″I′m going to find out,″ I said. ″Right now.″
I reached under the table for my laptop. I was pleased to discover that Hail Mary′s had free Wi-Fi. I did a quick search for several Sateesh Kumars, cross-referencing the names with information from Fish′s file.
I looked at him. ″According to what I′ve just found,″ I said, ″the Sateesh Kumar who has an Interpol record has been sitting in prison in Chad for the last five years. And this check that was written by Xavier Medina was drafted two months ago. To a local Sateesh. On a local bank. So it can′t possibly be the same Sateesh Kumar, right?″
Fish stared at the check for a long moment, then shrugged. ″Maybe.″
″Maybe, my ass. And for your information, Mr. Potato Head, Sateesh and Kumar are both common names in India. There are probably a half million guys walking around with that same name.″
″Hey, I didn′t beat up anyone, did I?″ Smiling, Fish lifted his drink in a peace toast. ″We′re just doing a little partner research here.″
″Hmmph.″
″And speaking of research,″ he said, ignoring the fact that I was continuing to fume, ″Remem ber you asked me a while back to look into a rich stoner kid? The Putnam kid?″
″Chaz? Yeah-what about him?″
″Well I just got a callback from a pal at a credit agency. After I called to ask him about Chaz, he discovered that the kid is running a one-man server farm for fraudulent credit cards. My friend has already called the authorities to get him shut down. It′ll take some time, though.″
″What′s a server farm? And does it have anything to do with Jana?″
″Sure it does. Server farms are groups of computers that relay stolen credit information to other users. Chaz got a hold of Jana′s credit card numbers-and evidently tried to run them.″
″That makes sense,″ I said. ″Chaz told me he had computers in his room that he didn′t want the police to see, although I didn′t connect it with Jana′s death at the time. He must′ve gotten the cards from Jana′s purse. She left it behind at Trish Putnam′s house the night of the Newbodies meeting.″
″The thing is, according to my pal, Jana had already closed the credit cards by the time the Chaz kid got a hold of the card numbers. My guess is Jana had shut them down to cut off the money tree to that low-life husband she was about to divorce, Gavin Spellmore.″
″That′s right. She told me about that.″
″And here′s where it gets real interesting. I guess when Chaz couldn′t wring any dough out of Jana′s cards, he got royally pissed. According to another buddy of mine at the phone company, he placed a cell phone call to one Akito Carver. That last bit′s on the QT, by the way-it′s totally illegal for my phone buddy to have given me that information.″
″Akito Carver?″ I said. ″I heard about him from Antoine Hurley′s defense attorney. Akito goes by the street name Mad Dog.″
″Right, and word all over the street is that Mad Dog is Chaz′s drug dealer,″ Fish said. ″I can′t believe those broke-dicks over at homicide missed that fact.″
I leaned forward in excitement. ″I reported that Mad Dog may have been the guy who actually shot Jana,″ I said. ″And he′s also Chaz′s drug dealer? And Chaz phoned him on the night of Jana′s murder?″
When Fish nodded, I added, ″Maybe Chaz told Mad Dog to steal Jana′s car that night and it got ugly,″ I said. ″It became a carjacking and murder.″
″So that would mean that little ol′ Chaz Putnam lit the fuse on Mad Dog, who went out and murdered Jana,″ Fish said. ″While Chaz never even got his hands dirty.″
I sat bolt upright. Another surge ran through my body-this one of alarm.
″Uh-oh,″ I said. ″Evelyn′s evil karma.″
″What karma?″ Fish stared at me. ″Are you going California frosted flaky on me?″
″I′m remembering how Anaïs Loring was killed in a home-invasion robbery,″ I said. ″And the attempted break-in at my house. What if Chaz was behind those incidents? What if he′s targeting the women in his mom′s Newbodies group for their credit cards, and using Mad Dog as the muscle? If that′s true, everyone in the group is in danger.″
Chapter 41
Don′t Skip the Yearly Skin Checkup
Have your dermatologist check your skin once a year.
You need to keep on top of sun damage. Sun expo-
sure that you had when you were twelve years old
can come back to haunt you when you′re fifty.
– From The Little Book of Beauty Secrets by Mimi Morgan
Fish left the bar to try to get in touch with his former colleagues at the Durham PD to tell them about Chaz Putnam and the link to Jana′s carjacking. I wasn′t too sure they′d put much stock in information from ″a drunk and a psych case.″
So I started making some calls, too.
First I left a message on Luke′s cell phone. But because my own reputation with Luke was in the deep freeze, I didn′t expect to get much response from the homicide detective.
Then I called Evelyn.
″Where are you right now?″ I asked when she picked up. I could hear women talking in the background.
″I′m at Trish′s house,″ she said. ″A few of us are having a board meeting to follow up on-″
″You′re at Trish Putnam′s house? Where′s her son, Chaz?″
″Um, I don′t know,″ she said. ″He′s upstairs in his room, I guess. Want me to have Trish go find him?″
″No!″ Jesus. I might have actually made things worse by calling. If Chaz had anything to do with Jana′s carjacking, making him suspicious might put Evelyn and the other women in danger. Especially if Mad Dog was nearby.
″Look, Evelyn, forget that I called, okay?″ I said. ″Don′t tell Trish anything. Don′t even tell her that I called just now. And if you see Chaz, don′t tell him anything about anything. You understand? ″
″You sound weird, Kate,″ Evelyn said with a giggle. ″Have we been sipping some bubbly?″
″Don′t say my name again. Please, Evelyn-I′m incredibly serious. Just hang up.″
″Okay.″ She clicked off.
If there′d been wings bolted to the sides of my Z4, I would have gone airborne. That′s how fast I drove from Hail Mary′s bar to Trish′s house.
I was hoping to get stopped for speeding. But of course, there′s never a cop around when you really want one.
I wasn′t sure that it was a good idea to show up at Trish′s house. I simply had an overwhelming sense that the recent events were coming to a crisis point, and I wanted to move my friends out of harm′s way.
When I arrived at Trish′s colonial house, the porch lights were blazing. Several cars were parked at the curb. I recognized Evelyn′s pink Mini Cooper.
When I rang the doorbell, Trish answered and gave me a surprised smile.
″I didn′t know you could make it tonight, Kate-come on in,″ she said. ″We′re just finishing up some board business, but you′re welcome to join us.″
Taking a deep breath, I followed Trish into the living room.
Monique, Celia, Evelyn, and several other women were sprawled out on Trish′s pasha pillows.
″Actually, I′m sorry to bust in like this, but I heard a report at the studio,″ I announced. ″There′s been a gas leak in the neighborhood. You should all move to another location,″ I said.
″What?″ Trish′s eyes went extraround. ″Oh, my gosh. Let me go find Chaz.″