M. Forsythe - While Rome Was Sleeping

“Sure I’ll be right there.”

When Jim walked in to the Property Department he could see Carl was visibly upset. “What’s up?” he asked.

“You know, Jim, I don’t like to point fingers or accuse anybody of anything, but there is some property missing; it’s the property that belonged to those two window washers that fell on Friday. The last person to examine the stuff was Monte Maxwell. He came in and wanted to see the property items… said that he was in charge of the investigation. He said it was an accident and that he was just cleaning up some loose ends.”

Jim asked, “What exactly is missing, Carl?”

“Money; as I said, I hate to point fingers but…”

“How much money are we talking about?”

Carl held up an empty envelope and the money belt, “About $14,555 and change.”

Jim whistled, “That’s a lot of money! Where would a couple of window washers get that kind of money?”

Carl looked bewildered, “I sure don’t know…, but it was here before Monte came and now it’s gone! There’s something else, too, that’s not too big a deal; I think Monte took one of their belts and left his old one. Look at this,” Carl unwound the large black belt that was coiled among the clothing. “This belt had to be Monte’s.”

Jim’s eyebrows went up, “Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know, but judging from the rest of the clothing, these guys were a lot smaller than Monte so I don’t know why Monte would trade belts. No wonder he said he needed to get out of here to get some air… he couldn’t breathe if he was wearing a belt that tight.”

Jim just stood shaking his head… looking at the few possessions; suddenly he saw it, a knife, a switch-blade, about the size and shape of the weapon that could have been used in the stabbing of George Kelshaw. It might be the one piece of solid evidence that could tie Schultz and Tanner to the murder.

He said excitedly, “Carl, bag that knife and get it to the crime lab right away. Tell them it could be the weapon used in the Kelshaw murder. Tell them I need their report ASAP. About this other problem, just hold tight,” Jim advised. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, Carl, and you won’t be the one holding the bag, I promise. I’ll get back to you soon. Right now I have to go down to Georgetown and pay a visit to Len Phillips at Labor and Industries.”

On the drive to the Georgetown L &I warehouse, in his mind, Jim went over his suspicions regarding Monte’s behavior; there was the business of the envelope that Monte had picked up at the Washington Athletic Club, then Monte’s name in the Property Log to examine George Kelshaw’s personal effects. What connection could Monte have with George Kelshaw? It seemed almost unbelievable, but now it was obvious that he was involved with Schultz and Tanner which somehow connected him to Kelshaw.

He drew a deep breath; he decided to carefully chart Monte’s movements before and since Kelshaw’s death.

Len greeted Jim as he came through the door of the warehouse, “Glad you could make it,” he said. He then took Jim to the wrecked scaffolding and showed him the cables.

He watched as Jim closely examined them.

“Like I said before, it looks to me like these cables were worked on and at least partially cut. Our team will x-ray them this afternoon just to make sure.”

“I would agree,” Jim answered. “They sure look as though they have been cut. X-raying should prove it.”

“I don’t know where Maxwell is on this, Jim. He absolutely insisted on reporting that it was an accident without the necessary proof. You and I both know that if it is ruled as accidental, without that proof, someone is getting away with murder. On the other hand if this was, indeed, an accident, Labor and Industries wants the company to be held accountable.”

“I understand, Len. I don’t know what Maxwell’s problem is either, but I plan to find out.”

10:30 AM

The phone was ringing on Jim’s desk as he walked in. He gave a somewhat harried greeting, “Savalza”.

“Good morning, Jim, this is Evan Scott. I’m calling you to discuss having George Kelshaw’s body released for burial.”

“Ah, that may be possible; I think we may have had a break this morning, I believe we found the murder weapon. It’s in the lab being examined as we speak. If it is in fact the…”

“Also, Jim,” Evan interrupted, “I think I should meet with you and your Captain to cover you in this situation.”

“Cover me? How so?”

“We need to let your Captain know that George worked for the Agency. I’ll call him and set it up. It won’t take much of your time.”

“Right. Thanks.” Time had become a short commodity today.

Jim’s next stop was at Ed Peterson’s desk. “Where’s Monte, has he come in?”

“No,” Ed answered. “He didn’t make it in yet today. I haven’t seen him since Friday and he was in such a rotten mood; to be honest it’s sort of peaceful when he’s not here.”

“I need to talk with him, right away.” Jim insisted.

“Maybe he’s still at home. Maybe I’d better call him.” Ed quickly dialed Monte’s number. “Hello, Dora, this is Ed Peterson, is Monte around?”

The voice on the other end said, “No, I haven’t seen him since yesterday, Sunday, Ed. He told me he was going to be on a stake-out with you. I need to talk with him too. I went to the bank this morning to cash a check and we have no money in our account. Don’t you know where he is?” Dora sounded alarmed.

“He said he was going on a stake-out with me?” Ed asked surprised.

“Yes,” Dora replied anxiously. He said he would be on a stake-out and don’t wait up for him. He often does this.”

“Okay, Dora, we’ll track him down, don’t worry,” Ed said solicitously.

As he hung up, Ed looked at Jim and said, “This doesn’t make sense. He told Dora he would be on a stake-out with me yesterday, and he hasn’t been home since. He hasn’t called in, here or at home, and Dora is very upset about money. She said her bank account is empty.” Ed said in a concerned voice.

“We need to find him and we need to talk to Captain Martin. Maybe he knows something. I’ll see if we can see him now.” Jim replied.

“That’s a good idea. Monte has sure been acting peculiar lately. You know while we were investigating that fall over at the Rainier Tower, he and the guy from Labor and Industries got into a big row and were yelling at each other right there in the street.”

“Yeah, I heard about it, Ed,” Jim responded as he dialed the Captain’s office, inquiring for time.

Captain Martin was able to see them immediately. Jim opened the conversation. “Captain Martin, before this gets more serious than it is now, there are some things regarding Detective Maxwell’s movements and behavior lately that you should be aware of. I will defer to Peterson to fill you in from his side.”

Ed began by describing Monte’s appetite and his frequent trips to the first floor to buy candy and snacks. He’s been extremely nervous,” he added.

The Captain listened attentively, then asked, “So his appetite’s increased and he seems nervous; is that why you’re here?”

“It’s not just the appetite, Captain. Let’s see, today is Monday; it started about a week and a half ago,” Ed told him. “Monte hasn’t been himself. I thought at first it had something to do with the phone calls that he got starting a week ago last Thursday, to be exact.

“He seemed really jumpy after that; come to think of it, that was about the time he started going to the newsstand for food; and then last Thursday morning he came in looking terrible. I asked him if he was sick and he said he was just tired; that he had been working long hours on a case.”