The Squadron Inn Mystery Page 4

FOUR

  Chris grinned and brushed his hair out of his eyes. “There’s more than that. Now we know that there was something here that someone wanted and that Dean thought he might catch them coming for it. We know it is possible that someone else might be involved who wrote directions for whoever to come knock out that tile. And –“ Chris kneeled down next to the broken pieces of tile just before the corner of the pool, “we know that whatever it was it fit on top of a two-by-four and came out of a hole not much bigger than a fist”.

  Behind the tile, a hole was cut into the plywood but there was enough wood left to cement the tile to. That row of tiles was about ten inches square and the hole was clearly cut out and a little bigger than a fist. It was clear that something could have been placed inside that hole to sit on the stud that was nailed to the floor. But what? For how long?

  Jeff called for a camera and Frito brought us one. We put the SD card into it to review the pictures from the trail camera upstairs. There were a couple blank shots and then a picture of a man approaching the camera.

  “Is that Dean?” Chris asked.

  “Sure is” answered Jeff.

  Chris stood up from looking at the broken tile and looked at me and Jeff. “Where is the closest computer? I need to do some research”.

  Jeff asked, “Don’t you have a smartphone?”

  “I don’t have a phone at all” he answered, which was a lie. He did have a phone but only called me or got calls from me. That’s part of the uncomplicated nature of witness protection.

  Jeff looked at him with a you’re-an-idiot-but-too-smart-to-be-an-idiot look.

  “My office is probably closer than your house, Mark. It is already 12:30; let’s get something to eat and I’ll call the hospital to check on Dean then we’ll head over there”.

  “You guys drop me off and bring me something back”, Chris said, “I really need to find out something”. He turned to me, “and this could be big. As in career-big”.

  I looked over at Jeff and then back to Chris. “OK, two things. One, try to say ‘y’all’ and two, ‘how big is career-big?”

  “I can’t say. Or I mean I won’t say until I know for sure”.

  A few minutes later, we picked up Nuway to go and wound up at Jeff’s office behind the civic center. The new place will be great for these guys, I thought. Chris went right over to a computer at Jeff’s desk and got to typing and making notes on a notepad. Jeff and I ate chili cheese dogs and talked over the case, throwing hypotheticals at each other. What was behind that tile? Why was James Dean tracking someone who might try to get into the Squadron after it burned? What did the second line to the note mean? There were a couple hotels nearby like the Hampton Inn and the Hilton Garden Inn that might look something alike. But could you call them twins? The Kroger right down Watson was like any other Kroger in town but since there are several years separating them that wouldn’t be twins, would it? Which two buildings in town look alike?

  Jeff put his phone down from his ear. “That was the hospital. Dean is conscious. In fact, he is so awake that he just checked himself out and went who-knows-where.”

  It was past three o’clock when we heard a commotion outside and the door to the office flew open. In the doorway was a fairly tall, very aggravated looking man with a bandage on his head and wrist. We all jumped to our feet and Chris walked quickly toward the man.

  “Captain James Dean”, he said to the man, “it is a privilege to meet you, sir. Please have a seat, you are with people who know and respect your accomplishments”.

  With that, the man’s face softened as he looked over to Chris. They shook hands and the man more collapsed than sat into the chair. Jeff and I looked at each other as we tried to understand what Chris knew that we clearly didn’t.

  “You are going to have to help me, Chris,” Jeff asked as he stepped over to shake Captain Dean’s hand. “I am very sure I haven’t met Mr. Dean and I am more sure I don’t know what he has done that I ought to know about”.

  I looked over at Chris who was smiling back at us.

  “This is Captain James Dean, recently retired in 2010 from the Palm Beach, Florida police force. And if either of you cared to pay attention in Forensics class, this man is known nationally – no, he is known worldwide for solving an important criminal case and putting that man behind bars”.

  “Which case and which criminal?” I asked.

  “Have you ever heard of the Ford Jewelry Heist of 1997 and the capture a year later of the Ninja Burglar?”