It is Wednesday Story Day again, and last week we were stunned to witness Cortez’s office call and make an appointment for a visit by none other than Cortez. It is close to three so let’s get over to Larry’s office. This should be interesting.

 

“Yes hello. He’s here? Okay give me one minute and then send him in.”

“So, what are you going to do, Larry?”

“I guess I’m going to hear what Cortez has to say.”

“I can’t believe he is coming to you. Reminds me of the mountain coming to Mohammed saying.”

“Yeah, kinda gives me the creeps. Let’s just play it cool and hear him out. Wait I hear the officer in the hall.”

“Sir, Mr. Cortez to see you.”

“Thank you, officer. My, what a pleasure Mr. Cortez. Please come in.”

“Thank you, detective. May I sit here.”

“Of course. You remember my associate Andrew Cummings.”

“Good to see you again, Mr. Cummings.”

“You can call me Andrew. Nice seeing you as well.”

“Well then call me Joachim.”

“I’m Larry, Joachim. Would you like a water or coffee?”

“No thank you, Larry. I’m good.”

“So, Andrew and I have been wondering what brings you down here to see us.”

“I think the last time we met, I was a little rude. I simply want to apologize.  I was having a bad day, and I think I took it out on you.”

“Please don’t give it a second thought. I know we all have had days where things just seem to go wrong.”

“Thank you for your understanding. I do want to clear up the point about the equipment working when my company received it.”

“That would be great, Joachim.”

“When we got the equipment from Louis, I had my engineer check it over. He told me he didn’t believe it would work.”

“Did he test it.”

“Not at the time. We did put it into a controlled test, and sure enough, it didn’t work. That’s why I refused to pay Louis.”

“Very understandable. May I ask if your engineer did any kind of report?”

“Yes, he did. Here is a copy.”

“Thank you. This is very helpful.”

“I have a question for you, Larry.”

“Go ahead by all means.”

“Why are you so interested in Sandusky’s death?”

“That is a good question. We have reason to believe his death was a murder.”

“And you suspect that I had something to do with it.”

“Well, we have no proof.”

“Let me assure you, detective. I had absolutely nothing to do with the death of Sandusky. As far as I was told he took his own life.”

“That is what was meant to be the message, Joachim. We suspect otherwise.”

“Let’s leave it at this. If I can be of assistance just let me know.”

“There is one thing that might help.”

“Name it.”

“Can we speak to the engineer?”

“I wish you could. Unfortunately, he was killed in a skiing accident last February.”

“Oh. I’m sorry for your loss. That is unfortunate. Is there anyone else who might understand the equipment?”

“I’ll have to think about that, detective. Now if you will excuse me. I have some other appointments in the downtown area.”

“Thank you again for your help. We’ll be in touch should we need more.”

“Anytime, detective. Nice meeting you Andrew.”

“My pleasure, Joachim.”

“The officer will escort you out. Good talking with you.”

“Thank you, detective. Good day to you both.”

“Don’t say anything Andrew he could still be close.”

 

 

 

 

It is Wednesday Story Day again and last week Larry and Andrew decided they needed to talk to Ned Dixon the banker. The reason is Gloria (Larry’s deceased wife) advised Larry in a séance to follow the money. Ned is the only one involved who is near money. Larry wants a face to face meeting hoping he can get Ned to divulge details he might not do over the phone. I see that Larry has an appointment with Ned and is going into Ned’s office now.

 

“Good Morning Detective Dunfee. Please have a seat.”

“Thank you, Mr. Dixon.”

“You can call me Ned.”

“I am here on official business, Mr. Dixon. Let’s just keep it formal, shall we?”

“Official business? What does that mean?”

“I’m investigating the death of Igor Sandusky and since you have had some dealings with him I need to ask you a few questions.”

“Dealings? I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Weren’t you his banker?”

“This bank did give Mr. Sandusky a loan if that’s what you mean.”

“Who arranged for the loan?”

“Well, I did. That was over ten years ago.”

“Yes, it was. I understand that the loan was in default.”

“Yes. The payments were made routinely up until about six months ago.”

“Wait a minute. Mr. Sandusky was deceased. Who was making those payments?”

“They came from Mr. Sandusky’s trust.”

“Trust? He had a trust?”

“Yes, he did. I also set that up for him.”

“When did you do that?”

“I would guess about two years before he died.”

“Who’s the beneficiary?”

“That is the strange part. At the time he didn’t want to name a beneficiary, so he left that part of the trust open for a person or persons to be named later. Unfortunately, he never named anyone and stipulated that if this were the case the trust would remain in perpetuity until claimed by an heir.”

“Does he have an heir?”

“We have not been contacted. Mr. Sandusky also spelled out a specific identification protocol that the person claiming to be an heir would have to satisfy”

“This protocol is not well-known I take it?”

“No one knows. It is in an envelope put in a safe deposit box by Sandusky himself. It takes two keys to open. One is here at the bank and one was with Sandusky.”

“I’m guessing that whoever is an heir will show up with a key.”

“That is the assumption. But the person needs to satisfy the protocol.”

“Who is the trustee?”

“That would be me in the name of the bank.”

“So, let me get this straight. The bank was the trustee and made payments on the loan.”

“That is correct.”

“Why were the payments stopped?”

“I felt the business opportunities were nil, so I saw no reason to continue the loan.”

“You put Sandusky’s building on the block for the defaulted loan.”

“Yes.”

“So, in essence, the bank caused a default and then is selling the building.”

“True.”

“Where do the proceeds from the sale go?”

“To the bank to satisfy the loan and then any remaining funds to the Sandusky trust.”

“This is legal?”

“Mr. Dunfee. Since we are all formal here are you trying to say I have committed a crime?”

“No, Mr. Dixion. I have to wonder about manipulating a dead man’s affairs to the banks benefit is all.”

“Benefit? Mr. Sandusky took out a loan. The bank in good faith honored its loan agreement. It is a simple matter of paying back what was owed.”

“Did the loan have a pre-payment penalty?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then making all those payments simply gave the bank more interest. Had you sold the building and paid back the loan ten years ago, the trust would have been richer by the saved interest.”

“In theory that is true.”

“Theory has nothing to do with it. Seems like fact to me.”

“Except for the fact that Mr. Chisom wanted to keep the business going.”

“Mr. Chisom? Who is Mr. Chisom?”

“You met him.”

“I don’t recall the name.”

“I think you know him as Louis.”

“I’m confused.”

“About what?”

“Why would a bank keep making payments on a loan simply because one person wanted to keep a job.”

“That was not the reason. Mr. Chisom had a signed agreement to continue the development of the non-invasive surgical technique he and Mr. Sandusky developed.”

“Did you see this agreement.”

“I did. It was the only way I would keep making the payments.”

“Do you know who signed the agreement?”

“I do.”

“Okay, I guess twenty question is the game. Who signed?”

“A person by the name of Cortez.”

“Not Joachim Cortez.”

“Yes, in fact, it was.”

“Of the Cortez cartel?”

“Not familiar with that group.”

“One of the most wanted men on the planet.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that.”

“So what happened to the business?”

“As far as I know, the contract was never paid and hence the business folded. Louis insisted he was going to collect but after so much time I had to pull the cord.”

“So, you believe Louis fulfilled his end of the contract.”

“He told me he did.”

“Follow the money.”

“What?”

“Sorry. I was just repeating what I was told about getting this case wrapped up. The money, in this case, is in a den of vipers.”

“I don’t understand.”

“That’s okay. Thank you for your time. I may have more questions later. You have been helpful. Oh, wait. If it is not against the trust rules can you tell me how much the trust is worth?”

“It is a matter of public record at the IRS. The trust now has fifteen million under management.”

“What did it have in the beginning?”

“About two million.”

“Whew. That is some growth.”

“I’m proud of that, Detective.”

“Can I open a trust? Of course, I’m just joking.”

“Any time Detective, any time. I’m not joking.”

“Good day Mr. Dixon.”

 

It is Wednesday Story Day again. Last week we were in Micki’s shop when Gloria gave us the news that Louis was not Sandusky’s murderer. She did advise Larry to look for a money angle. Also, Andrew missed the whole thing since he was under some kind of spell. Micki did offer to serve Andrew some tea if he would like to stay. (I think the tea was a metaphor) Well, Andrew turned her down, and he and Larry went back to police headquarters. Let’s join them there.

 

“So, Larry. What the heck went on back there?”

“Between you and Micki? I have no earthly idea.”

“No, you dolt. What happened during the séance?”

“Gloria made a brief appearance and declared Louis to be innocent.”

“Damn. You don’t say. This puts us back to square one.”

“Wait a minute. Do you believe in what Gloria says?”

“I have no other choice. You and I aren’t doing too well on collecting evidence.”

“That’s true but why all of a sudden are you accepting Gloria’s word with no reservations.”

“The mere fact I have no recall of the séance is enough to convince me. I wasn’t asleep, and I wasn’t awake. That was the work of spirits.”

“Well, whatever it takes. I’m glad you have come around fully.”

“It was my idea to consult Gloria this time around.”

“I thought you were just humoring me.”

“I plead guilty. Now I’m a convert. So what else did she say”?

“In so many words, chercher de l’argent.”

“Search for the money?”

“Yeah. That was it. Then she left.”

“So, you and I have to figure out what money she is talking about.”

“Which brings to mind that banker guy. What was his name.”

“Dixon, I think. Wait, I wrote his name down. Here it is, Ned Dixon.”

“Since he is a banker and banks have money, I think we should start with Ned.”

“That does make some sense, I guess. What will we ask him?”

“I think we start off with him explaining everything he knows about Sandusky and the business. Then as we get into it, we wait for him to make some mistake or another.”

“Mistake? What kind of mistake?”

“Oh, I don’t know. An inconsistency perhaps. Some facts that change. We’ll have him explain things several times to see how his story holds up.”

“What reason are you going to give for the questions.”

“I think I’ll just say we are investigating Sandusky’s death and that any information Dixon knows that might help would be appreciated.”

“You know if he has something to do with the killing, he’s going to bolt.”

“Yeah, but that will tell us something. I’m going to call him and get an appointment.”

“So, you’re doing an in-person interview?”

“Yup. The best way to be able to tell if the guy is hiding something.”