Chapter 47

 

Outside the museum, curious pedestrians were rubbing shoulders with guests of the event, most of whom looked like they didn’t know what to do next. However, a few of the guests were talking to two television news crews who were filming.

López, it seemed, was going to be the star of the late-night newscast.

“Paul, Jules,” came a voice.

Burke looked around and spotted Suzanne Godard coming their way with Monique Chan in tow.

“Where were you?” Godard asked when she got within talking range.

“The police had a few questions.”

“About what?”

“Not much. Just what we saw,” Burke said, glancing at Tessier who nodded.

“Nothing more?”

“That was it.”

“Our news people are wondering if we can put together a story for them,” Godard said.

No surprise there, Burke thought. The suicide of a well-known area businessman at a special Vuelta event was news and especially if someone had caught López’s last moments on video and posted the clip in some way. These days, the mainstream media were feeling the pressure of competing with social media.

“Well, I don’t know what more I can say except a couple of people at the event have been arrested – and one of them is Chef Andres Calderόn,” said Burke, figuring that the police hauling away the culinary star would have definitely been noticed.

“What? Chef Andres?” Godard said.

Burke could see the arrest was news to his boss.

“What for?” Godard asked.

“Possible connection to a massive food-fraud scheme.”

“You’re being serious?”

“Deadly.”

“And what’s Chef Andres’ part in it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Whatever the reason, that’s huge. We’ve got to file something about that,” she said. “Are you sure about all this? We don’t want to be wrong.”

Burke could see Godard was feeling an adrenaline rush. A culinary superstar getting hauled away by the flics was big news.

“A reliable source told me,” Burke said.

“How reliable?”

“A flic, a smart one.”

Godard frowned and Burke sensed she was weighing the possibility the flic had mislead Burke for some reason.

“And you heard it, too, Jules?” Godard said, turning to her statistician.

“The exact same thing.”

Godard thought for a few moments and then checked out the crowd, stopping when she spotted other TV crews at work. Had Chef Andres’ arrest already made the news?

Godard turned to Chan. “Take your phone and take Tessier, and do a spot by the entrance to the museum. Jules, you film it. Say what Paul just said but don’t convict Chef Andres. Say the police want to talk to him as part of an ongoing investigation into food fraud. Toss in that police are also examining the scene where well-known businessman José López killed himself. Are you up for the job, Monique?”

Burke thought Chan looked exceedingly calm. With her pre-TV work background, she probably was.

“I’ve got it under control,” Chan said.

“Get back to me in five minutes and I’ll look at it. If it’s good enough, we’ll post it on the network’s social media feeds and on the website.”

Chan marched off toward the entrance with Tessier beside her. Burke had no doubt the pair would produce a quality piece.

Godard moved a step closer to Burke. “Paul, I think you’re holding back some information.”

Burke didn’t reply.

“I want to know what you know. But trust me that I’m not going to listen to you and post just anything. We need to get it right even if these are times when accuracy isn’t worth crap to a lot of people.”

Burke considered her comments. He trusted her because she was smart, determined and ethical, and not some glory hound eager to trample over people and facts to get noticed. So he told her about Chef Andres and his crew, and then shocked her by saying Tim Fritz had also been taken into custody for his possible connections to the food fraud. In addition, he mentioned the food fraud might be connected to the murder of Colin Bothwick and to the attacks on him.

“And your police friend told you this?”

“She’s not my friend, but, yes, she did. And there’s something else that happened tonight that’s strange.”

“More?”

“Inspector Torres was supposed to be in the museum checking on matters. We were connected by a small communications system, very James Bond-like, but she ended up going someplace in a rush. I don’t know where, but I think it was important.”

“Something to do with the food-fraud case?”

“I think so. But it happened fast which is how I ended up talking to Sgt. Martἱn.”

Godard rubbed her chin. “When did Torres leave? Before López killed himself?”

Burke nodded.

“So where does López fit into all this? Was he just really depressed and wanted to go out in style?”

“I’ve been thinking about that since he did it. López never seemed the depressed type, but I believe something happened that pushed him over the edge. And for whatever reason, he believed he needed to take his life in a very public way and to do it now.”

“Why?”

“I have one idea. I think he killed himself to protect his family.”