Murder At The Podium Read online

  “I must have mistaken the day you mentioned. I had to fly into Dallas for a meeting of petroleum engineers so I took my own plane to get there.”

  “Where and when was the meeting?”

  “It was eleven in the morning two days before Stacy’s death and the meeting was at the Dallas Convention Center.”

  “So if we pull the tape of the meeting, you’re saying that we’ll see you on the tape,” Castillo said.

  “I had to leave and use the bathroom,” Adam replied. “I had a bit of the stomach flu, so I might not be there at the time of the filming.”

  While he was talking, Jill was accessing the films from the convention center folks. They had a sophisticated security camera system because of the expensive trade shows that occurred inside. Using her facial recognition software she tracked Adam out of a conference room and into a men’s bathroom. Minutes later he left the bathroom wearing the uniform of the maintenance guy. She turned her laptop over to Castillo who watched the feed and nodded.

  “Mr. Johnson, what you meant to say was that you went to the bathroom to change your appearance and then walked toward the hotel that Stacy would be staying in the next day,” Castillo corrected. “Let’s see what happens after you leave the bathroom.”

  Jill had been sorting the video footage and on camera after camera they tracked his progress to the door outside of Stacy’s future room. Then they traced back into the bathroom where he changed back into his convention suit and he re-entered the engineering conference. At the end of the meeting, he hit the same bathroom and changed this time into the room service outfit. Originally when Jill had run the footage, her software had said there was a possible match but not a confirmatory match. With this additional footage, it would be excellent evidence that Adam had opportunity.

  On advice of his attorney, Adam had no response to the footage. So they changed tactics and asked him about the ugly cookie jar that Mexican officials had tagged for evidence when they searched the plane. They found it inside one of the kid’s suitcases. The crime lab texted Castillo that it was positive for arsenic.

  “We have evidence that you removed what appears to be a cookie jar from your house before your attempted murder of Dr. Quint,” Castillo said while Jill gave Adam her best fierce look. “Our lab has confirmed that it’s positive for arsenic. Your wife died from eating blueberries marinated in arsenic and you possess that substance. We questioned some other people who said you were known to bake, so it was well within your capabilities to create the muffin that killed your wife. What’s wrong? Did she catch you driving a transport truck around town and threaten to expose you?”

  “No comment,” replied Adam Johnson who had been slowly losing his confidence as he heard the evidence piling up against him. He was a smart man and he had to know they had enough evidence to convict him of multiple felonies and violations of State and Federal laws.

  Despite several more hours of questioning with alternating personnel, they got nothing more out of him related to Stacy’s murder or the chemical transportation scheme. There was such a wide array of circumstantial and factual evidence that they likely had enough to convict him if he never said another word.

  Jill walked out of the police department near midnight. Castillo gave her a ride back to the hotel and she would fly back to California in the morning. She played a key role in the collection of evidence that would nail the coffin on Adam Johnson for multiple crimes. It was the first time she ever turned on a client and it didn’t feel good. In fact, nothing about the case felt good. Brian Campos got away, Adam hadn’t admitted he killed Stacy. His kids had lost both parents. She was getting deep in the pity party. The only thing she felt good about was shutting down the chemical operation; it was solely her investigative skills that uncovered the operation.

  She got her room key from the front desk and headed up to her room dead tired, dragging her suitcase behind her. She couldn’t wait to fall face first onto the bed. She inserted her room key and opened the door, she had her shoulder holding the door open, one hand on the luggage pull and the other inside her purse about to drop her room key. Then she smelled a man’s cologne and her hand slipped farther into her purse for the bug spray. The light switch was inside the room but she pulled out the bug spray and leveled the nozzle toward a six foot five inch target and moved her hand in slow motion across the entrance to her room. For a second her mind flashed to what a mess she would have to clean up before she went to bed.

  By the third second, she heard a gasp followed by a man’s scream, then her own in response. She flicked the light on and found Brian Campos, she thought, on his knees, his hands covering his eyes as he moaned. She speed dialed Castillo and told him to return to her hotel room, that she thought she’d disarmed Brian Campos. She moved closer to the man and sprayed him again near his eyes. Doors opened down the hallway and she could hear people coming; she yelled at the first person to call hotel security immediately. She heard sirens outside as well, as Castillo raised the alarm to come to her aid.

  Two minutes later, the first police officer arrived on the heels of hotel security.

  “Ma’am, what’s going on here?” said the officer taking the bug spray out of Jill’s hand.

  “When I entered my room, this man was waiting for me. I smelled his cologne and sprayed him with bug spray before he could harm me. Then I resprayed him to keep him down until help arrived.”

  Castillo arrived at a run, happy to see Jill unharmed. He had a sliver of sympathy for Brian Campos as he was quite blinded by the bug spray and was in such pain that he was incoherent. They had to call paramedics to treat the man as it seemed that he had contact lenses that had accelerated the damage done by the bug spray. His eyesight would be impaired for a while. Within twenty minutes, Castillo had the situation wrapped up and Brian Campos was taken away to the hospital for clearance and then he’d be booked into jail.

  “My lieutenant thought my reasoning for hiring you was about the strangest she ever heard. Now, she’ll have to eat humble pie. You made a great target to catch a lot of bad people in the State of Texas,” Castillo said with a grin. “By my last count, I think it’s Jill Quint twenty points, bad guys zero.”

  “Now that I’ve done all your work for you, rounding up the Texas most wanted criminals in two cities, I’m heading home to my peaceful vineyard in California. I’m sure I’ll have to come back for their trials since there were murder attempts on me, but if you have a witness statement or anything else for me to sign, just send it to me.”

  “It’s really been a pleasure working with you Dr. Quint. I wouldn’t be surprised if the department called upon you again to consult; you have some unique skills and attributes and you think on your feet. Thank you on behalf of the city of Dallas and the State of Texas.”

  Jill was always embarrassed by praise and she was so dead tired, that if Castillo said many more nice words to her, she’d cry. She was thrilled to see the hotel security guard return to the room ready to assist her elsewhere to sleep for the night. After a handshake from Castillo, and an elevator ride to another floor she crashed onto her new bed ten minutes later. What an amazing thirty-six hours, Jill thought as she settled her face on the soft pillow.

  Epilogue

  Two weeks later, Jill and Nathan hopped aboard the private jet sent by Henrik Klein for the friends to enjoy the long weekend together in Germany. In three hours, they would touch down in Green Bay for Marie, Jo, and Angela to join them on the luxury jet complete with its own attendant. The seats reclined to flat so they had the most comfortable ride to Europe ever.

  They arrived for a late dinner at Henrik’s estate. Plied with wine from the Rhine Valley, a fireplace and the companionship of friends, it felt like one of those moments when all was right in the world. Nathan urged Jill to relay her stories of the bug spray and soon Jo and Angela’s eyes were hurting from the thought of chemicals adhering to their contact lenses.

  Nick would be arriving from Amsterdam in the morning and they
were all going to watch an elite Belgium police force try Henrik’s obstacle course after he toured them around his newly planted vineyard. He’d added additional traps since they last saw the course and they would be entertained by the training exercise. Later, they were going to several wineries to sample the wine and cheese of the region. The next day Henrik had arranged a brewery tour for Angela, who was more partial to beer as well as an Oktoberfest party.

  Henrik and Marie seemed to be getting along so well that Jill could see a blossoming romance even though they were worlds apart. Henrik had the financial resources to make it happen if he so desired and since he was such a nice friend, she would love to see Marie paired with him.

  While they were together, the four women finished their plans for their upcoming vacation to the United Kingdom. When Henrik learned of their itinerary, he consulted his calendar and found he’d be in Edinburgh the same day they would. It was the technology capital of Scotland and he was doing a presentation, so they made plans for dinner.

  Yes, Jill thought, she was lucky to be enjoying this moment. Thinking back to a few of the dangerous circumstances in which she’d found herself in Texas, maybe she’d take this weekend to think about her future and if she should continue to put her life and sometimes that of her friends at risk. Maybe she should be a vintner full time and moonlight with a few crime labs to supplement her income until the winery could fully support her. Maybe she would just do autopsies but no longer offer any investigative services, but that would cut into the vacation funds her friends were now enjoying. She hated to be pessimistic, but one day her luck would run out. Should she quit now to ensure that she would be able to have moments of bliss like she was having at the moment? Only time would tell.