“Peter, there is a Tim Murphy here to see you,” Judy informed me over the intercom.
I rose up from my chair and made my way down the hallway. Jorge had just given me
over the phone some wire instructions to move more of the cartel's money. This time I was told
to move through several Asian companies and their banks. One thing was for sure, Julio wasn't
leaving any stone unturned if it could help him launder his assets.
The man in the lobby was wearing a cheap suit and old looking shoes – he definitely did
not look like a potential client.
“Tom Murphy, Morristown detective,” he said while holding out his hand. “Can we talk
in your office?”
I glanced over at Judy who looked like Mr. Murphy had not told her who he was when he
first entered the lobby.
“That's fine,” I said after shaking his hand.
The walk down the short hallway seemed football field long as my mind raced through
all of the reasons a Morristown detective was wanting to talk with me. Had this to do with Nick
Johnson, or could someone have complained about the two guys watching my building from the
parking lot? Maybe „pants on fire' had decided to go the police and tell everything, which wasn't
much at all anyway.
We sat down in my office and Detective Murphy got right to the point.
“Peter, I want to talk with you about Darryl Ludsten,” he started. “His friend, Jonathan
Walsh, has been nagging us for two months with his theories about Darryl's death, and I gotta tell
you Peter, it makes up a wild story.”
Timothy Gilbert
Damage Control
273
Detective Murphy was a bit wild eyed when he said this, like he just couldn't wait to
blurt out this wild story of Mr. Walsh. His hands were fidgeting in his lap and I wasn't sure if he
was going to sit or stand. My brain started hurrying around trying to find a way to cool this guy's
jets because this man was on a mission. Or at least it seemed that way.
“Alright, shoot,” I replied.
„Well, Mr. Walsh believes that the deaths of Mr. Ludsten and Mr. Brad Dellan were
connected so as to cover something up here at PLH,” he started. “But, as you know, no foul play
has been found in either death, so we have been holding off Mr. Walsh and his desire for us to
talk with you.”
I looked at the detective with a smirk. “Wow, sounds like something in the movies! But
seriously, I had as much to do with their deaths as I did with JFK's forty years ago.”
The detective let out a cough and it took him a few seconds to recover. “Well, it does
seem odd that two people tied to PLH would die within a few days of one another.”
“I would say tragic before I would call it odd, sir,” I said.
“Okay, fair enough,” the detective told me. “Do you know if United Enterprises had
anything to do with these deaths?”
Boy, Jonathan was sure a busy boy with the police, not holding anything back.
“Look, he already talked to me about United,” I said, with less patience that I had told
myself to show. “United is a client for whom I don't directly manage their money. It's a very
indirect relationship compared to my other clients. United had nothing to do with these deaths,
nor did anybody. One was an accident, the other a heart attack. As far as I knew, Darryl and Brad
lived in completely different worlds.”
Suddenly, Detective Murphy stood up from his chair while staring intently at me. “And,
you don't have any other clients that you suspect could be involved with these two deaths? It is
Timothy Gilbert
Damage Control
274
all too weird, something's…not right here. Mr. Ludsten finds out about United Enterprises and
ends up dead shortly thereafter.” The detective kept staring right at me.
“Detective Murphy, my clients are Hollywood stars. They're not angels by any means but
c'mon, that's crazy.” I looked at my watch. “I have a conference call to hop onto if you don't
mind.”
I shook the detective's hand and led him out to the lobby. It was a damn good thing, Julio
knew a good assassin for the two jobs. Anyway, the cartel had already set up a good looking shell
company for United Enterprises. So when Detective Murphy looked under the hood, he would see
what looked like a real company making real products. In the end, though, this guy suspected
something. That was clear. Damn.
Timothy Gilbert
Damage Control
275
Tuesday, January 7th
2:30pm
“Joseph, still no sign of them?” Mihail asked over the cell phone.
“Hey, I can't explain it, maybe they bolted town when they heard we were coming.”
Mihail laughed uncomfortably. “Oh, I don't think so. They'll be back and we'll be ready for
them.”
Mihail heard Joseph's partner, James, talking in the car and thought about asking if James was on
his cell phone but decided against it. These were Jim Lick's guys after all so Mihail knew he had
to tread carefully.
“So, we just sit tight?” Joseph asked Mihail.
“No, plan on moving in when this doctor leaves for the evening,” Mihail ordered. “Wait for him
in the garage.”
James and Joseph had arrived that past Sunday. There had been no sign of Oleg and his partner at
the doctor's house or office.
“You got it and I'll make sure he understands there's a new sheriff in town.”
“Very funny, just stick to the plan and don't rough him up to much,” Mihail said.
Timothy Gilbert
Damage Control
276
Tuesday, January 7th
5:35pm