August 25, Saturday, Late Morning
Moss Stone arrived at the office of Ryan Morgan Commercial Real Estate. Anya Roberts, the medical examiner, and a uniformed cop were already present. “Great way to spend a Saturday.” He looked at Roberts. “What’s the situation?”
“In the next office, they discovered a Ryan Morgan this morning, dead. He was stabbed in the back and his throat slit.”
“How was he discovered?”
“He failed to show up for golf with three of his buddies. He didn’t answer his cell, and later they convinced the building security to check his office.”
“Where’s the security guard now?”
“Downstairs, waiting for you to talk to him. He doesn’t normally hang around the building but works for a security firm that covers several buildings.”
Stone headed toward the private office. “I guess he’ll collect overtime pay a while longer.” Stone looked around the office, noting the furniture all looked new and expensive. Next to the desk, Ryan Morgan lay on the floor, his blue shirt soaked in blood. One leg was drawn up, as if he was attempting to crawl. The pant leg smeared a trail of blood. Nearby, a heavy safe sat with an open door. Stone peered inside the empty safe.
“Looks like this is a violent robbery. Maybe there was cash in the safe.” Roberts spoke behind him.
“Hmm. Blood money?” He bent his knees to look at the body closer. There appeared three distinct blood spots on his back and a blood line at the throat.
She frowned at his joke. “There’s another factor in this robbery. Morgan is married, and the coroner estimated the time of death to be late Friday, likely after five. I’m wondering why his wife, or anyone for that matter, didn’t report him missing yesterday.”
“Good point. Perhaps his wife didn’t expect him home, or maybe she’s out of town.”
“Or maybe she’s the one responsible for his death.”
“You don’t have a good opinion of married women.” He gave her a smirk. “Aren’t you jumping to conclusions awfully fast?” He went to the desk and opened drawers. He used a pen to pick up a handgun. “Have the lab check this out if something has fired recently it or if the bullets match any unsolved shootings.” He rummaged around and produced several flash drives, each labelled with two initials. He placed them in a bag and sealed it. “These might have something on them we can use. In fact, have his computer taken in and checked for contents. Where is the cellphone?”
Roberts held up a plastic containing a cellphone with a smashed face. “They found this under the body.”
“Have the lab check it. It looks like someone wanted to destroy what was on it.”
“Okay, anything else?”
“Yeah, why didn’t he use his gun against any intruder? Maybe he knew his assailant and didn’t expect an attack.” Stone gave an opinion on his own question.
“Or maybe he didn’t have time to get it. He was found dead by the safe and not at his desk.” She pointed at where the body lay between the safe and the desk.
“True. And then there’s the broken cellphone. It appeared someone wanted to make sure it wasn’t useable anymore.” Stone walked over to a credenza next to the safe. On top was half filled bottle of whiskey. He picked up the bottle and put it down. “It seems odd to have this just sitting here. It’s possible he was having drinks with someone when the hostilities occurred. Let’s interview the security guard.”
They went downstairs, leaving the officer and coroner to remove the body and secure the office.
The guard was sitting behind a small desk on the main floor. The young man with black hair was working on his cell phone.
Stone showed him his identification. “Can you describe what you saw? Was the office door open when you arrived?”
“No, it was closed.”
“Locked?”
“No.”
“Lights on?”
The guard hesitated. “No, but I turned on the lights in the main office area. The lights in the next office were on.”
“Good to know. Did you touch anything other than the front door and light switch?”
“No, but I was also wearing gloves.” He held up a pair of black leather gloves.
“Are there any security cameras here? In the lobby, elevator, or even outside the building?”
“None. Old school security. The front door has a timer lock. After seven pm you need a pass card to get inside. The back door goes to a parking lot. You need a pass card to drive into the lot and to enter through the back door. There’s also an underground parking lot. You also need a card to access it.”
“Rather light security. Are there many problems here?”
“No. The offices here are all clients that don’t have a lot of visitors. During the winter, we have to ask a few transients to leave. That’s about it.”
“Alright, you can go. We’ll contact you if we have more questions.”
Stone stepped outside the main doors, with Roberts following. He scanned the area. “See any cameras?”
“No. There’s a coffee shop across the street. Maybe someone saw something from there.”
They crossed the street, entering Charmaine’s Coffee Emporium. Roberts showed her police identification, speaking with the brunette working behind the counter. “Were you working here yesterday evening?” She saw her name tag read Louise.
“Yup.” She continued to fix a special-order coffee. “I was here, along with Marcie and Andrew. They’ll be here again at three.”
“Did you, or anyone, see anything unusual last night? Specifically, across the street.”
“No, I wasn’t really looking outside. We’re busy from four to seven, so I’m just behind the counter.”
“How about Marcie and Andrew?”
“I’ll ask them when they arrive. They work the tables and may have a better vantage point.” Louise glanced at Roberts and Stone. “Anything else?” She wiped the spigots for producing steam milk.
“Could I have a large dark roast to go?” Stone asked.
* * *
Stone and Roberts returned to Morgan’s office with only the cop present. Stone visited the inner office once more, studying the interior. He opened the closet door, seeing a few shirts, ties and two suit jackets. Stone went over to the window, pulling aside the curtains. The view wasn’t enticing, showing a parking lot next to another brick building. He returned to the outer office, noticing the furniture was sparse but modern. He examined a name plate on the desk. “See if you can find out how we can hold of Melisa Regan.” He opened the desk drawers, finding pens, two paperback romance books, lipstick tube, nail polish, and a hairbrush. “Not exactly a site of hard work.”
He left the desk, going to the rear of the office. An open doorway led to a mini-kitchen comprising a coffee maker, a dishwasher and cupboards. Stone did a casual look over. “Nothing much here.”
Roberts watched him. “I guess our next step is to see if Mrs. Morgan is home. I wonder how she’ll react to her husband’s death.”
“Her reaction may tell us all we need to know.”