Snake in the Glass (16 page)

Denis shot me a glance. “Exactly. We’d gotten kind of careless, I guess, and we overextended ourselves. Now we’ve got some big balloon loans coming due and no way to pay them off, and nobody’s buying land.”

While I didn’t want to interrupt the flow of Denis’s story, it still seemed a long jump from bad real estate investments to tinkering with stones in my studio to a dead body in the desert.

Denis plowed ahead. “So, like I said, Alex was a geologist, and he gets this bright idea, see? Some of the properties we owned were north of here—open ranch land. We got it cheap, but it’s probably going to be a while before anybody’s going to want to build on it. Anyway, he starts looking at it, poking around, and he finds some peridot here and there.”

“That’s up toward the San Carlos Reservation?”

Denis nodded. “Yes, but it’s definitely not reservation land. We made sure of that.”

“You know which piece of land the stones came from, Denis?” Matt said.

“No. I know, this makes me sound stupid. But Alex was the geologist, and he found the stones. I didn’t plan to go out there and grub around in the sand. We had clear title, I know that much. Look, you can go over all the documents—we set up a legal partnership, and I’ve got the articles of incorporation, copies of the deeds. We weren’t doing anything funny. Anyway, the stones he was finding were nothing special.”

Frank spoke. “Midgrade stones, average color, not big. Nothing to get excited about.”

“You’ve seen them, uh, Frank, was it?” When Frank nodded without elaborating, Denis went on. “He’s right—pretty ordinary. But Alex thought maybe there was a way to make them better, and he started experimenting. I guess he liked what he saw, because that’s when he told me about it, got me involved.”

“You didn’t know about the gems before that?”

“No, not specifically. Not my area of expertise. I’m an English lit professor, after all. And it didn’t look like they’d be worth much, at least until Alex started fooling around with them.”

“Hang on,” I interrupted. “I thought you said you couldn’t use the university equipment?”

Denis shrugged. “That’s what Alex said at first. Mostly I think he was paranoid that somebody would figure out what he was doing and horn in on it, so he handed the processing over to me. Said any idiot could do it, once he’d worked out the basics. But I didn’t mind doing it. I thought the whole idea was cool, and we weren’t going to lose anything by exploring the idea, right? So I read up on it, and we started working together on the process.”

I had to give myself a gold star for self-restraint. This was all very interesting, but it wasn’t getting us any closer to why Cam had anything to do with this, or why Alex had ended up dead.

Denis must have sensed my frustration, because then he said, “And that’s when Cameron Dowell got involved.”

That certainly got my attention. “Cam was working
with you?”

“Kind of. Alex had been looking into computer modeling of geological formations.”

“What does that mean? I thought mostly people did aerial surveys and drilling samples and stuff like that.” Matt glared, but that didn’t stop me. This was
my
brother we were talking about.

“Sure they do—not that Alex and I could afford anything like that. But recently there’s been interest in nonphysical mapping, taking what’s known about an area and extrapolating based on data from other comparable geological formations.”

That sounded like something that would interest Cam, although as far as I knew he specialized in natural systems—plants, animals, weather patterns, and that kind of thing. “But that’s not Cam’s specialty. How did he get involved?”

“Alex talked to people he knew at the university, asked about a computer modeler. I told you, he was getting nervous about people finding anything out, so he talked in very general terms. What he was asking about fit into his usual research interests, so nobody asked why. What we really wanted to know was whether the formations we had on our land were extensive enough to work seriously, or if we’d just picked up a couple of pretty pebbles that could have come from anywhere. Somebody mentioned Cameron Dowell, and Alex got in touch with him.”

“But you didn’t ask Em about using her equipment until after Cam had started working on your project,” Matt said. “When exactly did you make the connection?”

“I didn’t, not really. I needed something that produced certain temperatures, and I couldn’t use the university equipment. I thought a glassblower would have what I needed, and Em’s the only glassblower in town who rents studio time, so I ended up here. It still took me a couple of days before I put her and Cam together, and even then I wasn’t sure. I asked her about it yesterday. Right, Em?” He turned to me.

He was right—up to a point. “You didn’t ask about Cam until yesterday,” I agreed. I had no way of knowing when he had connected us.

“Anyway,” Denis continued, “when it turned out that he was moving to Tucson anyway, it seemed like a stroke of luck. Alex outlined the project, and Cam spent some time reviewing the procedures, what kind of data he would need. He got back to us and said he’d be willing, and he’d need some time on site to collect hard data from that specific site. He sounded pretty sure he could wrap it up pretty fast.”

That certainly sounded like Cam. I turned to Matt. “Right before he left, Cam said he had a short-term project he was working on. This must have been it. He never gave me any of the details.” I shifted back to Denis. “Did you ever actually meet Cam?”

“No. Alex set it all up. I couldn’t have contributed much anyway—I’m not into that side of things. Alex didn’t even tell me exactly when Cam would be working.”

“Cam was supposed to give his results to Alex?”

“That was the plan. Like I said, Alex handled it. I think Alex was getting kind of bent out of shape about all of this—he couldn’t stand the idea of losing money on this whole real estate deal, and that’s why he went off on a tangent with this whole gem thing. Hell, he didn’t even have a family to consider. I don’t know how to tell my wife about any of this.”

Things still weren’t adding up. “Let me get this straight. You two owned the land. You had a legitimate right to whatever minerals were on it. You were investigating a perfectly legal way to improve the value of the stones you found. So why is one man dead and one missing? And why are you in such a hurry to crank out the stones?”

“I told you,” Denis protested. “There are loans coming due, and if we default, then the bank takes the land back and we lose the whole bundle. We thought we had it all figured out, with these dealers in town for the Gem Show, but not that many people were interested, and our buyer said he’d walk if we didn’t get the stones to him. We were running out of time.”

My questions were multiplying like rabbits, but Matt interrupted. “Do you hold title jointly or through the partnership? Was there any provision made in the event one of you died?”

I caught a flash of the whites of Denis’s eyes as he rushed to answer. “Of course. We set up everything by the book. And, yes, the whole thing reverts to me now—including all the obligations. But before you even wonder if I might have had something to do with Alex’s death, tell me just how I benefit, huh? I’m worse off now than before.”

He had a point. “Is there anything that Cam might have found that would make a difference?” I asked.

“I don’t know. He told Alex that he couldn’t give us much time, because he was starting a new job, right? But his main contact was Alex. I don’t even know if he knows how to reach me, although I suppose he could ask around at the university—if he even knows my name.”

Knowing my methodical brother, I was sure that he would have checked out the bona fides of Alex, Denis, and their little corporation before committing to anything—and probably demanded to be paid up front. I wondered if there was any way to look at his recent bank deposits. Even so, it sounded as though this was a project that he would have enjoyed, and one he’d clearly thought he could finish quickly. I looked at Matt. “But Alex has been dead for at least a week now, right? Denis, you weren’t concerned?”

“I didn’t even know Alex was missing, and it’s not like we talked every day. In fact, recently we haven’t talked much at all, since usually all we had to share was bad news. The last time we talked was when he told me he’d hired Cam and told me how much he was paying him, since that came out of the corporate account—which was getting pretty close to rock bottom.”

Denis turned back to Matt. “Alex and I had talked about what we were doing with the stones we did have. He’s the one who collected them, and he gave them to me. I’ve been working out the details of procedures, timing, temperatures—you’ve seen that, Em. Maybe I’m just slow, but I really didn’t get any significant results until a couple of days ago. When things started working with the stones, I called and left Alex a voice message, and he didn’t get back to me, but I had no reason to believe there was anything wrong.”

Frank broke in. “You know who the buyer is?”

Denis shook his head. “Alex didn’t tell me much—I think he had a phone number somewhere. But I know that this guy wants the stones next week, or the deal’s off. He really wanted them a week ago. He’s willing to take the chance that the stones are what we told him they are. It’s all a gamble, isn’t it?”

I tried to suppress my budding panic. “Denis, do you know where Cam was staying? Is there a place to stay on this property of yours?”

“Maybe.” Denis shrugged. “I’ve driven through that area, mostly on the way to the casino, but I don’t really remember. Truth is, I’ve never even seen most of those sites myself. I told you, Alex took care of all that.”

“Matt?” I appealed to him.

“Em, that missing persons report gives the police the authority to check Cam’s phone records and credit card charges and maybe even his computer access, but it’s not instantaneous. If he’s holed up in a motel out there, the charges might not even have showed up on his account yet. Or he might have paid cash.”

“I would have said he’d go into withdrawal if he couldn’t get online for more than a day, but maybe he really did want to get away from everything.”
Including me.
“What do we do now?”

Denis stood up abruptly. “Are you charging me with anything, or am I free to go?”

Matt couldn’t ask the obvious question, but I could. “Where are you in such a hurry to go?”

“I’ve still got to finish up with the supply of stones on hand, and if Alex isn’t going to be bringing me any more now, I better hope like hell that I can figure out who the buyer is. And I need the stones downstairs back. If you won’t let me use your studio, I’ll have to find some other way.”

I looked at Matt, who shrugged imperceptibly before answering Denis. “You’re free to go. But I’d suggest staying around town for the foreseeable future. And I’ll give the ME’s office Alex’s name—and your contact information. If Alex has no family around here, you might need to identify the body.”

“Great,” Denis muttered under his breath. Then he straightened. “Sorry, you’re right. I owe Alex that much. I’ll give the ME’s office a call.”

“Thank you for answering our questions. I’ll get back to you if we need anything else.”

Denis summoned up a weak smile. “Thank you for treating me politely. I was expecting maybe rubber hoses.” When nobody laughed, he held up both his hands. “Joke, joke. Em, can you let me in downstairs so I can collect the other stones? Please?”

I had no reason other than petulance to deny him, and I wasn’t about to stoop that low. “Sure. Follow me.”

I lead him back down the stairs and around to the back door. Inside, I retrieved the stones from where I’d put them, decanted them into a glass jar with a screw top, and handed them to Denis.

After safely stowing the jar in his pack, he looked at me. “I’m sorry about your brother, Em. I really didn’t know he was missing. I wish I could help, but I left all the geology stuff to Alex, and he was the one who dealt with your brother. I’m sure Cam’s all right, wherever he is.”

“I hope so. Good-bye, Denis.” I ushered him out the back door and shut it firmly behind him. Now at least I knew how Denis was linked with Cam, but the story seemed kind of thin. If he was a smart college professor, why did he let his friend and partner handle all the business details? I had to wonder just how much money was involved here. Something didn’t smell right.

I turned and realized that Nessa and Allison were standing in the doorway that led to the shop, staring at me expectantly.

“Em, I think we deserve some explanation,” Nessa said. “What was Matt doing here this morning, and whatever did he say to Denis?”

Nessa was right—I owed her at least the bare outline, which was just about all I knew. I took a deep breath. “This might take a while. Can we sit in the studio here?” There wasn’t a customer in sight. Blast the Gem Show.

“Of course, dear,” Nessa said. She locked the register, and they settled themselves on stools in the studio, while I leaned against the marver facing them. “Okay, here’s the deal. You know that Denis has been heat-treating stones, and he seems to have some kind of deadline? When he asked me last night about giving him more time in the studio, I told him I wanted to cut him off—he’s been making me nervous. And then he said something odd.” I swallowed and glanced at Allison. “He asked me about Cam.”

Allison gasped. “Does he know him?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. But it bothered me that he knew Cam existed, and that he chose that particular moment to bring him up. So last night I decided to tell Matt about what had been going on, and he agreed to look into it. The problem is, there wasn’t any crime—that we knew of.”
Yet.
I thought of the grainy picture of dead Alex. “Which means that Matt had no reason to launch an investigation, officially. He was just doing me a favor.” I stopped, unsure of how to go on.