Falafel Jones - Max Fried 02 - Payback's a Beach by Falafel Jones

Author:Falafel Jones [Jones, Falafel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery: Cozy - Computer Forensic Examiner - Florida
ISBN: 1493546023
Publisher: Falafel Jones
Published: 2013-11-04T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I put my phone back in my pocket. “That’s odd. What do you make of that?”

Ed sat back and crossed his legs. “Couple of things. First, Bucky said there weren’t any criminal charges made so I don’t get why the police would be involved in a civil matter. Second, I wonder who this Snyder really is.”

I said, “Maybe Bucky can explain some of this.”

Ed stood. “Let’s see if he can.”

Ed and I walked back out to the docks. When we arrived at Bucky’s ship, we found him alone, sitting on a deck chair, and smoking his cigar. He waved us over. “Gentlemen, come on aboard. Keep an old sailor company for a bit.”

Ed said, “Thank you, Bucky. Be glad to.” We climbed aboard and I sat on the bench seat where I could watch Bucky’s face. Ed pulled his cigarettes from his shirt pocket, lit up and leaned against the cabin door. Bucky looked at me. “Max, you look like you have something on your mind.”

Ed chuckled, “That’s why I love to play poker with him. You can always tell what’s going on with Max just by looking at him.”

Bucky smiled in apparent appreciation of Ed’s comment. It was bad enough folks could tell what I had for lunch by looking at my clothes. I didn’t need to be so transparent in my thoughts but it wasn’t a matter of choice. I’m not cut out for guile. “Yes. I do.”

“Well, shoot, boy.”

It’s been a long time since anyone called me boy but at Bucky’s age, he could get away with it. “OK. Did I hear you correctly earlier? You never filed any criminal charges against Drew Fisher?” It would be too easy for me to verify his answer so I expected Bucky to tell me the truth.

“Yes, that’s correct. No criminal charges, just that civil judgment to recover the money I gave him to invest. The money he never invested as instructed. Why do you ask?”

“I got a phone call from a man claiming to be Detective Snyder of the East End Police Department. I called him back and learned there’s no such person in the East End police.”

“Oh, that…”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Snyder is a detective. He’s located in East End, but he’s not with the police department. He’s a private investigator I hired to locate the money I want to recover.”

“Snyder mentioned a gold bar.”

“Well, Snyder saw some equipment he thinks Fisher used to reshape some gold for transport.”

“Why wouldn’t he just deposit your money?”

Bucky looked at Ed and they both shook their heads in sympathy. Bucky said to me, “You don’t get it, do you? You see, you can’t win with IRS. You don’t declare income, they get upset. You declare earnings from theft and someone tries to arrest you.”

Ed added, “Plus, gold appreciates in value and doesn’t have serial numbers. It’s a great way to sock away some funds. It also travels well. You can use it in any country without worrying about exchange rates.”

Bucky said, “And Fisher had a boat.

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