Murder With A Splash Of Rum: A Puerto Rican Thriller Page 13

  Alexandra reviewed her notes and got a better description of Esteban Arroyo from Danny and Titi. After a few minutes, the two of them working together had provided Alexandra with a very accurate physical description of Esteban Arroyo.

  As Alexandra winded down the interview, she grasped Titi’s hands in hers. “Thank you for being forthcoming. I will catch this killer. If you remember anything else, please let me know.” The police officer glanced through notes one last time, and noted an open bullet point remaining on her interview list.

  “By the way, Mrs. Miranda, do you know a Mr. Phillip Winthrop?” She had not yet located Phillip. He had been with Fernando on the night of Ricard Herger’s murder and he might have additional information. The interviews had so far yielded very valuable information. She might have similar luck with Mr. Winthrop.

  “I met him once, he came to the beach with Fernando. Why?” replied Titi.

  “He came up in my investigation. What do you know about him?” inquired Alexandra. It was much easier asking these questions knowing that Titi was aware of Fernando’s homosexuality.

  “I met Phillip that one time at the beach but we couldn’t understand each other very well. He is from Boston and he is doesn’t speak Spanish. I don’t know much more. I think he lives in Condado. Why, do you think that person has something to do with this?” asked Titi.

  “He is a person of interest, is all,” Alexandra replied.

  “Is Fernando a ‘person of interest’ as well?” demanded Titi.

  Alexandra lied again. “Fernando is a witness. If he had nothing to do with this, he has nothing to worry about.”

  “But you still suspect him.” It was not a question. Titi placed her Medalla back on the bar and crossed her arms. She would be of no further use to the detective.

  However, Danny was now more willing to be helpful. Unlike Titi, he recognized that if Fernando was indeed a suspect, the best thing he could do would be to cast doubt upon the other suspects. He volunteered the final bit information he knew. “Well, Alex the barback was talking to Phillip the other night. I just saw Alex’s car pass by looking for parking just now. His shift started half an hour ago, he might be able to help.” Alex managed to keep his job for sole reason that he was attractive and friendly. Danny desperately hoped that the flighty barback could recall the conversation he had with Phillip.

  As Alex entered the bar, he noticed the police officer and smiled. Danny signaled his barback over. After prodding, Alex was able to recall his conversation with Phillip.

  “Oh, yeah, him. Lives next door to Stop-n-Go. He told me to come over one day for a drink. He owns a condo next to it.”

  Alexandra questioned him a while longer, and determined that the conversation itself was a dead end. However, she now had an approximate address for Phillip Winthrop. She was elated. In one afternoon she had made significant strides in the case.

  “Thank you, Alex. Thank Danny and Mrs. Miranda. If you remember anything, please, please call me. Your help has been invaluable.” She handed them each her business card.

  Alexandra waved goodbye for a final time to the Danny and Titi, and got back in to her police cruiser. She left Lila’s behind and headed towards Condado. With luck, she could locate Philip Winthrop.

  It was getting close to Christmas, and it would be increasingly difficult to interview anyone else over the next few days.

  -----О-----

  Less than a mile, away Phillip Winthrop was dining in a fine Condado restaurant. It had been a very satisfying dinner. He reached for the large wine glass to his right, swirled it and finished off the contents.

  “Thank you for the late lunch. I so appreciate fine food and good companionship.” He raised a large crystal goblet up to his dinner companion, a distinguished American tourist named Martin Friedman. Friedman was a successful class action attorney from Brookline, Massachusetts. Friendman maintained a residence in San Juan.

  “And your company is always well received. Now about calling me at my home. My wife isn’t the brightest bulb in the marquee, she is more concerned with salon appointments and shopping for jewelry than in my personal goings-on. Let’s just be sure you call me at this new number in the future. I don’t know how you got my private number, but for future reference I keep my gay life and my real life separate.

  The older gentleman slid a card across the table to Phillip, and peered down through his gold-rimmed spectacles at Phillip to insure that the message was received.

  “I am sorry for calling you at the house. I was speaking with Mark Taubman, and he mentioned you were here in Puerto Rico, so I imposed upon him to share your number, so we could connect,” Phillip replied, emphasizing ‘here’. He was clearly miffed at the condescension in Friedman’s tone.

  “Well, I will have a chat with Mark. We have a certain code, you see, at least those of us with careers and families to lose. You young kids have it very lucky. You can live your lives out in the open. I wish I had been born twenty years later. The things I could have done with my life...” The older dinner companion smiled, thoughtfully musing on the unlived potential of his life, at the opportunities that would never be available. “I had to call Paul Channing to find out where you were. I haven’t spoken to him in almost a year, it was not a pleasant experience.”

  “But we got along so well. Isn’t there a way to fix things and go back to the way things were?” Phillip pleaded.

  “Paul and I are through. The condo sale for Eighteen Tremont finally went through in July,” Martin replied.

  “We had some great times, didn’t we?” Phillip offered.

  “Yes, we did. But it’s over. It wasn’t easy. Paul was the love of my life. But after he retired, he had no reason to travel to Boston anymore. We had fun, but all good things must come to an end. Including our love nest at Eighteen Tremont. I moved on. Now I need to concentrate on my real family,” Martin countered.”

  “But I am your real family.” Phillip looked longingly at Martin.

  “No, Phillip, you are not.” Martin’s voice was firm and his sincerity was unmistakable.

  Phillip leaned back into his seat. The pain in his face had vanished. A half-smile replaced it.

  “So, want to hang out for a bit?” offered Phillip.

  “No, not this time. I’m heading back to Boston and need to go check out of the Vanderbilt. I will be back in early January, though, if you are still on the Island I will look you up.

  “I should still be here. Call me.”

  “Gooday, Phillip.” Friedman signaled for the tab and paid it.

  Phillip finished off his wine, watching Friedman disappear through the hotel lobby. He picked up his phone and dialed.

  “Hey, Fernando. It’s Phillip.”

  ‹24›

  Fernando closed his car door and reopened it, closing it again. The sheet of plastic covering his broken window had caught in the door latch. He pulled away the offending flap of plastic, in the process he lifted the grey tape which secured the remaining tape to the door. Next week’s paycheck would not go to new clothes. It would help pay for a new window, he promised himself.

  It was eight days before Christmas Eve and he could feel the holiday excitement in the air. It was a melancholy holiday for Fernando, though. Phillip’s call the day before had been for money, not for companionship. Fernando had dutifully promised to give him $300 to help him with food, the cell phone, and electricity the coming night. They had arranged to meet after work at Lila’s. It was a pricey gift for Fernando, who cleared only $340 after taxes each week. However, since Fernando was stashing his money away and living rent free with his parents, he could afford the gift. Phillip hadn’t answered his phone calls after Saturday night, and Fernando had assumed he was simply jealous of Ricardo. Now, after having learned from his distraught mother about the visit from the police officer, he knew he needed to talk to Phillip. Not only to clear the air about where the two of them stood, but to tell Phillip about Ricardo’s murder.

  He entered
the warehouse and greeted Juana with the flash of a smile. His friend Maria was already stocking inventory in the car detailing aisle. Salsa blared over the warehouse sound system and two patrons had created an impromptu dance area while waiting at the cash register. Salsa rules the airwaves in Puerto Rico, and any opportunity to dance is seized upon. The long waiting line for the cash register was filled with customers busy laughing and applauding the happy couple. In Puerto Rico, waiting in line isn’t simply a waste of time; it is an opportunity to talk, meet someone new, or in this case, to dance. Especially during the holidays, when spirits are high and lips are lightly touched with the scent of alcohol.

  Fernando swung himself around the dancing couple, stepping lively to the rhythm, and then made his way to the office where he could clock in and begin the day. This was the busiest season in the warehouse. He was scheduled to work until closing but had arrived an hour early to help out. Even though he was salaried and received no extra pay for the extra hours, he was happy and eager to contribute to the success of the warehouse. His positive outlook and solid work ethic was encouraging to the rest of the employees, with the exception of Raul Pena. Fernando had determined that he would recommend Raul be terminated after the Christmas season. Firing someone before the Holidays was never done in Puerto Rico. Regardless of how egregious the conduct, if customers heard that a family had gone without money during the Christmas holidays because of a termination, the warehouse would almost certainly lose customers.

  He clocked in and manned a second cash register. Maria could handle restocking, but he needed to clear out the long line before focusing on other tasks. The lengthy list of tasks that needed to be done by the end of the day…unloading trucks, ordering inventory, putting price labels on products…was growing by the hour.

  By mid-afternoon Fernando had checked off at least a third of the day’s tasks. His throat was dry and he was beginning to feel lightheaded from fumes. He had just restocked a delivery of Goodyears on the rack, and the fumes from the new tires were making him nauseous. He flipped a sign to Maria who understood immediately, and the two walked to the rear of the store to clock out. They always lunched together.

  “So, where to today?” asked Maria.

  “I want to get down to the mall. I still have Mom’s gift to get and I want to get something for Phillip while I’m there.”

  “Phillip? I thought you two were mad at each other?” Fernando had told Maria about Phillip’s sudden exit the previous Saturday at Lila’s.

  “No. Well, he called me yesterday out of the blue. We are supposed to meet at Lila’s when I get out tonight.”

  Maria pursed her lips at Fernando disdainfully. “He wants you to travel to San Juan at eleven o’clock? And then go all the way home afterwards? What do you see in that guy, anyway? Or are you staying the night with him?” Maria grinned a naughty grin and rocked her shoulders up and down playfully.

  “I don’t know if I will. I hope so.” Fernando hadn’t told Maria about Phillip’s situation with his father. He certainly wasn’t going to tell her that the reason he was meeting with Phillip was to give him money. Maria was his best friend. But Maria could also be a raving bitch when she wanted to be. He had learned to avoid that side of her by politely omitting certain facts when he knew she would disagree.

  The two made their way to a sushi and Chinese restaurant that they both preferred. Fernando chose it because it was adjacent to a department store. They could eat quickly and it would still give him time to pick the two gifts he needed to buy. He already knew what he wanted to get. He had decided on a Bluetooth speaker for his mother. Titi loved salsa and loved dancing. The Bluetooth he had in mind was perfect for home and the beach. It was water resistant and punched a powerful sound. He already had two other gifts for his mother, both wrapped and tucked underneath his bed. The Amdado-Mirandas always splurged on gifts for each other at Christmas.

  For Phillip he had decided upon a 48” television screen that was on sale. He had noticed that Phillip’s home for some reason lacked a television. Fernando also had a hidden agenda in buying the screen. He had learned how to put porn on the new widescreen in his bedroom using his cell phone. He was hoping that if he could do the same thing at Philip’s house, the sight of hot gay porn would turn Phillip on enough to let Fernando play around with him one night. Phillip’s sexual appetite was, to put it mildly, restrained.

  “So, I gotta tell you something,” Maria began.

  “Shoot.” Fernando loved to gossip with Maria. Their lunches were more about gossiping than eating, although today he was enjoying the eating part. The cool lemonade they had both ordered was refreshing and helping to clear up his nausea.

  “So, don’t get freaked out. Alfonso went over to Raul Pena’s house last night. It was with a parranda.”

  “Raul received a parranda?” Fernando asked, surprised. “Nobody likes him, you mean he has friends?”

  They both giggled.

  “No, Alfonso was with the parranda, and felt sorry for him, so he convinced them to stop over. You know that Raul didn’t even have a beer for them? They were only there for five minutes. Alfonso said he was so embarrassed, Raul was very rude, he said.”

  “Well that’s not surprising, but why would I be freaked out. You know that I’m asking Luis to get rid of him after Three King’s Day,” Fernando replied.

  “Well, Alfonso had to use his bathroom. Apparently, Raul wouldn’t even let the parranderas into the house. Alfonso said that, well, first he said the place was filthy.” Maria and Fernando laughed heartily. “And then he said that he passed by Raul’s bedroom. He said that Raul had a picture of you in his bedroom.”

  “What? Me, a picture?” Fernando was both surprised and revulsed.

  “Not a very complimentary one. It was of your face on a bullseye. With darts in. And he had scribbled things on it too. He said it was a little scary.”

  “Oh, Jesus,” muttered Fernando. So, I have a stalker now,” he stated flatly.

  “Just watch your back. And tell Luis. Raul is nuts, you know that. You never can tell what he is up too. I think he is either a drunk or a druggie or something, he comes in on Sundays looking like death warmed over, like he has been up all night. Just letting you know.”

  Fernando nodded, what remained of his holiday cheer had suddenly disappeared.

  The two finished their meal. They popped in to a store and purchased Fernando’s gifts, and then trudged back to the warehouse.

  Once they were back at work Maria took over restocking. Fernando’s bout with the new tires had left him more willing to face customers at the cash register. As he logged his identification number into the computer and started to signal the first customer, he saw a figure staring at him intently from across the aisle.

  It was Raul Pena. Fernando could feel the daggers from Raul’s eyes piercing him. When he glanced up again, Raul was still standing there, unmoving, but the stare was unmistakable. It was the look of pure hatred.

  ‹25›

  Detective Alexandra Vargas pounded loudly on the solid wood door in front of her. She had managed to gain entrance to Edificio Hoyt by ringing the building’s buzzers until someone answered. Edificio Hoyt was located in the exclusive Condado area of San Juan, and the security measures reflected that fact. She had been required to wait and show her badge to a kindly elderly gentleman in Apartment 4 before gaining admittance.

  “Do you know which apartment Phillip Winthrop is in?” she asked him.

  He directed her to Apartment 3 and then retreated back to his own abode.

  Because Apartment 3 had not answered her repeated attempts, Alexandra doubted anyone would answer the door. To her surprise, the door opened and she was met by a young twenty-something blonde male.

  “Phillip Winthrop?” she demanded.

  “Yes, hello officer,” replied Phillip in English.

  “I rang you downstairs and couldn’t get an answer,” she replied also in English. He was obviously an American.

&nbs
p; “Ah, the buzzer is broken. Sorry. What can I do for you officer?”

  “I need to speak with you about an ongoing investigation. May I come in?”

  Phillip paused, his expression breaking for only a half second. A half second is all that a trained police officer like Alexandra needed.

  “Please, Mr. Winthrop, it is important,” she stated firmly as she firmly moved her body through the open door. She had learned that trick in the Academy. Until an officer is verbally told to not enter a home, requesting admission while entering complies with the law. A homeowner can always refuse entrance, and she had been denied admission a handful of times. Generally, however, the subjects are surprised enough to permit entry, or at least not protest in time to prevent an officer from passing through the doorway. Timing is everything in good police work.

  “Oh, sure, please come in,” replied Phillip as Alexandra swept past him.

  He led Alexandra to an expensive white leather sofa with chrome finishing. The entire apartment was decorated with high end touches. She would have paused to admire the showroom quality décor if she didn’t have more pressing business. He sat down and waved expansively for her to be seated.

  “Thank you, I’m fine standing,” she stated flatly, retaining control of the conversation. “Do you know a Mr. Fernando Amado?”

  “Yes, of course. From the gay bars,” replied Phillip, smiling brightly.

  Yet again, the touchy subject of sexual orientation had been by-passed. Phillip Winthrop obviously had no fear about identifying himself as a patron of gay bars.

  “And what is your relationship with Mr. Amado?” she continued. The half-second flutter she had seen in his expression when she entered had made her suspicious. Her police training made these types of split-second determinations second nature.

  “Relationship, well like I said I know him,” responded Phillip.

  “Are you in a romantic relationship with Mr. Amado?”