Clint Faraday Mysteries collection A Muddled Murders Collector's Edition (75 page)

How was he able to run the scam with that
kind of personality?

Tomorrow.

day six

“
Can you
give me a way to contact this Veras person?” Clint asked Estrella,
the secretary at the RE office.

“
He will
be here at ten thirty – Panamá time,” she replied. That meant
between eleven thirty and three or later. Clint grinned and she
returned the grin.

“
He’ll be
here at eleven, but has a meeting that will take an hour or more.
If he shows up a little earlier I didn’t mention that
possibility.”

Clint thanked her and went out to walk around
town for awhile. He got back at ten thirty and asked if Mr. Veras
was there when she put a finger to her lips and nodded her head
slightly.

“
I don’t
think he has arrived yet. I only arrived a few minutes ago. Can I
ask what it’s about?” She pointed at the intercom with it’s little
red light on.

“
I want
to get some information on an investment and won’t be here
long.”

“
An
investment? In a particular project, or are you looking for
possibilities?”

“
Well,
always looking, but I have some friends who plan to move here soon.
They’re golf nuts and say there’s a planned course here. I know a
lot of golf people. It could be a real goldmine when you consider
the class of people who use the courses. It’s sort of ... well, I
talked with one company who plan to build a course, so that might
not be what I’m after. I don’t care for the proposed location. It’s
too close to where the refinery will be. I don’t think they’ve
considered the air quality that close to a refinery. Even with the
modern scrubbers there are some unpleasant smells a lot of the
time.”

A suave Latin-lover type stepped out of the
office behind the desk and said, “Estrella, would you get the
papers from the ... oh. I didn’t know we had anyone here this
early. House hunting?

“
I’m
Armando Veras.”

“
Clint
Faraday. I’m looking for some decent investment property,
preferably in a corporation – you know how much difference that can
make. I suggested a golf course in this area because of the
refinery. I saw from the list out front that you feature one. Is it
the same one as Tropic Breezes is promoting?”

“
Lord,
no!” He laughed. “They’re going to build a golf course that close
to an oil refinery? What? They gonna have their customers wear gas
masks?

“
Listen,
Clint. Too many people go into things that they haven’t researched
at all well. That place will stink to high heaven half the time.
Our place is down toward Las Olivas. The steady Pacific breezes
will ensure that there isn’t that kind of problem, at least! I
don’t know if there are any parcels available anymore. One look at
both places and investors never look back west.”

“
My
people aren’t much interested in parcels. They want to invest
directly in a corporation.”

“
That’s a
very expensive way to go! The corporation has some stock available,
but it’s damned expensive, what with most of the land being sold
already. The investment would be in the running company. Fees, bar,
restaurant – those things. They’ll pay big and for a lot of years,
but cost is considered with that in mind.”

“
These
people didn’t lose a dime in the collapse in the states. They’re
very savvy about those things. They have sense enough to hire me to
research things for them. I’m a detective, retired, and know how to
go about it.”

“
Detective? Police?”

“
No. PI.
Florida.”

“
Things
here are NOT the same as Florida or anywhere else. You have to be
very careful when you invest.”

“
I
understand that! I bought a house in Bocas and went through hell
for almost a year so I learned a few things!”

Veras smirked. He figured he had another
gringo who had one small item that made him think he knew the
system and could get around it. He thought the investment laws here
were the same as Florida with protections built-in.

In other words, Veras figured he had a real
idiot on the hook! Estrella (he was behind her back) winked and
said she would get the papers into his office as soon as she found
them in the files. She got up and went to the cabinets. Veras
invited Clint into the office. He was busy, but it was about
fifteen minutes before his next appointment. He would show Clint
what they had and give him information he could check to see
everything was on the table. He didn’t say he would give him all
the needed information, only the parts that would check out, in
other words. Anything he got would look good. Clint went back with
him into the office where he conveniently had some files about that
particular project on his desk for his very next appointment!

He was acting like he owned the agency
outright without saying so, but Estrella had already told him that
Veras and Brock merely rented the office. There were three other
renters in the building.

Clint looked over a batch of papers that had
all the stamps and signatures from various government agencies on
them. It looked very legitimate. Clint noticed which ones were
copies and which were originals. He could use his Dell computer and
Canon printer to make the “copies” of legal documents by moving
images of those stamps and signatures wherever he chose.

He studied a few of the papers. There was a
handwritten note stapled to one titulo copy: “Register this one
this way – EVG.”

Well, he’d found it, but didn’t know much
more – except it was probably something Brock had found in that
very note that made him ask the wrong question. Veras would know
all about it.

He’d seen that handwriting somewhere – like
right out front! Estrella had a lot of notes on her desk. Her name
would be Estrella V. Garcia. She was up to her neck in whatever was
going on. Why hadn’t Brock known that? He worked right there in
that office at times.

Clint saw that one note in all those papers.
Maybe Veras would get rid of the notes she wrote. Brock had never
seen anything signed that way. He might not have known her middle
initial was “V.”

Damn! Brock was right all along in thinking
that he was being scammed! She and Veras were behind the whole
thing!

Her name would be Estrella Veras Garcia. She
would be his sister. This was probably her scam. She was playing
the secretary who hated the boss as a way to work the scam.

Clint said he saw it was getting to be the
time for Veras’ appointment, so would move on. He would be in touch
a little later after talking with his investor friends.

Scam artists were the easiest people the
world to scam. They would probably think they had erased anything
that could connect them to someone who died in a mugging. A
coincidence, just like the one where the detective was looking for
investments for some rich gringos and happened to come there. Hell!
They felt protected from anything anyhow. He was an idiot who
thought he knew all about the scams in Panamá! These were some
coldblooded people. They’d killed at least two already running this
scam.

The searchers of his house. This was
something backed by a drug lord or cartel. From Colombia.

Clint went out to the office and told
Estrella the whole thing seemed legitimate. He DID have the papers
and forms, all of them up-to-date, stamped and notarized.

“
Well, I
sometimes think there’s something going on. I’ve checked and the
only thing is that person who has a claim. They DO have the funds
to pay him what he wants, so that will go away. Maybe it’s just
because I don’t like Veras and certainly didn’t like
Brock.”

“
That can
cloud your judgement. I’ll check out a few things. Maybe my friends
can invest in it. It’ll be a little slow, but will be pretty sure.
They’ll make a bundle in a couple of years. Like they need more
millions!”

She laughed and said, “Isn’t THAT the truth.
Those who have, get.”

Clint waved and left.

Clint looked at the registration for cedula
his friends on the police brought up for him.

Estrella V. Garcia wasn’t Estrella Veras
Garcia. She was Estrella Vega Garcia. Did that make a
difference?

Another few minutes of reflection and he
decided it damned well did! It explained quite a lot!

He sighed and went with Ronaldo Amorosa, his
police friend, to the office. Veras wasn’t there so he asked
Estrella to come into the office for a talk. She was nervous, but
agreed. They all sat around Veras’ desk.

“
Was he
your brother?”

She studied him for a long moment. “My uncle.
Armando is my father.”

“
Did you
manage to get Brock killed? In revenge for him having your uncle
killed?”

“
I won’t
answer.”

“
If it
was that way, if you didn’t kill him yourself, tell us about it and
you won’t be charged,” Ronaldo promised. “I would do the same if it
was my uncle that was dead in some crooked scheme to steal his
property.”

She studied him for a minute. “I made
contacts with people in Colombia who were backing the golf course.
It is partly legitimate. They checked Mr. Faraday and said he knew
nothing or less. He then came here, so I knew he did know
something. I saw that as an opportunity to make Veras pay the same
price Brock paid.

“
You see,
Brock found a note from me to Veras that I signed with my initials.
I only did that with Veras and he didn’t know it was from me. He
thought someone he didn’t know about was dealing with Veras. He
asked me who EVG was and I almost told him, then remembered the
note. It said nothing, only made him suspicious.

“
I used
that to leave another note that would make him become dangerous to
my Colombian ... contacts. They are not friends by any stretch of
the imagination.

“
I knew
about Mr. Faraday from another time here when he found a killer.
Those disgusting English people. Brock asked me if I knew of any
investigator to find what was going on and I told him about Mr.
Faraday, then made some e-mails that would seem to be from Mr.
Faraday to him that would scare the people in Colombia. Mr. Faraday
used a contact to ask about EVG. That scared the Colombians even
more and they killed Brock so he would no longer be a danger. They
told Mr. Faraday’s contact that they would not, but he knows
nothing about it. Brock didn’t know anything about it. He killed my
uncle and I vowed to have revenge.

“
Veras is
also a big part of that. I now have the Colombians believing he is
meeting with Mr. Faraday in a deal so he will not have to spend six
years in carcel.”

“
So they
will kill Veras,” Ronaldo said. “I will then investigate and find
he was dealing with those people and will report that it is a crime
that will never have a solution – unless I protect
Veras.”

“
Please
do not!”

“
Oh, I
will have to make a report that he may be in a danger of his own
making and may need protection in the near future,” Ronaldo
replied. “Perhaps we may arrange something in a day or two. It will
take that long to process in Panamá.”

“
Thank
you. I cannot believe what this has made of me. I will have to live
with that, but have no regrets. Justice will be served.”

“
That’s
the way it’s done here,” Clint agreed. “I’ll go back to
Bocas.

“
Who will
get the land if Veras gets knocked over?”

“
It will
revert back to the family. It is ROP land in dispute,” Ronaldo
explained. “Armando Vega has a legitimate claim and no one has
anything to contest it. There will be a few months for the
verification, but that is how it will go.”

“
So a
scheme to kill the Indio and steal his land has finally turned into
a case where the Indio kills the crook and gets his land back!”
Clint said. “I love it!”

Ronaldo grinned and said his investigation of
Estrella Vega Garcia had exonerated her of any likely charges. They
left.

Clint decided to stay in Puerto Armuelles for
the night and go to Bocas in the morning.

Day seven

Clint had enjoyed the night and was up very
early to head back to Bocas. He might spend the day and night in
David. It was beautiful this time of year, if a bit warm. He
arrived in David and went to the Hotel Iris where he often stayed,
then had lunch in the Multi-Café across the park. About three
o’clock he got a call from Ronaldo saying that an Armando Veras had
suffered a serious accident when he apparently got roaring drunk
the night before and wandered out on the pier, slipped on one of
the myriad of loose boards (assumed) and struck his head on
something, causing him to drown. Very sad, but those things
happen.

They chatted awhile, then Clint rang off and
went to visit friends. He went to Restaurante Las Brasas where
Cecilio served him one of their excellent filet mignons and a
Balboa. Manolo called him about eleven thirty and asked if there
was any connection of the two deaths with his Colombians. Clint
said yes, but let it lie. It was for the best, the way it had
turned out.

“
I worry
that they lied to me.”

“
It was
only to protect someone here. Are those people Indio?”

“
Yes.”

“
It was
because someone else they were slightly involved with killed an
Indio for his property. They lost a bundle on it.”