Sage Advice to Cover Up a Murder! (Outer Banks Baker Mystery Series Book 2) (9 page)

Joey Hawkins kept true to his word. Early the next morning, at Melissa’s house, he dropped off his parent’s financial records over the last few months for John David to analyze. He felt a tinge of regret not telling his own mother about the move, but he knew her to be a blabbermouth and gossip. The last thing he wanted was for this news to get out. Emily tagged along with her father so she could hang out with Logan for a while. With everything going on, they had spent very little time together so far this summer. They had both waited all year for summer’s return so they could see each other again. As his father perused the financial documents, Logan took Emily for a long walk along the shore. Joey and Melissa relaxed on the back deck and tried making small talk. The situation was awkward at first, but Melissa’s easy-going attitude was contagious. Before he knew it, Joey was actually relaxed for the first time in weeks.

As the young couple returned from their walk, John David called out to Joey to show him what he found. He was an expert at auditing complex financial records and finding irregularities for multi-million dollar companies. Reviewing the Hawkins’ bank records had been a piece of cake. William Hawkin’s retirement funds had been released to an investment account. John David recognized the particular investment device as one normally utilized to keep funds locked up. It would take a great deal of paperwork for those monies to be available to the account holder or a beneficiary. Joey asked if his mother had direct access to the account, seeing as she was spending money like water and the life insurance policy had not paid out yet. John David suggested that he contact the investment counselor at the bank assigned to the account. However, unless Joey was one of the account holders, the bank could not give out that information.

That wasn’t the only peculiar activity regarding the Hawkins’ financials though. Starting the date of Mr. Hawkins’ sudden retirement, exactly $9,500 was deposited into the account every week. John David explained that if the transactions had been in cash, red flags would have been raised at the amount and frequency. Cash deposits of $10,000 immediately raised red flags to government agencies. He further detailed how there were occasions when the government swooped in and confiscated the ‘questionable’ funds. Government regulations deemed such financial activities as ‘suspicious’. Mostly they utilized the excuse that the funds could be seen as potential evidence related to terrorism or drug dealing. Since the amount was under $10,000 and transferred electronically, the transactions had stayed just under the radar.

Joey Hawkins was floored. According to the financial records in front of him, his parents’ bank account had exponentially increased over the last few weeks. William and Sophie Hawkins had always been upper-middle class, although his mother always acted as if they were even beyond that. Now, his mom sat on a mountain of money. She could certainly afford to live out the lifestyle she desired with that much coming in every week.

“Do the records show where the money came from?” Joey asked. Shaking his head, John David informed him that the only way to find out would be to contact the bank. However, a warrant would be needed for the information, unless Sophie Hawkins gave her express permission to the bank. “Well, that’s highly unlikely,” Joey muttered.

The two men discussed their options, but the situation was grim. They could provide the information to the police for them to pursue the issue. However, Mrs. Hawkins could protest since her son took the information without her approval or knowledge. That could lead to Joey and John David ending up in the slammer.

Having returned early from their walk, Logan and Emily overheard most of their conversation. Logan suggested that if the poison was traced back to Johnson’s holding company then couldn’t the police obtain a warrant for the company’s financial records. It seemed to make sense that the money came from Johnson’s company since the influx began at the time of Mr. Hawkins’ retirement. However, the young man mused why the money kept coming in after the man’s death. Melissa piped in with the information Ronnie had given her about Sophie Hawkins showing up at the company shortly after her husband’s abrupt retirement announcement. This was the first Joey heard about the encounter. The dismay was evident on his face. He realized that perhaps it was time someone questioned his mother.

Joey made a quick call to the police department. He left out the information about his parents’ finances and his suspicion that the funds came from Johnson’s company, perhaps as a bribe to keep his dad silent. Using his authoritative, stern voice as intimidation, he demanded that the police question his father’s employer about his sudden retirement. The chief quickly assured him that the department agreed questioning Mr. Johnson was an excellent idea. “Actually,” the chief confided, “it is being done as we speak.” Joey remarked that he was happy to hear that news. Before ending the call, he coyly asked if the department needed his mother to come in to give her statement. “It’s funny that you ask, Mr. Hawkins. We planned to call your mother in later this afternoon for just that purpose.” Joey was impressed. Maybe the Kill Devil Hill police department knew what it was doing after all.

After thanking John David and Melissa for their help, Joey returned home to encourage his mother to go to the precinct and tell the cops everything she knew about Dad’s sudden retirement. He knew she would be livid about the situation. He just wanted to make her understand it was the only way to find out if Dad had been murdered. The police needed to cover all angles. If Mr. Johnson had anything to do with his father’s death, perhaps Mom knew more than she thought she did. Perhaps she had key information the police needed to crack the case. If she didn’t cooperate, he intended to bring out the papers Emily found in the file cabinet that showed his father’s knowledge of Johnson’s illicit dealings with the chemical company.

Joey didn’t really want Emily around the house. He fully expected his mother to make a scene about being called into the police station. The chief assured him that, if needed, they could send a patrol car to pick her up. He hoped it didn’t come to that. Logan offered to take Emily back to the beach for a surf lesson to keep her mind otherwise occupied. The young woman smiled at her father with an unspoken “Please”. He readily agreed. The two teens grabbed Logan’s surf board and ran out the door. Melissa smiled at the retreating backs of the young couple. Deciding she had neglected her business long enough, she called Maddie at the bakery to let her know she would be arriving there in a little while. 

Joey was right to worry. By the time he arrived home the police had already called. Sophie Hawkins was in a complete meltdown. He found her in the living room scooping ashes from the fireplace into the urn that contained William Hawkins’ cremains. Completely aghast, he ran over to stop her. “Mother, what are you doing?” he asked in shock. She stared blankly back at him. After a few moments, she appeared to gather her wits about her again. Smiling, she confessed what she was doing looked a bit odd, but it was all for the best. Not able to comprehend her logic and sick of dealing with her nonsense, Joey’s anger burst forth. How dare she fill his father’s urn with soot and ash!

Sophie Hawkins had never in her life been on the wrong side of her son’s temper. So upset at the tone of his voice, she started trembling. He again asked what she was doing. His face red with anger. In a shaken voice, she admitted that the cops had called earlier. They wanted her for questioning. “They want to question ME!” she said almost hysterically. “Me! I’m the blasted widow, not a suspect! How dare they tell me that I have to come to the police station! I’ve done nothing wrong!”

Still not understanding her actions, Joey tried again. The look that crossed Sophie’s face made a shiver run down his spine. He could almost see her mind working to come up with a suitable answer as a smile crept across her features. “Don’t you see, honey? The cops…they performed autopsies on dead seagulls just so they would have an excuse to defile your father’s remains. That’s why I had him cremated. You see, I knew even then that the cops would insist your poor father didn’t die of natural causes. They just have to have someone to blame for everything. Look what they did to that poor baker woman last summer.” She leaned in close to whisper, “The cops want me to bring in your father’s cremains for testing. Can you believe that? Have you ever heard of such a thing? Well, I wouldn’t let them defile your father’s body by performing an autopsy. I’m surely not going to allow them to defile his cremains.”

The poor man was so shaken and appalled by her words that he fell to his knees. Sophie knelt beside her son while tenderly petting the top of his head as if he were still a small child. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I already moved William’s ashes to a different container. The cops won’t know what to make of the ashes and will have to drop the whole thing,” she soothed.

Gathering his strength back, Joey grabbed his mother’s wrist. “Show me where Dad’s cremains are now!” he ordered. He couldn’t understand if his mom had lost complete touch with reality or was just so concerned about losing her newfound wealth that she would actively withhold evidence that could prove Johnson poisoned his father. Did she really only care about the money? Why did his mother not desire justice for her husband? After recovering the cremains from a plastic container in the laundry room, Joey drove his mother and the cremains to the police station.

They entered the precinct to the sound of loud voices emanating from the chief’s office. Mr. Johnson’s lawyer, Peter Andrews, was in full lambasting mode as he insisted his client be released immediately. Everyone else in the department stood frozen in place as they listened to the heated exchange. Detective Bronson hurried over to the Hawkins family. He thanked Mrs. Hawkins for coming in and for bringing in her husband’s cremains. She reluctantly handed over the plastic container. Although confused why the cremains were now housed in plastic instead of the expensive bronze memorial urn from the funeral home, Cory handed the container off to a uniformed officer for cataloging. The detective then led the widow and her son to an empty conference room down the hall. As Sophie Hawkins passed the chief’s office window, Peter Andrews turned around just in time to lock eyes with her. Joey noticed as a frightened look came over his mother’s face as she stumbled a step before continuing to follow the detective. By the time they reached the other room, she fully recovered herself with no signs of further distress.

Back in the chief’s office, the FBI agent also noted the exchange between the lawyer and Mrs. Hawkins. Mr. Andrews’ confrontational demeanor changed. After a moment or two, he requested that he be allowed to talk with his client in private for a few minutes. Neither the chief nor Agent Young understood the alteration. They hoped it meant someone was about to come clean and this whole mystery would be solved. Knowing Mr. Johnson, the chief was not optimistic.

The attorney and Mr. Johnson spoke in hushed tones while the others waited outside the office. At his desk a few yards away, Jason would have given anything to be a fly on the wall in that room right then. It didn’t take long for the attorney to stick his head out the office door to reconvene the meeting. As Chief Monroe and the FBI agent re-entered the room, Mr. Johnson held his head high with a stern, but determined look.  The chief knew that whatever information the tycoon was about to give them came at a huge price. Mr. Andrews began the conversation by requesting, no demanding, full immunity be given to his client. “Full immunity from what exactly?” Agent Young asked. However, Chief Monroe interjected that only the district attorney’s office had the authority to make deals. Peter Andrews corrected the chief. For the information that his client could deliver would require a higher level of authority, such as only the FBI or the Department of Justice wielded. The chief groaned. This negotiation was going to take a long time.