by Alan Cook
Chapter 18
Palos Verdes is Spanish for green trees. The name
is ironic because if you look at pictures taken 80
or 100 years ago the hill is completely barren.
There are no trees in sight. The land was once
used for cattle ranching and more recently for
growing grain, vegetables and flowers. Some
sheep grazed on the hillsides.
The trees were planted by "settlers" who built
homes here starting in the 1920s. Perhaps a case
of people improving the environment, not ruining it.
Thoughts like these sometimes occurred to me as I
ran along the tree-lined streets in the mornings, but
this morning they were more concerned with the
future of Dionysus.
Would Elma side with Buchanan or my father? Why
did Ned want to fool Buchanan into thinking that he
was losing a lot of money? Who killed Ned? Why did
he need a gun if he wasn't a drug dealer? Who
was the mysterious Chinese lady? I was still
pondering these questions later as I worked on
my baseball card business.
While I was checking eBay auctions other than my
own on the Internet I came across the Honus
Wagner card again. The bidding for it had reached
$350,000. That sounded low if the card was in good
condition. I rechecked the pictures of the front and
the back of the card. I looked at some of the
favorable comments other bidders had made about
the seller. His credentials were impeccable and he
stated the card was in near-mint condition. He was
probably selling it for somebody else, but his
reputation was still on the line.
Unless there were some sandbaggers waiting to
pounce, I suspected that the card could be stolen
for under $400,000. On impulse, I found James
Buchanan's business card and called his office in
San Francisco.
A man answered the phone. I gave my name and
said I'd like to speak to James Buchanan. He
asked what it was regarding. I said it was in
regard to a baseball card. He said to hold on. I
held, thinking that he would come back on the
line and brush me off.
Instead, I heard a familiar voice. "Good morning,
Karl, I'm glad you called. I saw you at Ned's funeral
yesterday and I was thinking about you."
"I saw your limo." I wanted to ask him about the
woman who was with him, but I couldn't think of a
smooth way to do it.
"Sorry I couldn't stay around and chat, but I had some
business meetings to attend. But back to you. How
would you like to come to work for me?"
My planned speech evaporated. I stuttered
something about being happy where I was, and
then realized this was absurd because I was
nowhere. I finally had wit enough to ask him why
he wanted me to work for him.
"I like your style, Karl. I checked out your website.
Anybody who knows as much about baseball cards
as you do must have something on the ball, so to
speak. And you've had no problem solving the
entrance puzzles."
"Do you use them as a screening device for
potential employees?"
James chuckled and said, "Now you know my
secret."
"I don't have an MBA."
"There's always night school. Wouldn't you like
to live in the Bay area? Get out from under
Richard's shadow?"
"No thanks. Not right now, at least."
"Let me know when you're ready. I can wait. And
I usually get what I want. What can I do for you
today?"
"You told me to let you know when one of the
special Honus Wagner baseball cards was up for
sale. There's one on eBay now and I think it can
be bought for a bargain price."
James showed immediate interest. He asked me
some questions about what I thought it was worth
and what it could be purchased for. After a
two-minute conversation he gave me authorization
to bid up to $400,000 on it.
This was too easy. I said, "Do you want some
written confirmation?"
"Why bother? We know each other. What do you
want to do, exchange emails? What good would
that do? If you get the card just tell me where to
send the check."
"Of course you'll own the card, not me."
"We'll work that out. I have no use for a baseball
card."
That was the catch; I was selling my soul. After I
hung up I thought about that, but not long enough
or hard enough. I wanted that card too much. I
put in a bid of $400,000 on the Wagner. Only the
minimum incremental bid showed up on the screen,
but any additional bids from other people would be
automatically topped by one from me until the bidding
reached $400,000.
I was excited and I danced around the room,
completely forgetting about any possible
downside. It took me a while to calm down.
I finally remembered that I was going to call Esther.
I was fortunate enough to catch her in her office. I
apologized for standing her up the night before and
made a new date with her for that evening.
I had barely hung up the phone when it rang. It was
Arrow. After our hellos she said, "I'm at the office
but I just got back from Elma's. I was able to find
some of her financial documents."
"And...?"
"Well, I haven't found everything yet and I'm not
saying there won't be surprises, but preliminary
indications are that she's loaded. For example, when
Ned exercised all his stock options recently he
received a check for well into seven figures.
Every penny of that was put into their money
market account and it's still there. In addition,
Ned is covered by a big life insurance policy
through Dionysus and he has a 401K. He has
other stock investments, too."
"How about debts?"
"The only one I've found is their home loan and
that's covered many times over just by the option
money. Ned even paid off their credit card bills
every month."
"So Elma doesn't have to sell her Dionysus stock."
"No; the Dionysus stock is all frosting on her
financial cake. Karl, Elma has invited us to her
house for dinner tonight."
"Who is us?"
"You and me. She said she wants to thank us for
helping her through the crisis."
"I can't. I already have a date. Besides, you're the
one who helped her. I didn't do anything. And she
shouldn't be having company right now, anyway."
"She says has to keep busy so she won't go crazy.
But here's the important part: She says she didn't
tell us everything about the relationship between
Ned and James. It sounded as if she might know
something that would help us fit the pieces together."
# # # #
For the second night in a row I stood up Esther.
California has a three-strikes law and I
suspected I was subject to it, even though
she was very gracious on the phone. I had
better not do this again.
As I drove to Redondo Beach to pick up Arrow I
cursed the fates that had involved me in my
father's business. Life had been so much simpler
when I was responsible only for myself and my
baseball card business, with a little help for Luz on
her finances.
I had driven Luz to the hospital that afternoon so
she could see my father, for the first time since his
stroke. She had her own car, but she wouldn't go to
the hospital by herself. She mothered him and read
him a poem she had written in Spanish. It was very
touching.
To thank me in advance, Luz made me tacos
for lunch, and not the kind you get in a fast-food
place either. She knew how to season them to
perfection and she always used same-day-fresh
ingredients.
My father continued to improve. At this rate he
would be home by the end of the week. I couldn't
wait until he was well enough to take over control
of Dionysus again.
That was good news, but I was still feeling cross
about standing up Esther when I arrived at Arrow's
condo. She must have sensed my bad mood because
she said, "I thought it was important for us to go
tonight while Elma is willing to talk. I'm sorry about
your date. I'm not trying to interfere with your love
life."
I grumbled something in return and we rode in
silence to Elma's house. When we rang the bell
the door was opened by a redheaded girl
dressed in jeans that didn't cover her hips and
some sort of a top with straps too narrow to
hide the bra straps that shared her shoulders.
She said, "Hi, you must be Arrow and Karl. I'm
Sarah. Come on in." Then she turned around and
yelled, "Mom, they're here." When Elma didn't
immediately appear she raced off in the direction
of the kitchen.
We shut the door and made our way to the living
room. Arrow made a face and said, "I shouldn't
criticize her fashion statement-or lack thereof. A
few years ago I wore things just as hideous."
I laughed, glad that she agreed with me. Elma
appeared, wearing a dress and looking very
fashionable. She gave us both hugs and thanked
us for coming. She said, "I understand you've
already met my pride and joy."
Sarah followed her. Except for her attire she
looked like a younger Elma. There was a shadow
on her face and I remembered that she had
buried her father the day before. I had seen her
from a distance at the funeral, along with her older
brother and sister, who were both in college.
Dinner was somewhat subdued, at first. After I said
how nice the service for Ned had been I didn't know
what else to say, especially with Sarah there. But
Sarah broke the ice when, in response to something
Elma said about the police investigation, she said,
"Dad didn't do drugs. I would have known if he did.
You can tell by a person's eyes...and other things."
Elma said, calmly, "I take it you know kids at
school who do drugs."
Sarah looked at Elma, and then at Arrow and me.
She said, "Well, I...you know, like you hear things."
"I'm not going to ask you to name names," Elma
said, gently. "And I know you're smart enough to
stay away from them. But you're right about Dad."
"I can vouch for your dad," I said. I told them the
story of my meeting with Mr. Wong. Even Arrow
hadn't heard this and they all listened intently.
Sarah asked whether I'd seen any celebrities at
the Beverly Hills Hotel. Elma wanted to know Mr.
Wong's opinion about who was behind Ned's murder.
I told her that Mr. Wong didn't know.
I didn't mention the gun or the Chinese lady.
Elma hadn't said anything about Ned owning a
gun and I didn't know whether the police had
told her about it. I knew Arrow hadn't.
Elma served homemade cherry pie for dessert. I
ate two pieces. Then she excused Sarah so that
she could do her homework; Sarah went upstairs.
Something that was supposed to be music drifted
down to us. Arrow and I insisted on doing the
dishes while Elma put food away. Elma remarked
that I would make somebody a good husband. I
said I'd had lots of practice washing glasses when
I was a bartender.
When the dishes were done Elma ushered us into
the living room and poured us small glasses of cognac.
She sat in her favorite chair, kicked off her shoes and
tucked one leg up underneath her. I hadn't been able
to do that since I was in eighth grade.
She said, "I have wracked my brains, but I can't
think of anybody who would want Ned dead."
"Maybe the police will find out who did it," I said,
not believing it.
"You and I both know that that's not likely to
happen," Elma said, quietly.
There was an awkward pause; Arrow and I didn't
know what to say. Then Elma said, "But what I
want to talk to you about is something that
happened back in Scotland when we were young.
I don't know the whole story, but it certainly
affected the relationship between Ned and James
and might even have something to do with James
wanting to take over Dionysus."
"Did you know that James was at the funeral?" I
asked.
"No." Elma and Arrow answered together.
"He left as soon as it was over."
"I wish he had stayed and spoken to me," Elma said.
She looked hurt.
"I think he had some business to attend to in LA," I
said. Why was I apologizing for James?
"It sounds just like James," Elma said, dismissing him,
abruptly. "But back to my story. When they lived in
Scotland, Ned and James hung around with a group
of local boys in Wick. They did some crazy things, as
boys will. James was the ringleader and Ned was his
lieutenant. James invented a game that they played.
It was a kind of gambling game. They called it, simply,
The Game."
She took a sip of cognac. I did too. It caressed
my taste buds and went down smoothly.
"Whenever any of the boys wanted any of the
others to do something for him, such as fix him
up with a girl or cover for him when he had done
something wrong, they played The Game. They
had a bunch of squares laid out in a field,
outlined by stones. The boy who needed the
favor would stand at a mark and throw another
stone into the squares. That stone was painted
white. If it landed in certain squares he won and
got the favor; if it landed in others he lost."
"It sounds vaguely like roulette," I said, "with more
of a skill factor."
"James was very good at physical games as well as
mental games," Elma said. "When he played he could
always get the stone in the right squares. I don't
think he ever lost."
"What was the penalty for losing?" Arrow asked.
"Whatever had been agreed on beforehand. Which
brings me to the point. One of the boys in the
group was killed while scaling a cliff above the
North Sea. He fell off and landed on the rocks
below. Ned and James were both there when it
happened.
"Neither one of them would talk to me about it, but
the rumors said that climbing the cliff was a penalty
for losing The Game. I heard that James had chosen
the penalty and demanded that it be carried out on
this particular day, even though it was foggy and
raining and the rocks were slippery. Not long after
that Ned and James left Wick forever and came to
the States."
There was silence while we digested what Elma had
said. I swallowed the rest of my cognac in one
gulp and felt a burning sensation in my throat. Elma
and Arrow sipped theirs.
"Did that incident alter your feelings toward James?"
Arrow asked, breaking the silence.
"Over a period of time that and the fact that he
deserted me did," Elma said. "When I ran into him
here years later and found out he was married, the
news had no effect on me."
Was Elma telling us this as a way of assuring us that
she would vote her stock against James? Possibly. I
certainly felt more at ease.
"What happened to the other members of the
gang?" I asked.
"When I left Wick they were all still there. They're
probably there to this day. For most of them a long
trip is to Glasgow or Edinburgh."
Aces and Knaves copyright ©2002 Alan L. Cook
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