I couldn’t help but smile. I liked her immediately. I ate a few more shrimp and thought about what she’d said for a minute. I said, “Huh,” which made Margery giggle, which made her look about ten years younger. “What?”
“When you said ‘huh,’ you sounded just like a cop.”
“I am a cop.”
“You don’t look much like a cop. Your hair’s pretty long. You look like you should be running a bar, or something.”
I felt my mouth fall open a little, and Margery smiled. “I’m just messing with you a little. I Googled you before you got here. Your bar is sort of famous, you know. I’ve never been myself, but now I’m thinking I might have to stop by.”
“You should. We are sort of famous, in the city, anyway. So, listen-“
“It’s Google, by the way. Not the Google.
“Excuse me?”
“I could hear you on the phone when you called for the address. You called it the Google. There’s no the in there.”
“It kind of feels like we’re getting a little side-tracked, Margery.”
“That’s only because I’ve already told you everything I know. The people you really want to talk to are in the board room. The Executive Committee. They’re in an emergency session right now.”
“Well, gee, Margery, I haven’t even asked you any of the tough questions yet.”
“Like what?”
“Well, for starters, why’d you kill Dugan?”
Didn’t even phase her. “Oh, honey, I didn’t kill Franklin. He might have been a son of a bitch, but he’s been my meal ticket for over twenty years.”
“Well what are you going to do now?”
“You know, to tell you the truth, I think I’m gonna retire and lay on the beach. I’ve got a fair amount of stock, a 401K, and a husband that died and left me with a pretty fat life insurance settlement. Life’s to short to punch someone else’s clock, you know? Especially when you get to be my age.”
I popped another shrimp in my mouth. “Well, okay, lets go talk to the Board.”
“Take me to your leaders, huh?”
“Yeah, something like that.” As we walked down the hallway, I said, “Hey listen, about those shrimp. Where do you get them? They’re fantastic…
“They are fantastic, aren’t they?” Margery said. “Well, believe it or not, they’re farm raised by a couple of guys up in Elkhart. They took over on a foreclosed RV plant a year or so back, over a hundred thousand square feet of it in all, put in a bunch of tanks and heaters and whatnot and started growing shrimp. Or is it raising? Anyway, they’re doing something right because they’re the best damn shrimp I’ve ever had. You should get some for your bar.”
“I think I might… if you could get me the number. Do they deliver all the way down here?”
“Oh, honey, are you kidding me? They’re shipping these little buggers all over the country. I don’t know what the growth rate of farm raised shrimp are, but they’ve got a three month waiting list last time I checked.”
“Well, shoot. I was hoping to get some sort of quick. I’ve got a Jamaican chef who works for me. You wouldn’t believe what he can do with fresh seafood.”
“Get with me before you leave, then. I’ll see what I can do about that waiting list for you. I’m sort of friendly with one of the owners…”
CHAPTER EIGHT
We got to the end of the hall and Margery gave a single knock on a set of Mahogany double doors and stepped inside. I followed. There were four people at the far end of the room-three men and a woman-all seated in high-backed leather swivel chairs at the end of an enormous, well-polished conference table. The room was windowless and the lights were set at a low level. The man at the head of the table, a tall balding guy with bushy eyebrows and a Jay Leno chin spoke without looking up. “Margery. I was certain I made my position clear. This is an emergency session of the executive committee and we are not to be disturbed. Close the door on the way out, if you please, and leave it closed. I would prefer not to have to lock it, but if you can not or will not follow my direction, you will leave me with no other choice.”
The room was long, forty feet or so by my estimation, so I thought I could get away with it. I pulled Margery close by the elbow, lowered my voice a little and said, “I thought you said Dugan was the son of a bitch.”
Margery spoke from the side of her mouth. “I did. And he was. That’s James Marriott, absolutely no relation to the hotel Marriott’s even though that’s what he likes everyone to believe. He’s an asshole, but just the regular sort. Whatever you do, don’t call him Jim. It’s James. I’ll leave you to introduce yourself.” She gave me a pat on the shoulder. “Have fun.”
Great. I stood still for a moment to let my eyes adjust to the lighting then I walked the length of the room, pulled out a chair one spot removed from one of the men and sat down. Didn’t say a word. Just stared at the people at the table.
“Who the hell are you?” Marriott said.
They were all well dressed. Expensive suits, gold watches, sparkling jewelry, cuff links for the men, diamond earrings for the woman. In front of each of them was a leather-bound note pad with an embossed golden cross overlaid atop of a more subtle-but still visible-shining sun, with the words, Sunrise Bank at the top. Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard myself say, oh brother.
“I asked you a question, young man. I don’t like to repeat myself. Who the hell are you?”
“My name is Detective Jones, with the Indiana State Police. I’m here to speak with-“
“Well Detective,” Marriott said, “We know why you’re here, and believe me, we are happy to oblige you in any way we can, but at the moment, given every thing that has happened this morning, tragic as it is, we hope you will understand that in the immediate we are extremely busy. So thank you very much for stopping by and, I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we will be in touch at our earliest convenience.”
Wow. It was a fine effort, I had to give him that. I thought of what Margery told me…. What ever you do, don’t call him Jim. “I understand, and I can even appreciate your position, Jim. But here’s the thing-”
“It’s James,” Marriott said through his teeth. Not, Jim. James.
“Yes, well, that’s fine. James, then. So, as I was saying, the thing is, time is sort of critical for us. The quicker we can-“
“Detective, you’re not listening. The loss of Franklin this morning is going to have devastating effects on our company unless we take immediate action. Our stock is already off over fifteen percent since the opening bell an hour ago and our investors need to know-need to be assured-that our company is solid. That is what we are doing now, or rather, that is what we are trying to do. So, once again, thank you for your interest in this matter. A representative of our organization will be in touch with you and your people as soon as possible. Please close the door on your way out, and take your two thugs out there with you. I have notified our security personnel to assist you and your associates to the door. Last time I checked, this is still private property on United States soil and at the moment, you are not welcome here. That will be all, Detective. Good day.”
Thank you for your interest? “Just out of curiosity, Jimbo, how many of your security staff did you call?”
Marriott’s jaw was clenched, and he hissed through his teeth. “I will not tolerate your blatant disrespect of me and this organiza-”
“How many?” I asked again.
“Six,” Marriott said, his voice smug. “Two for each of you.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the papers that Rosencrantz had given me and slid them across the table to Marriott. “That’s a search warrant. It allows us access to this building, your offices, your computers, files, and just about anything else we want or need to look at. Your offices are now part of a crime scene in an on-going investigation. I suggest you forget about your stock for a few minutes, Jim, and start assisting us with our job.”