CHAPTER THREE

Sparky was not happy on for several reasons. Just the fact that his partner and friend was in serious condition was bad enough, but he wished he had pushed Peter to start taking better notes of a case, instead of relying on him to record everything in his memory banks. He could find little to nothing on what Peter had done on the case. The next area that made him almost boil over was what little information that Lieutenant Brown was able to turn over to him. He had argued long and hard that he had never turned so little over to them before, especially on a closed case. Thankfully he was able to get some sort of time line of activity from Margaret. As he was just beginning to put some things together, Margaret knocked on the door.

“I am very busy!” Sparky called out.

Margaret cracked open the door.

“I am sorry, but Mr. Hamby has called three times, and has said he will not be put off any longer, he is coming in to see you now!” Margaret said in an apologetic tone.

“Chester Hamby? Our client and Nancy Woodall’s agent? Hum, it might be beneficial to speak to him. Send him straight in when he arrives.” Sparky directed.

Thirty minutes later, Chester blew through the door.

“Where is Mr. James, and who are you?”

“Sit down Mr. Hamby, I will be with you in a moment.”

“Look Buster, I am paying good money to have this case looked into by Mr. James, and not to be given the run around by some…”

Sparky stood up.

“Mr. Hamby, a few things you should know. First, I am Mr. James partner, and your good money, is being put to good use. It may wind up costing Mr. James his life, but his hard work is paying off.”

Chester’s facial expression changed.

“What are you talking about?” Chester asked slowly.

“Mr. James was attacked and is recovering in the hospital. We have another partner, that is there working with Peter while he is recovering.”

“Attacked? Who would beat, and stab him? Does the police have any clues, or has Mr. James identified any of the men?" Chester asked.

“The police are currently investigating the case, and the information that Mr. James has given me is very interesting and may bring your case to a close a lot quicker than we first thought.” Sparkly replied.

“Oh, well that’s good. Um, I mean that it is good that Mr. James was not seriously hurt, and that he is still working on the case. Does he have any idea on what may have happened in Miss Woodall’s case? I guess you know that I am not satisfied with the police report of suicide.” Mr. Hamby said sharply.

“Oh yes, I am very familiar with your case, and with the information that Peter came across, we have some surprising leads.”

“Oh really? Well, I have had my suspicions, about a few of Miss Woodall’s boyfriends, and expressed my disappointment to Mr. James about the seemingly lack of interest that the police took in investigating those crumbs.” Mr. Hamby said in a disgusted tone.

“Yes, Mr. James and I discussed that, and I will be looking further into that, but with the new information that Mr. James learned, that part of my investigation maybe short.” Sparky answered.

“Seriously?” What new information?” Chester inquired.

“I am sorry, Mr. Hamby, Mr. James injuries are quite serious, and I can only speak with him for a short period of time so, he has not given me any of those details. I will tell you that until our investigation is complete, I cannot give you any details, even if I know them. It is for your own protection.”

Chester made a huff, then smiled.

“I understand. It is just a man in my position, is not used to being kept in the dark.”

Sparky sat back down in his chair.

“Don’t worry Mr. Hamby, I am sure when this investigation is done, everything will be out in the open.”

Chester got an odd look on his face.

“Well keep me informed.” He said and left the office in the same manner in which he entered.

Sparky gathered a few things, and as he was leaving, told Margaret to get a hold of Becky and tell her to contact him via the car radio. He hurried out of the building and looked around to see which car Chester was in. once he spotted the car leaving, he rushed to his to follow him.

Becky got the message and contacted Sparky. She told him that Peter was still out, but she had seen signs that he may be coming around soon.

“Listen, I cannot explain but be careful. I have a suspicion that there will be more attempts to do away with Peter before he can speak. When he does come around relay anything he says to me right away. I also recommend that you take on the appearance of a nurse, for yours, and Peters safety.” Sparky said and cut the communication.

The reason for cutting her off was partly he did not want to hear her argument for that suggestion, but mostly because he was carefully “tuned in” to the conversation that was happening in Chester’s car.

“I can’t believe those idiots bungled that assignment.” Chester complained.

“There is no way that hustler has any clue who it was that did the number on him. Believe me boss, I have used these guys several times. They are quick, efficient, and stealthy. I think that partner of James, is just trying to stall for time and collect their fee by coming up with something that sounds good.”

“I have given him what is the most believable. If your boys were as efficient as you claim they are, the evidence they left behind should lead those hustlers straight to who I want to pin this on. I don’t have the time or patience for any more delays. Look there is a phone booth up here at this gas station, pull next to it” Chester ordered.

Their car pulled in, and Sparky had to quickly find a place to park in order to keep his distance.

“I want you to call your boys and make sure they left the evidence that they were supposed to, in plain sight. Then I want you to call your doctor friend and yell him I do not want Mr. James talking to anyone else until after this deal is done.”

Five minutes later, the guy was back in the car.

“Well?” Chester asked.

“They said that they left it all there, but I have worked with these guy for a long time, and I don’t believe they did.”

“What? Why? Chester screamed.

“They said that they had to flee out the back, because someone almost walked in on them.”

“Those fools, did they see who it was? Was it cops? Maybe James’ partner?” Chester screamed again.

“They didn’t see who it was. They said they were only paid to take care of one victim, and that they did,”

Sparky could hear the sound of what he could only assume was Chester beating on the dash board of the car. Several minutes went by before he heard Chester speak again.

“I hope you are wrong out this. I have way to much riding on getting one of those loser boyfriends of hers framed for this. Now what about the Doctor?” Chester asked in a low growl.

“He said that James has had enough sedatives to kill a moose. There is no way he could be talking to anyone. That he now has a nurse in the room twenty-four hours a day to make sure he stays sedated, and the police have allowed no one in.”

There was another long silence.

“Alright, at least that is going according to plan. Maybe you were right, and that hustler was just blowing smoke. It is time that James partner gets the evidence we are looking for him to get. Let me see that list.”

Chester went silent again.

Becky, disguised as a nurse, managed to replace the sedative bags of fluid, with plain saline ones. Agreeing to devote her shifts to total care of the patient, she successfully kept the “idiot Doctor” from making any more than one visit a day. This tactic enabled her to not only get information from Peter, and pass that on to Sparky, but also was able to learn the connection between Doctor Green, and Chester Hamby. Becky arranged for Lieutenant Brown to meet with her and Peter (when he was lucid) to hear his testimony. After hearing what Peter had to say, he reluctantly agreed to Sparky’s and Becky’s ambitious plan.