McCoy liked the senator. He seemed like a regular guy, and now he would insult the man by questioning him on the reason he came home the evening before.
The detective got out of the car, put his hat on, and walked toward the front door. The big black man’s eyes never left him.
“I’m Algie, Mr. McCoy. I take care of the senator. He said to escort you to his office, once you made up your mind.”
McCoy followed him into the rather substantial mansion. It had been built no more than a few hundred yards from the Gulf of Mexico. It had high ceilings and the walls were covered in paintings. The champagne colored carpet was soft under his feet as they walked toward the back of the house. McCoy had never been in a finer dwelling.
He wondered how men like the senator lived in such wealth and opulence, while Joe Six Pack lived a more modest life, deciding which bills he could pay this month.
Algie stood to one side after opening the door, and he followed McCoy inside.
“McCoy, didn’t expect to see you so soon,” the senator said. “Thank you, Algie, he’s OK. He’s the detective I mentioned.” He turned to McCoy. “Algie is my right hand man while I’m home.
“You don’t have enough to keep you busy? I can call the governor to see what else you can help with while you’re here.”
Algie backed out of the office, closing the door as he went. McCoy noticed the manner in which he left. He found it interesting.
“You need a bodyguard while you’re home?” McCoy inquired to satisfy his own curiosity. “Algie has been with me since I was a boy. We’re friends and he is on staff, but I depend on him for far more than security while I’m home. No, I’m not in any particular danger here, McCoy. This isn’t Chicago,” Harry quipped.
“Obviously,” McCoy said, taking in the rich wood paneling that definitely wasn’t simulated cedar. The carpeting was a few shades darker in the senator’s office. You could spill a drink, and no one would ever know. McCoy imagined a lot of drinks were spilled in this room.
Behind the senator there were open drapes and doors leading to what looked like a patio with lawn furniture scattered around. It had one of those glass tables with the big umbrella to shade guests. There was a substantial grove of trees beyond the patio.
McCoy stood, hat in hand, wondering why he came.
There were bookshelves to his right. They were filled with books. On his left a gallery of pictures lined the wall. Taking a closer look, he saw that each picture had the senator standing with a dignitary, or dignitaries. One in particular picture caught his eye. “I have plenty to do, Senator,” McCoy finally replied. “I have a request that I can’t take to anyone else. The sheriff has gone MIA.” Harry watched McCoy scan his bookshelves and then the pictures. It was the typical reaction for someone coming into his office for the first time. He would have a question or two. Men always did.
“You know him? You met Ali?”
“I did meet him. He’s a hard man to know. He’s as captivating as they say he is. Do you know, he is probably the most recognizable man on earth?” Harry asked with admiration in his voice.
McCoy gave that some thought.
“I’d recognize him,” he finally decided.
Harry laughed.
“Probably one of the more intelligent men I’ve met. Beneath all that shucking and jiving beats the heart of a thoroughbred. I believe it was authentic at first. As he grew in stature, he used it to deflect the people who saw him as a clown. I’d give my right arm to have his support. He isn’t political in the typical sense. He has his cause and he stays busy with that. Politicians are a bit too slippery for The Champ’s taste, which shows good judgment on his part. McCoy recognized many of the people the senator posed with. He listened, and looked a bit star struck. A Chicago detective didn’t run into a lot of famous people, not unless they were crooks.
Harry with Nixon. Harry with Carter. Harry with Everett Dirksen. Dirksen was McCoy’s kind of guy. There were forty or fifty pictures of Harry with celebrities, mostly politicians. Even a cynical Chicago detective was impressed by the people the senator had rubbed shoulders with. He came off as ordinary but he was far more worldly than anyone Angus McCoy knew.
“What can I do for you? Would you like a drink, McCoy?”
“Yes, a drink would be nice. I hope I’m not bothering you, Senator.”
It took Harry a minute to make the drinks and hand one to McCoy.
“Call me Harry, McCoy. Everyone calls me Harry while I’m home. I’m the senator while I’m in DC. Here, I’m just Harry to my friends and the locals.”
“Harry,” McCoy said, trying it on for size.
It didn’t show enough respect for a very powerful man, but in tiny town, McCoy would do it the way tiny townees did it, and because it was how the senator wanted it.
“It involves the question of my service revolver. I have it with me. I always have it with me, but I need to be able to carry it in Florida. I’m going to find the killer for you, Harry. Once I find him, I don’t want to discover I’m outgunned.”
“You believe you’re going to need your service revolver?” Harry asked.
“I’ll feel better if I’m armed.”
“In other words, you expect trouble?”
Harry waited as McCoy considered his answer.
“I like being prepared. Yes, I expect there will be trouble. A man’s been brutally murdered. When I catch up with Mason’s killer, he’s more than likely going to resist being taken into custody. In my experience, it’s best to be prepared for trouble. I could get surprised. He could throw up his hands and say, ‘You got me copper.’ I don’t believe that will be the case.”
“It’s not a problem. Go ahead and carry your gun when you feel it’s necessary. I’ll make a call and the paperwork will come to the sheriff’s station in a day or two. If anyone challenges your right to carry before then, have them speak to me. I doubt anyone will question you about it. You do have police ID?”
“Yes, Sir. Thank you… Harry.”
“If you run into any trouble at all, especially the official kind, direct any inquiry to me. I’ll be home until Monday. I’ll fly back to DC Monday. Let me give you my card. If anything comes up, call the switchboard and leave a message for me to contact you. It might take a few hours to get back to you, but I’ll call as soon as I’m able.”
Harry took a card from his desk drawer and handed it to McCoy.
Harry emptied his drink.
McCoy pocketed the card.
“There’s something else, McCoy?” Harry asked, already knowing the detective did not come over to ask permission to carry his gun.
McCoy held up his empty glass. Harry took the glass, leaving the question to go unanswered for the time being.
McCoy was formulating the question he wanted to ask.
“One Fitzgerald coming up,” Harry said with his back turned.
He waited for McCoy to tell him what he was really after. He took his time and waited for the question to be asked.
“Senator, Harry, I was in the shop when Ivan was arrested,” McCoy said. “I saw the sheriff’s car, lights flashing. I went to the shop. I was expecting Ivan to be arrested.”
Harry stopped moving after dropping ice cubes into McCoy’s glass. His back stiffened, which McCoy noticed, because he was looking for a reaction. Harry listened for each carefully selected word.
“I’m sure Ivan was on the phone with you when I got there. He said something like, Got to go, Harry, I’m being arrested,” McCoy said. “Tag picked up the phone and said, ‘Senator’ a couple of times before hanging it up.”
Harry wasn’t surprised that an investigator might investigate his call to Ivan. He hoped to escape being questioned on what he knew and when he knew it. The next question would involve him flying home after Ivan’s arrest. It looked suspicious and he wasn’t able to be completely honest with McCoy.
Harry interrupted McCoy when he handed him his drink.
“Take a seat, McCoy. You could have called me for the gun deal. I wondered what your real reason for coming to the house was. Yes, I was on the phone with Ivan when he was arrested. Yes, I flew directly home. The dynamics of my life revolve around the cove, and when the order at the cove is disrupted, I might need to come home for my peace of mind. Ivan being arrested was such a case.”
“You knew who was murdered without being told, Senator? You thought Ivan killed Mason. Why did you think that?”
“I’m not prepared to say what I knew or how I knew. It’s not relevant. If it becomes relevant, I’ll answer your questions.”
“Not answering is an answer. You hired me to do an investigation. I’m not some rube from the sticks. You came home because you weren’t surprised a body was found at the Cove Campgrounds. You came home because you knew it was most likely Mason’s body. You believed Ivan killed him.”
“At this point, draw whatever conclusions you wish. It’s not relevant to your investigation. He was here. He was killed. What I did or didn’t know is immaterial. I came home for my own reasons.” “But you did know Mason was in the cove? How did you know?”
Harry shrugged. This was a question he couldn’t answer.
“Clay and Ivan are together. Your relationship to Clay is like a father to his son,” McCoy said. “If Clay was caught up in a murder investigation, I could see you coming home. Ivan is suspected in Mason’s murder. Fly home seems obsessive to me. You didn’t just fly home, you flew home immediately. Why?”
“Let’s say it was in my best interest to come home. Ivan being Clay’s partner is as good a reason as any. I’ll do all within my power to protect Clay from harm, McCoy. I really don’t like this line of questioning. I’ve told you all I’m at liberty to say at the moment.”
“You left budget negotiations to come home. At any other time, flying home might be your reaction, but at a crucial time during budget negotiations? You’re hiding something.”
“McCoy, are you sure you aren’t with the AP? I asked you to investigate a crime, not me,” Harry said. “Focus on the killing. There are things I’m not at liberty to talk about. This is one of those.” “Because the CIA is involved?” McCoy said, knowing the senator wouldn’t be expecting him to know that little tidbit.
Harry shrugged, affecting indifference.
Obviously it was Ivan who told the man about his connection to the Company. Why would Ivan do that? He had to trust McCoy. If he told him about the Company, he probably told him about his threat, and that’s why all the questions about what Harry knew. “Go ahead, McCoy. You’re among friends. Things I can’t tell you, I simply can’t tell you. You’ll need to take my word for it. You can ask me any way you like, but the answer won’t change. Men like me are trusted with information that we aren’t allowed to discuss.”
“I need to know what Mason was doing in the cove. You knew he was here. Who else knew he was here? I’m betting you knew why he was here. The reason he was killed could relate to the reason he was here. It could help me know where to look, Senator,” McCoy said. “Mason came here. He knew about Ivan’s threat. Why would he come back here in spite of it? It makes no sense.”
“Ivan didn’t kill him, and there’s a reason why I can’t answer that question,” Harry said.
“Is the CIA is the reason? If it is, Ivan told me about his association with them. It’s the only thing that makes sense at this point. They are a secret agency and it can be dangerous to tell tales about a secret agency with unchecked power. It’s Clay’s interests we need to consider here. He is the party who suffers most if I’m unable to prove Ivan didn’t kill Mason. Not to mention Ivan would suffer.”
“He’s why I came home. You need to focus on who killed Mason. I’ll make some calls. Ask what I’m allowed to say, what I can’t say. There are national security implications to why Mason was here.”
“That makes sense,” McCoy said. “Ivan is probably not getting out of jail until I track down the killer. In the meantime, Ivan Aleksa is going to take the fall for Mason’s murder if momentum continues to shift in his direction, Senator. I know how murder cases go, and this one is about to turn sour for you if you don’t help me. You might think I can poke around and stumble onto the evidence I need to find the real killer, but it takes leads to point me in the right direction. Crimes aren’t solved by accident.”
“Ivan didn’t kill Mason,” Harry said with confidence.
“I don’t think he killed anyone either.”
“Give me a few days, McCoy.”
“We may not have a few days, Harry. There is a strange undercurrent present in this thing. I can keep Ivan safe as long as I have control of him, but I can’t shake the feeling there is something bigger than a murder in the cove going on here,” McCoy said.
“I’m still working on why the sheriff arrested Ivan when he did. That morning, the sheriff didn’t know anything. He didn’t even come back to the crime scene, and yet, at three in the afternoon, he came to arrest Ivan. Who called the sheriff? Someone told him to make the arrest. He didn’t do it on his own. I’m sure of that.”
“That is an interesting question. No, the sheriff didn’t come up with that on his own. The sheriff doesn’t like Ivan, but he fears him.”
“I’d ask the sheriff who called him, but he isn’t speaking to me. If he was, he wouldn’t tell me. That doesn’t mean I don’t still want to know why someone wanted Ivan in jail. How did anyone know what went on in a tiny little cove on the Gulf of Mexico?”
“Speculation. You can’t prove anyone told him to make the arrest,” Harry said.
“Can’t prove; strongly suspect. Who even knew Mason was here? Who knew what he was doing here?”
Harry had nothing to say about that, but he listened to what McCoy was saying. Nothing the detective said disagreed with Harry’s thinking. McCoy was good at what he did and he asked good questions. Harry was sure he’d eventually finger the killer. The problem being, Ivan was on the hot seat until he did.
Recalling the events leading up to Mason’s murder, Harry began to see a nefarious hand’s presence in the events at the cove. He couldn’t prove it but he strongly suspected it. Then the question became, what did he intend to do about it? Loyalty only went so far, and it was stretching Harry’s boundaries to the breaking point.
“You hungry, McCoy? I can have my cook whip something up. Twila is a magician with food. Twila’s Taggart’s mom. She cooked for my father. While I’m in DC I can’t wait to get home to her meals, and I eat at some of the finest restaurants in DC.”
“I ate with Mildred before coming here,” McCoy said.
“Oh, you’re here with your family. Of course you are. That’s how you came to be on the beach to find Mason’s body,” Harry said, with sudden realization.
“We were having a lovely time in paradise, and then this came up. I’ve never been as surprised by anything as I am by a murder at the cove. In Chicago there are murders every day, but here?”
“Dylan,” Harry said. “He wasn’t there last night. If he’s not close to Clay, he sticks close to Ivan. I expected to see him.”
“Clay’s attempt to protect him. He’ll see the futility in that soon. Dylan will demand to be told the truth. Sugarcoating it doesn’t serve a purpose in the case of murder,” McCoy said. “It hurts everyone involved.”
While talking to McCoy, Harry was struck by the fallout that was damaging the people he cared most about. Being loyal to people he couldn’t trust had done real harm to Clayton and his family, and he hadn’t given a thought to what it was doing to Dylan. He’d always done his best to protect Clay from adversity. His blunder in not notifying Ivan that Mason was coming with a message from the Company was the reason he flew home.
His first thought when Ivan was arrested was, ‘I didn’t call, and now Ivan has killed Mason.’
A good detective would want his questions answered. It remained to be seen how good a detective McCoy would prove to be. Coming to speak to him was a good sign. He wasn’t intimidated by the amount of power a senator could wield. Maybe a little intimidated, but he asked his questions anyway.
Talking to McCoy shook Harry out of his senatorial posture. No matter what kind of detective McCoy was, Harry didn’t want Sheriff Davis anywhere near this investigation. He wanted Mason’s killer behind bars and McCoy sounded like a man who could achieve that, while doing the least amount of damage. “Go on,” Harry said, wanting to see how perceptive McCoy was. “You were talking about me flying home.” “Tag heard your plane first. He said, ‘The senator’s home.’ I could feel Clay’s relief. He’d been calling Washington ever since you hung up the phone. No one knew where you were until we heard the plane.”
“Good boy, Taggart. Far smarter than some people give him credit for. He’s Ivan’s right-hand man. He can run things for a while. No worry about the shop.
“Clay is very important to me, McCoy. Clay is the Conservancy while I’m in DC. I watched him grow into a well-respected marine biologist. He speaks for my Conservancy. He speaks with a voice of authority. He’s earned the respect he has in environmental circles. He’s increased the Conservancy’s value tenfold since his graduation. Scandal would not become him. Scandal could ruin all that we’ve built.”
Harry drained his drink and got up to make another one.
“And?” McCoy asked.
“And what?”
“And when you came into the shop you were on a mission. I have no doubt it concerned Clay. You were on the phone to Ivan at about three. You walked into the shop around nine. You’d been on the ground for twenty to thirty minutes.”
“You need another drink, McCoy?” Harry asked.
“I’ve been told, ‘You never let a friend drink alone,’” McCoy said, handing over his glass.
Harry didn’t drink from his third bourbon and branch. He knew when enough was too much. He wanted to get some work done once McCoy was satisfied.
“McCoy, I’m a US Senator. I may not know whether I’m coming or going half the time, but I know my schedule. If you’re accusing me of something, get on with it, otherwise I think we’re done here,” Harry said.
“Hardly accuse, Senator. I’m aware of who you are. My trip to the cove has reinforced what I already knew. I’m an investigator, and I know when I’m hearing the whole truth. You need me, Senator. If you hope to get Ivan off the hook, I’m the man who can do it. I’m going to help you, but I need the entire truth.”
That put a new perspective on their meeting. Harry did need McCoy. Harry was always in charge, until now, and McCoy was going to call the shots on this one.
“Let’s say I do need you. Let’s say I want you on this case. There are things I can’t tell you. Some confidences aren’t available to ordinary people, no matter how much I need them.”
“I accept you aren’t going to tell me the reason why you flew home, but that doesn’t make the question go away. I’ll do your investigation. Ivan didn’t kill Mason. I knew it right away, and now you know it, too, but at first you thought Ivan did kill him. I want to know why you thought that. It’s a thousand miles to DC. That’s a long way to fly to hold Clay’s hand, Senator. Tell me what you knew.”
Most of McCoy’s questions would be answered. His speculation would prove accurate. The question became, did Harry need McCoy enough to tell him why he initially thought Ivan killed Mason.
McCoy waited.
Harry was silent.
Each regarded the other.
McCoy was almost sure he knew why, but Ivan’s life was on the line. If he knew for sure, it would make his job easier. At about the time McCoy was ready to get up to leave, the senator began to speak.
“The Director of the CIA came to see me Monday. He told me he needed Ivan. He was sending Mason to speak to Ivan, to explain the problem he was sure Ivan could help solve. I laughed and told him, ‘Fat chance.’ I knew Ivan wasn’t going to help them. He wasn’t leaving Clay and Dylan for an hour to help the Company.”
“They obviously knew there was bad blood between Ivan and Mason?” McCoy asked, leading the witness. “They must have suspected that there could be trouble between them.”
“Mason came last year. Once Ivan recognized him, he called me and he told me to pass the word, ‘If Mason comes near me. I’ll shoot him.’ He had a gun when I got home that time. When I questioned him on using it, he showed me how well trained he is. I’ll tell you one thing, McCoy, I wouldn’t want to be the guy drawing down on Ivan. He asked, ‘Do you want to see me draw?’ Before I answered, the gun was pointed at my chest. I saw him move. I didn’t see him draw the gun. He was so fast he scared me.”
“He was good with a handgun. I know guys who are. I can shoot with either hand, but I’m not quick. I’m trained to hit the target. In my profession, if you miss, you die.”
“Ivan’s better than good with a gun, but I’ve never heard of him being violent. Clay abhors violence. He wouldn’t stand for any violence coming from Ivan. Mason coming here sounded like a fool’s errand to me, but I didn’t see it leading to trouble. I was asked to clear the way for a meeting, but he wasn’t supposed to be here until the end of the week.”
“I’m sure Ivan didn’t recognize the vic. The sheriff asked him to see if he could identify him.”
“Vic?” Harry asked.
“Sorry. Police speak. Victim,” McCoy clarified. “I was there. I watched Ivan’s face. It’s part of my training. I’d swear Ivan didn’t know who he was. There was no sign of recognition on his face. He did figure out it was Mason, but it took him a few minutes.”
“If you told me Mason was shot, I’d think Ivan might have shot him. Someone besides Ivan did this.”
“You flew home out of guilt. You blamed yourself for Mason’s murder. You needed to do something,” McCoy analyzed. “You have no responsibility for what took place here.”
“Now you know how I knew Mason was here, and you know why he was here. Why he came early, I can’t say. Answer that question, and it is likely to lead to the killer. Ivan wasn’t going anywhere with that man. I can tell you that much.” “Mason registered at the campgrounds on Sunday. Ivan told me that, once he realized it was Mason. He told me the entire story. It matches what you’ve just told me. He told me about the Company and his threat to kill Mason. I think he knew I might become involved. He didn’t want me hearing the story from someone else. Now, you’ve brought me up to date and I’m better able to know what direction I want to come at this case,” McCoy said. “You’ve been a big help.”
“Why did he come early? He registered with Tag because he was less likely to be recognized. Someone he was in contact with was the murderer, or that person led the murderer to Mason,” Harry calculated. “He came early to see someone and it got him killed.”
“Who else did Mason come here to see? Even if we answer that question, that doesn’t mean Ivan’s out of the woods. He had motive and opportunity, Harry. Those are hard to overcome in the mind of a good prosecutor. Catching the killer will definitely do the trick, and I intend to catch him.”
“Are we done here, McCoy?”
“We’re done, Harry.”