Chapter Twelve

The last time I’d seen Ben Rafferty he’d happily escaped me and arrest.

Handsome, charming, and very clever, he’d outmaneuvered me, even used me to steal jewels from an exclusive ball thrown by the woman who had engaged us to catch a thief.

To make matters worse, I’d actually liked him.

I never thought I’d see him again.

Yet here he was, youthful and joyful, smiling in his expensive private school blazer.

“Gideon Black,” I read aloud to the empty office. “Everyone’s buddy. Played on the cricket team, earned his black belt in karate, fluent in three languages. Destined for great things or great devilry. Hard to tell.”

“Sorry ‘bout that,” said Solomon as he exited the office. He paused. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I think I just did.” I beckoned for him to join me and he rounded the desk, stooping to look at the screen.

“Who’s the kid?”

“You don’t recognize him?”

“Should I?”

“Ben Rafferty.”

Solomon frowned. “I feel like I should know that name.”

“Remember that job we did for the dating agency Million Matches? When I was pretty new on the team? We were hired to find a thief targeting rich women.”

“I remember.”

I pointed at the screen. “That’s him. Gideon Black is Ben Rafferty.”

“I see it,” said Solomon, frowning as he leaned in for a closer look at the smiling boy on my screen. “How did you find him after all this time? Wait. Have you been looking for him all this time?”

“No! I was looking for the boy in the photo that Garrett retrieved from the body found at the end house.”

Solomon straightened. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“I wish!” I slumped against the seat back. “How can this be?”

“So Ben… Gideon Black could be the son of the body found in a shallow grave just a few houses over from your parents’?” asked Solomon slowly, like he couldn’t quite believe what he was asking.

“The two men are definitely connected somehow,” I said. “They’re the right age for father and son… and it doesn’t seem like he lived with his dad but I don’t get it… Ben is a master criminal, a conman, a jewel thief, and he’s brilliant at evading capture. And we’ve got this body in a shallow grave with millions in jewels on him. Does Ben… Gideon… have something to do with this?”

“Are you suggesting Ben… Gideon… what are we calling him now?”

“Gideon Black, I guess. That is his real identity.”

“Let’s prove that. Get Lucas on the phone.”

I reached for my phone, punching in Lucas’s extension. I quickly gave him the rundown and asked him to find proof of Gideon Black as fast as he could. “He’s on it,” I said to Solomon who simply nodded.

“Are you suggesting Gideon Black killed the man in the grave?” he asked.

“As much as Gideon Black is a criminal, I never thought he was a dangerous one. I just don’t see him as a killer. A confidence trickster, yes. Killer, no.”

“Let’s not count it out.”

“Ben… Gideon… heck, I’m not sure I can keep his name straight… is a thief, not a killer. Even if he did murder that man, is it really feasible that he left millions in jewels behind? It doesn’t make sense.”

“He would have been just a kid then, assuming the body was buried close to twenty years ago, a young adult if not. It could have been his first crime. Perhaps he bungled it,” said Solomon.

“Don’t criminals usually escalate? He wouldn’t start at murder and work his way down to theft.”

“Point taken.”

“Plus, Gideon would have been set up for life with those jewels. Even if they were worth less back then, it would still have been a fortune. Even if he didn’t know how to fence them, he wouldn’t just leave them. Anyone with a pinch of sense would take them and figure it out later.”

“Unless he knew where they’d been all along and thought he could come back anytime.”

“Then why head for a life of crime if you knew there was a payday just waiting to be dug up?” I asked. “He could easily have lived a boring, normal life, waiting for the right time. He didn’t need to risk, well, all the risks he’s taken.” I stared at the photo on my screen, wondering how this wannabe Karate Kid had spiraled into a life of crime.

Maybe because he’d been born into one?

“Plus, why didn’t he just dig up the jewels when he was last here? It doesn’t make sense. I should tell Garrett,” I said, reaching for my phone.

“Call him on the way to the car and then we’re heading home,” said Solomon. “It’s time to wrap up for the night.”

I opened my email and sent the school’s website link to Garrett first, then I closed the laptop and slid it into my desk drawer, grabbed my purse and followed Solomon out. On the way down the stairs, I called my brother.

“I just emailed you something for the case,” I said.

“I’m at my desk. Gimme a minute to get to my emails. What am I looking at?”

I explained and Garrett was silent. “You have got to be kidding me,” he said finally.

“That’s what Solomon said too. Can this information help identify the body?” I asked as we got into the car. I put the phone on speaker so Solomon could listen in as he drove.

“Maybe, but DNA would be better. I’ll look up the kid’s records and see if there’s anything I can cross-reference.”

“We have Lucas running him down too. If this is his real identity, we’ll know soon.”

“I’d appreciate the info when you get it. The ME says the autopsy is scheduled for the morning so I hope to have more information then. Thanks for this.”

“Thanks goes to Mom. She was the one who recognized the badge in the photo when you showed it to her at lunch. I only remembered to check out the school after you dropped me off at the office.”

“It must have slipped my mind with everything else going on. Guess we owe Mom a big thank you. Did you ever meet him as a kid? I think I would remember but I don’t.”

“I don’t think so and you would have already moved out by then. Mom said she knew there was a kid but it didn’t sound like she met him either. The school he attended was a boarding school so maybe he never came to Montgomery. It’s only in Boston so if Joe Smithson is his dad, it’s not far to visit without raising suspicion. Or Gideon could have lived with his mother? Mom said the guy she remembers was single but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have a wife stashed somewhere else. Or, at least, a woman he visited.”

“If this guy were up to something like we think, it makes sense that he’d put his family somewhere safe. Boarding school would fit the bill for the kid. Like you said, it’s close enough from here to visit but far enough away to put distance between them. Given that it looks like Smithson was murdered, that was a good decision. I’d like to know where the kid’s mom is.”

Solomon pulled over in front of our house, the street unusually empty of vehicles for the early evening. He turned off the engine and waited.

“Lucas is running her down too,” I said. “I still don’t think Gideon killed him, whatever their relationship is. Gideon Black’s not a killer. He’s a lot of things, but not that.”

“I’ll bear that in mind. Let’s talk tomorrow.”

“There’s one more thing. The Ben Rafferty I knew had a sister, Madeleine. He let it slip when I last spoke to him but I can’t guarantee it wasn’t another lie to cause confusion. And Madeleine probably isn’t her real name anyway.”

“I’ll consider that but there’s been no hint of a woman or girl so far in this case. Let’s catch up tomorrow. I need to update the chief, then I have other cases to review.”

“I should tell Lucas about Madeleine,” I said to Solomon when Garrett disconnected.

“I sent him a text already.” Solomon waved his phone before pocketing it and popping his door open. “What do you make of all this?” he asked when we both reached the sidewalk.

“I have no idea what to think. You?”

“I’m as confused as the next guy, but I do think Ben Rafferty, Gideon Black, or whatever his name is, turning up in this case is bad news for everyone.”

~

Solomon’s words bothered me all night and in the morning, I felt unrested and confused about the troubling discovery of the boy’s identity.

How had Gideon Black become Ben Rafferty? And what did he know about the man in the photo?

What did he know about the man in the grave?

Garrett sent a text at seven telling me to be at the autopsy suite at ten. That he was extending me the privilege was more than a professional courtesy, it was an acceptance of collaboratively working on the case, although I’d have much preferred he suggested a nice brunch spot. Dead bodies, sliced and diced, didn’t do it for me nearly as much as avocado on sourdough.

Solomon had left almost as soon as he awoke, citing an emergency risk assessment, leaving me sipping coffee on my own and wondering how I could find out more information about Gideon Black and how he had become Ben Rafferty.

Then, like a lightbulb pinged in my head, I realized there was someone who knew as much about that man as I did.

I fired off a text suggesting breakfast and within an hour, I was walking into a chic café full of velvet chairs and bleached wooden tables near the FBI’s field office.

Maddox waited for me at a window table, a coffee in one hand, a menu in the other. Seeing me walk up, he smiled, set both down, and stood, greeting me with a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“This is a nice idea,” he said as we took opposite chairs. “I’m sorry to hear about the divorce.”

“Divorce?”

“You’ve come to your senses and are finally divorcing Solomon?”

“No! Where did you get that idea?”

“I figured you were celebrating and wanted to share the moment with me.” Maddox gave me the most unsympathetic smile as he touched both hands to his heart. A bandage peeked out from under his shirt sleeve.

“No!”

“I think you protest too much. It’s okay, Lexi, you don’t have to be ashamed. Not every marriage works out.” He patted my arm reassuringly.

“I’m not getting divorced.”

“So you want a recommendation for a lawyer?” Maddox reached for his phone and ran his forefinger across the screen, scrolling through his phone book.

“Have you finished having your fun with me yet?” I asked, sighing and taking the menu the server offered as she walked past.

“I’d rather wait for the divorce to be finalized. I’m a man of principles.”

I shook my head and ignored him as I contemplated crepes or waffles.

“Okay, fine. You’re not about to make all my dreams come true. Why are we eating together? I know it’s not because you want to stare at my dreamily handsome face. But, on a side note, you can still do that.”

“I want to pick your brains on my case.”

“Our neighborhood robbers? I thought we wrapped that up nicely. It wasn’t even my case but we nailed it!”

“No, my other case. Dead body on my parents’ street.”

Maddox winced. “Did your parents do it?” he asked.

“No!”

“That’s what your mom said but I figured I should ask a more reliable source. I can’t find one so here we are.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering how I was going to get him back for his teasing. I would, somehow, someday, and definitely enjoy it.

“Okay, because I would have still helped if they had. Especially your mom. She’s great.”

“I’m not putting in a good word for you.”

“No need to. She loves me. Wait until she hears we’ve hung out twice in one week! Let’s order, then you can ravage me for information.”

“I’m not ravaging you for anything.”

“You used to for nothing.” Maddox winked.

“You’re incorrigible!”

“You like that about me. Handsome, charming, witty, incorrigible … and that’s before we get to the good stuff.”

I swatted him with my menu, then continued to browse it as I said, “You love taunting me.”

“I love all kinds of things about you but taunting is definitely one of my favorites.” Maddox waved for the server and we placed our orders, distracting me from closely examining what he said. “You could have picked a dive but instead, we’re at this romantic, little setting.”

“It’s the nearest nice café to your building.”

“I know. It’s my regular spot now. Beats the dive nearest the police station in my detective days. Anyway, stop playing around with my heart, and tell me what you want to know.”

“Do you remember Ben Rafferty?”

“Name rings a bell. Who is he?”

“One of your cases when you were a detective. He was one of my targets at a high-end dating agency where our client suspected someone was targeting women for their cash and valuables, not their hearts.”

Maddox nodded, smiling. “I remember. You were parading around town in a Ferrari as a super-rich, hot, single woman in need of a man. Did you keep any of the stuff?”

“Did you see me drive up in a Ferrari?”

“No.”

“There’s your answer.”

“You have a terrible job.”

“Says the man in government service. Although you do get trips to Europe.”

“Currently postponed. Again . So Ben Rafferty?” Maddox sipped his coffee thoughtfully. His eyes widened and his eyebrows rose, and I knew that had to be the exact moment he remembered the case clearly. His lips hovered over the cup before he put it down. “Shit! He was the guy who escaped our custody!”

“That’s him.”

“Aided by a woman posing as his lawyer.”

“The same woman who was a plant in the dating agency’s office. Madeleine, his accomplice.”

“Yeah, I remember now. What’s he got to do with your case?”

“He might be well acquainted with our dead man.”

Maddox blinked. “I can’t even fathom how Ben Rafferty and your dead guy are connected.”

“I’m not sure either but with the evidence as it stands, I’m leaning towards father and son. I wondered what happened after he escaped your custody? Or if you discovered anything about him after that?”

“I wish I had more to tell you but Rafferty was a slippery bastard. We searched his apartment and it was scrubbed like a professional. Not a scrap of information and no fingerprints. There was literally nothing we could use to find him. Of course, we had a decent photo and prints from booking him into custody and we sent that out to the agencies but we didn’t get anything for a while. Then a hit came in that he might have been involved in a love scam in Phoenix.”

“A love scam? Like the dating agency scam?”

“Very similar. In Phoenix he was courting rich, older women, then swindling them out of their cash.”

“That’s horrible.”

“And something he has form for so not unexpected. I spoke with Phoenix PD and they told me they didn’t have anything concrete, only the complaint from one of the women that he’d made off with at least a hundred thousand dollars.”

“A hundred grand!”

“Small change. Apparently, this woman had money to burn but it was the principle of the thing.”

“Wait… you said one of. How many women did he rip off?”

“Hard to say because none of the others came forward, but we think there were several targets. Whether he was successful with them all, I don’t know. But I can say he didn’t go for any personal, irreplaceable possessions, just generic stuff or cash.”

“Are you trying to say he has a heart?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Maddox shrugged as he took a sip. “Anyway, there was no direct evidence to connect him to the crime in Phoenix, no prints, and no photos where we could definitively identify him as the same guy. Even the plaintiff couldn’t be sure from our mug shot. This guy had longer hair, a beard, and a tan. He said he was from Connecticut but his target didn’t see any proof of that.”

“What about a sister?”

“From what I remember, their perp claimed to be an only child.”

“Any female friend or colleagues that could have been an accomplice?”

“Nothing that stood out to the complainant.”

“So what happened next?”

“Phoenix PD didn’t have any solid leads and without an identification, we couldn’t confirm it was our guy so they shelved the case.” Maddox paused as the server placed our plates in front of us. “The only thing that stood out to me was the guy was calling himself Tom Benedict.”

“Benedict,” I repeated, considering the odds. “Ben. It could be a coincidence.”

“It could. There was one more hit, right before I left the force, but this was overseas and a different MO.” Maddox forked egg and toast into his mouth, chewing. “This time, it was a heist from an old, aristocratic family in Europe. They were throwing a party and someone used all the commotion as a distraction, then got into their safe, making off with two gold ingots and a bunch of paperwork. They clammed up pretty quickly about the paperwork, claiming that was an error and nothing was missing but they were steamed about the gold.”

“Where’s the connection to Ben Rafferty or Tom Benedict?”

“One of the catering staff was found tied up in an outbuilding, minus his uniform. After reviewing the footage of the event, all the catering staff could be accounted for except one man. He was caught on camera once and it’s only a partial facial, but he looked a lot like our man. Again, nothing definitive to tie the two men together, and, before you ask, no sign of a female accomplice, so I made a note in our file and left it. I was leaving anyway and there was nothing more I could do. We hit a dead end.”

“Safe cracking doesn’t sound beyond him, although he obviously prefers people just handing him the money.”

“My thoughts exactly. How’s your breakfast?”

A waft of sugary heat rose from my pancakes. “Perfect.”

“That’s as much as I can tell you from my detective days. It would be great if you could fill in a few blanks, like his connection to your dead guy. You must have come across something that directly pointed to Ben Rafferty, otherwise we wouldn’t be talking and you’d just be staring at me dreamily.”

I couldn’t see any harm in telling Maddox after he had so openly explained the aftermath of his case. “The dead guy was carrying a photo in his wallet. The ID was fake but the photo showed an older man and a very young Ben Rafferty. That’s why I think the older man might be his father, but we’re not sure yet if the man in the photo and the dead guy are the same person. I didn’t even recognize Ben at first.”

“I don’t suppose there was an inscription? ‘To my son, Ben, love, Dad’ or anything like that?”

“No. And his name, unsurprisingly, isn’t Ben either. I tracked down his real name,” I said, enjoying my moment of smugness as I forked a piece of pancake into my mouth.

“Don’t leave me in suspense!”

“Gideon Black.”

For a moment, Maddox was very still, his eyes calculating, but then he shrugged. “Can’t say I’ve heard that name before.”

“Do you think you could try running it? Maybe through one of your super-duper databases? Lucas is working on it now, but the more eyes the better.”

“Sure. I’ll let you know if anything comes up although I can’t imagine we’ll find anything Lucas can’t and I still don’t want to know exactly how he conducts research. Do you have any more information on this Gideon Black?”

“Just his school. An expensive boarding school in Boston. Interests were cricket, karate and languages. Garrett’s looking into him too. The more the better, I think, given how slippery he is.”

“I seem to remember you had a good rapport with him.”

“When he was masquerading as Ben Rafferty? Sure. I thought he was charming and he was, but then he thought I was loaded and he was looking to lighten that load.”

“He probably enjoyed taking on the challenge of seducing a young, attractive woman. A nice change of pace for him.”

“I’ll take the compliment. Is that what he does? Seduces these women?” Privately, I wondered if that was a worse betrayal for the women he stole from. Taking their things and their money was one thing, but their bodies? That was personal.

“More courting than seducing. Claims he’s an old-fashioned man who wants to wait and not rush the romance. I think they fall for it hard.”

“So… not a total cad,” I decided.

“I’m not saying he doesn’t, just that no one has said he’d gotten them into bed. There could be a reason.”

“Such as? Oh! You think he’s gay.”

“Maybe that, but maybe he’s got a woman of his own and some morals.”

“He didn’t come off as gay to me. I don’t know that I can equate someone who steals with someone with fidelity values.”

“Could his female accomplice be a wife, not a sister? She was a similar age to him from what I recall.”

“Could be, but I didn’t get the impression he was harboring any longing for anyone. Although, he would hardly make that obvious since he was trying to be my perfect man while calculating my net worth.” I paused to eat, reflecting on what I did know. “I wish there was more I could tell you but I have a feeling I’m not going to come up with much. Gideon Black appears and disappears and he’s careful. He must have a regular home, or people somewhere, but he definitely isn’t advertising it. He’s got access to identity documents, travel… he invests in his business such as it is and he knows how to charm his way into people’s inner circles. He knows the right people. Or the wrong ones. Plus, he has no problem moving in elite circles.”

“So what if he is the kid of this dead guy in the shallow grave? What are you going to do about that?”

“I guess Ben/Gideon needs to be informed but I don’t know how we’ll go about doing that. Garrett isn’t entirely convinced he isn’t involved in the death.”

“And you?”

“It seems a stretch to start a life of crime with murder and work your way down from there.”

“There are easy ways to draw him out. Publicize the discovery and he might come out of the woodwork,” said Maddox.

“Assuming he wants to. I don’t know if the relationship between him and this guy was good. No one remembers Joe Smithson having a kid around but that doesn’t mean they didn’t keep in touch.” I thought about the jewels but didn’t mention them. They could attract all kinds of people.

“Do you mind if I liaise with Garrett?”

“Go ahead. Maybe check in this afternoon? We’re due at the autopsy suite at ten.”

“You’re going there after eating that?” Maddox pointed at my plate and I nodded. “Amateur,” he snorted.

“I don’t think Garrett intends for me to be in the room!”

“Just take a hair tie.”

I frowned, then I caught his drift. “He’s been in the ground for a long time. It can’t be so bad. They’ll just poke around his bones and tell us the cause of death.”

“I’d love to fill you in on procedure but I’m eating too and I don’t want to. Good luck. Remember, it happens to all of us.”

“What does?”

“You’ll see.” Maddox grinned.