Page 15 of The Beachside Cafe 2
“I’m willing to bet if he isn’t living here, someone is. Looks well-kept and clean.”
Jaymee had to agree with that. She got out of the car at the same time as Cameron. They slowly walked on the concrete path to the front door, examining the lawn, which was empty of any adornments like bushes, fountains, flowers or anything that might make it look homey. The only sign of life was in the enormous flower beds that ran along the front of the house on either side of the small front porch.
“You knock,” Jaymee said. “And you do most of the talking, too. Men don’t like to listen to women interrogating them.”
Cameron knocked and the two of them waited. Jaymee thought she heard movement inside as someone walked to the door just before it was opened by a mousy looking man shorter than she was.
He looked from Cameron to Jaymee and back again. “Can I help you?”
Jaymee couldn’t believe it. He even had a mousy voice. He was just a small man. There was no way he would have been able to handle a large man like Doug. Doug probably weighed twice what Martin did.
“You’re Martin Granger?” Cameron asked.
Martin frowned. “Yeah? So what? Who are you?”
“My name is Cameron Smith and this is my partner, Jaymee Mason. We’re just asking some questions about IDL from people who’ve worked there.”
Jaymee was astonished by the look of utter fear on the man’s face when he heard the name IDL. He backed up but didn’t close the door in their faces, which she appreciated.
“I don’t have anything to say about IDL,” he said in a harsh voice. “Working for them ruined my life. Ruined it! I haven’t been able to sleep, think, eat, nothing! All because of what’s happened since I left there.” Martin suddenly looked defeated, his shoulders slumping.
“I’m sorry we have to bother you,” Cameron said. “It concerns a missing person and we do need your help. If you could just tell us whatever you can about IDL and we’ll get out of your hair.”
“Please,” Jaymee added. “It’s… It’s my husband that’s missing. Jeremy Mason. Do you know him?”
Jaymee was thankful Cameron didn’t look at her when she lied about Doug’s name. She wanted the man to have sympathy for her but not recognize her name or her husband’s. She would have to remember to tell Cameron how pleased she was to remember the last name she was choosing to go back to.
“I don’t know that name,” Martin said bluntly. “And I don’t want to talk about IDL.”
He looked like he was going to close the door when Cameron took a step forward. He used a firm but respectful tone when he said, “Mr. Granger. A man is in danger. We need your help. Please do the right thing. We won’t stay long, I promise.”
Martin looked disgruntled. He reluctantly stepped back and let them in. Jaymee was amazed by what she saw when she stepped into Martin’s home. The inside was not nearly as neat and tidy as the outside. Despite the papers spread all over the house, some in stacks up against the wall, filing cabinets lining one way and desks with papers stacked on top, there was a pleasant smell to the house.
Jaymee wondered how Martin managed that. The papers had to collect dust. Maybe he was the kind of man who cleaned constantly. Other than his papers, of course. He was a biologist. He should know something about germs and disease, that was for sure.
“You can sit if you can find a place. Just move my papers out of the way. I’m in the middle of sorting through some things, getting rid of other things.” He moved quickly down the hall and into the living room, taking papers from chairs and opening them up for Jaymee and Cameron.
Jaymee sat down, looking around the room. There wasn’t a speck of dust in sight. There was no trash. There was no old food wrappers or cups sitting around. This was a clean man, just untidy. And he had a lot of papers.
They sat for a few minutes, watching the man move papers around, mumbling to himself. Finally, he’d cleared a spot and sat on the couch. He leaned forward and glared at them both.
“So what do you want from me? What can I tell you?”
“Do you remember a man named Doug Lent?” Jaymee asked, deciding it would best to tell him about Doug without relating him to herself.
Martin’s face turned grey when she mentioned her soon-to-be- ex-husband’s name. “I remember him.”
“We found a picture of you and Doug from back about five years,” Cameron said, showing no signs of surprise that Jaymee had revealed Doug’s name when they had initially lied about it. “You looked like you were friends. You were shaking hands in the picture.”
Martin’s eyes clouded over as he stared into his memory. “I remember that, yeah. He was a good friend back then. We had a great time on that trip. Too bad that didn’t last. He wasn’t a good man. He was… he was a greedy man. He liked to take money from people. Something happen to him? Somebody kill him?”
“He’s also missing,” Jaymee said. “And we’re trying to find out where these men have gone.”
“Well, if you think your husband had anything to do with Doug Lent and now they’re both missing it’s probably because your husband is involved in something illegal. That was the kind of man Lent was. He liked to walk on the dark side. He was greedy.”
Cameron spoke up. “You keep saying he was greedy. Is that because he had something on you? We found evidence he has been blackmailing a lot of people. We haven’t got the evidence to prove it yet, though, nor do we know what he has on his victims. Were you one of them?”
Martin’s face fell. He’d realized he been caught, Jaymee surmised.
