Chapter Sixteen Confessions #3
“Is that a yes or a no?” Burton tried to keep it casual, but he also wanted to keep it locked down.
“Yeah. Yes. I left it in the parking lot, over by the reclamation center.”
“And then what did you do?”
“I went back to Moby’s so people would see me.”
After two hours, Arlo had outlined the course of events from stealing the map to breaking into Pauline’s, and assaulting Crusty during a break-in.
“You realize that by assaulting Crusty, the charges can be raised to burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, and attempted murder.”
Arlo started to shake. “No! No! I never meant to hurt nobody. Like I said, I panicked and hit Crusty with a piece of wood; then I ran.”
“You didn’t stop to see if he was alright?”
“What? And get caught?” Arlo realized that was an asinine statement, given the circumstances. Burton let the irony settle in before he continued his questioning.
“What about the map? Did you follow it?”
“Yeah. Like Mikey said.” Arlo hung his head.
“And what did you find?” Burton knew the answer but had to ask.
Arlo grunted. If he didn’t sound like the stupidest man alive, he didn’t know who did. “A rope with a box.” He anticipated the next question, so he continued with the rest of the story. “Inside was a note that said, ‘If you found this, you are a thief …’
“Then there was that guy who was pressing Mikey for the money that he gave to Dennis. Well, not so much the money, but some paperwork.”
“And did you find the paperwork?”
“Nope. But Mikey got the money.”
Burton sat upright. “What money? From where?”
Arlo proceeded to tell them that at first, they had no idea what Dennis had spent the money on. “We tore his place apart. Then a coupla days go by, and some guy comes in and tells Mikey that Dennis owes him three grand.”
Burton inhaled. “So there are two different guys?”
“Yep. First one wanted paper; the other one wanted paper, but the green kind. With the presidents on them.”
Burton got the point. “Let me get this straight. One man wanted Dennis to find papers. Dennis is dead, so the guy goes to Mikey and expects Mikey to produce the papers.” He looked at Arlo. “How am I doing so far?”
“Real good, Chief.”
“Then a different man shows up.”
“Right. Shields from Shields Marina.”
“So, Dennis took fifty thousand from this man with no name, but you couldn’t find the money.”
“Nope. He sure wasn’t paying any bills. But then Shields comes to the shop telling us that he’s owed three grand for docking fees.”
“Docking fees for what?” Burton said and furrowed his brow.
“A houseboat Dennis bought.” Arlo spread his hands across the table. “We knew nothin’ about it. So, me and Mikey went to the marina. Shields, in Point Pleasant. Sure enough, there was this 1984 Chris-Craft Aqua Home. Nice-looking rig.”
Burton looked over at Estes. Both had raised eyebrows. The story was taking a new turn.
Arlo continued with the explanation. “We woulda never known about the boat if Dennis had paid the rent on the slip.”
“Do you think that’s where the fifty thousand went?”
“Well not all of it. Mikey found the bill of sale. Dennis spent forty grand on it.”
“So where is the other ten thousand?” Burton asked patiently.
Arlo lowered his voice, as if the recording device couldn’t hear him. “Mikey and I found it. It was stashed behind one of them push-thing secret panels. Are we going to have to pay taxes on it?”
“That’s the least of your worries right now,” Burton said.
Arlo sighed and continued. “Mikey took the ten grand and gave three to the marina guy so we could sell the boat. Mikey struck some kinda deal with Shields, and Shields bought the boat from Mikey. Minus a commission.”
Burton shook his head, as if he were trying to jiggle water out of his ears.
“We are going to have to sort out your misdemeanors and see if Crusty wants to press charges. Meanwhile, there is one angry guy running around out there who has a serious agenda.” Burton quickly jotted down a reminder note to check the council meeting records.
“Does that mean I can go?” Arlo looked up with sad, puppy-dog eyes.
“For now. But don’t leave the state.”
“I know the drill. I’ll be at the hospital.” Then it dawned on him: he didn’t have any wheels. “Can someone give me a ride?” He figured it wouldn’t look bad if a police car were dropping him off instead of hauling him away.
Burton ended the interview, tidied his notes, and walked Arlo to the parking lot. “Estes will take you over.” He paused. “Thanks, Arlo. You really helped out today.”
Arlo responded with a goofy smile.
Burton went into his office and wrote on his whiteboard. He showed Estes. “What do you think?”
Estes replied, “Looks like you’ve closed the circle.”
“Now the only missing piece is identifying the guy in the video,” Burton said, and set the magnetic marker on the whiteboard.
Before he left the office, Burton decided to phone Viggo.
“Looks like we solved the break-ins, but we’re still in the dark about who hammered Mikey.”
Burton went on to explain how Arlo spilled his guts and took responsibility for everything but knocking his brother to the floor. Burton also shared the story about the houseboat.
“As they say, you can’t make this stuff up,” Viggo said, snickering. “Glad things are coming together.”
“There are a few more things I need to check on. I’ll be in touch.”
“Thanks, Rob,” Viggo said.
Under normal circumstances, the police wouldn’t involve Coast Guard personnel unless it was official business. But Burton knew Viggo had a close relationship with the family, and they were at the center of it. Viggo was a good “outside man” yet wouldn’t step on any toes or step over any lines.