We got to the end of the hall and Margery gave a single knock on a set of Mahogany double doors and stepped inside. I followed. There were four people at the far end of the room-three men and a woman-all seated in high-backed leather swivel chairs at the end of an enormous, well-polished conference table. The room was windowless and the lights were set at a low level. The man at the head of the table, a tall balding guy with bushy eyebrows and a Jay Leno chin spoke without looking up. “Margery. I was certain I made my position clear. This is an emergency session of the executive committee and we are not to be disturbed. Close the door on the way out, if you please, and leave it closed. I would prefer not to have to lock it, but if you can not or will not follow my direction, you will leave me with no other choice.”
The room was long, forty feet or so by my estimation, so I thought I could get away with it. I pulled Margery close by the elbow, lowered my voice a little and said, “I thought you said Dugan was the son of a bitch.”
Margery spoke from the side of her mouth. “I did. And he was. That’s James Marriott, absolutely no relation to the hotel Marriott’s even though that’s what he likes everyone to believe. He’s an asshole, but just the regular sort. Whatever you do, don’t call him Jim. It’s James. I’ll leave you to introduce yourself.” She gave me a pat on the shoulder. “Have fun.”
Great. I stood still for a moment to let my eyes adjust to the lighting then I walked the length of the room, pulled out a chair one spot removed from one of the men and sat down. Didn’t say a word. Just stared at the people at the table.
“Who the hell are you?” Marriott said.
They were all well dressed. Expensive suits, gold watches, sparkling jewelry, cuff links for the men, diamond earrings for the woman. In front of each of them was a leather-bound note pad with an embossed golden cross overlaid atop of a more subtle-but still visible-shining sun, with the words, Sunrise Bank at the top. Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard myself say, oh brother.
“I asked you a question, young man. I don’t like to repeat myself. Who the hell are you?”
“My name is Detective Jones, with the Indiana State Police. I’m here to speak with-“
“Well Detective,” Marriott said, “We know why you’re here, and believe me, we are happy to oblige you in any way we can, but at the moment, given every thing that has happened this morning, tragic as it is, we hope you will understand that in the immediate we are extremely busy. So thank you very much for stopping by and, I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we will be in touch at our earliest convenience.”
Wow. It was a fine effort, I had to give him that. I thought of what Margery told me…. What ever you do, don’t call him Jim. “I understand, and I can even appreciate your position, Jim. But here’s the thing-”
“It’s James,” Marriott said through his teeth. Not, Jim. James.
“Yes, well, that’s fine. James, then. So, as I was saying, the thing is, time is sort of critical for us. The quicker we can-“
“Detective, you’re not listening. The loss of Franklin this morning is going to have devastating effects on our company unless we take immediate action. Our stock is already off over fifteen percent since the opening bell an hour ago and our investors need to know-need to be assured-that our company is solid. That is what we are doing now, or rather, that is what we are trying to do. So, once again, thank you for your interest in this matter. A representative of our organization will be in touch with you and your people as soon as possible. Please close the door on your way out, and take your two thugs out there with you. I have notified our security personnel to assist you and your associates to the door. Last time I checked, this is still private property on United States soil and at the moment, you are not welcome here. That will be all, Detective. Good day.”
Thank you for your interest? “Just out of curiosity, Jimbo, how many of your security staff did you call?”
Marriott’s jaw was clenched, and he hissed through his teeth. “I will not tolerate your blatant disrespect of me and this organiza-”
“How many?” I asked again.
“Six,” Marriott said, his voice smug. “Two for each of you.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the papers that Rosencrantz had given me and slid them across the table to Marriott. “That’s a search warrant. It allows us access to this building, your offices, your computers, files, and just about anything else we want or need to look at. Your offices are now part of a crime scene in an on-going investigation. I suggest you forget about your stock for a few minutes, Jim, and start assisting us with our job.”
Marriott ignored the warrant I’d slid across the table. “Who is your supervisor, young man? I want to speak with them immediately.”
“I work for the state, Jim. I already told you that. My boss is Cora LaRue. You’ve probably never heard of her. A lot of people haven’t. But her boss is Governor Hewitt McConnell. I know you’ve heard of him. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, the Governor is a past board member of your institution and currently serves as the lead member of your Council of Advisors. As I understand it, the council is there to advise the board. Do I have that right, Jim?”
“Well-”
“In other words, the Governor is going to be advising the board as to who might make the short list for Chairman and CEO to replace Franklin Dugan. I’m guessing you’d like to think you’re going to make that list. Maybe even top it. I mean, look at you, you’re sitting at the head of the table already. How am I doing so far, Jim?”
Marriott held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Alright, alright. So you’ve got some stones and you’re tough enough to stand toe to toe with me. I admire that. So ask your questions. No one here in this room, or in our entire organization for that matter has anything to hide, I assure you.”
Before I could respond, the double doors at the far end of the room burst open and Donatti and Rosencrantz marched six uniformed security guards into the room, their hands cuffed behind their backs. Donatti smiled and said, “It’s a good thing they all had their own cuffs. I only carry two pair myself…”
It took a few moments to get everyone calmed down, but in the end I got Marriott’s assurance that they’d all cooperate. I told Rosencrantz and Donatti to take the guards out and un-cuff them, and once that was all done, I looked Marriott in the eye and said, “How about we start over?”
The woman seated directly across from me looked at Marriott. “Perhaps we should bring Bob Brighton in, James. Don’t you think?”
Marriott snarled at her. “We don’t need Bob for Christ sake.”
“Who’s Bob Brighton?” I said.
“He’s our in-house council,” the woman said. “My name is Gloria Birchmier, by the way.” She nodded in turn to the other two men at the table. “Dick Hawthorne and Thomas Fallbrook,” she said by way of introductions.
I nodded at everyone. “Alright, so, lay it out for me. Your organization, I mean. The four of you are the executive committee?”
Gloria answered for the group. “Yes. There are normally five of us. Franklin was the fifth. We have a total of eleven board members. All from within the state, except that the others are all from out of town. Two live in Fort Wayne, one in South Bend, and the other three in Evansville. They are all on their way here of course, but it will be a few hours I imagine.”
“Who notified them of Mr. Dugan’s murder?” I said.
“We all did,” Gloria said. “We have a disaster plan in place. Each of us have assigned duties and responsibilities as defined in the plan. One of those responsibilities in the event of a disaster is immediate notification of the company’s Board of Directors.”
“What qualifies as a disaster?”
Hawthorne spoke for the first time. “Well, it’s pretty broad. Just about anything from any sort of natural disaster that would affect our operations, like structural damage to our facilities from fire, flood, tornados, things of that sort-to the sudden death or incapacitation of anyone on the executive committee.”
“Were any of you unable to reach the other members of the board?”
Fallbrook raised his hand. “I had a little trouble with one of my assigns. Bill Acker. But eventually I got him.”
“Home or office?” I said.
“Oh, it was at home. He was just in the shower.”
“So to the best of everyone’s knowledge, the board members who were in town this morning are all in this room, and everyone else, everyone who lives out of town were all…well, out of town?” Everyone nodded.
“Yes, I believe that’s correct,” Gloria said. “Why?”
“Because I’m trying to figure out who killed your boss, Ms. Birchmier.”
Gloria put a hand to her throat. “And you think one of us did it?”
Marriott swore under his breath. “Aw, Jesus Christ.” He picked up the phone and punched one of the buttons. Margery…get Bob Brighton in here. Now.”
Sunrise Bank’s lead council, Bob Brighton entered the conference room a few minutes later. Brighton was short, not much over five feet tall, and gone to fat. His hair was gray and kinky, he wore a yellow bow tie and his pants were about an inch too short.
“How do you do, Detective?”
“I’m well, thank you Mr. Brighton. Your executive committee thought it might be best if you sat in for a few of my questions.”
“Indeed. Please, proceed.”
“He thinks one of us killed Franklin,” Gloria said.
Brighton raised his eyebrows at me, and a small grin formed at the corner of his mouth.
“That’s not exactly accurate,” I said.
Gloria pointed a finger at me. “It is too accurate. You said so yourself.”
“No, Ms. Birchmier, what I said was that I am trying to figure out who killed Mr. Dugan. You were the one who asked if I thought any of you did it, not me.”
“Well, the implication was quite clear, Detective.”
Brighton cut in. “Correct me if I’m wrong, Detective, but these types of investigations are usually conducted, um, what’s the best way to put it? By process of elimination, isn’t that correct?”
I nodded. “That’s often true. But, keep in mind, we also look at the question of ‘who benefits?’ So let me ask all of you this: with Franklin Dugan now deceased, who gets the big chair? Who is going to be Chairman of the Board and CEO of Sunrise Bank?”
“The Board will have to vote on that,” Hawthorne said. “But undoubtedly, it would be one of us.”
“Okay, so what happens if there’s a tie? In the vote?”
“Then we would revert to the question of who holds the most stock. It’s in the charter.”
“So who holds the most stock?” I said.
Marriott rubbed his forehead with the fingertips of both hands. “I do.”
I had everyone except Marriott and Brighton leave the room. When they were gone, Marriott shook his head. “I didn’t kill him. Hell, I was up at six and gone by six-thirty at the latest. I went to the club, worked out, then ate a light breakfast in the dining room. Gloria called me on my cell and told me the news. Plus, there must have been about ten or twenty people who saw me from the time I walked in the club until I left.”
Nothing’s easy.
I had a few more follow up questions for Marriott, none of which went anywhere at all, so I pulled at another thread. “I’d like to ask you about Samuel Pate.”
Marriott snuffed at the mention of Pate’s name. “So ask.”
“Well,” I said, “What I’d really like is your general, overall impression of the man.”
Marriott leaned in, his forearms on the edge of the table. “Detective, we have a rather unique business model here at Sunrise. No other financial institution in the country does what we do. Now, don’t misunderstand what I’m saying-there are plenty of banks out there that lend money to churches and religious institutions all across the U.S. But we are the only one that does it exclusively.”
“If you have a point, Mr. Marriott, so far it’s lost on me.”
“My point is simple, Detective. We are as close as you could come to being called a private bank. We vigorously protect our assets and those of our clients. Confidentiality at our institution is held at the highest regard. I’m quite sure you understand.”
“I’m not asking for his financials, Mr. Marriott. I’m asking for your general impression of the man.”
Marriott looked at me for a full minute before he spoke. “He doesn’t let much get in his way, I’ll say that about the man. But that’s all I’ll say.”
When I was finished with Marriott I stepped out of the conference room and found Rosencrantz and Donatti seated in the reception area waiting for me, two empty plates of shrimp tails on the coffee table by their knees.
“Get what we needed?” I said.
“Right here boss,” Donatti said, and handed me a file folder. Pate’s financial history with the bank.
“Alright, I want you guys out at the scene to help with the canvass. Ron should still be there. Widen it out as far as possible. All we’ve got so far is Sandy’s report of a white panel van of some kind. If we can get a plate, or even a partial, we’d have something solid.”
The two men stood up and Donatti picked up their plates, looked around for a trash can, didn’t see one, shrugged, and set them back down on the table.
“You know,” Rosencrantz said, “If you let that Jamaican chef of yours, what’s his name, again?”
“Robert,” I said.
“Right, right, Robert. If you get Robert some of this shrimp, and he put some of that jerk sauce on them and sort of sizzled ‘em up in a pan, you’d have something right there.”
Donatti was nodding. “He’s right. That sauce of his is something. You’d pretty much have the crack cocaine of shrimp.”
I nodded right along with them. “Yeah, I know. I’m already on it.”
Before I left, I found Margery at her desk. “Margery, listen. I’ve got something I want to run by you.”
“Sure,” Margery said. “But wait, before I forget, here’s the number of the seafood place in Elkhart. They’re expecting your call.” She handed me a slip of paper with the info. “They said, and I quote, ‘as a favor to me and because you’re a new customer, they’ll move you to the front of the line.’ They’ve got a truck coming to Indy today. If you could call them soon enough, you’d be all set.”
“Aw, jeez, Margery, that’s great. But, uh, I probably won’t have time to call them.” I pulled one of my cards out of my wallet and handed it to her. “Do me a favor? Call the number on this card and ask for Robert. He’s my chef. Tell him I said to order whatever he needs, okay?”
“Sure. That’s no problem. You said you wanted to run something by me?”
“I do. Look, I usually don’t ask this, but you seem to sort of have your ear to the ground around here, so I was sort of hoping you could let me know if you hear of anything that might be, uh, let’s say, out of the ordinary.”
Margery looked around, like someone might be listening. “Like what?”
“Anything really. Something out of place, someone acting strange, uptight, saying something out of character, something they wouldn’t normally do or say. Don’t do anything about it, but call me and let me know, will you?”
“Sure, sounds a lot like what I do already.” She gave me a little eyebrow wiggle. “And, as long as we’re trading favors, how about you do a little something for me?”
“Uh, maybe,” I said, a little skeptical. “What is it?”
“Oh don’t get all coppish on me.”
“No, no. I’m not. What is it?”
“Well, earlier I told you I was thinking about retiring and spending some time on the beach.”
“Yeah? Boy I could tell you about some great places in Jamaica. I go every February for a month.”
“No, no. I was wondering…your two guys?
“Yeah?”
“Well, you know… the cute one. Is he attached or anything? I was hoping you could put a word in for me.”
I sort of puffed out my cheeks. “Margery, I’ll be the first to admit I’m not very religious, and I mean not at all. But with God as my witness, I don’t know which one qualifies as the cute one.”
Margery huffed a little. “You know… the tall one. What’d you call him? Rosie?”
“He’s the cute one?”
Margery gave me a slow blink. Twice. “Oh, honey, are you kidding me? I’d like to buy him a few of those rum punches and get him into a man thong on the beach. You might not ever see him again.”
“Aw jeez, Margery.”
“What?”
“I’ve got to work with the guy pretty much every day. Now every time I look at him…”