Ник Сайнт - Purrfect Sidekick. Purrfect Deseit. Purrfect Ruse [calibre 5.14.0]

“Also in office buildings under construction?” asked Chase.

“No, that we didn’t do. Too dangerous,” he explained. “And also we didn’t want to attract too much attention, or get in trouble with the law.”

“So three nights ago,” said Chase, “did you also organize one of your raves?”

Todd thought back for a moment, then nodded. “Yep. Three nights ago we were in the woods. I remember because it was one of the best nights we ever had. Very large attendance, and Darryl really was on fire that night—played one of his best sets ever.”

“Was he there with his girlfriend Suzy Bunyon?” asked Odelia.

“Suzy, yeah. Well, Darryl had lots of girlfriends,” said Todd with a grin. “But yeah, he was with Suzy that night. I saw her pop up behind the turntables a couple of times.”

“You do realize Suzy is underage?” asked Chase sternly.

“Um… no, actually I didn’t know that,” said the rave organizer, shifting a little uncomfortably. “She told me she was twenty-three.”

“She’s seventeen.”

“Yeah, well, a lot of these girls that went for Darryl big time were very young. And it’s not as if we checked their ID at the door or something,” he added apologetically.

“So when you were out in the woods the other night, you didn’t happen to notice anything out of the ordinary?” asked Odelia.

“Like what?”

“Like this man,” said Chase, and showed Todd a drawing of John Doe a sketch artist had created.

“Nah,” he said after a moment. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this guy. Why? Something happened that I should know about?”

“This man was found dead,” Chase explained. “And according to what we now know he was shot and killed the same night you were out partying close by.”

Todd shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t know anything about that. We’re a peace-and fun-loving community, and we don’t go in for violence in any way, shape or form.” He shifted again. “So what happened to Darryl if I may ask? How did he die?”

“As far as we can ascertain he accidentally fell to his death in an elevator shaft that was under construction,” said Chase.

“An elevator shaft? Where was this?”

“A new office building on Carmel Street.”

“Carmel Street. What was he doing out there?”

“That’s what we’d like to know. Do you have a recent address for Mr. Farmer?”

“Well, he used to live at Lucy’s place.”

“Lucy Hale.”

Todd nodded. “Yeah, but she kicked him out last month, and he’d been shacking up with me, and intermittently couch surfing with some other friends.”

“He didn’t come home last night?”

Todd shook his head. “He was supposed to, but then Darryl liked to live moment to moment, you know. I just figured he’d met a friend and had decided to spend the night there. I wasn’t too worried until this morning. We were supposed to go over the playlist for tonight, and when he didn’t show up I tried to get him on the phone. No response.”

“What do you do for a living, Mr. Park?” asked Chase.

“Well, I’m a banker, actually. I work for Capital First Bank.” He smiled when he saw the looks of surprise on Odelia and Chase’s faces. “Yeah, banker by day, raver by night. I know it looks a little weird, but I like it this way. I give my days to the establishment, and my nights to the anti-establishment. It seems like a nice balance.”

Odelia and Chase got up, a clear sign the interview was over. “Oh, one more question,” said Chase. “Before I forget. Did your friend own a car?”

“No, he didn’t. Darryl didn’t believe in cars. He used his bike to get around.”

“But then how did he get his DJ material all the way out to those woods?”

“I took care of the logistics. Darryl just showed up to do this thing.” He smiled. “Here, I’ll show you a clip of Darryl in action.” He took out his phone and for the next five minutes we were treated to a medley of the best of Darryl Farmer—mainly techno music as far as I could tell. Not exactly my thing, but Odelia and Chase seemed to enjoy it.

“What is that noise, Max?” asked Dooley after a moment.

“It’s music, Dooley!” I said, yelling to be heard over the loud noise.

“Music? I thought it was a fire drill!”

“It’s called techno music!” I yelled. “Or house!”

“Whose house?”

“No, the name of the music genre is house!”

“I don’t get it!”

And frankly neither did I. And consequently I was very happy to get out of there!

Chapter 21

“So what do we have?” asked Odelia as she checked her notes while Chase did the same. They were in Chase’s office at the precinct, going over their recent discoveries and trying to figure out where they stood. “We have a John Doe found in the woods—shot at close range with a .38 caliber firearm. We have Karl Bunyon out and about in those same woods that same night, dumping his wife’s cat and a bunch of other cats and claiming he didn’t see or hear anything suspicious. And we have a rave, also in those woods, attended by dozens of ravers, amongst whom is Bunyon’s stepdaughter Suzy, and DJ’d by Darryl Farmer, Suzy’s boyfriend, who just happened to be found dead at the bottom of an elevator shaft two nights later.” She looked up. “Did I miss anything?”

“No, you summed it up pretty well,” said Chase. “So what do you think the connection is?”

“I think it just might be that Darryl Farmer saw something he wasn’t supposed to see—the killer maybe—and that he was shoved down that elevator shaft for his trouble.”

“We can’t rule out that it was an accidental death,” Chase pointed out.

“No sign of a struggle?”

“Nothing to indicate he met a violent death. Though as you say, he could have been pushed. It’s impossible to say without any witnesses.”

“What I don’t like is this connection between Karl Bunyon and Darryl.”

“Suzy Bunyon.”

Odelia nodded. “What are the chances of Darryl being at the same place at the same time as Karl’s stepdaughter, and of two people ending up dead soon after?”

“Slim.”

“Very slim.”

“But what’s the connection?”

“Frankly I have no idea, Chase. But it’s too much of a coincidence if you ask me.”

“No, I think you’re absolutely right. As I see it our friendly neighborhood catnapper was out in the woods that night, dumping his wife’s cats, and he was caught by John Doe. So he shot him and buried him to prevent the truth from coming out. But unfortunately for him Darryl Farmer, his stepdaughter’s boyfriend, also ran into him, recognized him, and so he decided that Darryl had to die, too, for being another annoying witness.”

“This is all speculation, you do realize that, right?”

“Oh, sure, but do you have a better explanation?”

“None,” she had to admit.

“One dead body could be explained away as an unfortunate coincidence, but a second one?” Chase got up. “I think I’m going to get myself a nice arrest warrant and talk to our catnapper again, only this time not in the comfort of his own home but here at the precinct. And I’m going to take a closer look at the man’s house and place of business.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to turn anything up?”

“You know? A good cop follows his instincts, and right now my instinct is to go after Karl Bunyon—big time.”

While Chase and Odelia were in conference inside, Dooley and I had decided to take a little break from the investigative efforts and go for a walk instead. I may be a curious kitty, and so is Dooley, but being subjected to that impromptu rave party had frankly rattled me, and I needed some peace and quiet and fresh air to boot! Also, my ears were still ringing, and my nose was twitching. I guess I’m not cut out to be a raver. Or a DJ.