A/N: Here are the last 3 chapters. Sorry, they've been such a long time coming. For Mari, sorry for the delay.
That same night. 4 hours later… 11 PM. Penthouse, Fogle Towers.
Logan adjusted the headset of his phone as turned from the dresser toward his bed. He had just climbed out of the shower and thrown on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt when Matt had called. His hair still wet, he ran a towel over his head while he adjusted the headset.
"Hang on a minute, Matt, I can't quite hear you. I'm working on batteries here, so if I run out of juice, I might cut out," Logan spoke quickly to the detective.
Matt's voice came through clearly, "I just wanted you to thank Eyes Only for me. I know he could have released the Westing recordings himself, on a cable hack, so I appreciate his turning over the tapes to me. Thanks for making me and the department look good."
"No problem, Matt. But I would never have been able to put it all together if you hadn't sent me the intel' in the first place. I hope you understand why Eyes Only doesn't want anyone to know that the tapes came from me. I guess Eyes Only wants to keep my name out of it. You'll just have to keep the credit for catching the burgler with the tapes. I guess Eyes Only wants to keep using me. So it's better if I keep flying under the radar a little longer," Logan offered.
"I can see why Eyes Only wants to keep you around," Matt teased. "The burgler's name is Burt Hyde, by the way. He woke up for a few minutes in the hospital, but I just started questioning him. You were right. Adam Westing, the younger son, the one who owned your apartment, hired Hyde to track down the recordings. Westing was finishing his prison term, getting ready to take over the family business. Getting a hold of those tapes was the last test before his family would hand over the business. Guess he failed that test."
Logan went on, gravely, "Not only did he fail the test, he offered up the whole family to the police for fraud and extortion. Well, they'll have a many years in prison together to discuss it amongst themselves."
"Logan," Matt asked tentatively, "I've got to ask. How do you know the burgler will go along with your story? How do you know he'll keep your name out of his story?"
"Believe, me, Matt," Logan went on, "Hyde wants Westing to believe that he tracked the recordings to the Rat Trap black market*, wrestled them from the seller and got shot in the process. He does not want Westing to know that he got shot twice by a guy in a wheelchair and gave up his employer to the police in a heartbeat. Besides, armed robbery can carry a life sentence and he's happy not to be charged with that. Hyde will go along with our story. My informant who dropped him off at the hospital made sure of it."
.
"How did you actually find the flashdrive anyway? The police turned that place upside down years ago. They never turned up anything."
"I guess, in my case, it paid off to have a little shorter vantage point." Logan proceeded to tell Matt about finding the envelope taped under the cutting board.
Logan's phone cut out for a moment and he paused to move a candle to the bedside table and blow out the rest of the candles on the dresser. The rest of the apartment went dark, except for the small circle of light around the bed.
Matt went on, "Are you sure you won't meet me for a drink? I want to buy you a beer for giving me a chance to impress the chief."
Logan smiled wistfully at the thought, "I really wish I could, but I'll have to take a rain check. The fire triggered a shutdown in the elevator, so they've shut off all the power while they're working on it, so I'm not going anywhere for a while.
"Hey, I'm sorry, man."
"It's all right. We're still getting a brownout every week or two, you know, so it's nothing new." Logan shifted the head set to speaker phone and set it on the bed as he bent to take off his shoes.
"Everything's all set with the reward money too, Logan," Matt continued. "I was surprised that Eyes Only wanted it. I didn't think he accepted rewards. The chief did ask me which informant tipped me to the burgler. Naturally, I didn't tell him. He was curious, but he didn't press me when I told him my informant was really shy."
Logan answered, "I guess Eyes Only had a specific idea in mind for the money. I really don't know. Sometimes, it's best not to know too much. Logan's headset beeped a warning as the battery started to fade.
"All right then, Matt sighed. "I guess I'll sign off for now…at least until I can buy you that beer. At least you don't have to worry about any more break-ins. Catch you later."
Logan clicked off the headset and tossed it back onto the bedside table. He lifted his bare feet onto the floor and nudged the chair closer before shifting himself over to the bed. With the air conditioning out, the penthouse felt hot. Even with the window open, there was hardly a breeze to move the warm air in the apartment. Logan's skin felt damp from the shower he had just taken to cool down and his shirt stuck to his back.
Logan's headset blinked feebly again. Holding it to his ear, he smiled in spite of himself.
"Hey." Max's familiar voice came through. "Did you page me?"
Logan spoke quickly, wary of the fading battery, "Are you still working? It's Christmas Day. Well, technically, it's the day after Christmas at this point."
"Nah, even Jam Pony is finally closed. I went over to Metro Medical to check on our burgler. Just wanted to make sure that he was crystal clear on what would happen to him if he tried to implicate either of us."
"So, is he clear on the concept?"
"Apparently, Bling already went over it pretty convincingly. Even while on some serious drugs, that dirtbag was able to recite the whole story back to me – the one about him getting shot by some other dirtbags while stealing the recording from some guys in the Rat Trap.
"Bling does good work, Max."
"So do you, Logan Cale. Somehow you always manage bring the crooks to justice. By the way, I heard that, years ago, the police offered some reward money for finding the Westing tapes. Don't suppose a certain cat burgler could get a cut of that, do you?"
"Sorry, Max. Remember when Westing's old butler, the original informant, turned up dead? The police report said that the Westings lured him out into the open by kidnapping his family and holding them as bait. Eventually, the police found the informant's body, but the family just disappeared."
"And… Logan? I still think my claim to the money is legit'."
"Max, the informant had a wife and a son. His name was Marrone." I got to thinking about Mrs. Moreno's family. She's from Mexico, but when I mentioned that the name Moreno wasn't actually very common in Mexico, even though there were a lot of Morenos in Spain, she told me that her maiden name was actually Alvarez. Moreno was her husband's name and he wasn't actually Mexican. He was Italian, but he changed his name to Moreno. Originally, it was Marrone."
"If she knew all about the Westings, why didn't Mrs. Moreno come up with the disk sooner?"
"Mrs. Moreno never knew anything about the disk. Her husband told her he worked for the Westings, but even after he got married, he never brought his family to live at Fogle Towers. He kept another apartment for his wife and chilld. He knew the Westings were trouble and he always tried to keep them as far away from his family as he could."
"What about the kidnapping?"
"The Westings did grab Mrs. Moreno and her son, Jonathan. But after they killed Mr. Moreno and still failed to locate the disk and the police connected Mr. Moreno's death with Adam Westing, they got cold feet. They released Mrs. Moreno and Jonathan and no one ever told them anything. At the time, Mrs. Moreno barely spoke English. The police told her that her husband had been killed, but they never told her the circumstances. At first, it was because they were still looking for the disk. But even after it became clear that they weren't going to find disk, no one ever explained to Mrs. Moreno what happened to her husband. In those days, everyone just assumed that the Pulse was to blame - that the police had their hands full and no one had the resources to find out what happened."
"So the Morenos just went on with their lives like nothing happened?"
"What else could they do? They went on squatting in some building across town. But when that building was shut down, Mrs. Moreno's son, Jonathan, found some old rent agreement with his father's things. It listed the Fogle Towers address, so the Morenos wandered back to the building, asking about the penthouse add-on. At the time, the managers of the building were desperate for rent and Jonathan Moreno was able to pay enough to keep them happy, so they moved in. I remember the managers notifying me that Mrs. Moreno lived there, but I had just moved in myself, so what did I care? It had been 10 years and there was no one left in the building who remembered the Morenos' connection to the Westing family."
"That's a crazy story, Logan...I still don't see why I can't have the reward money."
"That's the thing, Max. I spoke to Jonathan Moreno today. It seems that he only left Seattle for D.C. because he was desperate to find a job. He couldn't move his mom because he wasn't sure how long the job would last. He couldn't come back for the holidays because he didn't have the money. The reward isn't much, but it's enough to buy enough round trip tickets to get him home a couple times a year. He's coming home for a visit next week."
"Why, Mr. Logan Cale of the Brigade for Widows, Small Children and Lost Animals. I must say you've been busy today. You're sure there isn't enough left for me too?"
"Sorry, Max. But, maybe I can make it up to you. It's been a crazy couple of days, but I think I could get enough energy up for a little celebration. The kitchen's still a mess, but I think I can dig up some champagne and a snack." Logan felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth as he thought about seeing Max again. He started to swing his legs over the side of the bed, reaching for his chair.
"Oh, Logan. I'd love to…but it's so late. I didn't think you'd be up for a visit. I made plans with Original Cindy and Sketch over at Crash. Sorry."
"It's okay, Max," Logan answered, unable to keep the disappointment out of his voice.
"You could always come out with us, Logan," Max offered tentatively.
"For once, I think I'd say yes, but the elevator's still down, so I guess I'll have to try for next time. ."
"Oh." Max couldn't think of anything to fill the silence.
"It's okay, Max," Logan repeated, "I'll catch up with you later."
Logan's phone died before he had a chance to catch Max's answer. What could she have said anyway? The elevator was out and that was that.