Carrie spent the next twenty minutes reviewing the requirements of her responsibilities with Simpson. She was concerned about managing Jamie’s files and records from inside the Faraday home. However, Simpson suggested it might make sense to do the preliminary work right in Jamie’s studio. He was sure a great many materials could be thrown out or packed for distribution to the appropriate parties rather quickly. Then she could ship the remaining materials to a more convenient location of her choice. Simpson assured her she had complete authority to destroy materials, pack up files, give items away, and move the remaining work anywhere she wanted. Carrie liked Simpson’s suggestion for handling the work.
She was getting ready to
leave when she decided to take advantage of the time she had alone with him. “Mr. Simpson, what’s your take on Jamie’s death? A simple case of someone losing his balance and falling off a pier, or is there something more sinister out there?”
Simpson leaned back in his chair. He thought for a moment and then looked directly into Carrie’s eyes. “One could easily take the evidence we have about James’s death and formulate a case to support either theory. But
, of course, that doesn’t answer your question, does it?” He paused a moment longer, as if he was determining whether he could trust her with his insights. “Although I rarely had the opportunity to talk with him, I found James quite bright and extremely astute. Regardless of the evidence, I don’t believe James would have asked you to question his death if he hadn’t believed he was in danger. That’s what he asked you to do in the letter, correct? To question his death if the circumstances were out of the ordinary?”
Carrie also hesitated for a moment, not really knowing whom in this lot of friends and family she could trust. She liked Simpson, and Jamie must have trusted him
, too. After all, he chose Simpson to draft his will and to leave her letter with him. She decided to tell Simpson the truth. “Yes, that’s what he asked me to do.”
“In that case
, I would simply advise you to be extremely careful. There must be danger out there. James obviously thought you could handle yourself or he wouldn’t have asked you to help. But then I always thought James could handle himself and look what happened to him.”
“Mr. Simpson, what about
the mugging last night? Do you think it was related to this case?”
Simpson did not hesitate with his answer. “Oh, yes, it’s related.” Simpson didn’t miss the surprised look on Carrie’s face. “I see you’re surprised at the quickness of my response. I haven’t told anyone this, including the police. The muggers came up behind me and clunked me on the head.”
“There was more than one mugger.” Something was nagging at Carrie based on what Simpson described, but she couldn’t quite place what it was.
“Yes there were definitely two of them,” answered Simpson.
Simpson touched the bandage on his forehead. “I pretended to be out cold, but I heard them say they were looking for the letter.”
“Mr. Simpson, I’m so sorry I was the cause of that bump on your head
…” Carrie’s sentence trailed off.
“You must not think that way. Things have a way of working out for the best. You still have the letter and I’m fine. But I do want you to be extremely careful. Those men frightened me.” Simpson reached into his desk and took out a card. “Let me give you my business card. I’ll put my home number on the back.” He uncapped his fountain pen and wrote the number. “Keep the card with you and know that you can call me any time
, day or night.”
Carrie accepted the card. “I appreciate this. I feel better knowing
there’s someone I can call.”
“
I’ve one more suggestion for you.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“I would suggest that you make notes of some sort. Then I suggest that you send your notes to someone for safekeeping. If you want to send your notes here, I promise not to open the envelopes. As you said, James left us with no clues. We have no idea what he was doing. If something unexpected…” He trailed off.
“You mean if something unexpected happens to me? At least you
’ll know what I was doing.”
“Let’s not go there. Let’s assume you will have the best of luck in bringing this matter to a conclusion.”
“That’s a good suggestion.” Carrie didn’t mention that she had already mailed Jamie’s letter to her parents for safekeeping. “Well, thank you for your help and honesty. And I’m really am sorry about last night.”
“Don’t give it any
more thought.” Simpson stood and shook hands with Carrie.
Carrie left Simpson’s office with several business cards, a key to Jamie’s studio, and more questions than answers. Would Jamie’s files help her solve his death? What if the materials led her down the same trail as Jamie? Would she be in the same danger? Had Simpson made the same connection she made that only someone from the wake would have known he had Jamie’s letter? These questions occupied her mind during the twenty minutes it took her to travel from Simpson’s office to meet Joel for lunch.
Carrie took Joel’s suggestion and parked in the garage across from his office. When she arrived at his office, Joel was waiting for her, and within minutes they were seated at a window table at the
Harbor Net Restaurant overlooking the harbor waters of TriCity. It was obvious Joel was a regular at the restaurant when both the management and staff acknowledged him by name. It was a beautiful and peaceful setting, and as they sipped a chilled glass of white Zinfandel, it seemed only natural to reminisce.
“Do you remember the editorial we wrote about the unnamed professor who showed up late for class?” Joel asked.
“Oh, yes, I remember. I especially remember the dozen professors who came forward and were indignant that our editorial singled them out.” She laughed out loud.
“Then there was the review we wrote of that awful first play by the theater group,” Joel said. “The actors wouldn’t speak to us, and the drama department asked the entire newspaper staff not to attend any plays for the rest of the year.”
“But looking back, I must say our reviewer was honest. It was the worst play, even to this day, I’ve ever seen.”
There was silence while they enjoyed the moment, and then Joel asked, “You did so much writing in school, how come you ended up as a photographer? We all thought you would be the next Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist or an editor for a top publication.”
“Sheer opportunity and the need to make a living. I was trying to get a newspaper job with my state college degree, but I was up against the Jamies of the world, with master’s degrees from top journalism schools. I was interviewing for a writing job and had my camera equipment with me. I was being turned down for the millionth time for the writing job when a camera emergency arose. The editor saw my camera, asked if I knew how to use it, and off I went on my first assignment. After the paper saw my photos, I was hired, and the next thing I knew, I was making my living as a photographer. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Lately, I’ve had several opportunities to write copy to go along with my pictures, and that’s been nice, plus I’m currently writing a mystery book that I hope to publish someday.”
“Then Jamie made a good choice. He picked a mystery writer to solve a real-life mystery.”
Carrie laughed. “That sounds good, but I’m quite sure Jamie never knew I was writing a mystery.”
The waiter arrived with their chicken Caesar salads and a loaf of warm bread with whipped butter. Joel reached for the wine to refill their glasses, but caught his finger in the wire wine stand.
“Ouch, that hurt. I’ve torn my nail.”
“
I’ve a nail file here in my bag,” Carrie offered. “Let me see if I can find it.”
“No need,
I’ve a handy little tool that will fix this dilemma.” Joel pulled out a silver pocketknife with all the fancy attachments and clipped the broken nail.
“That’s quite a fancy version of that knife. May I see?” Carrie held out her hand.
Joel handed Carrie the knife, and she found it was even heavier than it appeared. It must be solid silver. She turned it over in the palm of her hand and saw the initials J.W. engraved on one side.
“Very nice,” she said as she handed it back to Joel.
“Let me just say, although the circumstances are not the best, I’m glad you’re here. I toast to a good meal, good memories, and you.” Joel raised his glass, and they touched their glasses together.
“Thanks, Joel, and thank
s for lunch. It’s a nice break from all the other issues.”
Carrie meant what she said. She was glad for lunch away from the Faradays. She enjoyed the food, the company, and the small talk about the past.
Joel reached over and touched her hand gently, held it for a moment, and then said, “Tell me about the mystery book you’re writing.”
“It’s more of a thriller, but it’s not at the top of my priority list. Right now the only mystery I’m working on is this little problem Jamie has left for me.” Carrie wanted to get to the subject of Jamie. “Is Simpson a good lawyer?”
A small grin formed at the corner of Joel’s mouth as he answered Carrie’s question. “Simpson is a very good lawyer, although he’s from that old-school mentality we talked about earlier. He comes from a good family, has impeccable law credentials, and a client list that includes the best families in Tri-County. He is also totally dedicated to the Faradays and has been their lawyer for as long as I can remember. That’s why if you want someone outside the family to help you with your work, please remember I’m here for you.”
“Thanks. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I decided to have lunch with you. I need a fresh approach to the situation. What’s your take on Simpson being mugged?”
“Whoa, easy does it. What happened to our quiet lunch?”
Before Carrie could answer, their lunch was interrupted by the sound of a boat horn warning people on the dock that a large fishing boat was approaching. After watching the boat slowly ease into its slip, Carrie returned to the conversation. “It’s all right, Joel. I know that one of the reasons for the lunch is to discuss Jamie’s letter. I’m willing to trade a nice lunch in a beautiful location for some serious talk.”
“All right then, back to more serious subjects. I’m not sure the mugging has anything to do with Jamie. In fact, according to Simpson, nothing was taken. It was probably a prank from a couple of teenagers.”
“I think it is a little more than a prank when someone gets clubbed over the head,” offered Carrie. She didn’t want to share with Joel
that Simpson just confirmed the muggers were after the letter.
“Wait a minute. You think Simpson was mugged for Jamie’s letter
?” He paused for a moment to mull over what she just said. “Is the letter missing?”
“Simpson didn’t have the letter. I took it back from him just before he left the house. But only Simpson and I were aware of this fact. Everyone else thought Simpson walked out of the Faraday house with the letter in his pocket.”
“Why did you take the letter back?” Joel asked.
“It’s quite simple. Everyone seemed so interested
in the existence of the letter I decided that I better read it before the meeting in Simpson’s office. And before you ask, the letter provided no information about what Jamie was doing.”
“Surely Jamie’s letter must have provided some information, or why write the letter?” Joel cocked an eyebrow at Carrie.
“The letter started out as we did today, reminiscing about the past. Jamie acknowledged that if I was reading the letter, he was dead. He told me I’d have access to his papers, but mentioned nothing about anything that might have led to his untimely death.”
“That’s our Jamie.” He paused for a moment and then added, “Seems odd the letter didn’t mention anything about a story
.”
“Why
…did you think he was working on a story?”
At that moment the waiter came by and cleared the table. They refused dessert, but each ordered a cappuccino to end the meal.
“You were saying you thought he might be working on a story?”
He grinned. “That’s not quite what I said. I was asking you if Jamie’s letter indicated he was working on a story. For me, it’s hard to know. When Jamie came back from overseas
we had lunch. In fact, it was in this restaurant. You know Jamie. Even when he was out relaxing with friends, he would ask everyone around him a thousand questions. That’s how it was with our meeting. He asked how I was doing, what type of law I practiced, how my import/export business was faring, what type of items were being imported through the TriCity docks, did I see any of the old gang, on and on. I really don’t know if he was gathering information or just being Jamie. I guess I’ll never know if his questions had anything to do with writing a story.”
The waiter returned with their cappuccinos. They took a moment to enjoy the taste of the frothy liquid.
“How is your law practice doing, and what’s this about an import/export business?” Carrie asked.
“My practice is doing well, and my import/export business started quite by accident. I was doing some legal work for one of the many import/export businesses in TriCity, and my research allowed me to become a bit of an expert. Soon I had a thriving practice, with one import client recommending another. You know
, being a harbor city, we have quite a lot of business in this area. I’ve taken on three additional associates and at least for right now, we have more legal business than we can handle. As far as my own import/export business, it’s really quite small. It’s more of a hobby as a result of all the legal work I do.”
“It sounds wonderful. I’m glad your practice is doing well, and there’s nothing wrong with having a hobby.” Carrie paused again as she looked around the restaurant. “Joel, what do you think about Jamie’s death? Do you think it was an accident?”
“His death was certainly unexpected. As for the details, I really don’t know anything more than what I read in the papers.”
Carrie sensed that Joel wanted to leave the subject of Jamie, but she asked her question anyway. “Do you think he was meeting someone that night and that’s wh
y he was on the pier?”
“I just don’t know. However, if
there’s no indication that Jamie was working a story, I can’t imagine why he would be meeting anyone. Besides, the real point of this luncheon is to find out what you’re going to do.”
“I’m going to go through Jamie’s materials like he asked. Get his papers separated so they can be given to Christopher and others. Stone thinks there may be some works that could be published, and then I was thinking about giving the rest of the materials to the TriCity College.
”
“Not his journalism school?”
“That school is large enough to receive lots of donations. However, the college here in Tri-County could use the donation. He’s probably the most famous student that went through the place. I thought they might want some of his original drafts, along with the published documents for the library.”
“You’re famous in your field.”
“Thanks for the compliment. I’m also still alive and I’m stingy. I’m keeping my papers for now.”
“Carrie, I’m going to be perfectly frank. No one seems to know what Jamie’s death is all about. Let’s assume for a minute it was murder. What will the murderer do to the person who starts to meddle in something they thought was closed? Please don’t get curious the way you used to.”
“I’m not planning on doing anything other than sorting Jamie’s papers. If I find something in the papers that looks like it could be related to Jamie’s death, I’m turning it over to the police.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it, and my offer still goes. If you need a place to work,
I’ve an empty office. My secretarial staff would be available to help you do any cataloging. You could ship the whole studio lock, stock, and barrel to my office, and we could help you cut your sorting time.” He seemed excited with his plan.
“Thanks, Joel. I do appreciate the offer, and I may take you up on it. I’m not looking forward to spending
any more time than necessary in the Faraday house. I’m going to start this afternoon and get some idea about the size of the job. Then I’ll let you know.”
“Great.” Joel seemed satisfied with her answer and insisted on paying for lunch.
After leaving the restaurant, Joel wanted to walk Carrie back to her car. But she convinced him she wanted to window shop before returning to her car. He kissed her on the cheek and she waved goodbye.