"But what's Fred got to do with all this?" Harry was exasperated.
"You think he killed Mychelle?" BoomBoom asked Harry.
"No. That's what set him off," Harry replied. "Am I right?" she asked Cooper.
"Terrified. He was absolutely terrified." Cooper reached for her cigarette pack in her other pocket. "We don't know if he approved the murder of H.H. or not. He's in intensive care and it might be days before the brain swelling subsides. Fred is in a medical coma, if that's the term. Fred didn't want to go to jail any more than Matthew but when Mychelle was stabbed to death, dying alone the way she did, Fred realized that Matthew would stop at nothing. Matthew lured her to the Clam. How, we don't know. Fred must have believed he could neutralize Mychelle without hurting her. Matthew was taking no chances. Killing Mychelle really did set off Fred. He truly liked her. And he knew if he faltered, Matthew would kill him. As I said, Matthew was losing his composure."
"But wait a minute, what's with Fred and Matthew? I'm missing something here. What was the scam?" Harry stroked Murphy, now in her lap.
"A clever, clever deal. I've got to hand it to them. Fred passed substandard materials and construction that was under code. Matthew's crews were illiterate. Not only could they not read, they didn't know what the building codes were. They didn't have to know, that was Matthew's job. Fred would even pick up a few empty cartons of high-grade materials that had been tossed at other building sites, dumping them at Matthew's sites when no one was around. Or he thought no one was around. Matthew would purchase some good stuff to put out where everyone could see it. You know, a few rolls of R-20 for insulation, stuff like that. Matthew's foreman, handsomely paid off, was also in on it. He's in custody right now. We took him in for questioning yesterday. That and your little escapade during the basketball game did it."
"I can't believe it. I thought Fred and Matthew hated one another." BoomBoom was flabbergasted.
"Carefully orchestrated. And remember, Fred was a prick to every other construction firm in the county, so Matthew's wails of mistreatment fell on eager ears. Over the years those two bilked millions out of clients."
"Good Lord," Harry exclaimed. "I figured out Matthew was H.H.'s killer but I didn't have any idea of the scope of this."
"It has been going on since they worked on the Barracks Road shopping center as young men. Fred left construction, supposedly in a huff. What's also interesting is that Fred had the discipline to hide his money. He kept an account in the Bahamas."
"Well, who was in the equipment room?" BoomBoom wondered.
"Andrew Argenbright," Cooper replied. "The decision there was to act as though the inventory were completed. No public statements were made as to the results. The university police set up a trap. Well, he came back to steal some more. Small cameras with capabilities of getting a photo in little light had been set up inside the equipment room."
"Lucky for us he was there," BoomBoom said. "Even if he did run like a thief at least he knocked down Matthew."
"What if this were the reverse, Coop?" Harry's mind whirred along. "What if it were Mychelle who figured it out and she told H.H? After all, she worked with Fred."
"Possible. We're hoping Fred will tell us when he's able in exchange for a lesser sentence. Obviously Matthew's going to put up a front, tell nothing, and have a battalion of lawyers. Fred was smart, though. He always inspected Matthew's work. This wasn't given over to a subordinate. His reason was that Matthew's projects were large, the inspection had to be entrusted to the senior official, which, in fact, isn't out of the ordinary. Those two had an airtight cover. H.H. was so damned mad at losing the bid for the sports complex he wanted to bring down Matthew despite his seeming acceptance of things."
"But surely over the years subordinates did look at Matthew's work," Harry said.
"The subordinate, and the last couple of years that's been Mychelle, would go with Fred to inspect that part of the work which was up to code or better. It's not like everything Matthew did was substandard. They were experts, remember, this was their trade and Matthew and Fred picked those things that would be easiest to hide or replace. You know, put in an expensive brand of pipe where it will show, while using cheaper materials where it won't show. I don't have all the details, but I hope we can squeeze them out of Fred. With any luck those two will turn on one another."
"And if you think about it, the last thirty years have been one long construction boom in Albemarle County. There's so much work, who could come after Fred to double-check?" BoomBoom thought out loud.
"Well, that's the thing. Fred was so ferocious, such a stickler at every construction site, no one dreamed he'd be in collusion with Matthew. If Fred signed off on a building it must be okay." Cooper folded her hands together. "I'm telling you, it was a well-thought-out, well-executed scam and they almost got away with it. No one would have ever known if H.H. hadn't decided to bring down Matthew any way he could."
"H-m-m." BoomBoom folded up the clear wrap that had covered the ham sandwich. "This is one basketball season no one will ever forget."
"The strange thing or maybe I should say the brilliant thing is the toxin, the secretions from those little frogs in Matthew's rain forest at his office, that's what killed H.H. He used a blowgun hidden in his noisemaker." Cooper tapped her notebook.
"Like this?" Harry reached in her pocket retrieving Little Mim's altered noisemaker.
"Damn, Harry. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, I wasn't a hundred percent sure. I wanted to test-drive it."
"Your test-drive nearly got you, BoomBoom, Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker killed."
"Yes, well, I wasn't as smart as I thought I was. I mean, I never figured on Fred."
Cooper made an imaginary slap at Harry's face. "Don't you ever do that again."
"I'm lucky BoomBoom came back. If she hadn't fought them off and set off the fire alarm, I'd be dead." Harry bit her bottom lip. "I really have been stupid."
"As long as you recognize that. The one thing still puzzling us is the weapon. No trace."
"Ice," Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, Tucker, and Harry said in unison.
53
Later as Harry watched the fire, Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker snuggled up against her on the sofa, she thought about what had happened.
What kept nibbling at her was how she accepted Matthew at face value for so long. But then how else can you live in a community? She couldn't very well spend all her time being suspicious of everyone, trying to ferret out their secrets. He had fooled her for a long, long time.
She felt stupid but not totally stupid.
She felt totally stupid about her attitude toward BoomBoom. True, they were very different kinds of personalities but BoomBoom had held out the palm many times and Harry had refused it. For whatever reason, Harry was getting something out of being angry, out of not letting go.