Parnell Hall - The Anonymous Client

Dirkson took a breath. “I could have you charged with obstruction of justice.”

“Make up your mind. A minute ago you were going to charge me as an accessory. If you do, you could hardly charge me with obstructing justice for refusing to answer questions. In fact, it would be your duty to inform me I didn’t have to answer questions and anything I said might be used against me.”

With that, Steve Winslow pulled up a chair next to Tracy Garvin, sat down, and said, “How’s it going?”

Tracy looked at him, blinked, found herself unable to speak.

Dirkson turned to Stams. “Bring in Taylor.”

Stams nodded, went out, and returned escorting Mark Taylor into the room.

Dirkson rose to meet him.

“Mr. Taylor, is it? Please sit down.”

Dirkson indicated a chair. Taylor sat in it. He did not look happy.

Dirkson sat down again, settled in. “Well now, your name is Mark Taylor?”

“That’s right.”

“Of the Taylor Detective Agency?”

“Yes.”

“What brings you down here at this late hour, Mr. Taylor? Come to renew your license?”

Mark Taylor shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

“You heard him, Mark,” Steve said. “He’s threatening to go after your license. Go ahead. Talk. Tell him everything you know.”

Mark Taylor took a breath. “Well, Tuesday morning Steve Winslow called me into his office-”

“This Tuesday?”

“Yes.”

“What time?”

“Around ten-thirty.”

“Go on.”

“He gave me a list of serial numbers he wanted traced.”

Dirkson sat up in his chair. “He what?”

“He gave me a list of serial numbers to trace.”

“What kind of serial numbers?”

“The serial numbers off of thousand dollar bills.”

Dirkson looked at Stams. Neither man could quite believe what he’d just heard.

“How many bills?” Dirkson said.

“Ten.”

“And you traced the bills and located the bank from which they had been withdrawn?”

“That’s right. The bills had been withdrawn from the First National Bank on Monday morning. The withdrawal was unusual enough that the teller took the precaution of writing down the numbers.”

“And you learned the identity of the person who made the withdrawal?”

“Yes,” Taylor said, looking at the floor.

“Who was it?”

“David C. Bradshaw.”

“Well, now, isn’t that interesting. Do you by any chance still happen to have that list of numbers?”

“No.”

“What did you do with it?”

“I gave it back to Steve Winslow.”

“Is that so? And just when did you give it back to Mr. Winslow?”

“This evening.”

“This evening? And how did you come to give it back to him this evening.”

“Well, Steve called me, and-”

“What time?”

“Around ten-thirty.”

“And asked you about the list?”

“Well, he asked me to meet him for dinner.”

“And did he ask you specifically to bring the list with you?”

“Yes.”

“And you met him for dinner and gave him the list?”

“Yes.”

“And that was just before you came here?”

“That’s right.”

“So, to the best of your knowledge, Winslow still has the list on him?”

Taylor hesitated. “Well?”

“Yes, I guess so.”

“That’s purely a conclusion on his part,” Steve said.

“You keep out of this,” Dirkson said. “I’ll get to you in a minute. All right, Taylor. Let’s go back a little. What did you do after you traced the money to Bradshaw?”

“I placed Bradshaw’s apartment under surveillance.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to find out all I could about Bradshaw. I hadn’t had much success with the normal routine lines of inquiry.”

“What had you found out?”

“Not much. I learned he rented his apartment two months ago, that he paid his rent in cash, but that no one seemed to know where he came from or what he did for a living.”

“So you put his apartment under surveillance?”

“That’s right.”

“And you did this purely of your own initiative?”

“Well, not exactly.”

“Were you specifically instructed to put his apartment under surveillance?”

“Yes.”

“Who instructed you to do so?”

“Steve Winslow.”

“Ah. So Steve Winslow instructed you to put Bradshaw’s apartment under surveillance?”

“Yes.”

“Did he tell you why he wanted this done?”

“He wanted to get a line on Bradshaw.”

“I could have assumed that. Why did he want to get a line on Bradshaw?”

“Because Bradshaw was the person who withdrew the ten thousand dollars.”

“And why was he interested in the person who withdrew the ten thousand dollars?”

“I don’t know,” Taylor said, choosing his words carefully. “I presume it was because he was retained in the matter.”

Dirkson pounced on that. “He told you he was retained by a client?”

“Yes.”

“Who was the client?”

“I don’t know.”

“Winslow didn’t tell you the name of the client?”

“No.”

“You expect me to believe Winslow instructed you to trace the list of bills, and to put Bradshaw’s apartment under surveillance, and yet he never once mentioned the name of his client?”

“That’s right.”

Dirkson frowned. “Mr. Taylor, I’d like to remind you that this is a murder investigation. Now, you’re not under oath, so there is no question of perjury here. However, I am asking these questions in my official capacity as District Attorney, and a stenographer is taking down your answers. If those answers should be incorrect in any way, you would be in a position of obstructing justice, compounding a felony, and conspiring to conceal a crime.”

“Oh, bullshit,” Steve said. “Come on, Dirkson, we know the law for Christ’s sake. You don’t have to threaten us. Just ask your questions. The guy’s telling the truth.”

Dirkson wheeled around to confront Steve, about to start an argument. He glanced at the stenographer and thought better of it. He turned back to Taylor.

“All right, we’ll let that pass. At any rate, you put Bradshaw’s apartment under surveillance on Tuesday afternoon?”

“Yes.”

“How many operatives?”

“Four.”

“Four? Wasn’t that a bit excessive?”

Steve grinned. “I hope the stenographer got that Mark. He asked you that in front of a cash customer. You may have cause of action.”

Dirkson paid no attention. “Why four operatives.”

“I wanted to tail anyone who called on Bradshaw.”

“Why?”

“I told you. I was drawing a blank. I couldn’t get any information the easy way, so I was trying the hard way.”

“At any rate, you used four men?”

“Yes.”

“And what did they report?”

“A young woman called on Bradshaw early Tuesday afternoon. She was in there approximately fifteen minutes. She was shadowed when she left, and later identified as Marilyn Harding.”

“How long was she followed?”

“Only until she was identified.”

“How long was that?”

“Actually, quite a while. First she went shopping. Then she went to dinner and was joined by a couple who turned out to be Douglas and Phyllis Kemper. Phyllis is Marilyn’s stepsister. They all left together and drove to the Harding mansion. By that time my men had an identification so they dropped them.”

“Is that the only time you’ve had Marilyn Harding under surveillance?”

“Yes.”

“And the only significant thing your men learned from following her was her name?”

“No.”

“No? What else?”

“They discovered that Marilyn Harding was being followed by two operatives from the Miltner Detective Agency.”