Clint Faraday Mysteries Collection B :This Job is Murder Collector's Edition (21 page)

“
Have they applied for any permits or
such?” Clint asked.

“
Not with the government.”

“
You know something? I think this is
two sets of crooks working two separate schemes against each
other,” Clint said. “Nesmiths probably thought it was legit. Muy
interesante. Thanks, Sal. I owe you a beer.”

“
You owe me a couple of cases of beer.
I like Corona.”

Clint laughed and left. He was feeling pretty
good so went to the local supplier and had two cases of Corona sent
to Salvador’s house. It would be fun to hear Sal try to explain to
the gringo that it was a joke!

Next, back to the comps. He wished he knew
which lawyer was supposed to be handling the permits so called
Goins, who said it was a local shyster friend of the Zacharia woman
or something. Lic.Elena Sanchez Vargas Menendez.

“
Is the money really in that account?”
Clint asked. “I mean the Valdez and Zacharia money.”

“
That’s there, but is on a provisional
deposit that can be withdrawn after forty five days. I
checked.”

So that scheme was running exactly normally.
The others would put in their money, the account was in the name of
Zacharia and she could only draw with authorization by two others.
Valdez and one of four people – two of whom were dead and out of
it. When the other two disappeared the money would be theirs.

What was the other scheme? Something still
seemed out of kilter.

The Nesmiths and Littletons didn’t know each
other before meeting in Puerto Armuelles? That had to be
checked.

Wait! If the Valdez-Zacharia couple were to
disappear was the deposit automatically withdrawn or did it stay
there?

A phone call, half an hour waiting and Goins
said it stayed.

If it weren’t for the fact the Nesmiths, who
were probably innocent, were dead Clint would like to sit back and
let the rest of the drama play out. As it was it might take some
work to make things move away from either scheme.

Clint spent the rest of the day with friends.
They went to the nearby river and up it a ways to fish awhile. When
they came back to Cusapín Dave and Andres were sorting through
plants, putting numbered tags on them and planting them in the
trees around the house. Andres had about a hectare of land with
plenty of trees so they were making a botanical garden there with
as many of the local species of orchids, bromeliads, rhipsalis,
anthuriums – and any other special types of epiphytic plants. Dave
said the Century went by twice while he was where he could see the
water, toward Cusapín just past noon and back again about an hour
and a half later. The women weren’t aboard when they went out the
second time.

They weren’t staying in Cusapín. Where were
they?

It had to be Chiriqui Grande. That fast a
boat could make Chiriqui in half an hour. Half an hour for food or
whatever, then return.

Clint asked if there was a boat to Chiriqui
Grande that late. Moises said he would take him and spend the night
in Chiriqui Grande. They could make it just a little after
dark.

That may be good. If anyone was watching for
him to go back to Chiriqui Grande they would probably not be
watching after dark. Dave said he’d keep an eye out for anytime
they moved. Nicanor was on the dock watching for the boat to
return. It would stop for fuel, probably.

“
They refuel here?” Clint
asked.

“
Yes.”

Clint considered. If they went all the way to
Chiriqui Grande they would buy fuel there. It was a dollar a gallon
cheaper. Something was strange about that, too.

The trip to Chiriqui Grande was very
interesting in that Clint checked everywhere along the way where
the Century could have landed close to a house or small settlement.
There were several areas, but nothing definite. They were getting
close to Chiriqui Grande when Clint saw the Century back just at a
distance where it could be noted, mainly because it was dusk and it
had on running lights. He watched as it went to shore about two
kilometers before where they were. Five kilometers from Chiriqui
Grande, more or less. There were a couple of small houses along
there, but no evidence the Century had been to them.

So. They were camping somewhere out of sight.
The morning might just be fun!

Clint had Moises take him along just out from
the beach until he could see the Century pulled up between some
large boulders near where a stream came into the Caribbean. He went
ashore and Moises would go on toward Cusapín like normal and would
wait a kilometer farther along.

Clint went close to the shrubbery until he
was about a hundred meters from the boat, then went inside the
shrubbery to the base of the hill. He would have to go around away
from the beach to not be seen. It was slow, but he found the two
large tents in a depression between two hills where a small stream
flowed into the larger one two hundred meters from the Caribbean.
The women were by a small kerosene stove cooking something for
breakfast. Clint moved to where he could hear. There was plenty of
cover to within ten feet of the tents. The stove was between with a
small frond cover built over it. There was coffee on the stove and
eggs and salchichas were on the second burner.

“
... maybe too close. I didn’t like him
and said so, then they got smart, but Rondo came and they
left.

“
I don’t like Panama City even a little
bit,” Zacharia was saying.

“
I know. I don’t either,” Gina replied,
“I do like Puerto Armuelles, though. ....”

They went on for about ten minutes with
normal chatter. Valdez came out and poured coffee, then John joined
them. They chatted about various inconsequentialities for awhile,
then took some things from the tents to the boat. They said they’d
drop Gina and Harry off in Chiriqui Grande, then go back to search
around the tree where they found the bottle in the rocks. It looked
very much like what was on the map. They would come back at two to
pick up the Littletons and return to the search if they hadn’t
found it.

So. The Littletons were going to be gone for
the morning.

“
Can you be back by two?” Zacharia
asked.

“
We’ll take the bus to David. It’s
almost empty this early, then we can grab a taxi if the bus is
full. It won’t take more than half an hour at the bank,” John
promised. “We’ll be here at two! I hope you’ll be here with
pictures of the find!”

They laughed and joked a bit, then got in the
Century and headed for Chiriqui Grande. Clint went out when they
were finally out of sight and checked over the tents, but there was
nothing out of the ordinary there. He called Salvator in Chiriqui
Grande and asked that he get on the bus with the Littletons and see
where they go. He went along the beach to Moises and they waited
for the Century to go by, but it didn’t come.

“
You know something?” Clint mused. “I
think maybe the funds are supposed to be transferred today.
Zacharia and Valdez aren’t going to go after some treasure they
know damned well isn’t there. They’re probably in Chiriqui
Grande.”

Moises nodded and headed for Chiriqui Grande.
When they got to the docks Moises said he’d try to find where the
Valdez and Zacharia people were. Clint would go to the bombas and
check on the Littletons. He decided to try to call Salvator, though
the bus would be in the mountains by now and there wasn’t much
chance he’d get reception.

Salvador answered almost immediately. He said
they were in Mali.

“
You only got that far? You should be
twenty kilometers into the mountains by now!”

“
They got out here. They’re waiting for
the next bus back. About fifteen minutes.”

“
Were Valdez and Zacharia there when
they got on the bus?”

“
Uh-huh.”

“
Don’t catch the same bus as they do
back to Chiriqui Grande. It would be too suspicious.”

“
I know. I’ll call when they get on the
bus.”

“
I can be here to yell ‘Surprise!’ at
them.”

Salvator laughed. Eight minutes later
Salvator called to say they just got on the bus. Clint waited at
the bombas restaurante until the bus arrived and the Littletons got
off. Clint followed them as they went into the restaurant for some
snacks and coffee. Moises called to say his subjects went to Punta
Robalo.

That would be logical. They would have to
come into the dock at two to act like they were just coming from
“The Find” Clint was sure they would announce. They would go to
their treasure – but wouldn’t come back.

Or Valdez and Zacharia wouldn’t come
back.

Or something.

Clint had a snack and sat not far from his
subjects. He couldn’t hear much, but they seemed to have a rather
intense conversation. Gina was pretty obviously giving orders. She
would lean close and have a very stern look on her face, then sit
back and look satisfied.

John got up after awhile, checked his watch
and bought some various fruit drinks in paper cartons. Gina checked
them over and nodded, then took part of them into the restroom with
her, was gone about ten minutes, came back, and they paid the
cuenta and went out to hail a taxi.

Clint shook his head. He wondered what would
happen to anyone who had the great misfortune to drink any of those
juices she took into the restroom.

Clint took a taxi soon and followed them at a
distance to the dock where they sat at a table to the side and had
coffee and hojaldres. They were there at two thirty five when the
Century came from the east to the dock. Valdez and Zacharia were
dirty and disheveled (Clint loved that word!). Zacharia help up a
camera and gave the “V” sign.

Uh-huh! Clint looked back at the direction
they supposedly came from and grinned. This might be fun! The two
in the Century didn’t know much about the weather patterns here, it
was plain!

The Thot Plickens

Sometimes the best laid schemes of thugs and
thieves go awry. The Century came to the dock and the four went to
the table Gina and John had occupied for the past half hour and
Zacharia showed Gina and John pictures in the digital camera. They
discussed them for a few minutes and were calling for the cuenta
when there was a sharp crack of thunder from the heavy clouds to
the southeast and the wind suddenly began to pick up. There was no
way a sane person would go out into that. It wouldn’t last long,
but would be pretty intense. Valdez looked back and shook his head.
Zacharia looked like she was about to explode. Gina gave John a
sharp hard look. John shrugged and rolled his eyes.

Clint giggled to himself. This would be
nerve-wracking for all of them. Clint estimated the little storm
would last from forty-five minutes to an hour.

Clint also wondered how Valdez and Zacharia
would explain how they came from where that storm was to Chiriqui
Grande and didn’t seem aware of it when they docked. The storm was
between Chiriqui Grande and Cusapín. If they came from east of
Cusapín within the past two hours or more they had to go through
it.

The four went to the boat to get the weather
report. It said the storm would be strong locally and would pass
Chiriqui Grande in an hour and a half. Small and pleasure boaters
were warned to get to safe port until it passed.

Gina put the juices in the cooler. Zacharia
started to take one, but John said they would go to the restaurant
to wait out the little storm so shouldn’t decrease their stores.
They didn’t know how long it would take to dig it up and might need
them. They would have to do some physical labor – as Valdez and
Zacharia certainly knew!

They went to the restaurant across the street
and sat chattering at each other. The storm lasted almost two hours
when it arrived forty minutes later.

Gina said they had better go to the camp and
wait until morning to start digging. Valdez agreed. They got into
the boat and headed out. When they were gone for twenty minutes
Clint had Eladio, a friend from Bocas Town, take him on his fast
boat to Cusapín. He had an idea things might get a bit testy before
morning. Maybe none of them would be around by then.

Clint called Goins to see what was happening
in Puerto Armuelles. Goins said he had secured the money in the
bank because he could show he was owed almost half of it for the
land he sold them on contingency. If they tried to abscond with the
funds they were in for a real surprise! He seemed very
self-satisfied to Clint.

Clin called Judi Lum, his attractive neighbor
who helped with a lot of his cases. She was very expert about
collecting odd information from an unexpected angle. She said she
would find out what she could. Who needed investigating?

“
Ralph Goins, Puerto Armuelles. And
find out which lawyers he uses. Something is very strange about
this mess,” Clint answered.

“
Dave came in with umpty-dozen new
orchids. They’re hanging all over my place and his. Even Ben has
some for him,” she replied. “He said you were in some kind of weird
situation in Cusapín and along the coast. Two people were already
dead. Some people told you they were looking for medicinal plants,
but ... Clint?”

Clint had let out a snort. Why didn’t any of
them react when they learned the Nesmiths were no longer among the
living?

Because everything is exactly according to
plan, stupid! That meant the Littletons knew their great buddies
and partners would kill off those two. That meant they knew damned
well they were to be next – unless they made those great buddies
the next two. This could get very interesting. Clint wondered who
was manipulating whom.