Chapter 3

Author’s note:[ and ] delineate mind-to-mind dialog.

It took two more days for the ME’s report to be entered into the computer. At first, I was annoyed that it had taken so long for the report to be entered, then I realized that this was remarkably fast work, considering the time the autopsy would have taken, the writing of the report, and the entry of it into the computer.

The report was interesting because the murder had taken place about four weeks before my boss had started negotiating for the property. I wondered how long it had been on the market before he bought it. Well, Ring could find that out and report the information to me if it was relevant.

The time of death corresponded to the death having taken place about six weeks ago. It seemed obvious to me that the owner of the house had to know about the murder and the body being dumped in the basement. I felt sure that the owner had been getting rid of the house before the body could have been discovered. Anyway, that was my preliminary assumption, and I would work with it until something happened to change my mind.

Okay, maybe that was not the best way to solve a murder, but I was completely new at this, and I had a lot to learn. Ring gave me some help, but he really did not know about murders either. We would just have to learn together.

My employer, Ed Johnson, was temporarily out of business, so I had time to do some investigating on my own. [Ring, please give me a disguise so that I cannot be recognized. Make me look like a man in his 40s and in good health. Also, change my truck to look like an upscale Buick about two years old.] There was no delay in getting my appearance changed. Ring had me wait a few minutes until the way was clear for him to change the truck when there were no people looking our way. Okay, that brought up a side issue—we needed a two-car garage, but that would have to wait until after I had told my family about Ring.

When the area was clear, I went to the Buick and drove to talk to the real estate agent who had sold my boss the house where I found the body. “Good day, Ms. Jones. My name is John Biddle, do you have a few minutes?”

“Yes, I do, Mr. Biddle. How may I help you?”

“Within the last few weeks, you sold a house to my friend Ed Johnson. He is in the business of flipping houses, and he has done so well at it that I thought of getting into that business myself. Do you have anything of a similar nature that I might look at?”

“No, I don’t have anything of that sort available at the moment.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. Who were you the agent for. Maybe he could give me some hints about the business. I have already talked to Mr. Johnson, and he was quite helpful. I figured that I should look at the other side of the business before I committed too much time to it.

“Do you also sell the flipped houses for Mr. Johnson?”

“Yes, Mr. Johnson often works through me to sell his refurbished houses. They are always in excellent condition when I sell them. The man I sold the house to Mr. Johnson for was Mr. Orvus Santiago, but I think that he has left town. I don’t know where to find him right now. All I know for sure is that Mr. Santiago had not owned the house for very long. I can’t tell you any more about the transaction without delving into the personal business of either man, and I certainly don’t want to do that.”

“Certainly, Ms. Jones, I can understand and sympathize with that. I appreciate your courtesy in talking to me. Good day. Here is my card (generated on the spot by Ring). Please call me if you have a suitable house show up that I might invest in.”

I left the office and walked to my car. [Ring, did you notice her body language? It looked to me like she was lying over some of what she said, maybe all of it. What do you think?]

[Yes, I agree with you about her lying, but I could not pick up what she was trying to hide. I think that she needs investigating. She may have a tie in to the murder.

[One thing I know, Mr. Orvus Santiago doesn’t exist. She really was the agent for Albert Hoover. I located him from the telephone records on the computer. I have his telephone number and address for when you want them.]

[Thanks, Ring. You are being a big help. I just can’t figure out why she was lying, unless she is tied up with Hoover in something illegal, such as the drug trade. Maybe she is supplying Hoover with safe crack houses. Right now, Hoover is a good prospect for being the murderer.]

I drove to a quiet place where Ring brought back my red pickup and gave me back my normal appearance.

I went to my special office and jotted down the notes I had taken on my interview with Ms. Eunice Jones. I had Ring check back on the other properties that my boss had bought through Ms. Jones. In four cases, the cops had listed those houses as current or former crack houses. Ah-ha, a pattern was beginning to develop. Now, all I had to do was to connect John Silverstone’s death unequivocally to Hoover.

Oops, one of the other purchases was listed as a crack house! My immediate question was whether or not that was just a coincidence. If that were a coincidence, I wouldn’t worry about it right now, but if it were part of the pattern, then there was more going on here than I thought. It seemed like I was collecting too many facts too fast. I had better discuss this with Ring.

[Ring, it looks like my boss might be tied up in a drug operation. It doesn’t seem reasonable that he was also involved in the murder, but we will have to keep that possibility in mind.

[However, I would like to know where his seed money for his business came from. Please see what you can find out through the financial records. Specifically, I am interested in any connection he might have with Albert Hoover. I am interested in anything that you might find, even if it just looks like an accident or a coincidence. We need to know about this, even if it is a very tenuous connection.]

[Okay, I’ll see what I can find. That is a connection that I never would have made. How did you come to think of it?]

[It just may be from looking at too many crime shows on TV. This strikes me as a perfect TV show plot, and I am curious as to how far it reaches. It is not at all unusual for the characters in those shows to double cross each other and steal as much as they can get by that means. It is also not unusual for the characters in those shows to kill each other for those transgressions. It just occurred to me that we should check the possibilities. I doubt that the cops would go that far. I don’t think that their resources, especially their budget, would extend that far.]

Dammit, this investigation is growing faster than I expected. I think that it is time for me to tell my family about Ring and what I am doing. I will do that tonight after supper.

Mom did her usual outstanding job of fixing an excellent dinner for us to enjoy. Dammit, she deserved a break from the drudgery of cooking, and Ring could give that to her. [Ring, I am going to tell my family about you tonight as soon as we finish eating. Can you supply them with their own rings so that they can make their lives easier and more fun?]

[Yes, I can, if you are sure that is what you want. We need to keep the overall scope of what I can do a secret from the general public, so you had better emphasize that when you introduce me.]

[Yeah, that’s a good point. I’ll threaten them with the loss of their ring if they give our secret away. That should be enough of a threat to make them keep a very low profile.]

“Mom, Dad, Susan, Billy, I have some big news for you tonight, and I need for you to pay close attention to what I have to say. Look at the little finger on my left hand. Do you see that ring? Well, for practical purposes, that ring is just like Aladdin’s magic lamp. I have been keeping it a secret from you for the past week or so, and I figure that now is the time to give you the benefit of what I know.