NOTE: If you haven’t been following this from the beginning, and if you want to know the full sequence of events, start with the introduction. Click on Archives on the right.
“Whois living in the old Trip house now?”
“It’s vacant isn’t it, Lark?”
“No Lou, I have seen Fed Ex delivering there.”
“That’s right Fred, I saw it too that day you were planting herbs or whatever they were.”
“I think there’s a caretaker living there now.”
“Who’s paying them? That’s what I would like to know, Lou.”
The sun comes out after an overcast day just before sunset. Gold shines through the tree trunks and gaps between structures flattening distance with dramatic brilliance and silhouettes. It sinks behind Jake’s old house and leaves us in deepening shadow standing by the redbuds in front on the steep incline of Oval street.
“I think it may belong to one of Macadamia’s interests.”
“Lou, I heard Trip had lost his house in a foreclosure.”
“Yeah Fred, I heard that one too, and maybe that’s where they were headed at one point, but Mac. must have saved it.”
“How did you find that out Lou?”
“I think Jake told me months ago.”
“You mean you have seen him?”
“No Lark, it was a phone call. He asked me to go over there and check on the place. It was before the caretaker came in.”
“So you have the keys Lou?”
“Not any more. Jake ‘over-nighted’ them to me and I only had them for a couple of weeks.”
“Have you met the caretaker? … Who is it?”
“No no Lark, I’ve never seen them.”
“So how do you know there’s one there. Do they live there?”
“Jake told me when they started.”
“They! You mean there’s more than one Lou?’
“No I don’t think so, but come to think of it maybe it’s a married couple … I don’t know.”
“But didn’t you hand over the keys to them, him her whatever?”
“No I ‘overnighted’ the keys back to Jake.”
“Lou, isn’t that kind of weird? I mean why not just hand them over?”
“Maybe they changed the locks.”
“Then you might as well throw them away! I mean what did Jake want them back for?”
“Who knows Lark? Its none of my business anyway.”
“Lou you are a much more trusting person than I”
“You know, Jake once called me to check in on Gale when he was away. I was surprised as I didn’t know them very well at the time.”
“Fred, Jake is a salesman. He sizes people up pretty fast and probably decided he could trust you.”
“I must say he sounded rather desperate.”
“When it comes to Trip, I am always suspicious. Big money can complicate and distort people’s relationships.”
“Lark, you are such an inveterate lefty and egalitarian, I don’t think you can be objective when it comes to Jake.”
“Look Lou, first the Trips build that huge place with a lot of strange electrical work, and security lights, and rent-a-cops. Then, Juanita disappears. Then we hear Trip is bankrupt and will lose his home. Now we find that there never was an eviction. His store has stayed open. The Fib. or one of Macadmia’s interests bought it.”
“Do you know who bought it Lou?”
“It is not Fibonacci. They are listed as, “de Geer Properties”, in the tax records. You can look it up on line.”
“Is that Macadamia?”
“I don’t know if there is any relationship there or not.”
“You seem to know a lot about it Lou. What about his business, that big store?”
“Don’t know about the Snaz store Lark. I like to keep up with things in the neighborhood.”
“So do I Lou but … Who are they, de Geer Properties?”
“All I know for sure is that they are Gale’s people.”
“So money married money.”
“That’s history Fred. It’s all in the family.”
“Lou tell me this, what is being delivered to a vacant house?”
“No idea Lark.”
“Don’t you find this whole thing suspicious Lou?”
“Not all that much. There is a confluence of interests at work.”
“More like a conspiracy Lou.”
“Aw Lark, I don’t believe in conspiracy theories.”
“What do you mean by ‘a confluence of interests?”
“I mean de Geer and Jake and Macadamia all found they had an interest in keeping that house out of foreclosure.”
“There’s more to it than the foreclosure. It’s about what was going on in that house, and Juanita’s complicated past.”
“Lark conspiracies require motive, planning, skill and luck. I don’t think any one is smart enough, or had any reason to have plotted Juanita’s disappearance. It would have been far too complicated. There was nothing for her to have seen.”
“Really Lou? Whatever is going on in that house would be revealed if a bank’s agents go over it to appraise and sell.”
“It is all too easy to see conspiracies where there is a lack of information Lark. It fills in the blanks.”
“So what did you see when you went in there?”
“Nothing special, aside from the size of the place. I checked doors and windows, and looked at faucets, and so on. You know. Its common sense stuff.”
“There are plenty of ‘blanks’ in this story Lou. What about all those cctv monitors in the grand entrance?”
“Didn’t see anything like that Fred.”
“Are those two big mirrors still facing each other?”
“Oh yes Fred, I tried out that crazy infinity illusion, by standing in front of the one to look across into the other.”
“I wonder what happened to the cctvs?”
“Fred, some one cleaned the place up before Lou got in there.”
“There is nothing much to clean up Lark. That wine cellar of his and the security system took a lot of special circuitry and machinery to move those bottles of wine.”
“So was it all in place Lou? That is a perfect cover!”
“Cover for what Lark? I didn’t check on his wines, or the security system. Jake told me the security stuff is under contract. Nothing for me to do.”
“Well Lou if he has this security system, and a contractor, what did he want you in there for?”
“Just another pair of eyes.”
“I am still thinking of what ever Juanita found out when she was so conveniently disappeared by the INS.”
“Lark there is no evidence I know of to support whatever you think is going on. The bankruptcy was a delayed effect of the financial crash. Not even Macadamia foresaw the scale of the crash. He predicted something smaller. He was taken by surprise and took Jake down with him. Now he is getting it back together again.”
“So what are Urban Safety Solutions still doing in the neighborhood now the Trips have left?”
“I imagine they are working out the time on their contract.”
“They seem to be rather close to the Fauxmont Milita. Remember how they colluded when Juanita’s body may or may not have turned up in the gully?”
“What do you mean collusion?”
“I mean they kicked us all off the street before the police could get there and we don’t know what really happened. Only what the local tv station told us.”
“Well, wasn’t that it? There was no body Lark. Remember? It was one of Liberty Trips props from her show.”
“Maybe Lou. I don’t know if she was abducted by the INS or murdered here in Fauxmont. I know the lawyers are gunning for Werner, and that is just a side-show. I think it’s being done to distract attention from something else.”
“Lark I have no way of knowing.”
It seemed to get dark more quickly than usual after the sun went down, even beyond the shadow we are standing in.
“My god it is dark out here tonight. Look at that cloud coming in!”
“Any one got a flashlight?”
“No Fred. My phone works pretty well though.” Lark’s phone tones sound as she opens it to demonstrate its potential as a flashlight.
She answers and walks a few steps away stands with her back to us.
The light flashes as she puts the phone close to her ear and moves it away, gesturing as she talks.
“Excuse me Fred.” Now Lou’s phone also sounds and he walks off in the opposite direction.
They both have a glow around their ears where the phones are pressed. As if they might be emitting light themselves. They talk into the dark with their backs to me. I can’t hear what they are saying. My phone may be ringing too, but it’s at home. Possibly hanging in the pocket of my other jacket in the closet.
