn’t make friends easily. Walt understood that. He didn’t make friends easily either. In fact most of the conversations he overheard were as a result of no one noticing that he was there.