BROKEN BOARDS, CHAPTER 12
BROKEN BOARDS, CHAPTER 12
A Jake Jansen Mystery.
« Chapter Eleven, The Scene Of The Crime - Chapter Thirteen, Digging For Details »
CHAPTER TWELVE - SEARCHING FOR DETAILS
Jack Jansen climbed out of his car at The Grill and greeted Mary, standing near the entrance. Jack smiled as he approached, reaching into his pocket, and pulling out the evidence sealed in a Ziplock baggie.
Mary looked at the baggie and smiled.
“We had to make do with what we had,” Jack said, smiling.
“Effective use of kitchenware,” she replied with a wink and a smile. Jack chuckled at her comment.
“Anyway, here’s what we found at what we think was the scene of the initial attack. I think we may have our weapon. I just want to confirm. Jake can pull prints and other things with his friends at the lab on campus, but I trust you a lot more than them at this stage.”
“I think that’s a compliment,” Mary said with a smile.
She took the plastic item, held it up, and glanced at it through the package.
“It sure looks like it could be our blade. Just looking at the sharpened edge and, of course, the blood. Looks like the width matches too if memory of the wound serves me,” Mary said. “I can be over to the office, match the blood, match the blade to the wounds, check the blade under the scope, and pull fingerprints and be back here in about 45 minutes to an hour,” she said, glancing at her watch.
“I’ll be inside. And thanks, Mare. This means a lot to Jake. So, it means a lot to me too, obviously. I’m trying to make up for a lot of lost time, so to speak.”
“Understood,” she replied with a smile. “Back soon.”
***
The coroner’s office was cold and sterile. In mask and gloves, Mary worked efficiently, processing multiple tasks at each turn. She would start one task while viewing the results of another and still be analyzing yet another. She had learned to cut necessary corners through the years to ensure the most efficient and effective use of her time. It was almost like watching a precision artist paint blindfolded while still creating a masterpiece. In some investigations, it was essential to uncover as much information as quickly as possible when the shrinking window of time was a critical factor. In this case, Mary felt that was true.
While not a case solver, she had been a part of enough high-profile cases to trust her instincts. Something told her that this case was moving quickly and that the guilty parties would try to move on from this incident as soon as possible. For a brief moment, she thought, “what happens if these people get off the island? How would we track them? Would we ever find them?”
She went back to analyzing all the pieces, gathering the results, getting out of the lab, and hurrying back to The Grill to provide Jack with the information he was waiting for. Everything matched. The result of every test confirmed what they had suspected. And now it was on to helping Jack and Jake get onto the next part of their investigation.
***
Jake was sitting on the couch when his phone buzzed. Pulling it out and opening it up, he found a text from Liz – GOOD MORNING, SIR. I HOPE YOU SLEPT WELL. DIDN’T HEAR YOU LEAVE. THANKS FOR COMING TO VISIT LAST NIGHT. I HAD FUN. That text was followed by another text full of a bunch of smiley faces and heart emojis.
Jake smiled as he replied – GOOD MORNING. IT’S BEEN A QUIET MORNING. DAD WENT TO GET RESULTS FOR THE ITEM WE FOUND AND THEN ON TO THE NEXT STEP. I HAD FUN TOO. OH, DAD SAID HE’S BUYING A NEW ICE CREAM MAKER. LOL. Jake finished his conversation with Liz before shooting off a text to his Dad – ANYTHING YET?
Jake waited for a few moments, but there was no reply, so he assumed his father was still busy. He glanced down at Laird before petting his best friend on the head and prompted him to see if he was interested in going for a walk. Laird hopped off the couch, did his usual “I’m excited to go outside” dance, and escorted Jake to his leash. They headed out into the morning sun for a walk through the neighborhood.
***
Jake returned home to find his dad sitting in the living room, paging through the results from Mary. Jake asked his Dad just with a raise of an eyebrow. His father confirmed with a nod. Jake wandered into the kitchen and poured food and water for the dog.
“Come here, Laird. Come get your breakfast, boy,” Jack prodded from the kitchen. Laird hopped up and strolled into the kitchen. Jake made his way back into the living room.
“Dad, what if we dropped the fingerprints to Kona over at the university and see what he can figure out? I’m sure he can work some magic. And while he’s doing that, we can head over to the mall and go to IVS and talk to K.”
Jack looked at Jake with a puzzled expression.
“Head over to Island Vintage and talk to Ken Mitchell,” Jake said, laughing. “Sorry, force of habit.”
“Oh, right,” Jack said, rolling his eyes, adding “O M G L O L hashtag acronyms.”
“Okay, Dad, stop, don’t do that again,” Jake said with an even bigger roar of laughter.
Jake opened up his phone and dialed Kona.
“You are way too energetic and happy for this early in the morning. What’s wrong with you?” Jake asked through a laugh. “Hey, we’ve got something for you to play with, and see what you can dig up for us. Can you find information on a set of prints for us? We can meet you at the lab. Oh, you just need a scan? Oh, have us scan them. Wait, hold on just a second,” Jake paused, looking at his Dad.
“Do you have a scanner?”
Jack patted himself, then checked his pockets.
“Not on me,” he replied, smiling. Jake got back on the phone with Kona.
“Sorry, I made the mistake of asking my Dad. You don’t want to know. He’s got bad jokes,” Jake said with a laugh. “Anyway, we don’t have access to a scanner. Oh, just a picture? Here, hold on. Stay on the line.”
Jake motioned for Jack to hand him the fingerprint images. He sat the document on the dark Koa wood table. His Dad reached over to hold it in place as Jake centered the camera and snapped a photo.
“No, that won’t work. It’s too blurry and dull. Oops, I forgot the flash. Hold on, Kona!” Jake said loudly, yelling in the direction of the phone.
Jake attempted one more time. This time, the flash lit up the image and took a crisp, bright picture.
“That should work!” he said to his Dad.
He opened his texting app, entered Kona’s information, attached the image, and sent that off.
“Okay, Kona, should be receiv…, okay, good. Is it clear enough? Perfect. See what you can find with that and get back to us. Want us to meet you at the lab later? Okay, just let us know where you’ll be. Shoot me your address, just in case. Thanks a million, KK.”
Jake hung up, looked at his Dad, and gave him crossed fingers.
“Well, that was easy. Hopefully, he can uncover something with that if there’s something to be found. He’ll find it.”
“Jake, while this is dangerous, and I am a bit concerned, I have to admit, you seem to have a little bit of a natural gift for this,” he stated proudly.
“I’m doing the easy part, Dad. Kona and Mary did the hard stuff, all that science lab hocus pocus mumbo jumbo. I don’t know how to do any of that.”
“But you do have good gut instincts. And you do seem to think through the process. You may have a bright future in this, son,” he said, smiling. “But …”
Jake cut him off before he could finish.
“I know, I know, Dad. Be careful, be careful. I got it, I got it,” he said, laughing. Jake paused for a moment before continuing in a mocking monotone voice, “you, man with sledgehammer, me, dead horse.”
“Come on, Mr. Comedian, let’s get to, wait, what did you call it, oh, yeah, IVS,” Jack said.
***
Jose and Rodrigo walked up to Island Vintage Surf just as Ken Mitchell was unlocking and opening the store. Ken nodded and motioned for them to come inside.
“Joey, keep an eye on the front. I’ve got a couple of old friends here that came to see about some boards.”
“Sure thing, Mr. K., not a problem,” Joey replied with a wave.
Ken motioned for Jose and Rodrigo to follow them to the back of the store before looking around, grabbing the boards, and moving into the office. Rodrigo closed the door behind them and listened as Jose and Ken discussed what had happened and needed to happen with the current boards.
“I handle previous issue, yes. I know not your fault, yes,” Jose said.
“You created a bit of a firestorm around the island,” Ken replied.
“Take these two boards, take out the product, dispose of the boards, then deliver the product to the drop off location and our contact. You have that information, correct?”
“I do, yes.” Jose reached into his pocket and handed him the card. Ken read the card, nodded, and gave it back to Jose.
“60 million, not a penny less. That’s the deal. Once you have delivered, have the bank, we meet for the final arrangement. If this goes as planned. This could be a beautiful working relationship going forward. But no more rash decision-making, Jose. This is an island, and nothing goes unnoticed, and almost everyone knows everyone. Understood?”
Jose nodded. Ken pointed at Rodrigo. Rodrigo nodded in agreement.
“Good, now get out of here before anyone sees you.”