Chapter Eleven Fitting the Pieces Together #3
Before she left her room, she phoned Annie to bring her up to speed with what little information she had.
“The police were cordial but failed to mention the morphine found on scene,” Maggie said.
“What was your sense from Jeremy?”
“Honestly, I don’t think he stole it. I think he might have been framed.”
“But why?” Annie asked.
“I don’t know. Yet. I am going to see him again tomorrow. They only give you fifteen minutes of visitor time.”
“Okay. We also need you to get to Tempe. It’s under four hours by air. Can you wrangle your schedule? I’d like you to go back to Pensacola and dig deeper into this morphine thing. You really believe the guy was telling you the truth?”
“There was something about the expression in his eyes. I dunno. But you know that gut feeling thing.”
“You know I do. I make most of my decisions based on it. I can get the jet ready for you after you meet with Jeremy again. What time were you planning on going over there?”
“Probably ten.”
“Good. Once you’re finished with your fifteen minutes of Jeremy, you hustle to the airport. If we get wheels up by noon, and with the time difference, you should be able to get to the Tempe police station by two. Three at the latest.”
“I should also meet with Theresa.”
“Yes. I’ll ask Lizzie to arrange it. You’ll spend the night in Arizona and then take the jet back to Pensacola. We have to get Myra to Florida in the next two days.”
“Roger, dodger.” Maggie wrote everything down. “I’m going to upload my notes, grab a bite to eat, and then jump on the call at nine.”
“Okay, dearie. Talk to you in a bit.”
Maggie opened her laptop and typed her notes. From there, they went to a secure hard drive. When she was finished, she sent them to the secure network so the Sisters, Charles, and Fergus would have access to the information.
As Maggie was leaving for the bistro, her phone buzzed. It was Lizzie, letting her know she contacted Theresa and giving Maggie the when and where to meet the following day. Things were beginning to move quickly, but that was the only way the Sisters operated.
Just before nine, Annie, Fergus, Charles, and Myra headed down the stone steps to the War Room. After the requisite salute to Lady Liberty, they took their seats at the table. Charles had fired up the monitors earlier. They were ready to roll.
At the stroke of the hour, the sound of pings, dings, and chimes echoed through the room as everyone logged into the system with their smiling faces. Greetings, tossed kisses, and waves filled the screens.
“Good to see everyone,” Myra announced. “As some of you are aware, there has been some evidence of foul play down south and southwest. Lizzie, can you bring everyone up to speed?”
“Certainly.” Lizzie began to explain who Theresa was and her reason for the trip to Arizona.
Everyone listened intently as she described the personnel Theresa interacted with, the ring, a mysterious woman, and the presumed death of her estranged aunt.
She went on to describe the bizarre eyewitness account of the head nurse assisting someone transfer something or someone on a stretcher in the middle of the night.
Fergus chimed in, “We checked the Maricopa County Coroner’s Office, and as of an hour ago, there is no death certificate for Dorothy or Dottie Carpenter. There is, however, one that was signed by a Doctor Grodski for a woman named Helen Discher, age eighty.”
Lizzie also described the hit-and-run after Theresa questioned the head nurse about a woman in a wheelchair. “Theresa claims the woman bore a family resemblance and was wearing the deco ring.” Lizzie pulled up the fuzzy photos Theresa sent her.
Kathryn was the first to speak. “From what I can see, as blurry as it is, the woman in the wheelchair is, in fact, Theresa’s aunt.”
Heads were nodding in the monitors. Izzie was next. “Why do you suppose they are carrying on the charade?”
“That’s what we have to find out,” Annie answered.
Charles explained the many, many layers of incorporations and several offshore accounts. “We did discover that Sunnydale is the recipient of Medicaid funds and government grants.”
“One thing the government cannot hide is where the money goes. It has to be registered. The issue is we can find the beginning of the thread, but not the end of it,” Fergus said, acknowledging the brick wall they’d been hitting.
“But rest assured, we shall find those bounders.” All the women clapped and hooted.
Annie leaned into the monitor, where Maggie’s face was shining through. She squinted to get a glimpse of the sideboard that was behind her. “I cannot believe you haven’t touched the basket of snacks.”
Maggie slowly slid down below the camera level.
“Maggie? Oh, Magggee?” Annie called, as if she were beckoning one of the puppies.
A bunch of red curls began to emerge, followed by a small trash basket filled with empty bags from chips, cookies, brownies, and cheese doodles. She raised one hand in front of the camera. It was covered in orange dust.
“Didn’t you just have dinner?” Annie asked with amazement.
“Yes! I was just cleaning up!” Maggie mumbled an excuse.
“Where does she put it?” Izzie asked. “I have to run five miles a day to burn off water! It’s disgusting.” She folded her arms and feigned annoyance.
“I can’t help it if I have an overactive metabolism!” Maggie defended her voracious appetite.
“It’s what your appetite craves that makes me want to fall into a diabetic coma,” Izzie joked. “I’ll take one of Charles’s fabulous dinners over a pile of popcorn.”
“Bravo! Who wouldn’t?” Lizzie said with gusto. “That was a wonderful dinner, Charles.”
“Dinner? Without us?” Maggie whined.
“Let’s focus, girls.” Myra had to rein in everyone. “Annie, do you want to go down the list so far?”
Annie began, “This is what we know. Sunnydale is an exclusive retirement community setting with two locations: one in Tempe, Arizona; the other in Pensacola, Florida. Theresa Gallagher went to see an estranged aunt in Tempe. More details about her encounter to follow. Jeremy Sykes was the pharmacist at Sunnydale in Pensacola, Florida. In the past week, Gallagher and Sykes were both run off the road by dump trucks in two different states. Both had an association with Sunnydale.” Annie continued with the information about morphine found in Jeremy’s car.
Maggie added, “I met the guy. Briefly. But there was something in his eyes. I can’t explain it, but he said he didn’t do it, and I tend to believe him.”
“We first have to think about why he would lie,” Fergus, former head of Scotland Yard, proposed the question. “The obvious answer is that he is simply denying any wrongdoing.”
“But why tell me?” Maggie asked.
“Perhaps he thought you could help him. That would be a logical answer,” Charles added.
“He didn’t ask me to help him. He simply said that he didn’t take it.
” Maggie tapped her pen on the desk. “It was unsolicited. I hadn’t even asked him.
I think he was looking for someone to tell, who might believe him.
There also didn’t seem to be any family members around.
Except for me. I posed as his cousin when I went to the hospital.
They said that only family members could visit.
And for only fifteen minutes. Probably because he’s chained to his bed. ”
Lizzie was the next to speak. “Nikki, do you think you can find someone to represent Jeremy if this goes to trial? I have a big caseload. Election season.”
“I’ll look into it,” Nikki offered. “I have a number of colleagues who have a license to practice in Florida or are part of a Florida firm.”
“Great.” Annie jotted it down. “Maggie is heading to Arizona tomorrow after she meets with Jeremy again. When she gets to Arizona, she’ll get together with Theresa at her hotel.
After that, she’ll go to the police station and coax them into giving her a copy of the accident report.
Once she’s finished there, she’ll fly back to Florida to continue working on Jeremy. ”
It was Myra’s turn. “Charles. Fergus. You are going to have to create new identities for both me and Annie. We can keep our first names. No need to get too confused. Also, establish a presence on some social media. Not too much. Us seniors are not very tech-savvy.” Laughter broke out among the crowd.
“A Facebook page or Instagram. None of the other stuff.”
“Got it.” Charles and Fergus were quite familiar with the drill.
“Myra Regan? Annie Dresden? Does that work for you?”
“Okay with me,” Annie answered. “I’ll be able to use my good luggage.”
“Ditto,” Myra chimed in.
“We’ll get right on it.”
“Good. Annie and I have to fill out interest forms before they will interview us.”
“Will have it done in two hours,” Fergus promised. “Annie, do you want to be widowed or divorced?”
“Neither. I want to be one of those crazy cat ladies.” She raised her eyebrows.
“Perfect. They’ll try to talk you into letting them oversee your finances.”
“Myra. Children?”
“Yes, but I’ve disowned them.”
“I think there shouldn’t be any ties to family. This will make the acceptance process easier, I am certain,” Charles said.
“Good point,” Myra agreed. “Maybe I should be divorced from my ex who has passed away. He had a son. We don’t speak. Big estate issues.”
“Excellent. You are beginning to create your new personas,” Fergus remarked.
“We’re pros!” Annie chuckled.
“Do you think anyone else needs a cover?” Charles asked.
Everyone looked at one another. No one voiced a yay or nay.
“First thing, Charles, Fergus, post the jobs for Yoko, Izzie, and Kathryn,” Myra said.
“It should be relatively easy, since that part of their system doesn’t seem to be as secure as their financial server,” Charles replied.
“Have at it,” Myra said.
“What if people inquire?” Izzie asked. “Like when I show up for work?”
“I’ll have emails from the corporate headquarters offering all three of you the jobs at the appointed facility,” Fergus added.
“Give us a couple of hours,” Charles said.
“Alright, let’s plan to recon tomorrow morning. By then, we’ll have all our ducks in a row,” Fergus said.
“I plan on going back to the hospital by ten,” Maggie reminded them.
“Does eight o’clock work for everyone?” Charles asked.
Nods and affirmative responses went around the monitors.
“Right. See everyone tomorrow. Mind as you go.” Fergus signed off, and everyone else followed.
Myra and Annie left Charles and Fergus to their devices and returned to the kitchen.
“How many days should we plan on being there?” Annie stopped, then answered her own question: “As long as it takes!” Myra nodded, and Lady woofed in agreement.
“I’d say at least a week. Hopefully, we’ll be able to wrap this up sooner than later, especially since we have Theresa in Arizona. She could prove extremely helpful,” Myra said.
“And, if Maggie does what she does best, which is gain the confidence of Jeremy, then he could also prove to be an asset, or key witness.”
“For sure.” Annie’s wheels were turning. “You don’t suppose this morphine thing has something to do with Sunnydale?”
“At this point, I think Sunnydale has a lot to answer for.” Myra smirked. “We have Theresa’s Aunt Dottie issue, and the mysterious body bags in Arizona, and the missing morphine in Florida.”
“Why do I think there’s even more to this than we’ve already uncovered?” Annie mused.
“Because there always is,” Myra said, chortling.