Janine Marie - Rigging a Murder 01 - The Single Shoe Mystery (8 page)

“Oh, thank heavens! What wonderful news! We will need that money to cover payroll and office lease, loan payment and your house.”

“My house?!” Catherine squeaked, looking panicked.

He groaned, “Catherine?… You knew, didn’t you, that Lorenzo put your house up as collateral for our line of credit? But with the money from the yacht sale we’ll be able to pay off the line of credit and you will have clear title to you house again.” Frank looked at Catherine, clearly astonished that she didn’t know about the house.

Could Catherine be the killer? The startling but illuminating thought flashed into my mind. She hated boating, and now it turned out that selling the boat solved all her financial problems. I wanted to follow this intriguing logic further, but I suddenly realized that both Catherine and Frank were staring at me, so I quickly asked, “When I met Lorenzo, he didn’t act or look like someone who was facing financial ruin. Plus he told us in great detail about future yacht trips he had planned on the Atlantis—he seemed to loved that boat!” I looked at Frank and Catherine in turn, then continued, “The financial position of the company can’t have been a surprise?!”

“No, of course not! We were at the very last stage of a financing round, and if Lorenzo hadn’t died the money would be in the bank by now and all would be well, but the investors are understandably spooked by Lorenzo’s death and everything’s been put on hold,” Frank explained.

“Oh.” My mind was processing the implications. “So your options are go bankrupt or use the money from the boat?”

“That is correct. Well, there is one other option, though it’s an unpleasant one to me, but with Lorenzo’s death it’s one we have to consider. One of our investors, John Blackwood, has suggested that we sell the company. To that end he has even implied that he has a buyer,” added Frank.

“Interesting,” I said.

“I know; it’s just that the new product is set to be released next week,” said Frank with emotion.

“I’m sorry, Frank, but I don’t get it,” said Catherine quietly.

“Yes I think we need more detail,” I added.

“We have this great new product that’s just about to launch…. Anyway, if we sell the company now, we’ll have to sell if for our current valuation. But if we can hang on for just one more week, until  ‘E-lett’—that’s what we’re calling the new product—is launched, then the company will be worth three times as much as it is today.” Frank took a sip of his coffee, then made a face as it had turned cold. Continuing, he said, “It’s revolutionary, and all our customers have said they will buy it because it’s an obvious add-on to our current product line.” He reached down and pulled a stack of papers out of his brief case to show me.

“What’s so special about your new product?” I asked Catherine. She looked uncomfortable, then shook her head and looked out of the window.

Frank jumped in with “We have developed a new computer chip… for the next version of our already very successful loyalty card app for Mac and Android phones. The thing is that this new computer chip is really cool. We think it will revolutionize the industry; it could change computing as we know it.”

“Loyalty card app?” I asked, grasping at the one thing I understood. Computer chips are beyond me, but loyalty card I know.

“I see you have your purse with you?” he said, gesturing at that item. “Please, can you take out your wallet?”

I did as was requested.

“Now, most women have a stack of loyalty cards—for coffee, hair products, Costco, pet store, stationary store, food store—”

“Okay, you can stop now,” I said, holding up a stack of the cards he had just mentioned.

“Most men have some of the same cards, though their cards tend to be for electronics, sports, airline mileage, cars, rental car memberships, and hotel club memberships.”

Nodding in agreement, I thought of Thomas’s slim wallet, and of how many times he had called or texted me from a hotel reception desk asking for his Hilton or Fairmont Presidents club number over the years.

Holding up his iPhone, Frank opened an app and proceeded to show me how he had all his cards stored electronically. “You see how both the front and back of the card show up on the screen? The front is important because it has the logo and in some cases your photo, but the back is the key. Notice the bar code?”

We nodded. Clearly this was new to Catherine also. Looking at her in surprise, I wondered how could she have not known what her husband did for a living. My next thought was to wonder how many wives had no real concept of what their husbands did at work all day. I was about to explore that avenue of thought further when Frank handed me back my phone, on which he had downloaded the Dexia app.

“Take one of your cards with a bar code on the back. Now open the Dexia app and follow the onscreen instructions,” Frank said.

I picked my Costco card first.

Shaking his head but smiling, he said, “Not that one—notice that it has a electronic strip on the back, not a bar code?”

Surprised, as I hadn’t noticed that before, I picked my CVS pharmacy card instead and followed the simple instructions. Using my iPhone camera, I lined up the card to fit in the square the app highlighted on my phone, and took a photo of the front and back of the card

“That’s it?” I asked, looking at the small image shown on my phone of the front and back of my CVS card.

“Well, yes and no” Frank said with a smile. “Yes, you can now use that at CVS instead of your card; they can scan the bar code from your phone.”

“This is great” I exclaimed. “I hate carrying all these cards.”

“The next step is for you to go onto our website. You can do it through the app on your phone and set up your secure account.”

“Why?”

“What if your phone or wallet was lost or stolen? All your cards are stored in our cloud now. The advantages of this are that you can easily access and manage all your loyalty cards in one location. When you move, or change your phone number, it’s no problem. Just log on to your Dexia account and do the update; or, if you want to see how far you are from a bonus—whether it’s a free hotel night or a free cup of coffee—now you can access all that info through your Dexia account.”

“Sweet,” I said, as I took a photo of my Safeway card. “But what about the new product you mentioned?”

I will need you to sign this nondisclosure from first; sorry, but the launch is next week, and you know…”

“Of course,” I said. as I quickly scanned the legal document, then signed it.

“Our new product is called ‘E-lett,’ as I mentioned, and it’s the next evolution of the Dexia app you were just using. The Costco card you pulled out we couldn’t scan because of the magnetic code on the back. Correct?”

I agreed, looking at my Costco card and wishing it could be scanned, as several times I have arrived at Costco only to realize the card was in my other purse and not with me. How frustrating!

“We’ve figured out how to easily transfer the data on the magnetic strip located on the back of your credit cards and convert it to a format that store scanners can read. We have been working closely with the major credit card companies to ensure the security.”

“But why would the credit card companies be interested?” I interrupted.

“Excellent question: I’m glad you asked. The credit card companies are worried that online payment methods like PayPal and Google Wallet will start to erode their business as more and more people use their phones for transactions. Second, our system is very secure. Transactions are protected by thumbprints and passwords,, so even if your phone gets stolen or lost the thief would have to know your password and have your thumb. This one feature alone will save the credit card industry millions in fraudulent transactions. Third, if your phone gets misplaced you can log on to your secure cloud wallet through our Dexia website and put all your cards on hold until you phone turns up; or if it truly is stolen, you can order new cards from the site, saving you time and many phone calls. Of course, like our original product, you can easily make address changes, click through to vendor sites to make payments, or check account status.”

“Wow, that is really great and exciting! I will definitely use your product,” I said.

“What this company is offering to acquire us now would just cover our debts, credit lines, and what we owe our investors to date. So, you see, we need enough operating cash for the next few months. What’s really exciting is the computer chip we developed as we explored better and more secure ways of processing and securing the credit card data. We need time to explore this and flush out its potential. Lorenzo felt that this chip was a game changer, and I agree with him. If Lorenzo was correct about this chip, Catherine will be able to sell this company for enough profit to keep her in the style she has become accustomed to.”

Catherine brightened at this. Suddenly I realized I was falling way behind on my day’s work. Not knowing what else to do, I remarked, “Well, Frank, you’ve given Catherine a lot to think about, and I really need to get back to work.” I ended the impromptu meeting, told Catherine I would see her at the club, and went to relieve my frazzled-looking receptionist, who was holding a stack of documents for me to review and indicating that there were many messages in my voice mail.

Chapter Twelve

Finally the Weekend

I
finally got out of the office, and went home to pack for Katie and me. Thomas had already packed, so all I had to do was grab his bag. Next I went to the store to grab some food for the boat. As we were just going to Geranium Island on Saturday for the one night, I didn’t need much, dinner tonight would be at the Yacht Club, so all I needed was food for two breakfasts and lunches and the group barbeque Saturday night on the dock.

Next I picked Katie up from her friend’s house, then Thomas up from his office. The club has limited parking, so we make a real effort to use only one car, plus they give us a hard time when you ask for two weekend parking passes. This had the added benefit of Thomas helping load up the wheelbarrow and wheeling it with our groceries and suitcases down to the boat. Well, it worked up to a point. He was great until I got everything down below. Then he announced that as he didn’t really know where anything went and the galley was so small, he would just wander up to the clubhouse to see if Greg or Kevin were there.

“Can I go too, Mom? I’ve unpacked my bag and I want a rematch at foosball with Sam,” Katie pleaded.

Sam was Kevin’s handsome fifteen-year-old son. All the young girls at the club were in love with him, and Katie, who had known Sam her whole life, loved to show off what good friends they were.

“Oh, okay,” I said to them both, and, to Thomas, “Order me a margarita; I’ll need one after I’ve done all this by myself.”

“Done. See you in a bit” from Thomas, and “Thanks, Mom” from Katie, they answered cheerfully, ignoring the sarcasm as they hurried away before I could find more any work for them to do.

Actually, I didn’t mind. I enjoyed the quiet with them gone. I could take my time and put everything away just as I like it. I’m one of those people who prefers everything to be neat and tidy. I sleep so much better when the house or boat is clean. Okay! Maybe it’s a bit over the top, but cleaning really is so satisfying. I love to look around the house or boat and see everything uncluttered and in its exact right spot. Eventually, I was done, the food was put away, and our clothing was hung up in our locker. My shoes were stowed away, nice and neat, in pairs, just as I like them. I looked in Katie’s cabin… then closed the door; what a disaster. Tomorrow, once we arrived at Geranium Island, she would have to tidy up before she went off to hang out with her friends.

I was pleased to see Thomas had snagged the best table on the deck outside the Yacht Club’s restaurant/lounge. Already there were Greg, Step, Kevin and his new date Felicia. As usual, she was a gorgeous brunette and 15 years too young for Kevin. As much as I enjoy how much a new person can add to the conversation, it was always a struggle, because you never knew how long Kevin would keep them around. Kevin’s personality was very attractive to women. He had them fighting over him…perhaps the luxury downtown loft and 50-foot yacht helped. Also at the table, to my surprise, were Tiffany and Cody. As soon as I sat down I found out why Tiffany and Cody were with us, instead of their regular group of twenty-somethings, who hung out in the games room and had claimed the far corner table as their own.

“Janeva, I’m just dying to know what this morning was all about,” said Tiffany in her sweet singsong voice. She had changed from her work clothes into yachting haute couture, and looked like an add for Nautica. With his short-cropped brown hair and football physique, Cody matched her perfectly. He smiled at her and looked over at me. So did the rest of the group. Clearly they had been speculating in my absence.

Steph pored me a margarita from the pitcher. “Really, Janeva. How does your path keep crossing with Catherine’s in such a dramatic way?”

“I know,” I said, looking around. “I keep expecting her to pop up.” Everyone laughed. I continued, “As long as you all promise to keep this to yourselves. I know it will all come out anyway, but I’d rather it didn’t come from me.” I then gave a detailed description of my morning. Everyone was incredulous about the stabbing.

“What’s the world coming to—stabbings, murders—I’m moving!” pronounced Kevin. We all laughed at him, because it was a typical Kevin response.

“Let’s order dinner then I’ll tell you the rest,” I continued.

“There’s more?!” exclaimed Steph.

“Yes, but you’ll have to wait until I check on Katie. She must be having a good time or she would have joined us by now. But if she doesn’t eat she will raid the fridge when we get back to the boat and we won’t have any snacks for the weekend.” Looking at Thomas, I asked him to order me the crispy Thai chicken salad and went downstairs to the games room, where Katie was having a great time playing ping pong with a group of other Yacht Club kids.

I ordered a burger and fries for her…I would have preferred something healthier, but it was what all the other kids were eating, so I vowed (to myself) to feed her lots of salad and veggies for the rest of the weekend. I was just coming around the corner from the stairway when I heard Catherine’s now familiar voice.

I stopped and waited to see if Catherine was heading upstairs. She was…. Perhaps if I walked slowly enough, she wouldn’t see me. I followed her at a distance and was relieved to see that she didn’t head out to the deck but to a far corner of the lounge. Arriving at our table, I wasn’t surprised to see that Tiffany and Cody had left, but I was disappointed to see that Trent and Wiffy Braise-Bottom the Third had taken their spots. I realized that I would have to wait to tell the group the rest of the story about Lorenzo’s company’s financial problems, sale of the Atlantis, and its return from Canada this weekend. The group was in mid-discussion about one of the Yacht Club outstations. Apparently it needed new docks, and this was causing a great deal of debate about what type they should be—wood or concrete. Finally the food arrived, and more margaritas, and after a pleasant evening we headed back to the boat.

“Someone has been going through our stuff!” I said, as I opened my hanging locker to take out my pajamas. We had closed up the boat when we went up to the clubhouse for dinner but hadn’t locked it, as was our custom. The Yacht Club marina is secure and only members can access it.

“What are you talking about?” Thomas replied grumpily.

“Look: my shoes have been moved and the stuff in my bag has been moved,” I said, looking around. “How about your stuff?” I asked him.

“Looks fine to me. You’re imagining things,…I’m tired,” was his response as he climbed into bed.

It looked to me like his clothes had been rifled and his shoes moved around, but this was because they looked neater than usual. Normally Thomas just tossed his shoes into the closet, but now they looked like they were in pairs. But this was inconclusive, so I did a check of the boat. Katie was in her head (or bathroom), and our head looked as usual.

The galley was tidy and everything was stowed away, ready for breakfast in the morning. The salon or living room looked the same at first glance, but as I studied it, waiting for Katie, I realized that the throw pillows weren’t in the right positions. Why would someone move the pillow around unless they wanted to get into the storage hatches underneath the settee?

I turned to check the large hanging locker in the main salon, where we keep our wet weather gear, tables and chairs for the dock, and other miscellaneous things, and it had definitely been searched, though I couldn’t find anything missing. The TV, computers, and electronics were all still there. I checked, and none of the alcohol was missing.

Katie’s cabin was in its usual cluttered state, the bed full of stuffed animals, her shelf with books and board games, and her dresser top full of felts, pencil crayons, glitter glue, glitter tattoos, beads, string for friendship bracelets, sea shells, beach glass, craft paper, and scissors, all in various containers. The dresser has a lip around it, but it is still a complete mystery to me why everything doesn’t go flying around as the boat moves through waves or we heel from one side to the next. My only surmise is that the space is so full and crowded that there is no place for anything to move. In any case, it was imposable to tell whether Katie’s cabin had been searched. So I said good night to her and went to bed.