For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Bringing Sky along this morning was a good idea, but it didn’t quite work the way I thought it would. However, we will try that again, but make it more obvious next time. She did plant some listening devices for us though, so that was certainly helpful. Kind of, anyway. So, what did we hear? “I think maybe you should take a few days off Dan,” said Barry, “you are really taking this hard and I don’t want you having some kind of nervous breakdown or something. I can handle the business for a few days.”
“Thanks Barry, you have been a great friend in all of this,” said Dan, “I was thinking, maybe I should have told them about that guy who was stalking Jacie the last couple of months.” “Yeah, I was wondering why you didn’t mention it,” he said, “guess I should have mentioned it myself. The police certainly didn’t think it was important, they didn’t check up on that guy at all.” “That’s because for them they wanted this to be an accidental death,” said Dan, “a lot less work that way.
I also think that someone important is pulling some strings on this case. Maybe we are getting too big for someone and they don’t like it.” “Well, too bad for them,” said Barry, “we are not backing down for nobody. But maybe we should hire some security for ourselves for a while until things settle down a bit.” “Yeah, you might be right,” he said, “call one of the security firms in town. Man, this is really eating me up. I loved Jacie, I really did. We should never have gotten her involved in the business.”
“Maybe, but she did bring in a lot of money for us,” said Barry, “I will miss her too, but for different reasons.” “All you ever think about is money,” said Dan shaking his head, “there are things more important you know.” “Not for me,” said Barry, “it’s all about money for me. And Jacie did bring in a lot, $10,000 a night when she worked. And Li paid us $500,000 for one week. You know, Jacie’s friend Crystal could do that too, I bet. She is one beautiful woman. Maybe I should see if she would like to join us, after all, a PI wouldn’t make much money.”
“Yeah, right, you’re going to convince a PI to change and work for a sex company,” said Dan, “you’re crazy.” “Well, it was just a thought,” he said. Then Dan called me to tell me about Jacie’s stalker, a man named Harold who worked at the same office as Jacie. Hmm, we just might be getting somewhere now. A stalker would indeed be a prime suspect. And Dan is right, someone is pulling some strings, someone important. Could it be that Kenwood fellow? Dan also told us something else, he and Jacie were already married.
They had gone to Reno for a convention, something her parents didn’t like, but Dan assured them they would have separate rooms and everything would be kept proper. So then they gave their consent. Not that Jacie really needed their consent, but she and her mother were very close Crystal told me, which is why this is affecting her mother so much. Anyway, while there they decided to get married, but since her parents wanted a nice wedding in one of the parks, they decided not to tell Jacie’s parents and just go through with the original wedding plans.
Kind of interesting that Jacie didn’t tell that bit of news to Crystal, considering they would always talk about everything in their lives together. Peter then called and said his wife was in the hospital. Apparently the news of their daughter being cremated was just too much for her to bear and she just started going crazy. Later we met Sienna’s lawyer friend at the funeral home and went inside. The secretary said we need to have an appointment. I said we were going to talk with them now or this funeral home would be closed down and I introduced our lawyer.
She went inside the office and came out after a few minutes and said we could go in now. There were two men in the office, co-owners of the funeral home and they showed us the papers that Peter had signed for the cremation. I took them and went to the window and matched the signature with the check given to the funeral home that Peter had signed. “Hmm, a perfect match,” I said, “do you two know the penalty for forgery?” They both looked shocked when I said that.
“You copied Peter Boardman’s name from his check,” I said, “no signatures are ever exactly alike, there are always tiny differences in them. So, this proves a forgery, and you are guilty. Plus there is the matter of cremating the body of Jacie Boardman, something you had no permission to do.” “We will say nothing more without our lawyer present,” they said. “Fine,” I said, “make sure your lawyer is here the next time we stop in.” We then left, and with the papers with the forged signature too, just so they don’t get lost somewhere.
The lawyer took them back to his office where he put them in his safe. Meanwhile, back with Mac. He had met up with Rick and some of his gang. Rick actually had one of the largest street gangs in the city. Mac, however, was getting surrounded by Rick and 5 of his friends, but Mac was next to a building, so he quickly grabbed Rick and slammed him against the wall and with his knife at Rick’s throat, told him to get rid of his friends, or die. Rick could see that Mac meant business, so he told his friends to back away to their van, which they did.
There was another man at the van who had been trying to shoot Mac, but for some reason his gun wasn’t working. Then Mac and Rick went for a walk and Mac asked about a good hit man. Rick gave him two names and addresses and Mac handed him an envelope, with $5,000 inside. Rick was overjoyed by this, he usually didn’t make so much money that easily. He watched as Mac got into a nice, bright blue Ferrari with dark windows all around and drove off.
“Thanks for the company,” said Mac. “You’re welcome,” said Kristina. “I was wondering who Steve would send,” he said, chuckling. He went to the first address, an older apartment building, but no one was home, so he waited a while. About half an hour later a man came in carrying a briefcase which he tossed on the couch. He then got himself some water and sat down. That’s when Mac came out of the bedroom.
The man went for his gun, but Mac was much faster and he told the man to put his gun on the floor and kick it under the couch, which he did. Mac told him why he was there, but the man said it wasn’t him, he never kills women or children. Mac said to open his briefcase, which he did. It was full of money. “That’s a lot of cash,” said Mac. “I was paid to keep my mouth shut,” he said, “can you top that?” He was standing in front of the window when he said that.
The window broke as two shots were fired at the man from the building across the street. The man fell to the floor, dead. Mac left in a hurry and he walked down the street about one block to his car. “Not going after the shooter?” asked Kristina. “He would be gone by the time we arrived,” said Mac. At the next place, which was a nice house, the man was already dead, so they left and came back to the hotel.
“Rick obviously told someone I was looking for those guys,” said Mac. “Yes, I agree with you,” I said, “but we will leave him alone for now.” Meanwhile… “Don’t worry,” said person one, “I have taken extra precautions.” “Good,” said person two, “we don’t want to make mistakes while those amateur detectives are in the city.” “It’s easy to fool them, that’s for sure,” said person one. “Yes, but even a fool can figure things out at times,” said person two, “that’s why we can’t afford mistakes.”
To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.
Well, we had an interesting visit with Peter and Laurie Boardman, parents of Jacie, although poor Laurie had to be sedated after finding out that Jacie’s body was cremated, something they did not want. We will visit that funeral home later today, whether they want us to or not. We need to put a little pressure on them, they are a weaker link in this chain of mystery. Right now we are heading to a new section of Calgary to visit with Jacie’s boyfriend Dan, and his partner, Barry.
This should be fun, though not in the usual definition of the word. I don’t expect much cooperation from them. I am going to ask some tough questions, and they might not like that, but their reaction will be helpful anyway. This house is quite large and valued at $1.8 million. Apparently he has no mortgage, he paid cash for the house. Not bad considering that their business has only been in operation for 12 months. They must have been in the sex trafficking business for a while before starting their present business venture.
Hannah is trying to find out some information about that possibility. We brought one of the guys with us on this trip and that was Mac. I figured if anyone could find a hit man in this city, he could. Or anyone willing to kill if the price was right, but it had to be someone that is professional, or close to it anyway. Although, in some ways this didn’t look like it was a professional hit, but Mac thought it was, just that the man deliberately did some things to throw off anyone who might decide to investigate.
So, Mac is doing some investigating on his own, in a bad part of town. I wanted him to take 4 of the girls with him, but he said no to that because it would scare the people away that he wanted to meet. I agreed with him, but I still didn’t like it. As he left this morning in his own car, I told Kristina to go with him, invisibly of course. Mac likely knows I did that, but he didn’t say anything. We pulled into the driveway of Dan’s house and got out of the car.
As we arrived at the front door a voice came over the speaker and invited us to come in. The door opened by itself and we walked inside with the door closing behind us. Very nice indeed. Then Dan appeared, coming out of the living room and inviting us to come in and sit down. He called down the hall to let Barry know we had arrived. “He’s working in our home office this morning so he would be available for your visit,” said Dan. Barry came jogging in and I introduced each of us.
“I knew you were Crystal,” said Dan, “Jacie had showed me your pictures each time you sent some. I wish we could have met at our wedding, instead of Jacie’s funeral.” Dan got quite somber at that point, something I did not expect. Then he asked if we would like some coffee and we all said yes, so he went out to the kitchen to get it for us. Samantha went to help him. “Barry, may I use your washroom?” asked Crystal.
“Yes, just down the hall,” he said, “on the left, that’s the green bathroom.” She thanked him and left, then returned immediately carrying a tray with 4 cups of coffee. I could see Barry frowning a bit as Crystal handed out coffee. Samantha brought more with her, plus cream and sugar. “Are you not going to use the washroom Crystal?” asked Barry. “Um, no, that’s not necessary,” she said, “but where is it anyway?” “I told you when you asked before,” he said, “don’t tell me a private investigator has a bad memory.”
“I never asked about a washroom,” she said smiling. “That’s true, she didn’t,” said Kitty. “I think you are trying to play with me,” he said chuckling, “but really, I have nothing to hide so just ask whatever questions you want.” We did ask questions and they both answered perfectly, though Barry’s answers seemed to be quite rehearsed. Dan, however, had more normal responses, including getting choked up at times and he even had tears a couple of times. That was definitely a surprise.
Then a phone call came in for Barry, so he went to the office. Crystal asked about the washroom again and Dan told her where to find it. She returned immediately from the kitchen with more coffee for everyone. “Wow, that was fast Crystal,” he said. “Well, the kitchen is not far away,” she said smiling. “I meant about using the washroom,” he said. “I didn’t go to the washroom,” she said, “I went to get more coffee, don’t you remember?”
“Oh, yeah, guess my head isn’t working too well these days,” he replied. “That’s understandable,” I said, “may we see the bathroom where your wife was found?” “Yes, of course,” he said and took us to a second floor bathroom which was all yellow. Apparently it was Jacie’s favorite bathroom, and it definitely was nice. “I understand that a man called the police and said he found your wife in the bathtub,” I said, “but he was gone when the police arrived.”
“Yes, that’s what the police told me,” he said, “but it doesn’t make sense. Why didn’t the police try looking for that man? I mean, Jacie had been beaten, maybe she had been raped too, and then drowned by that man. But the police felt it was just an accidental death. So what, did she beat herself and then accidentally drown in the tub? And what about the river water found in her lungs? That makes no sense either.” Then I told him that the original police report said Jacie’s body was found at the river, not in the bathtub.
“I think they are trying to cover up what really happened to Jacie!” exclaimed Dan. “I think so too,” I said, “but proving it might not be easy. And we were told that Jacie’s body had been cremated yesterday as well.” “What?!” he exclaimed, “They can’t do that! Her parents wanted to bury her, not cremate her, and that’s what I wanted too! They’ll hear from me about that one I assure you!” He then broke down crying and Barry showed up right then so he took him to his bedroom to lie down.
Samantha said she could give him a sedative and Barry thought that might be a good idea. Barry did invite us back anytime we had more questions and I thanked him. We then left and went back to the hotel restaurant where we met the rest of the team. Interestingly, that same Mercedes came by Dan’s house while we were there, the same man in the back seat, minus his black coat. Brandy took more photos and also sent the license number back to Wisty.
She already had an answer for us while we were eating. The car was owned by a wealthy businessman here in Calgary, named Lionel Kenwood. Hmm, now why is he so interested in this case? Meanwhile… “Don’t worry, they just asked a few questions, said person one. “I still don’t like them being involved,” said person two, “they could spoil everything.” “What can a small team of investigators from France find out?” asked person one, “They will look around a bit and when they can’t find anything, they will go back home.”
“You better be right,” said person two, “or some serious problems will come your way.” Meanwhile, in another part of town. “Hey old man,” said Rick, “we don’t like people snooping around our territory. So now we gotta teach you a lesson, then you leave.” “Don’t start something punk,” said Mac, “you are taking chances, and that isn’t smart.” Rick came closer, but Mac took out his knife and had it at Rick’s throat. But then there were 5 other young men surrounding Mac in the alley…
To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.