A New Clue and a Decision
Chapter 8
Daniel had just informed District Attorney Ed Shaw that the suspect, Gene Yuss, must have somehow been stealing from him. Kate didn't know how to react, because here was Daniel accusing someone else of doing something wrong and it was Donnie's boss!
Ed Shaw sat up straighter, "Dr. Pierce, you must have mistaken me for a banker. Unlike a bank, we don't keep a stash of cash here."
"But it's the only thing that makes sense," Daniel stated, "And there are obvious signs of your nervousness;the tone of your voice, the sweat on your brow, the unnecessary gesture of pushing up your glasses. That tells me you're hiding something. You've also lied about never meeting Yuss since we have a picture of you and him at a baseball game. So it seems awfully strange that one day you've suddenly decided to go over to see Yuss after six months for no specific reason, and privately in his office. This tells me you suspect him of something. It can't be for poor performance since everyone agrees he is doing an excellent job and it can't be an affair since Yuss is a loner. Therefore, it has to be over money."
Kate watched in amazement as Shaw's shoulders slightly drooped in a defeated posture.
"I'm not sure I feel comfortable telling you this," he opaquely answered.
"It's best you cooperate with us, Ed," Kate told him, in obvious support of Daniel, "and whatever you tell us, we will do our best to keep it confidential, but there are no promises. Either that or we can subpoena your company records and draw our own conclusions."
Shaw knew when the gig was up, "I wanted to handle this quietly, but I guess it would get out sooner or later. Donnie and Larry Stevenson had just finished prosecuting a case against a drug lord. We had $40,000 in evidence that the police had confiscated. I suggested that we keep it in our evidence safe, one of which was located in Stevenson's office. After the kil-...uh, shootings, I was informed that the money had disappeared along with Mr. Yuss."
He slowly shook his head, "I should have handed the evidence money immediately back to the police, but I know how often the police misplace evidence. After the shooting when I was informed by the police that Larry's safe was empty, I was hoping it would turn up before I informed the police. Believe me, our office has never lost such a huge amount of money before, " when he looked at Kate, there was true sadness in his eyes at a realization, "and now that I think about it, the money was probably the catalyst for the murders, wasn't it?"
"Right now it's too early in the investigation to determine the cause," Kate said, her tone unusually reassuring, "But thank you for your honesty, Mr. Shaw. We have reason to believe that Yuss had always intended to run; that this was planned well in advance and every step he took was carefully planned out."
Shaw was looking better, "So perhaps Yuss didn't kill for the money?"
"Ahhh! The delectable taste of wine!" Poirot appeared again, this time with a glass of wine in his hand.
A strange interruption, indeed, yet Daniel couldn't say anything outloud.
Instead he watched as Poirot took a sip from his glass. However, instead of savoring the taste, a sour look immediately appeared on his face.
"Oh no! No indeed! This will NOT do!" Poirot exclaimed distastefully as he lifted the now emptied bottle up, "Sometimes, Dr. Pierce, we relish the wine, not realizing that the wine bottle is more distinguishable than the wine itself! Forget the obvious and never lose sight of the oft-neglected things like this bottle here!"
Maybe Yuss didn't kill for the money.
"The motive of money may be too obvious," Daniel announced, out of the blue, "And it doesn't make sense. If Yuss' plan had been to just steal the money, why didn't he just disappear? He could have stolen it and run. Why the need to kill everyone in the office?"
He made some good points.
And no one had any answers.
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After talking with Shaw, Kate was driving while Daniel sat in the passenger side of the car.
"All I can say," Kate said, "is the more facts I learn about this investigation, the more I'm baffled."
She had a worried look on her face and Daniel knew it was more than her being held responsible for Yuss' disappearance.
"You're thinking that Donnie may be involved," Daniel bluntly stated.
By her expression, Daniel knew he had hit it on the nose.
"I'm a trained FBI agent," she reminded him, "and it's standard procedure to suspect the sole survivor of a tragedy. In this case, it would be Donnie and I only have his side of the story for exactly what happened that day"."
"So you suspect him?"
Kate had stopped at a red light so now she was able to turn to glance at Daniel.
"My gut is telling me he's not involved in the killings, but I'm torn," she admitted, as the light turned green and she proceeded, "I have a feeling that he's hiding something; that there's more to the story than what he's told us. And that scares me."
"It scares you to think that Donnie knows more than he's saying?"
"No," she shook her head, "I'm scared because a woman should never have doubts about the man she is about to marry the person."
Daniel was quiet. He certainly didn't want to be caught in the middle of Kate and Donnie's relationship. What if he expressed his opinion and he was proven completely wrong?
Kate made a right hand turn and parked in front of Daniel's house.
"You're awfully quiet," she commented.
He shrugged, "Sorry. Just thinking about the case."
"Well, I'm going to go to the hospital now to visit Donnie. He's getting stronger and stronger every day. In fact, they will probably be discharging him any day now. I think he might be able to answer more questions about the investigation. Of course, I might not know what questions to ask him, soooo...maybe you'd like to come along?"
Daniel hesitated.
"The problem with men," Poirot announced as he sat in the back seat of the car, "is that they feel they have to be everywhere at once in order to solve a problem. Always use the little gray cells upstairs, but it is not necessary to be at all places at all times when solitude could help win the prize."
"I better not," Daniel said, as he put his hand on the handle of the car, "you need some private time alone with Donnie."
"Yes, you're right," but Kate looked disappointed, "Are you sure?"
"Yes," said Daniel, giving her a smile, "after all, you and I are actually at a good place. We haven't argued for the last 6 hours. I don't want to say anything to change hat."
She smiled back," I see. Well, thank you for not giving up on this investigation, Daniel."
"I won't give up," he readily admitted.
"Glad to hear it," she acknowledged and then looked directly at him, "...and thank you for not giving up on me."
Her honesty pulled something deep his heart. Only she could have that effect on him.
"I have to go," he said opening the door and leaving.
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As Kate drove away, her heart was in a quandary. She was looking forward to seeing Donnie, yes, but as she drove on, heat rose up at the image of the way Daniel had looked at her just before his departure. It was not a look that a colleague gave to each other, it was...how a man looked at a woman.
And that bothered her.
Hotly bothered her.
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Donnie had already been moved from intensive care to a regular room. A burly police officer was stationed outside his door. When Kate entered his room, he had been watching the news, but upon seeing her, his whole face lit up.
"Heyyy!" he happily greeted her as she kissed him on the forehead, "what a surprise to see you in the middle of the day."
"You're looking better, Donnie," she remarked as she sat next to him.
"I think it's all the extra jello the nurses have been sneaking in for me," he jested.
She smiled, "You always were a charmer when it came to getting jello," she stated as she sat down
"So what's going on with the Yuss investigation?" he asked.
"Nothing in the way of finding him," she said, sounding none too happy, "however, we do have a theory..."
"We?" Donnie interrupted her, "what do you mean by we?"
"Daniel and me."
"Wait a minute, just hold on," Donnie shifted to a more comfortable position, "first you tell me he's investigating with you and then he's not and then he is again. Which is it?"
Kate didn't know why she was blushing, "The FBI uses any resource that we can, Donnie; and Daniel has always been a great help," she looked suspiciously at him, "why? Does it matter to you whether Daniel is on the case or not?"
"I want to say it doesn't matter," Donnie stated, his mouth slightly down turned, "but if you want to know the truth, Kate, I've known for a long time that Daniel has a thing for you."
"R-Really?" Kate knew she should have felt shocked, but instead, a warmth permeated throughout her. She quickly recovered, "Daniel and I are friends," she assured him, "Nothing has ever happened between us."
"That isn't due to him!" Donnie folded his arms.
Kate scowled.
"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" she said, now hating the topic, "can we just talk about the investigation, please?"
Donnie unfolded his arms, "Alright. Fine. Tell me the theory." His tone sounded cold.
Kate ignored his rudeness, "You had mentioned that Yuss was a complete loner, so it led us to believe he was leading another secret life," she would not mince words, "your friends may have been killed because they stumbled upon some information about this secret life of his."
"So that includes me knowing something secret," Donnie sounded accusatory, "you think I'm keeping something from you."
It was as if he read her mind.
"Maybe," Kate said, treading lightly, "but it could be that you didn't even realize it. Maybe Yuss accidentally left something on his desk and he thought you saw it, or maybe he let some clue slip by and thought you heard it. It could be something as innocent as someone dropping him off at work and he thought the three of you caught a glimpse of that individual. Think, Donnie. Any little detail you've left out?"
"None that I can think of."
He answered it so quickly that Kate knew he hadn't given it any thought. And that irked her.
"So when do you think I can get out of here?" he questioned, "I just want to go home."
"You're safer in here, Donnie. You need your rest and we have a guard posted 24-7. Besides, you won't be able to get back to work until we've settle these murders. We don't know if your life is in danger."
When he turned to look at her, his face suddenly softened.
"No, that's not why I want to leave here, Kate...I want things back to normal so that we can continue planning our wedding. I just want to be married to you and even these terrible killings won't keep me from having you as my wife. I've worked too hard to let you slip away from me again."
Kate tilted her head, so confused. Once again, Donnie was showing a sweet side of himself, the part of him that she loved.
"I can't wait to be married to you, too," she said gently, "but this investigation is really hanging above both of us and I won't rest until we find the real story behind this killer."
"And then we'll have the biggest and best wedding ever!" Donnie said, looking enthused, "nothing too grand for you, Kate!"
Lately, the thought of making the wedding huge did not appeal to Kate.
"Yeah, about that, Donnie," she said, hesitantly, "I've been doing some thinking about that, and maybe...maybe we shouldn't hold a long, drawn out wedding. This will be our second, after all, and...and I just think maybe we should keep it as simple as possible."
"Anything you want, Katie pie," he said, being absolutely agreeable, "but if it's because of money issues, don't think twice about that. I've been socking away money like crazy and if you want an all-out wedding plus elaborate honeymoon, we can do that, too!"
Upon hearing his words, Kate slightly frowned.
The words of what DA Ed Shaw had said about the stolen $40,000 in evidence money rang in her ears: After the kil-..uh shootings," Shaw had said, "I was informed that the money had disappeared along with Mr. Yuss."
She looked at Donnie again, who had just stated he suddenly had unlimited amount of money hidden away.
Could Donnie actually be involved with stealing the evidence money?
.
Later that night, Daniel was on the living room couch, still studying the file Kate had given to him. He was staring intently at the two fuzzy pictures of Gene Yuss when Max approached him.
"Doc, you ready to eat dinner yet?"
"Lewicki, take a look at the picture of Yuss," Daniel handed Max the picture of Yuss in a baseball cap, and then he handed a picture of Larry Stevenson, "You think Yuss and the victim look alike at all?"
"Hard to say, being that Yuss is in the shadows," Max stated, handing the picture back to him, "you've got a better picture?"
"This one," Daniel said, handing him the Santa Claus picture, "but it's hard to tell because he's in costume, "but look at the eyes."
"Yeah, they do look similar," Max stated, looking at the picture of Yuss and then at Larry Stevenson, "are you saying they are the same person?"
"No, it can't be," Daniel said, in deep thought, "because the baseball cap picture of Yuss showed him standing right next to Stevenson."
"Does Stevenson have a brother? Relative?" Max suggested, now handing back both pictures.
"No, Kate was very thorough, and according to the files, Stevenson was an orphan."
"So what does this all mean?" Max asked.
"When seeking the subway of truth," suggested Poirot, "one must trail the right person in order to see the light at the end of the tunnel."
'...one must trail the right person..."
Poirot was right. They only had one viable suspect and he would soon be released from the hospital.
He just hoped Kate wouldn't find out about his plans.
"What it means," Daniel stated decisively, "is that you and I are going to do some secret surveillance on Donnie Ryan."
"Sweeeet!" Max exclaimed, at the thought of playing FBI agent, too.
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