Chapter 22

 

The next day Cyrus, Bernie, and Max got into the Dodge and drove down to Parmeneli’s Restaurant to meet with Deidra Jones. She was dressed for a picnic-a large hat, bright-yellow sunglasses, and a light, summer purple dress. It was a slow Thursday, and the place was sparsely populated. Parmeneli’s had most of its tables outdoors. Max and Cyrus sat down on either side of Deidra. Thad remained standing just behind her.

Cyrus spoke first, “Hello Deidra, have you ordered?”

“No, I am not really hungry. I think when the waiter comes I’ll have a salad.” She looked up at Bernie and then said, “Who’s the little guy?”

“Bernie Frizell, our forensic technologist.”

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Jones,” Bernie said, hiding himself partially behind Cyrus.

Deidra nodded back and was starting to talk, when Cyrus interrupted her, “The salads are a good here. So what did you want to know about our investigation?”

“First of all, I would like to know if you believe Dana Mathers is guilty of murdering Mike Tanner or not?”

“Murder? No… he pled guilty to manslaughter. I guess, officially, we will have to assume that he is guilty of that.”

“What do you mean, officially, I thought he pled guilty because there was so much evidence against him?”

“Well, there was at first, but after we took a second look -”

“A second look?” Deidra said. She snatched her sunglasses from her head and exposed the tan colored eyeglass necklace she was wearing.

“Those are nice glasses you have there Miss Jones. Could I take a look at them?”

Deidra shrugged her shoulders and handed them to him, “They’re women’s glasses. I hope you aren’t looking to buy a pair for yourself.”

Cyrus’s flushed red briefly and then he said, “I am mostly interested in the eyeglass necklace. You don’t see many of these.” He held the glasses up as he spoke, “I mean, light, tan colored ones-no, sort of flesh colored- made from real leather.” He handed the glasses to Max.

“Why did you need to re-examine the evidence?” Deidra asked, “Dana Mathers was in jail. He admitted he killed Dana Mathers. I want to know- no, no, my readers want to know- why you are wasting taxpayer funds investigating a crime that has already been solved.”

“You can tell your readers that they can rest assured that their tax dollars are being well spent. We weren’t investigating a closed case. You might remind them that someone tried to kill Dana, my partner Max here, and myself while we were transporting Dana to jail. That was the crime we were investigating.” Cyrus got closer to Deidra and searched her blue slits of eyes; they were red and teary. He could tell she was getting nervous. She didn’t like handing over her sunglasses. “Besides,” he continued, “We did have some inconsistencies in the evidence we had to clear up.”

 “Such as?” Deidra said.

“It’s about Mike’s surfboard. As you know, Dana tried to cover up his tracks by trying to make it look like Mike hurt himself while surfing and then drowned.”

“So?”

“Here’s the problem. We’re not sure which surfboard Dana would have used. He claims he didn’t use either surfboard, but we know that’s not true. We think it may have been the small one-”

“He didn’t use the small one; he used the big one. Mike’s big board that’s the one Dana used.”

“You sure?”

“Of course I’m sure.”

“That’s even more odd.”

“Why’s that? He used his old surfboard that morning. He was taking the new one to get some holes in it repaired. Don’t you believe me?”

“Oh I believe you. It’s just that there are only a few people who can be sure which surfboard Dana used for his cover up. One is the cop who found the surfboard two days after Mike was killed, several hundred yards north of where they found Mike’s body. The other is the bailiff who was in charge of storing the evidence. Then there’s me, and now apparently, you know as well. That could only mean one thing.”

“I just assumed he used it. I saw Mike’s Cooper, right after he had been killed. Only the new surfboard was left. He had the two of them in his car when we arrived at the beach. I just reasoned it out is all; I didn’t actually see Dana put the surfboard in the water.”

“You’re sure?”

“Of course I’m sure.”

“How did you see Mike’s Cooper just after he had been killed?”

Max got up from the table, got out a pair of handcuffs, and stood behind her.

“What’s going on, here?”

Cyrus shrugged off her question, “Where were you at eight fifteen am, the morning Mike Tanner was killed?”

“I told you before; I was at Mr. Chad Resnick’s house. I did some special effects work for him a few weeks ago and he hadn’t paid me.”

“Then you couldn’t have seen Mike’s Cooper just after he was killed. No, you left Resnick’s house at five or so after eight. He knew too. You were blackmailing him, that’s why he didn’t tell us and that’s how you got the money to buy that diamond ring you’re wearing.

The reason you are so sure about which surfboard Mike used is because you are the one who shoved it out into the ocean. We found the gap in the wrought iron fence Grigoryan made so you could fit through. He went with you back to where Mike had his Cooper parked. When you got there, you killed him, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“You’re lying Deidra. I know you are because you know about the surfboard. The only person who knew anything about Mike having the Pacific Systems board with him that morning was me, two other cops, and the murderer. It wasn’t on the radio or in the newspapers.”

“Yes, I killed him,” she said, clenching her fists, “Mike told me how he was going to kill Dana and make it look like self-defense. He deserved to get a bat across the side of his head. That’s what I gave him too. He told me he had been cruel to me before because he was fighting his attraction to me. He said that he couldn’t fight it anymore and that he had to be with me. I believed that little jerk and I was going to go through with marrying him.”

“You went through with accepting the marriage because he promoted you to the editorial board,” Cyrus said, “Why did you decide to kill him? I think you couldn’t let go of Dana.

Deidre glared back and then she said, “I overheard Mike talking to Moon the night before he was killed. I can’t believe I actually slept with the little creep. I was desperate. I couldn’t let that little weasel kill Dana.”

“You trying to convince me you killed Mike to save Dana?”

Deidre put her head down and placed her hands on her knees, “Mike told me he didn’t care what Duncan said, he was going to kill Dana and use me to get him into a fight. That’s when I called Grigoryan,” she continued.

“When did you call him, what time?”

“It was just after dinner, after my disgusting tryst with Mike. I was in a rush because I couldn’t wait to shower.”

“What made you think of Grigoryan?”

 “I knew how much he hated Mike Tanner from Kwan Li. When I explained to him about Mike’s plan to kill Dana Mathers he agreed to help. He didn’t know I was going to kill Mike. He just wanted to stop Mike from killing Dana. It was only after Mike was dead that he agreed to help me. I guess he figured Dana would be safer in prison. Besides, he liked me.”

“He helped you because you convinced him that once Dana was in jail and you were his girlfriend again, you could deliver the Santa Rosa Report, right?”

“Oh yeah, that too.”

Cyrus was glad to hear that Grigoryan wasn’t a murderer. Cyrus nodded over to Max, who then read her rights to her. As the waiter walked over to the table to take their order, Max handcuffed her and led her away to the squad car. Cyrus and Bernie followed them.

“I am glad I killed him,” she said as they drove away from the curb. “The lying jerk was sitting in his car when I walked up behind him. He had the music on full blast so he couldn’t hear. It was so easy. I saw the bat lying in the back seat. The handle read KT  hearts DM. Too perfect. I picked it up and with both hands I swung it as hard as I could. I used to play soft ball you know. I could not believe he was still alive after I hit him the first time, groaning and bleeding. He was so pathetic. So I hit him again, this time in the front of the head, I think that did it actually, but I hit him once more from the back just to be sure.”

“Then you put the wet suit on Mike’s body and had Grigoryan carry it down to the beach. That was quick thinking, I have to admit. You made that eyeglass necklace look just like Dana’s scar and you knew that Briana would be down there to witness it all.”

“Of course. That was the idea. Then Miss High Society’s Daddy would step in and keep her away from the bad old surf bum-”

“And you’d have him all to yourself.”

Deidra stared into the rear view at Cyrus and then she smiled.