Case Closed - Book Report/Review Example

Case Closed Carol hung up the phone and glanced at her watch. It was 3:30 and still no message from Jim. She knew he was probably on his way home from his small real estate business downtown. The rain had probably delayed him, or there may have been heavy traffic on I-34 due to construction and the weather. She decided to watch a little afternoon television while she waited. The shrill ring of the telephone awakened Carol above the drone of a late night talk show monologue. The clock on the wall said 11:45 PM. "Who What" She struggled to wake up and answer the deafening ringing. "Hello". "Is this the Burton residence" a voice asked inquisitively. "Yes. Yes it is. This is Carol Burton. Who is calling" Carol struggled with the call trying to gain her mental ground from the sea of sleep that she had just been sailing. "Mrs. Burton, I have some terrible news. Is Jim Burton your husband" The caller had a tone of dead flat seriousness about him, which frightened Carol. "Yes, Jim is my husband. What's happened What's wrong" Carols voice cracked under the strain of uncertainty. "I'm Lieutenant Keller with the metro police force. I'm sorry Mrs. Burton, but your husband is dead. He was murdered in his office within the last hour. Have you spoken to him lately" "No. I tried to call him all afternoon, but he didn't answer the phone and didn't return my calls." Carol's mind began to race. Something was wrong and the misdeeds started this afternoon with Jim's absence. It wasn't like him to not call back or get in touch. "What time was he murdered Where How" There were a million questions racing through Carol's mind. "He was shot in his office within the past hour. We've got a suspect in custody. We'd like you to come down to the station and talk to us." Keller's tone was far too matter of fact. There was a murder that was being treated as a trespassing. "Station Where I'm sorry I'm in no mental condition to drive at the moment. Where is my husband" "Well send a car for you. Your husband is at the city morgue. We need you to help us with the investigation". The words seemed to flow so easily from the officer's lips, but stuck inside and fouled Carol's ears. The non-descript black sedan arrived moments later. The officer flashed a badge and said, "I'm Officer Hogue. Mr. Keller has requested we meet at his office." "Who shot my husband, and why" Carol asked as she choked back her tears. "I'm sorry ma'am, I don't have any information on the case. You'll have to save your questions for Mr. Keller." Mr. Keller's office was a dimly lit hole in a drive by mini-mall. Carol noticed the barren space and lack of any usual business activity. The desks lacked all the usual accouterments that make an office run such as paper, pens, and staplers. There was only a small laptop computer that sat folded and dusty from lack of use. There was no copier and no printer in sight. Carol was led to a back office where a one way mirror gave her an inside view of the interrogation room. Inside was a forty something man that looked old from the battering of a difficult life. Keller stood silent while Carol fixated her gaze on the accused murderer. "Ever see this man before" "No" Carol said. "Never. Why would he kill my husband" "We are not sure. It seems your husband was working late when this suspect entered the office. It was probably an attempted robbery, but he set off an alarm when he entered. The metro police were only a block away and caught him exiting the building." Keller looked at Carol and asked with an air of awkwardness, "Did your husband have any enemies Any reason someone would want to kill him Did you know anything about his business dealings" "Why no," Carol stammered. "You said it was a robbery. I don't know any other reason someone would want him dead. He ran a real estate business, and he took care of all that. I didn't know any of his clients or investors." "Well," Keller continued, "There didn't seem to be anything taken. Your husband still had over $200 on him and a wallet full of credit cards. Doesn't seem like a typical robbery. Officer Hogue will drive you home. Stay near the telephone, we'll need you to identify the body tomorrow." Keller was satisfied that she was just an ignorant bystander that knew nothing and could offer even less. Carol noticed that something wasn't right here. This was not the usual police manner or office. She had heard about the satellite police offices the department was using in an effort to bring the police closer to the people, but this seemed almost surreal in its lack of activity. Officer Hogue drove Carol home and again she got that nervous intuition about details that didn't fit. Hogue was too polite, not yet hardened by years of police work. His uniform was too neatly pressed, his badge too shiny. His total silence on the short ride home was a welcome lack of conversation for Carol, still reeling from her husband's death and the unanswered questions. When Carol arrived home she phoned her long time friend, Keith Barber. Barber was a private investigator that usually could be found chasing unhappy couples while he photographed affairs. Carol hoped he could talk to someone in the department and glean some details about her husband's death and his suspected killer. As Barber began his investigation, he became more confused by the hour. Police department records showed no reports of an alarm at Jim Burton's office. There was no report of an officer responding, no murder investigation, and no body in the morgue. Carol had given Barber the address that she was taken to and Barber found it to be vacant and locked. The electricity had been turned off earlier that day. Barber discovered that the small office that was supposed to have been a police station had been leased by the Fordice Corporation. By examining any public records on Fordice that he could find, it seemed to be a company in name only. There was no product and the only links that Barber could find led him to believe that it was a front company, probably for the CIA. Barber stopped by Jim Burton's empty office and let himself in with the key Carol had provided. There was no disarray or blood that one would expect to see at the scene of a murder. Jim Burton's laptop was missing, but another computer had been left behind. Barber turned it on only to find that it had been erased, the hard drive wiped clean. Barber rummaged through the drawers in Jim's desk and came across a CD. Back at his grubby office just down the street from prostitutes and crack dealers, Barber placed the CD in his computer. After a few tries and a few 'Password Failed' messages, he was finally granted access with the password 'Carol'. So typical, Barber thought, certainly not the choice of a computer savvy geek. Jim had been a little technically challenged. As Barber studied the data and the accounts on the disk, he discovered numerous transfers of money in banks around the world. Millions in the Cayman Islands. Swiss Banks. The Bahamas. Millions of dollars were being shuffled like a blackjack deck in Las Vegas. Barber immediately recognized the pattern. This was money laundering. Jim's real estate business had more to do with cash than buildings and land. Barber surmised that Jim Burton had gotten himself deeply mired in a money laundering scheme that had gone wrong. But why involve the facade of a murder and why involve Carol Nothing added up and nothing was making sense. Why was there no police reports and why was there no body Barber made a call to an old friend in the FBI. Lenny was a seasoned veteran of local police work that had earned him a position as a matter of fact supervisor with the Bureau. What he didn't know he could find out. "Off the record, Barber," Lenny stated in his no nonsense tone. "If I were you I'd leave this one alone. You're dealing with some pretty big fish with a mighty small pole. If people find out we've had this conversation, it could put us all in great jeopardy." Lenny looked at Barber for a sign to continue. "I need total deniability." Barber gave a slight nod and assured Lenny that he understood the dangers. "Well, Barber," Lenny said "Jim Burton was head over elbows into illegal money laundering. The State Department had been investigating him for months. Seems like they were just about ready to make an arrest in the case when Jim came up missing. Maybe he faked his own disappearance, but I looked over that CD and found some information that you may not have recognized" Lenny took a deep breath and wondered if he should continue. "I've got a bad feeling for Jim Burton." Lenny paused. "A lot of the accounts on that CD point to arms dealers. Seems he was laundering money to finance major weapons deals in Central and South America. Some of the organizations are known ultra-right wing para-military groups that have been rumored to be financed by the CIA". Lenny's tone took a turn to even more caution. "Jim was caught between a semi and a brick wall." Barber was still perplexed. If Jim were working with the CIA, why wouldn't they protect him. "I don't understand, Lenny." Barber was lost for words to form an intelligent question. "Was he working for the government or not" "Well yes and no." Lenny stopped to choose his words carefully. "Jim was either knowingly or unwittingly working for the CIA. However, the State Department viewed this as a rogue operation that had gotten out of control. Any knowledge of this could strain relations with some foreign governments and be a great embarrassment for the administration. The State Department probably planned to arrest Jim and place the blame for entire operation on him. The CIA could bow out gracefully with little public knowledge and the Agency would remain untarnished." "If that's true," Barber surmised out loud "If that were the case then why would the Fordice front company take him Do you think he's still alive" Barber sounded alarmed at the vision of Jim Burton being held by the CIA in a secret jail. Lenny gazed into space, the wheels of decades of police work were turning. "The CIA probably got wind of an impending arrest and couldn't take the chance of Jim Burton being arrested. He had too much information." Lenny lowered his voice, "It's doubtful that they would kill him, though they may construct a very meticulous suicide and disavow any involvement." Lenny again paused, "They probably concocted the murder story just to find out if Carol knew anything. They were probably satisfied that she didn't." Carol got the call two days later. Her husband had been found with an overdose of drugs, dead in a motel room. The officer that picked her up was rumpled and real and the station was busy with activity. It was unlike the first trip into unreality. It was like deja vu on steroids. The trip to the morgue was solemn and quiet. "Yes, that's him. But I don't understand. He never used drugs. There must be some mistake." Carol cried over the dead man's body as she tried to self-explain a suicide and the use of drugs. Barber called Carol later the next morning. "Carol, I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner. I heard about Jim's suicide." Barber paused to take time to construct the denial he had practiced the previous day. "I uncovered some of Jim's financial records. Let's just say he was in deep financial trouble. Maybe he just couldn't face it." "No, that can't be true. He would have told me. We would have found a way out." Carol cried at the thought of her husband killing himself over money. "What about his suspected murder Who were those people" Carol screamed for answers. "I'm sorry Carol, I wasn't able to find out anything about that night. Maybe it was just an elaborate ruse Jim set up to cover his disappearance. The office you said you went to has been vacant for two years, though Jim had it listed for rent." Barber felt dirty lying to Carol, but he was sworn to secrecy to Lenny. "I'm very sorry about Jim and sorry I couldn't be more help." Within the next few months, Carol was getting her life back together, though she often noticed the window tinted black sedans randomly dotting the neighborhood. The CIA had moved on and found another patsy to do their work. The State Department halted their investigation and simply marked it 'Case Closed'. Read More