The second in a series of mystery novels set in Portland, Oregon featuring ex-Coastie turned private investigator Matt MacKinnon. In this book Matt is hired by the mother of a man who was murdered to find his killer. During the investigation Matt meets a homeless young couple that are suffering through difficult times.
Rose City Risk
By M. Scott KelleyAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2011 M. Scott Kelley
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4567-3873-0Chapter One
My cast was perfect and the feeling of satisfaction I had was almost, but not quite, as good as when I actually hooked up. I was fishing for winter steelhead on the Clackamas River near Carver outside Portland, Oregon on a perfect Monday in early March. It would have been a perfect day even if I hadn't already landed and released two of the incredibly beautiful fish I was targeting. The fact the bite was on and the sky a deep blue made it one of those days that I live for. One of the most rewarding benefits of being a private investigator and being my own boss was that I could take time for days such as this. It far more than made up for the somewhat meager income I managed to derive from the times I actually did work. This is not to say that I find what I do for a living unrewarding, because it often is, especially when I helped decent people out of tough situations.
I had been fishing since daybreak and I could tell it was about time to call it a day. Traffic was picking up on the bridge near my fishing spot with people heading in for their jobs in the city and its environs. It was tough to call it quits because I had the prime drift to myself for a change. The steelhead is a large sea going member of the salmon family. The run was just about over and I wanted to make the most of it. I was in between jobs and had nothing significant pending, so I told myself, as so many anglers had through the ages, just one more cast and that will be it. Once again I zipped my custom made spinner out into the riffle and let it sink before starting a slow retrieve. Once again I felt the lure bounce along the bottom, come to a suspiciously fishy feeling stop, and I set the hook. With steelhead you have no doubt when you have a fish on and my line screeched off the ultra light reel as the fish took off with a vengeance.
It was at that moment that my cell phone started jingling with the customized ring I had selected for my significant other, Holly Palmer. Holly was probably the only person whose call I would answer given I had a fish on (and I almost included my mother in that). Few people or things are more important to me than fishing but Holly is one of them. I loosened my drag and tucked my fishing rod under my arm hoping for the best. Given I had told Holly what my plans were for the morning and that she knew how I felt about fishing I knew her call had to be important.
"Hey, Holly, what's up?" I asked with what I hoped sounded like sincere interest. She answered, sounding upset which was extremely unusual for her, by saying, "Matt, sorry to call but I have some terrible news. Alex's friend Doug was found dead near the Burnside Bridge. Alex just called and I told her I would give you a call and see if you could check with Ben and see what the police know." Alex, short for Alexandra Galloway, was Holly's best friend and they worked together as sports apparel designers at Nike.
Ben, otherwise known as Detective Canfield, was a homicide detective with the Portland Police. He and I had met while I was working on a case the previous fall and we had since become friends outside our working relationship. I told Holly I would call and check in with him and call her back. She thanked me and asked how the fishing was. I told her it had been fantastic and that I'd fill her in later if she was willing. She told me that would be great, I could hear her customary good cheer returning, and we hung up.
I put away my phone and began to retrieve my line which, as I expected, had gone slack. The fish was long gone. I knew the fishing spell was broken and it was time to get back to the real world.
Chapter Two
I waded back to the beach and trudged up to my green Toyota Tundra pickup. Not for the first time I wondered how a great person such as Alex could fall for a ne'er-do-well like Doug Peterson. Doug was a spoiled only child of rich parents who, at least in my humble opinion, had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth and grown up with no regard for others. Holly and I had often tried to talk each other into speaking to Alex about breaking it off with Doug but we had always concluded this was one of those things we just couldn't do. We hoped Alex would come to her senses without being too badly hurt but it sounded as if that decision had been taken away from her.
Once I had taken off my chest waders and pulled on sneakers I pulled out my cell phone. I dialed up my best buddy who was on a vacation fly fishing for snook in Honduras and left him a quick message letting him know he wasn't the only one catching fish. After hanging up I punched in Detective Canfield's cell number and waited for him to answer. He picked up and said, "Hey Matt, I bet I know why you are calling. Doug Peterson, right?" I told him yes and asked how he knew. He said that he had just spoken to Alexandra and she had dropped my name. They had set up an appointment for 8:30 for Alex to meet with Ben at Central Precinct for the usual questioning given Alex and Doug's relationship. Alex had asked if I could sit in with her. Ben said, "I was just reaching for my phone to call you to see if you could make it but you beat me to the punch. How about it? Can you get down here?" I looked at my watch and saw it was 7:20 which left me time to get downtown if I hustled so I told I'd be there and we hung up.
I started up my truck and swung out of the parking lot and across the bridge and I found myself speculating on how Doug had come to grief. The Burnside Bridge area was a fairly notorious spot right smack in downtown Portland. I could easily envision it being a random act of violence, a mugging gone badly for example, but of course I had no information to base that on. I set such speculation aside as futile and fired up the iPod that was hooked up to my stereo and cranked up a classic rock playlist I had put together. The transition from idyllic early morning fishing to Tom Petty's Runnin' Down a Dream was fairly abrupt but I hadn't had enough coffee and didn't have time to stop.
Chapter Three
Traffic was not bad and I parked near Central Precinct with ample time to stop in a Starbucks across the street from the precinct and pick up some caffeinated drinks. I figured we'd all need them. I knew from experience what Ben drank, triple mocha, and called Holly to bring her up to speed and get some input on Alex's coffee drink of choice. Holly told me Alex was partial to vanilla lattes so I added that to my order.
I managed to work my way through the downtown sidewalk rush without spilling anything and walked into the small foyer just in time to see Alex walking towards the window that separated the public area from reception desk. I called to her and she turned and gave me a glad smile and said, "Matt, thank you so much for coming. I feel so much better knowing I have a friend here." I reached out my free hand and took one of hers, gave it a squeeze and said simply, "Sorry about Doug. I'm glad to help in any way I can." She returned the squeeze and blinked away some tears and swallowed as if to clear her throat but did not speak. I noticed that despite having obviously had a tough time she still looked very good. She was a natural Irish beauty with wavy red hair and piercing green eyes.
I handed her the latte and said, "I called Holly and she told me this is your coffee drink of choice. I think you might need this because these sessions can be fairly trying. That said I know Ben well enough to tell you that he is fair and a true professional. You don't have to worry about him pulling any bad cop type routine, if that is any consolation."
She took a grateful sip and nodded, "Thanks for this and thanks for the reassurance. I admit to feeling apprehensive just being here." With that we both turned to the receptionist and I told him that we had an appointment to see Detective Canfield. He nodded, picked up the phone, dialed a number and spoke briefly. As he hung up he said, "Sure, the detective said he'd be right down to take you both up." We thanked him and walked away to talk out of earshot.
I said, "Alex, how much do you know about what happened? If you'd rather wait until Ben shows up so you don't have to repeat yourself I'd understand." She shook her head and said, "No, I don't mind talking mostly because I really don't have much to say. Doug and I went out to dinner and he dropped me off at my place around nine thirty. He said he had some business to take care of. That's the last time I saw or spoke to him. His father Earl called me very early this morning to give me the news that Doug had been found dead. He did not have any details himself and we hung up after a very short conversation. Doug and his father were not close. I had the sense that Earl was feeling more rage than anguish about Doug's death. I hope you don't mind that I mentioned your name and business to him. I don't know if he'll follow up, but I wanted to give you a heads up."
At that moment Ben stepped through one of the glass doors that led to the restricted area and motioned us over. I shook hands with Ben and turned to Alex and said, "Alex, this is Detective Canfield. Detective, this is Ms. Galloway." I kept it deliberately formal until I could get a sense of how both of them wanted to proceed. Ben quickly solved that as he shook Alex's hand and said, "Ms. Galloway, thank you for coming in so promptly. I hope this is not too difficult for you?"
Alex shook her head no and responded, "No, I just hope that whatever I can tell you will be helpful. I was just telling Matt that I'm not sure that I know anything that will be of any use."
"Well, you'd be surprised how often people say that at the beginning of an investigation like this and it turns out they are able to provide valuable information." With that Ben turned and led us to an elevator. He hit the up button and the doors slid right open. He motioned for us to proceed and we did so. The three of us rode up to the sixth floor in silence. When the doors had opened, Ben said politely, "Please follow me." He led us to a small room with a table and four chairs. He shut the door behind us and asked us to be seated. He waited until Alex sat down before seating himself. I set his mocha down in front of him and he looked up with a smile and a nod and then I took a seat myself next to Alex.
"Ms. Galloway, I'd first like to make sure you know you are not here because you are under suspicion. This is simply an informational back and forth. That said, if you do feel you would like legal counsel present, you are free to stop at any time and place a call. Is that okay with you?"
Alex looked at me and I gave her an encouraging grin and she turned to Ben and said, "Yes, that is clear and I am fine with proceeding. I am not at all certain how this will go. I've never had any dealings with the police. That is why I asked Matt to sit in."
"Okay, how long did you know Mr. Peterson? I'd also like to hear about the last time you saw him," Ben asked, taking a notepad and pen out of his shirt pocket.
Alex replied, "I've known Doug for about eight months. We met at a charity event for the Washington Park Zoo. I was just telling Matt that Doug and I had dinner last night. We went to Jake's and finished there at about 9pm. Doug said he had some business to take care of so he dropped me off at my condo at about 9:30 or so."
Ben nodded as he jotted some brief notes and asked, "Did Mr. Peterson give you any idea of the nature of his business that night? Did he mention any names or say where he was going?"
Alex shook her head no and said, "Doug was never very open about his business dealings, Detective. I know he was in some financial difficulty which was very hard for him. You may know that his parents are quite well to do. Doug did not want to follow in his father's footsteps and repeatedly said he wanted to make his own way. He often expressed his frustration with his situation."
Ben asked, "Do you know what sort of business Mr. Peterson was in? Did he work regular hours? Anything along these lines that you can tell me would be helpful."
Alex responded, "Well, I hate to admit it but Doug did not seem to work on any regular schedule. He was always talking about some big deals he had in the works and that he was close to making a big score that would set him up. It seems odd that I know as little as I do given our relationship. This was not something we spoke much about. Doug kept his cards close to his chest. I do know that Doug spent a fair amount of time at Portland Meadows and he took horse racing very seriously."
If I hadn't known Ben as well as I did, I would have missed his increase in interest at this information. I was aware that Doug had been a bit of a gambler at the horse track. The few times he, Alex, Holly, and I had gotten together socially he often went on and on about racing and how close he'd been on such and such a race. I found this quite tedious as I had little interest in horse racing myself. This was one of several reasons the four of us did not get together very often.
"Did you ever go to the track with him, Ms. Galloway?" asked Ben. Alex nodded and said, "Yes, but not very often. I do enjoy watching the horses, such beautiful animals, but the gambling part of it did not do much for me."
Ben asked, "Did Mr. Peterson associate with anyone in particular the times you did go to the track with him?" Alex nodded and said, "There was one man we saw on a few occasions. Doug introduced us on a first name basis. I think the guy's name was Jonathan, but I did not hang around the two of them when they got together. I was somewhat uncomfortable around Jonathan. He was one of those guys who exuded the feeling he was god's gift to women and that I should acknowledge that. I'm not sure I'm explaining that very well, but I usually excused myself on some pretense or another when we met."
"I think I understand," said Ben, "Let's shift gears here a bit. Did you ever meet Mr. Peterson's family? If you did can you give me any insight into their relationship?" He sat back and took a deep drink of his mocha.
"Yes, I met Doug's parents and the four of us socialized several times. We usually met for dinner at their house, but would occasionally meet for dinners out. His father's name is Earl. He is some sort of financial advisor with a firm called Unlimited Horizons Investing. His mother's name is Eleanor. She doesn't work, but is very involved in various charities and clubs. She was one of the main organizers of the event for the Washington Park Zoo where I first met Doug. Doug was an only child and I never met or heard about any other relatives. I think his parents tried to have other children but there were complications that I did not fully understand and certainly wasn't going to ask about. I know that Doug and his father were not close. There was a great deal of tension between them when they were together. Doug and his mother seemed to get on well together though. I'm sure that if not for that Doug would have had very little use for seeing his family. Doug often spoke with bitterness that his father treated him with condescension and that he had limited patience. I'm afraid it was one of those all too common father-son relationships where the son felt he never lived up to expectations." Alex paused to take a drink of her latte and continued, "The times the four of us spent together were usually uncomfortable. Most of the conversation was between Doug and his mother. I tried to ease the tension but was rarely successful."
Ben nodded contemplatively and flipped to a new page in his notebook. I knew he took copious notes and could recreate fairly complex conversations he'd heard while working. I also knew he had a very keen mind and missed very little of what he heard or observed. After a pause he continued, "Ms. Galloway, can you tell me about any other people Mr. Peterson interacted with socially? I know this may sound clichéd, but did he have any enemies?"
Alex took another sip of her coffee and then said, "Doug was kind of a loner. I did not know any of his friends and he rarely spoke of anyone he socialized with when we were not together. I'm certainly not aware that he had any enemies. Doug and I did socialize occasionally with Matt and his friend, dinners out and to clubs to listen to music, but not frequently. As I sit here and listen to myself I'm amazed just how little I knew of Doug. When he and I were together we mostly talked about my work and family. He was a very private person and had a side that I don't think very many people got to see."
Ben turned to me and asked, "Matt, given you knew Mr. Peterson, I'm wondering if you can think of anything you'd like to add? Did the two of you ever meet outside the foursome?"
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Rose City Riskby M. Scott Kelley Copyright © 2011 by M. Scott Kelley. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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