Anti-Christ's Birth; The Solomon Island Mystery by Jesus Villalobos (snow like ashes TXT) 📕

But that in itself does not constitute a conspiracy. Let me make a few phone calls. Maybe we can find out a little more about your employment with Mr. Finchley if in fact you actually worked for him. I’m still not convinced you did, but your information about these people seems to pan out. Mr. Finchley did in fact run a magazine, and Charlie Brooks was in fact the owner of a boat. This may end up working in your favor yet.”
“Don’t give up on me. I promise you that if you dig a little deeper, you will be able to prove that I was a reporter for the magazine. Don’t quit on me.”
“I have no intention of quitting on anyone. I want to figure this out for my own curiosity as much as for your freedom if in fact you really don’t belong here.”
Jennifer smiled again. I knew it was one that was meant to assure me, but I could not help but smile back. Yes, she was having quite an effect on my demeanor.
She left me alone in my cell, Carl having let her out. I could see Carl smiling more these days. Of course, I also knew why. She had changed his demeanor as well. That was a given. Who could blame him? She was one gorgeous package. I would have been worried if she had no affect on him. There I sat alone with my thoughts again. Where would they take me this time?
By mid morning I felt the need to backtrack my thoughts in an effort to find some piece of information which might help Jennifer figure out what had happened to both Mr. Finchley and Charlie Brooks. It was then that I realized I had forgotten a very important fact. I should have asked Jennifer to try to track down the checks which I had been receiving in the mail on the islands.
It was a long shot once again, but I had to try to get her to understand the full scope of things before we set sail. Time was running out, and I did not want her aboard that ship. I did not want me aboard that ship either if I could avoid it!
“Carl! Is Jennifer still on the grounds?”
“You mean Dr. Cowell?”
“Of course, forgive me.”
Carl threw me a semi-stern look. “What do you need her for?”
“I just need two minutes of her time.”
“I’ll see if she is willing to come see you.”
Carl was gone for quite awhile. When he reappeared, Jennifer was with him.
“What can I do for you?”
Jennifer looked at Carl in a way that asked him to leave. Carl got the hint and left.
“I just need to ask you to see if you can check out my former bank account. This should show that I received monthly support, from my editor at the magazine.”
“Do you still remember your bank account number?”
“I can not only tell you which bank and what number, I can also tell the name of the person I used to deal with in the bank before I left for the island. She will definitely remember me; I took her out a few times.”
“Well, normally I would refuse such a request, but since the other information you gave me panned out, let me have the information.”
“It is Chase Manhattan bank account; #*************. Ask for an employee named Ann Margaret.” Jennifer’s eyebrows went up. “I know, I know, I’m not making her name up. She really worked there, and that was her name. Anyway, you can find out if you just call as if it’s official business. They will give you the information.”
“I’ll have to get a court order, but I have a judge who owes me a favor. It should not be too hard; I’ll give him a call as soon as I leave here.”
Carl was summoned and escorted her away. I could feel the hope beginning to grow once again. I concentrated on trying to convince myself that this would be the ticket to freedom. Funny thing was, I already almost missed Carl. Like I said, he had all but become my best friend. I knew that tomorrow was the big day. I knew that even if Jennifer could track down my cashed checks, it was going to be an uphill battle from there to freedom. But every battle won, is one more chance to win the war. I waited for her to bring me the good news.
It was just before lights out, when Jennifer appeared with Carl at my cell to give me the bad news. Of course Jennifer waited until Carl had left before spilling the beans. My heart sank when she told me that Ann had been killed in a tragic car accident. But she now had three people I had been involved with, who had died at almost the exact same time. Her curiosity had been peaked.
“I must admit, I keep running into dead people who supposedly used to know you.”
“This news is not easy for me to deal with. When I left for that island, all these people were alive. What about the account number?”
“Now that is where I found another puzzling thing.”
“What is that?”
“I found out that the account number is still active, but it is registered to Mr. Carl Schultz.”
My mind went numb!
“Have you had access to Carl’s personal data lately?”
“I swear to you, this is part of some massive cover-up!”
“I must admit, it seems extremely unlikely that you would be able to find out Dr. Schultz’s personal bank account number. I mean, it is not something you blurt out by accident during any type of a normal conversation. I don’t know what to think.”
“Wait, if Carl, I mean Dr. Schultz has taken over my bank account, maybe you can trace any monies that he has been receiving for the last six years plus.” My mind was still numb from this information, but it was slowly coming back around.
“Actually, I’m way ahead of you there. I tried to trace the money he has been receiving based on the court order.”
“What did you find?”
“That’s just it, I ran into another brick wall. It seems the more I dig, the more I have questions.”
“Have you confided in anyone else that you have been checking into this?”
“I could lose my license for doing this. The judge only agreed to it because he trusts me implicitly. No one else knows what I have been doing.”
“Good, keep it that way; I don’t want anything mysterious happening to you.”
“Do you really think that could happen?”
“You can see the death toll’s rising can’t you?”
Jennifer got a look of concern, but tried to hide it with a joke.
“I don’t die easily.”
I tried to laugh, but only managed a small grin. “I’m serious don’t tell anyone what you have checked into. Specifically, don’t tell our friend Dr. Schultz! He and I will become even closer in the days ahead.”
“What do you mean?”
“I need to watch more closely whom he talks to. Maybe I can learn just why he took over my bank account instead of just using his own.”
“Look, you leave any detective work up to me,” said Jennifer. “I don’t want you getting into any trouble.”
“I’m afraid it is too late for that,”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because if Carl has been receiving money from someone to keep an eye on me, you can bet he knows more than he has let on. Furthermore, you can bet he will be on board that ship tomorrow, even though he is not scheduled to go. He is not scheduled to go; you can check this out by looking at the roster in the main office. I have not seen the roster, but Carl has repeatedly told me he is not scheduled to go on that ship. But I expect he definitely will be on board tomorrow, mark my words.”
“What possible reason could he have for getting on the ship, if he is not scheduled to be on it?”
“I’m not sure, maybe it will just be out of curiosity, or maybe for a more sinister reason. Do me a favor and stop by the office before lights out, tell them you left some paper work there or something. Take a look at the roster for the trip. His name will not be on it guaranteed.”
Jennifer called for Dr. Schultz. Carl showed up and escorted her out of my view. I heard her ask for permission to go back to the office to pick up some paper work she had left there by mistake. I knew she needed to be careful around Carl from now on. I knew I needed to do the same. If he got even a whiff of us knowing something about his involvement, we were to coin a phrase, “Dead meat!” I heard for the millionth time;
“All lights out!”
The sleepless night, drug on. I prayed Jennifer could keep her cool around Carl. She seemed to have everything under control, but people tend to get nervous under pressure. I prayed she could keep her composure while deceiving Carl in order to find out more. I had peaked her interest, now the stakes were about to get much higher. I wondered would she stay in the game, or would she cash out while she still had her career, indeed, possibly her life.
Part of me hoped she would just leave while she could. Part of me hoped she could gather the information necessary to free me. I struggled between the two all night before exhaustion took over and I slept.
“Good morning.”
I heard it, but I could not believe it. Once again this bold woman had graced me with her presence. Carl was gone already, just like before.
“I checked the roster Dr. Schultz is not on it. But, I also found out he is scheduled for vacation the week of our trip.”
“Okay, so maybe I was wrong.”
“Don’t sell yourself short just yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“I had an interesting talk with Dr. Shultz about his vacation this morning under pretense I was looking for a good vacation spot myself. He suggested I visit one of the other islands nearby our destination. He said he was a frequent visitor to this little known vacation spot. He told me we would practically be neighbors while we were on our island. It was just a hop skip and a jump away from his vacation spot.”
“I knew it!”
“It does seem a little odd, but this is still not proof of a conspiracy.”
“I only ask that you reconsider going to the island with us. I don’t want you