Chapter Thirty

"Well, that must have been embarrassing," Carrie said.

Charlie sat at the table in her kitchen relating the previous day's adventures. He wore her second-best bathrobe and stayed out of her way as she scrambled eggs and made toast.

"I have never been more humiliated in my life. I'd always pictured him seeing me naked under different circumstances."

"The circumstances being under him?"

Charlie sighed. "Why is life so cruel?"

"Oh, stop whining and eat these," she said, plunking his plate in front of him. "And don't expect this kind of service every time you're caught in bed with a murderer."

"That's the thing. I don't think he did it."

Charlie scooped up some eggs and shovelled them into his mouth. "God, these are good."

"I'm glad you like them. I'll teach you how to make them for next time."

"I'm sorry. I must be getting in the way. I promise I'll start looking for my own place soon."

"You are not in the way. I kinda like having you around. You're my best friend in the world, and it's nice having someone I trust to cuddle up to at night without worrying about sex. That, and you look ridiculous in that robe, and that makes me laugh."

She reached over and tousled Charlie's hair as his phone rang. Carrie grabbed it off the table. The display said ‘Declan'.

"It's your boyfriend calling." she said with a smile.

"Which one?" Charlie teased.

"The older one who isn't in jail," she said, handing him the phone.

Charlie answered the call. "Morning, Declan."

"Hey, Charlie. You all right?" Declan asked.

"Fine. Taking the morning off, as instructed. Have you heard anything from Luke?"

"Nope. He wasn't answering his phone. I left a message on his voicemail but he hasn't gotten back to me. Before I see him, I want to check on something. I'm going to head over to Katherine's to fill her in on what you learned last night. I want to have another look at those pictures. You up for coming along?"

"You bet."

"Good. I'd like to have you there. She seems to relax more when you're around."

"Do you think she knows something she's not telling us?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know. There's something not quite sitting right. What you said about Justin… I'll swing by and pick you up at one."

"See you then," Charlie replied, before putting the phone down. "He thinks I might be right," Charlie said.

"He said that?"

"Well, not in so many words. But he implied it. He's coming over to pick me up so we can interrogate a former suspect."

"If it's a former suspect, why are you interrogating them?"

"It's detective stuff. You wouldn't understand," he replied with a mock sense of superiority. Charlie sat back and had another sip of coffee, trying to look serious in the frilly floral bathrobe.

* * * *

At a quarter to one the doorbell rang. Charlie, now dressed for work, ran to the door. "You're here," Charlie said, smiling.

"I hope you don't mind. I'm a little early."

"Not a problem."

Carrie came down from the top of the stairs. "You must be the mysterious Declan that Charlie can't stop going on about."

Charlie shot her a look that said shut up.

"That would be me," Declan said. "And you must be the kind friend who took this poor sod in off the street. It's nice to meet you."

Charlie turned to leave but was stopped by Carrie clearing her throat. He turned to see her standing with her arms open wide. Charlie reluctantly went over and gave her a goodbye hug.

Charlie got into Declan's van, and within a half an hour, they were pulling into Katherine's driveway. Charlie was starting to feel comfortable in his role as Declan's assistant. The butterflies in his stomach were gone.

Katherine greeted them at the door as they mounted the front steps. "I have coffee ready, if you'd like some."

"That would be great. Thank you," Charlie answered.

They sat in the living room and waited for Katherine, who entered carrying a tray of steaming mugs. They each took one, then Katherine asked, "Do you have any news?"

Declan said, "Last night, the police brought in Justin Neves for questioning. Did Ian ever mention his name?"

"Not that I remember."

"He was a player on the Axemen. He was the young man in the photographs."

"And you think he killed Ian?" Katherine asked.

"At this point, the police have him in for questioning," Declan said. "The photographs of him may provide him with motive. Apparently Ian wanted to have them published and Justin was afraid of what that might do to his reputation."

Katherine sighed. "You mean that people might think he was gay, or that he liked to…dress up? People are so narrow-minded."

"I agree. Could we see the photographs again, with that in mind?"

"They're still in the kitchen. I'll go get them."

Charlie was starting to feel the effects of his third cup of coffee of the day. "Mrs Mann, would you mind if I used your washroom?" he said.

"Of course not. Use the one up the stairs, second door on the right."

"Thank you."

Charlie made his way upstairs and easily spotted the bathroom. As he walked down the hall he noticed that all of the doors in the hall were open, except one. I wonder…

He could hear voices from downstairs as he crept over to the closed door. The floors were carpeted, and his footsteps made no sound. He cautiously opened the door and walked in. Plaques on the walls commemorating Ian Mann's contributions to various community organisations confirmed that this was Ian's office.

The one thing that struck Charlie was, aside from a computer, a desk lamp and a framed photograph of Katherine, the desk surface was clear of clutter. Other than the commendations on the walls and a bookcase holding a few dozen books on photography, the office was bare. Did Katherine clean up the place?

Charlie moved to the desk. The drawers stuck when he tried to open them. He was afraid that if he wasn't careful, one of them would squeak and give his intrusion away. As he wiggled a drawer back and forth to coax it open, the photo of Katherine toppled forward. Charlie reached to catch it, but in the process, his elbow knocked the lamp onto the floor. Charlie froze. If it hadn't been for the carpet, the crash would have given him away. As he went to return the lamp to its place on the desk, he noticed a USB stick which the lamp had hidden.

What do we have here?

Charlie returned the lamp and picture to their proper places, then popped the USB stick into his pocket, left the office and closed the door. He headed to the washroom, and when he was done, he returned to the others downstairs.

"Charlie, come and have a look at these," Declan said, indicating the photos spread out on the coffee table. "How do these fit with what Justin said?"

Charlie leafed through the pictures. "They're pretty much as he described them. Justin looks great in all of them and they both seem to be having a ball in the shots where they're together." Charlie looked up at Declan. "But I can see why he was worried about them getting out. Some small-minded people might look at these and think fag."

Declan said, "I think that's exactly what Justin was afraid of, and that would give him motive to do whatever he could to stop them from getting out."

"And what do you believe?" Katherine asked Charlie.

"I don't think Justin's got it in him to kill someone. These photos… Could we borrow them? I think if I could see Justin's reactions to them in person, I would know for sure if he was telling the truth."

"Do you really think it could help?" Katherine asked Declan.

"I'm learning that my partner's a good judge of human nature, and I think we should take his intuition seriously," Declan replied.

Katherine put the photos into an envelope and handed it to Charlie.

Declan thanked Katherine and said, "We'll be in touch as soon as we find out more."

As soon as they got back into the van, Charlie said excitedly, "You're not going to believe what I found when I went upstairs. Ian's office was almost empty. It was like someone had cleaned it out. But look what I found hidden under the desk lamp." Charlie pulled out the USB stick.

"You stole that from Ian's office?"

"Well, maybe it contains something that relates to the case…"

"Charlie Watts, I could kiss you. Let's get back to the office and see what you've found."

Declan drove quickly and, as soon as they got through the door, he said, "You check the USB stick, and I'm going to have another look at the CCTV footage and see if the other cameras picked anything else up."

Charlie ran to his desk and pulled the USB stick from his pocket, then waited for his computer to come to life. As soon as he got through the login, he slid the key into the USB port. When the file manager opened, there were two files. One was a still shot showing a man. It was difficult to make out any details as he was back-lit by a window. He seemed to have a muscular build and short-cut hair.

The other file was a Quicktime video. The date stamp on the video was July seventh. The timestamp was 4:05 p.m.

Charlie hit ‘Play'.

The video had been taken in a bar. Charlie figured it was the same bar as in the still image. Ian had obviously hit ‘Record' then placed it on the table. The phone was pointed at an odd angle, showing mainly the ceiling and the occasional person squeezing by the table.

Charlie listened to the full conversation.

A voice said, "Ian? Thank you for meeting me. You know why I'm here, but before you reject the offer, please just listen to what I have to say."

Ian replied, "I'm listening."

The other voice continued, "These are the facts—your property is sitting vacant and costing you money. Just to remind you, this spreadsheet has the figures for the last ten years highlighting your costs."

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to reveal the name of the thief who provided you with these?"

"Look, Ian, it's a purpose-built chemical production facility—a nitrogen fertiliser plant to be precise—and we all saw what happened with one of those in Beirut—"

"That," Ian interrupted, "was a fully filled, unventilated fertiliser storage barn, and you know it. There hasn't been a scrap of nitrogen phosphate in my building for over fifty years."

"Still, it's in an area that's an up-and-coming part of town," the other man added, "and fears are harder to wash out of people's minds than fertiliser out of a building. That aside, it's an industrial facility that can't easily be converted to any other use given the structural configuration and rumoured lingering chemical contamination. The floors are wood, Ian. It absorbs. If you converted it into condos, who would want to move into it? Besides, the cost of remediation would bankrupt you. Any other guy would bulldoze the property and turn it into a parking lot. The taxes would be a tenth of what you're paying now."

The fellow continued with his pitch. "The company is aware of the sentimental attachment that you have to that building. It's the last remnant of your family's empire, isn't it?"

There was a pause in the conversation, then the man continued, "They're having new plans for the development drawn up as we speak, plans that will maintain the beautiful steel fa?ade of the building—restore it, actually, to its original state—and, now here's the topper—the company is offering to name the new place the Mann Building in honour of your family. So do we have a deal?"

Ian responded, "I must politely decline. I don't do business with mobsters."

The other man pressed, "I'm going to ask you one more time, and if the answer's the same, I can't say what will happen."

Ian said coolly, "I think this meeting has come to an end."

"You have no idea who you're dealing with here, Mann. A decision like that can get you fucking killed."

Ian replied, "The answer's still no."

There was a loud slam. Charlie figured the man had hit the table with his fist. It was hard enough for the phone to bounce and land at an angle. It was now focused clearly on the face of the other man.

"Oh, shit. Declan!" Charlie yelled.

He ran into Declan's office. "Ian had a meeting with Luke on the day he disappeared," Charlie said. "Ian recorded it and stored it on the USB stick. Luke told him he could get killed."

Declan said, "And that's not all." He rotated his laptop so Charlie could see. It was a dim picture taken from a high angle. It showed the back of a car and a man standing beside it. It was clearly Luke.

"He was there on the street outside Sheldon's house the night Ian disappeared. It's all fucking here in one of the other CCTV files, if I'd bothered to open it. And watch…"

Declan pushed ‘Play' and the video continued. The view was partially obstructed. Charlie guessed the camera was mounted high up between the trees that surrounded the property.

Luke was pacing back and forth. A minute later, he stepped out into the road. He looked like he was waving his arms. A car stopped. Charlie couldn't clearly make out the details of the car, or the driver but he could see Luke reaching behind his back and pulling out something tucked into the waist-band of his pants. It looked like a gun. Luke yanked the driver out of the car and locked him in the trunk. The driver was Ian.

"The camera must have been well hidden. I don't think he had any idea he was being filmed," Charlie said.

Declan made no comment.

"Declan?"

"He was playing me all along. Once he found out we were involved, he used me to find out what we knew." Declan started to hammer out a text on his phone.

"Declan, if he's the killer… What happened to Justin?"

"Oh, shit!"

Declan grabbed his phone and placed a call. "Hi. Can you transfer me to the holding cells? Thanks."

Charlie sat there, wanting to talk, but not knowing what to say.

"Holding? Do you have a Justin Neves in custody? Was he ever in custody?…"

"Maybe he's in another district?" Charlie whispered.

Declan held up a finger. "Nowhere then… Okay. Thanks."

Declan disconnected. "There's no trace of him anywhere in the system."

Charlie said, "What are we going to do?" He started to shake.

Declan went back to his phone and punched in a number. "It's Declan. I need your help."

"What now?" a voice at the other end of the line snapped.

"I have to know what's happening with the Ian Mann case," Declan said. "A boy's life might be at stake."

"I told you to keep your nose out of police business."

"A boy's gone missing. He could be in trouble."

There was a muttering of voices on the end of the line. Sam Hunt came back on the phone. "McKeckran closed the case. His notes on file show it as death by misadventure. Ian Mann was down by the river, slipped, hit his head on a rock and fell in and drowned."

Declan yelled, "That's bullshit! If the case was closed, why did Constable Luke Fraser pick up Justin Neves from Airdrie last night and take him in for questioning for his role in the murder? And why is the boy not listed as being held in custody?"

"He did what? Wait a second."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone. Declan could hear the clacking of a keyboard.

"If it was a busy night, they may have been tied up in holding and haven't gotten around to entering him into the system," Sam said.

A muffled voice on the other end of the call yelled out, "Get down to holding and see if they have anything on a Justin Neves there. Now!"

Declan said, "We've got files that show that Luke had a fight with Ian Mann on the day he disappeared, and footage of Luke kidnapping him that evening. I'll get Charlie to send them to you right now."

Declan wrote an email address on a scrap of paper and Charlie quickly disappeared to the outer office to send the files.

On the other end of the phone, Sam said, "But Fraser was the one who discovered Mann's car up-river from where the body was found."

Declan replied, "He and McKeckran were working the case together. I'll bet I know why McKeckran closed the case down. Luke did this. I know it."

"All right. I'll put out an APB on both Luke and the Neves kid. We'll find them."

"Thanks. Let me know what you find out. In the meantime, I'm going to try to find Luke."

"Declan… Don't do anything stupid. Let us handle this."

"We wouldn't be in this mess in the first place if the police had done their job." Declan slammed the phone down.

Charlie returned to Declan's office. "The two files are on their way," Charlie said. "Where could he have taken Justin?"

Declan paced the room. "Not back to his own place. That would be crazy. Even for him."

"What about friends, relatives or business associates?" Charlie asked.

Declan halted and turned to Charlie. "I think I might know where he is."

"Good. Let's go," Charlie said as he made his way to the door.

"No. You're staying here."

Charlie turned. "You're not the only one responsible for what happened."

"It could get really hairy, and I don't want to have to be rescuing two of you."

"Ever think for once that you might need rescuing?" Charlie yelled. "Who's gonna be there to watch your back?"

Declan recognised a losing battle when he saw one. "Okay, but you'll do exactly as I say." He went to his office safe and pulled out something he suspected might come in handy. "Come on. We'll swing by your place and pick up the Beast. We might need two vehicles."

Declan drove the van back to Carrie's apartment. When they arrived, Charlie got out of the van. "Just follow me in your car, okay?" Declan said.

"Got it." Charlie looked anxious.

"We'll find him," Declan assured him. He hoped he was right.