What The Blind Eye Saw
Chapter 4

Copyright© 2003 by MysteryWriter

In mid October Edna from the Great Northern called. She advised me that she would be driving in from Charlotte to talk to me. It was actually a combination business trip and a family fishing expedition. She, her husband, and son were headed for Top Sail to fish for a week. She had a job for me that would take a little explaining. I didn't even try to pry it out of her over the phone. I just made a note on my calendar that she would be arriving on Friday afternoon.

Up until Friday at four, the week proved to be a momumental bore. Just the way I liked my work weeks. A couple of photographs for Sam and a trip into Wilmington to interview a claimant for the Great Northern. All in all, a real drag of a week.

All that began to look good to me when Edna and her family arrived. Actually, I only met Edna. She sent the others to have dinner in a fast food joint while we talked. Edna was a fairly attractive middle aged woman. She was tall for a woman, only a couple of inches short of my six feet. She had redish hair, not so red as you would get with a dye job but red enough to be recognizable in the sunlight which streamed through my large front windows. Her face was attractive in a down home way. Her body had softened through the years. It still had the remnants of having been a knock out at one time. She was a harsh speaking woman which I knew already.

"EJ, we have been very impressed with the thoroughness of your investigations so far." She said.

"Thank you, I do what I think needs doing," I answered.

"I have a problem down in Southport. I would like for you to take a crack at it. This one I am giving you not to save money for the comapany, but because I think you are the best man for the job."

"I appreciate the kind words. What exactly is the problem?" I asked.

"A lousy police investigation. I don't want to poison your mind with our internal investigation so far." She handed me a sheath of papers. "I want you to read the police reports, then send me a reccomendation for further actions. Take your time. Bill us thirty five dollars an hour for the review. When you finish it, we will decide on our next action."

"No problem, I will have it finished before you finish your vacation." I said.

"Not good enough, I promised my boss we would make a decission on this by Monday afternoon. Can you finish the reports by then?" she asked.

"Sure, I got nothing on right now. How do I get my report to you?" I asked.

"I will come here Monday morning, say around ten. We can go over it, before I fax it to the office. That is if you will let me use your fax machine?"

"No problem, I will add it to the bill."

The agreement was struck so we changed the subject. She asked me if I fished. I explained that I hadn't in years. She suggested I give it a try. It would relax me according to her. I explained that I found sex much better than fishing.

"I'll bet you get a lot of opportunities. That is once the women get past that scar and patch. I mean that as a compliment by the way." She paused to guage my reaction before proceeding. "I mean you look threatening till you turn on that charm. Once you get talking the scar and patch become really attractive. You know kind of attractive in a dangerous way."

"I am going to take that as a compliment. I don't get all that many so I will cherish it." I said with a grin.

Her husband honked his horn about that time. Edna left reminding me that she would return on Monday morning around ten.

The reports detailed a badly botched investigation. They were factual but gave nothing of the investigator's reasoning. The first thing I did was write a time line. It was essential in organizing my thoughts.%%

At 4am on May 30th of this year, a patrol officer was dispatched to the home of John and Wilma Lester.

The officer found the body of John Lester in the Kitchen. The body was on the kitchen floor in a pool of his own blood.

According to Wilma Lester she found the body when she arose to prepare breakfast for her husband.

Mrs. Lester stated that she had heard nothing during the night. When asked if she had heard her husband get up, she stated that they slept in different bedrooms. Not all that uncommon in a older couple. Mister Lester according to the report was fifty five.

A trail of blood was found leading into Mr. Lester's bedroom. A bedroom he shared with his fifteen year old daughter. I found that interesting.

The daughter of course was awake and waiting on the porch. Mrs. Lester held the large German Shepherd dog while the patrol officer observed the scene. The dog according to Mrs. Lester always slept in the room with her husband and daughter. Another fact I found interesting. Mrs. Lester when asked stated, "The dog didn't make a sound not even a whimper."

The patrol officer called the station. He was advised that the town's one detective was at a FBI conferrance and wouldn't be back till Monday. He then requested an ambulance to transport the victem to the hospital for an autopsy.

He advised the wife to clean up the blood, including the kitchen knife used in the killing. I found that unbeliveable. No photographs were taken of the scene and the knife was not checked for fingerprints.

The officer did not conduct interviews with the daughter, or any of the other siblings that had begun to appear on the scene. The report pretty much ended with the very sloppy crime scene.

On the afternoon of May 30th, the body of John Lester was autopsied. It was reported by the coroner that Lester had died from a single stab wound to the heart. No other injuries were found by the coroner. He stated he felt Lester was stabbed from behind. Obviously Murder.

The next attached report was a supplimental report by the same coroner. He indicated the same wound but changed his opinion to suicide. A self inflicted knife wound to the heart. I couldn't believe the coroner would reverse himself the same day. He hadn't just tossed the first report, he had written an amendment to it on the same day. At least that is how it appeared since the both were dated May 30th.

The next series of reports were dated June 3rd and 4th. The town's detective had returned. His reports were detailed interviews with the family members.

John Jr. stated, "I know of nothing my father was depressed about. The restaurant he owned was doing well and he had no large financial obligations. As far as I know he and Mom's realtionship was unchanged over the last few years. I know of no reason he would have killed himself."

"Sally Ann, the married daughter, "Daddy didn't really get along with anyone. He was kind of a quiet man. He kept to himself. If he had any problems, we wouldn't have known about them anyway.

Wilma Lester, "I don't know why he killed himself. All I know was that if a stranger had come into the house the dog would have at least barked. I found John on the kitchen floor there is not anything I can add to that.

Michele Lester the fifteen year old daughter, "I went to the restaurant around eleven and fixed Daddy a roast beef sandwich. I brought it and the kitchen knife home for him. He ate the sandwich at the kitchen table. I went to bed and woke up only when I heard Mama scream. I don't know anything else."

The final paragraph of the detective's report called the case an apparent suicide. Of course there was no note. That in itself meant nothing. Often people who kill themselves on the spur of the moment, leave no note.

After the summery, I listed my thoughts.

Possibilities 1) Lester was murdered by either the wife, the daughter, the son, the married daughter or a combination of the them. REASONING: They would cover for each other, but not a stranger. The dog didn't bark. The child and mother claim to have heard nothing.

2) Lester committed suicide in a manner to appear as murder. REASONING: To strike out at his family from the grave, not a likely reason, or to leave family insurace which might on might have a suicide clause.

If your policy had a suicide clause, you obviouly would accept the coroner's report so I must assume you did not have such a clause. If Lester knew there was no such clause then there is almost no reason for him to have commited suicide in such an unusual manner. I would suggest a thorough investigation. At the very least to determine what, if any, reasons there were for Lester to committ suicide. Without the details of the policy I can make no other reccomendations.

I finished the report on Saturday. I figured my bill. I was surprised at how long it had taken me to analize the reports. I billed the insurance company for six hours. I ran the report off on my 'handy dandy' printer. I had it all ready on Saturday afternoon.

I spent a lot of Sunday, the same way I spend most every Sunday, with my mother and Sissy. We had lunch together then sat around the house talking about their problems. I couldn't add much since I didn't really have any problems. Of course, Bitsy came into the conversation, as she always seems to.

"So, what is the latest on Bitsy?" Sissy asked.

"There is no latest, just as there is no former. Bitsy is just a business associate." I stated hoping to end the conversation.

"Sure, there are so many business associates who scrub walls on their days off. Come on give us the dirt?" she begged.

@@@"There is no dirt. Bitsy and I work together period." I told her.

"Well, it would be nice if you found a nice girl. I would like at least one grandchild." Mama said pointedly.

"See what you have done Sissy. Now you have Mama on both our cases." I said.

"Don't worry Mama, I am going to get married. Just as soon as I find a man who doesn't want me to support him." Sissy said. Everybody laughted and the conversation turned to other things. I left Mama's house around six.

On the way home my cell phone rang. "Hello," I said after finally working out the combination of keys to answer it.

"EJ, Edna, Did you finish your report?" she asked.

"Sure, so how is the fishing?" I asked.

"The boys are having a great time. I am fished out already and I still have a week to go. I was hoping there was some emergency that required me to help you finish the report." she said.

"There is, if you want there to be." I said non commitally.

"That's what I thought. Let me write the boys a note. I should be there in half an hour." She said. She broke the connection before I could object.

I arrived home in time to streighten up the mess before Edna arrived. I noticed that her face was sunburned but otherwise she looked about the same.

"Have you got anything here to drink?" she asked.

"Just about anything you want. Name it and I probably have it." I answered.

"Scotch, streight up with an ice water back." She demanded.

"I can do that," I said moving to the cabinets around the sink. Those cabinets had been removed from a house before it was demolished. Everything in my place had been somewhere or something else.

"You know," she said as she accepted the glasses. "This place really suits you. I mean it is a real mixed bag. You know, a little of this and a little of that. I like it."

"Thank you, here is the report." I handed her the papers.

She read them twice then said, "I see you caught the same things our people did. What do you think happened?"

"I have no idea. I mean it could have been a rookie cop, who just made a bunch of mistakes. They do tend to mushroom on you. Or it could have been a cover up."

"Explain the last part."

"John Lester may have been one of those people who needed killing. I have heard of cops white washing a crime scene," I replied.

"Do you think, it could have been a suicide?" she asked.

"Could be, but they sure don't give enough evidence to convince me. There may be enough evidence down in Southport but the cops didn't write it down. At least not enough to convince me of it."

She nodded then said, "Let me lay this out for you? John Lester and his son were buying that restaurant. They somehow convinced our agent that it was necessary that they have key man insurance on the business. I'm afraid our agent went overboard. He wrote a term life keyman policy naming the beneficiary as the son. That one was for a half million bucks."

"You said that like there were more polocies." I said.%%

"Oh yeah, he also wrote one for John that names his wife as beneficiary. That one was another half million. Of course, he got John Jr. for another half million. They were all term polocies so the premiums weren't too much for the father or son to handle."

"Did you have a suicide clause in the policy?" I asked

"Sure one year. The policies are fourteen months old. We are going to bite the bullet for the million even if that ruling stands up."

"Come on the money goes to somebody regardless," I said.

"Sure, but it would go to the little girl, if mama popped poppa."

"What do you care who gets the money. I mean a million is a million no matter where it goes."

"I see you think like an insurance man. It wouldn't really matter much to us except that this one stinks so bad that the insurance commissioner will have a shit fit when he audits our claims. We are supposed to be a public trust. We should have an interest in our clients. I mean he will claim we didn't care that the old man was killed for the insurance money. We have to save a little face here." she explained.

"So what exactly do you want?" I asked.

"Go down there ask a few questions. Get answers that will satisfy our commisioner, should he take a look at this file. Like you said, we don't care who did it, so long as the questions, we all have, get answered. Find out for us why he killed himself or find out who did it."

"Sounds simple when you say it." I answered.

"I know it does. We expect it will cost a couple of bucks. If you find out that someone else did it then we can probably write off the charges against the settlement. That is if it was the

son or mother. Either way it doesn't matter it is just a cost of doing business."

I refilled her glass while I thought it over. "At two hundred a day plus expenses, this could get expensive," I said as I walked back to the living area."

"Let me fax this to the boss. If he approves it will be for a weeks work first. If you have anything at the end of the week we may continue. If not, don't feel bad when he pulls you off it. He will have fulfilled his obligation to the insurance commission. It is just business." she explained.

"Don't worry, I am not the crusader type." I said.

"I know, that is why we like your work. You just report the facts and don't get involved like so many of our investigators do. They are all frustrated cops," she said.

"I know the type. Me I am a frustrated beach bum," I said.

"You know that fits you pretty well." She looked up at me from her seat on my old sofa. "I have to stop drinking. I can't drive home with alcohol on my breath. It will take a couple of hours for the effects of these drinks to wear off. You got any ideas what we can do till then?" She asked bluntly.

"Monopoly?" I asked.

It wasn't Monopoly that filled the two hours. She left with a big smile and a promise of even more work. So that is what they mean, by screwing your way to the top. I had to smile at the thought.

Edna was back at ten the next morning, by noon I had the go ahead for the investigation with a weeks time limit. I spent the afternooon packing for the trip. I didn't really spend more than a couple of hours at it. The rest of the time, I entertained Edna.

I timed my arrival in Southport for around 11a.m. I wanted to hit the restaurant before the lunch crowd. I found a seat in the upscale restaurant. It was a well dressed restaurant, I had to admit. I didn't see how they made any money, once I viewed the menu. The prices were high enough, actually too high for the locals. When the tourist left a month ago surely all their business went with them.

It took most of the meal in the empty restaurant before the waitress decided I wasn't a serial killer. I finally got her to talk when I showed her my Great Northern ID. I made it simple of her by first asking for John Jr. He wasn't in the restaurant at the moment. I considered that a break. I could find him most anytime. I really wanted to talk to the waitress.

"No problem," I said. "I can come back. Maybe you could help me though. I am headed for the police department next. Can you give me directions."

"Sure it is down the street about two blocks. It will be on your left side. The building looks a lot like an old house. It is also the town hall. You can't miss it, the police department is upstairs. There is an outside entrance on the back that leads right into the station."

"Thanks," I said only half paying attention. "Tell me, how did the help get along with the late Mr. Lester?"

"I don't know," there was a thing in her voice that told me she wasn't going to say anything bad, but would have liked to. "He was alright, I guess. I mean he treated me okay."

"Really, " I took a chance. "I had heard, from our last man down here, that he was a S.O.B. to work for?" I turned it into a question with my inflection.

"Well he wasn't the easiest man I ever worked for, but he did pay me. I mean there are some bosses that cheat hell our of a girl."

"I have heard that. I guess he wasn't too tough on you girls then?"

"No," she paused for several seconds then added. "He had a nasty temper, but it was all bark. A lot of girls couldn't take the shouting so we had a lot of turn over."

"How about now with John Jr. Are things better now?" I asked.

"I guess, John doesn't shout like his dad did. He kind of whines a lot. I can take that okay. Hell I can take anything as long as they don't screw with my pay."

"Let me ask you one more question. Do you know why the old man would off himself?"

"I got no idea. I mean I saw him that night. He was his same old self when he left here."

"No phone calls or anything that would have upset him?" I asked.

"Nothing, he left here in the same mood as every other night." she said.

"What kind of mood was that?" I asked.

"Tired and ready to get out of here. Just like everybody else." she replied.

"What time did you all leave?" I asked.

"We close here at ten, it takes us about an hour to clean the place up. That would make it around eleven."

"One last thing, did his daughter often come in after you closed." I saw her curious look. "I mean to make her dad a snack."

"I have no idea what happens after I leave." she said.

The mention of the daughter spooked her. I had a feeling she knew more. If not facts then gossip. "Okay just one more question on a totally different subject. I am going to be here a couple of days, where should I stay and where can a guy get a drink around here."

"You on an expense account?" she asked. I nodded. "Then the lighthouse is the best place in town. They are on their winter rates so your boss won't kill you. As for a drink, I always go to Sid's" she replied.

"Sounds good to me. I hope I see you there?" I again turned it into a question.

"If you come there tonight you will for sure." she said with a smile as she left me to wait on her other customers. I left her a five dollar tip. Any less and I would have been rude. Anymore and she might have thought I was trying to buy information.

From the restaurant I drove to the police station. The woman receptionist flinched when she looked up to see me standing over her. I decided that I wanted to put her at ease quickly.

"Don't worry ma'am the face looks like a serial killer, but I assure you I am not." I persented my license with my best possible smile.

"I'm sorry," she looked at the ID for my name. "Mr. Barnes, I'm afraid you startled me. I didn't hear you come in."

"No problem, I need to speak to the man in charge." I asked humbly.

"The man in charge today happens to be a woman." She turned her head and shouted for Lieutenant Sims. The Lieutenant came out of one of the two offices at the rear of the squad room.

"Yes?" she said to the receptionist.

"Insurance man to see you." @@@she motioned to me with a wave of her head.

"What can I do for you sir?" she asked of me.

"Could we speak in your office Lieutenant. It is a little bit private." I said. I smiled at her to soften the look of my face.

"I guess, I mean sure come on back." She said as she pushed at the door built into the counter. I followed along behind her. Every female policeman I had ever seen looked about twenty pounds over weight in the blue uniforms. Even the ones who where just plain sticks outside them. She was no exception.

Once inside her office she motioned me to a chair. I opened my briefcase. I removed the stack of reports before either of us spoke.

 
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