“I tell you what,” Stan continued, still keeping a little distance from the old fellow. “I’ll give you ten bucks and you can go get yourself some food.”
Stan thought he saw a twinkle in the man’s cloudy eyes and then it faded just as quickly as it had appeared. “Make it twenty!” he crowed through rotten and missing teeth.
Stan hesitated before getting his wallet and pulling out a twenty dollar bill. He held it out to the vagrant, who snatched it up and limped away.
“What a shyster!” Stan muttered as he marched back to his car. He gave himself a quick sniff just to be sure none of the stink had stuck from his close proximity to the old codger. This shift had been non-eventful until now, but that wasn’t the kind of break in the flow he was looking for. Especially one that set him back twenty dollars.
He climbed behind the wheel of his patrol unit again, stared through the windshield for several seconds, then leaned forward and grabbed the crumpled newspaper from the floorboard. He looked at the now wrinkled page and puffed out a breath. “Okay … so … seven letter word for rotten that ends with ‘D’.”
07
Over the Ledge
As Ethan expected, the cop took the bait to make sure the scene remained intact. Ethan had given the bum fifty bucks for a breakfast meal, and in exchange the raggedy man performed with excellence as he spun a yarn right through his teeth — or tooth, in the old geezer’s case. Although Ethan’s billfold was a little lighter, he was satisfied with the result.
Watching the bum dig through Tobias’s trash cans renewed his feeling from last night. He was now more convinced than ever that Tobias had been murdered. Why would a man hell-bent on killing himself take the trash out? The answer was simple — he wouldn’t.
The distraction allowed Ethan to climb the giant oak just outside the large brick wall of his uncle’s estate. He scaled the tree, barely hearing the dialogue between the homeless man and the officer, despite the quietness of the morning. Then he jumped the distance between the tree and the ledge, took hold of the wall’s brickwork and slid down the side, landing with a quiet thump on the soft grass. The easy part was over — getting out later would prove more difficult. His uncle’s property wasn’t lined with trees inside the wall, so it would take some creative thinking. But he’d worry about that later.
Ethan headed along the edge of the estate, aiming for the back door. As he trotted up the marble steps of the terrace, he pulled out a pair of latex gloves and put them on. It was more out of habit than anything else; his prints were already all over the place, carryovers from earlier visits.
He used Tobias’s keys to unlock the upper and lower bolts on the heavy door. He pushed it open and bent down to slip under the tape covering the entryway.
Ethan headed upstairs, straight to his uncle’s room via the long corridor that ran through the house, passing by guest rooms along the way. He hoped Tobias’s safe hadn’t been discovered or disturbed by the forensics team. The door to the room at the end of the hallway had been left ajar — something that never happened when his uncle was alive.
Visitors were rarely allowed to enter here, including Ethan. A memory emerged, from when he was just a kid. His parents had stopped by to visit Tobias one afternoon. In a moment of boredom and curiosity, Ethan wandered alone through the house, exploring. Tobias caught him in the bedroom and gave him a severe scolding. It was the first time he’d ever seen the hidden panel in his uncle’s closet removed, with the safe behind it in full view.
As Ethan crossed the room he couldn’t help but notice the bullet hole in the wall before he entered the closet. The sight of that hole was like a punch in the gut, but he shook it off. There was no time for that. He moved to the closet’s far wall where he knew the safe was and gave a soft knock on the wood, hoping to hear a hollow sound that would pinpoint the void behind it.
It had been ages since he’d seen the closet, but it still looked the same. How was he going to open the false wall? There were no handholds, knobs, or even buttons that he could see to release it from its latch. Then Ethan saw a switch. BINGO, this might do it.
He flipped the switch, and the overhead bulb popped on above his head. Son of a bitch, of course it’s just a light switch. He felt stupid for thinking it would be so simple.
Ethan began removing shoes from their shelves, looking and feeling in every crevice. He pushed dusty old hanging clothes aside, scanning the area for some type of switch or knob. When he finally stopped to glance at his watch, Ethan saw it was coming up on a half hour since he’d gone over the property ledge; he was no closer to gaining access to the safe. Perhaps he should start tearing the closet wall down. But no, that would just create complication when the cleanup team showed up and noticed the closet had been trashed.
Turning around, he faced the wall again and rested a hand against the wood paneling. He stared down at the carpeting along the floor’s edge against the wall, as though it would give him the answer he needed. There were a few speckles of what looked like dried blood on the floor. Ethan frowned. How did blood get all the way over here? Maybe Tobias hadn’t noticed he’d coughed up some, or maybe he just hadn’t cared. He wondered if forensics had taken a sample. But it wasn’t worth dwelling on just now, and he didn’t like the mental picture of his uncle coughing blood. Ethan let the thought go and refocused on figuring out how to get to the safe.
There were evident markings on the rug where the wall had been opened and closed repeatedly over time. His frustration mounted. He was so close to the safe, but it was still far beyond reach. Face it, Ethan, last night’s bender has seriously screwed with your skills of detection. He had to leave.
He pushed away from the wall and heard a faint click as the paneling eased closer toward him. Well, hell — was it really that easy the whole time? No nodes, no levers, no switches — he didn’t even have to do seven Hail Marys to gain access. The simplicity of the disguise added to its effectiveness. Tobias, you wily old fart.
Anticipation rising in his chest, Ethan gripped the edge of the wood paneled wall, opening it to reveal the large cast-iron safe inside.
08
A Beautiful Find
The contents from Tobias’s safe lay scattered on the corner desk. Only a few minutes had passed since Ethan dumped the items on his uncle’s desk and began his perusal. Confusion mounted as Ethan sifted through the pile.
There were old newspaper clippings, a faded journal, a half dozen passports bound with a thick rubber band, a dusty old book with a decorative cover, loose tattered pages and a small stack of fifty dollar bills. The earlier lightness of his wallet was immediately forgotten.
There was also a strange and expensive looking watch, the likes of which Ethan wouldn’t have seen on his wrist courtesy of his own coin anytime soon. He examined it in awe, guessing that the timepiece might be worth six months rent at his own upper-end apartment. Four nodes stood out — two on each side of the watch face. The watch itself looked immaculate, but only the top left button seemed to have any functionality. When pressed, a blue light illuminated just above the ‘12’ position on the metal surface. He pressed again and the display lit up with the word ‘LOCKED’ in crisp and bold white digital letters. Clicking the other three buttons resulted in nothing.