Bivens changed color, glanced quickly at Mars, and then lifted his hands off the desk and placed them on the arms of his chair. “Well, yes, of course I know that. But then their legal representative—”
“They don’t have one,” interjected Decker.
“Or their next of kin.”
Decker tapped Mars on the shoulder. “Sitting right here.”
Bivens again stared at Mars. “Right.”
Mars said, “You have my permission to look it up and tell him, Jerry.”
Bivens began tapping keys on his computer. He read through a couple screens. “They had an account, but it was closed twenty-some years ago.”
“Can you give us the exact date?” asked Decker.
Bivens told him.
Mars said, “That was two days before they died.”
Decker nodded. “Can you tell us how much was in the account before it was closed?”
Bivens tapped some more keys and pulled up the transaction history. “About fifty-five hundred dollars.”
Decker and Mars both looked disappointed.
Bivens said, “I’m sorry if you were looking for any funds, Melvin.” He paused. “I know you were in prison a long time.”
Decker said, “No other accounts?”
Bivens glanced at the screen. “No, just the checking account.”
Mars looked crushed, but Decker appeared to just be getting started. “How about a safe deposit box?” he said.
Mars jerked and glanced at him.
Bivens hit some more keys. “Right, they had a box. How did you know?”
Decker said, “Just a lucky guess on my part. What can you tell us about it?”
“Well, it was closed out at the same time as the account. We have all records on computer now. Your father closed it and signed all the necessary documents.”
“And there’s no way to tell what was in the box?”
Bivens shook his head. “No inventories are kept of safe deposit boxes unless a client specifically requests that it be done. Otherwise it’s strictly private.”
“But he closed it and took everything?” said Decker.
“Yes.”
“How large was the box?”
Bivens hit some more keys. “Our largest. A double. It could hold a lot.”
“Is there anyone here who worked at the bank back then that we could talk to?” asked Decker.
“Oh, no. I’ve been here the longest. Fourteen years. The branch manager was transferred in from El Paso three years ago. The others have all been here less than five years.” Bivens glanced over Decker’s shoulder and then said to him, “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
Decker looked behind him to see two people lined up waiting to talk to Bivens.
“No, but we appreciate your help.”
They walked outside, smack into the dreary weather.
Mars barked, “I can’t believe this shit. My mom was dying from cancer and no one told me. And now I find out my dad kept a safe deposit box loaded with who knows what. It’s like I’m living somebody’s else’s life.”
“And he closed it two days before he died,” noted Decker.
“You think my dad knew something was coming?”
“Of course he did. And the question is, what did he do with the items from the box?”
Chapter 37
They met up with Jamison and Davenport in a private area adjacent to the motel lobby later that day. Decker filled them in on the meeting with Jerry Bivens at the bank.
Jamison said, “So even if the Marses weren’t in Witness Protection, it seems like they had some secrets.”
Davenport added, “The history that no one can uncover, not even the FBI.” She glanced at Mars. “Roy and Lucinda Mars are probably not even their real names.”
Decker said, “AC and RB. We found those initials written on the wall of their closet. Those might be their real initials.”
“Shit,” said Mars, shaking his head and looking away from them. He seemed like a man stumbling through a dream he’d had no hand in creating.
Decker said, “So they weren’t in Witness Protection, but they may have been on the run from someone.”
“Or some group,” amended Jamison. “Like the mob.”
“The mob!” barked Mars. “Okay, just stop right there. My parents were not in the damn mob, okay?”
Decker said sharply, “The fact is, Melvin, right now none of us knows what they were involved in, including you. But whatever it was, it was bad enough that they created new identities and moved to a little town in Texas to escape it.”
“And the safe deposit box contents might have something incriminating to whoever these people are,” said Jamison.
“But there’s no way for us to find out what was in the box,” added Davenport. “I mean, it was twenty years ago. And whoever killed your parents, Melvin, may have taken it.”
“Or not,” said Decker.
They all turned to him.
“Care to elaborate on that point?” asked Davenport.
“The one question that can’t be answered by any of this is, why would someone pay off the Montgomerys to get Melvin out of prison?” He glanced at them one by one.
“I give up,” said Mars finally. “Why?”
“They might if they didn’t find what was in the safe deposit box. And it’s still out there somewhere. And they may think you know where it is.”
“That’s quite a theory,” said Davenport.
“But if so, why wait all this time?” asked Jamison.
“It may be that once Melvin was scheduled to be executed they panicked, figuring this might be their last chance to retrieve it.”
Mars looked puzzled. “But Decker, no one’s tried to contact me. Or kidnap me and make me tell them what I know, which is zip.”
“They may plan to simply let us do what we’re doing, searching for it.”
“And rush in when we find it and, what, kill us all?” said Davenport skeptically.
“Perhaps,” said Decker. “Or perhaps not.”
“Well, I’m glad we cleared that up,” said Davenport, clearly frustrated.
“Investigations are not always simple,” retorted Jamison. “The case we worked in Burlington took a ninety-degree turn, but it took a ton of legwork and asking questions to get us there. And what seemed unimportant at first turned out to be critical.”
“Okay, but Decker, your theory is riddled with holes,” said Davenport.
“It is full of holes,” admitted Decker, drawing a surprised look from Davenport. “That’s why it’s only a theory. It may well be disproved later on. But we have to run down the possibility anyway.”
Mars looked at him nervously. “So you think someone may still try to come after me?”
Decker considered this. “If they’re following us, which they may very well be, they would know that we’re searching for answers too. If they saw us at the bank and deduced what we were doing, they also know we left the place empty-handed.”
“So they might simply let us keep going until we do find something,” said Mars slowly.
“Right.”
“They have long memories,” said Mars. “If this goes back before I was born, we’re talking over forty years ago.”
“Well, I have a long memory too,” said Decker.
“Amen to that,” replied Mars. He looked up and saw Mary Oliver walk into the lobby.
“Mary, over here,” he said, rising and motioning to Oliver, who was heading toward the front desk. She was wearing a beige pantsuit and a smile.
“You look happy about something,” prompted Davenport.
“The state of Texas has agreed to the maximum of twenty-five thousand dollars in compensation to you, Melvin.”
“Well, it’s something,” said Mars.
“And I’m filing suit against them for what happened to you in prison. To the tune of fifty million dollars.”