Redemption (Amos Decker #5)(98)

“By commencing our investigation at the point of the murders.”

“Where else should we have started it?”

“Why did David Katz choose to come to Burlington, Ohio? Or did someone else make that decision for him?”





Chapter 63



FRED PALMER WAS IN HIS SEVENTIES, overweight and bald, with a cheerful face and ruddy complexion. His office had one window, one desk with a chair, and two chairs fronting the desk. There were no pictures on the wall. No carpet underfoot.

He was leisurely turning the pages of a file on his desk while Decker and Lancaster sat impatiently across from him.

“Been in business nearly forty-five years,” he said.

“Right, you told us that. Have you found what you’re looking for?” asked Lancaster.

“Okay, here it is. Thought so. The American Grill. Don’t eat there myself. I’ve got acid reflux. Everything they serve gives me reflux.”

“And the construction? My husband said you worked on it.”

“Earl, now there’s a nice guy. Nice guy. You’re lucky, ma’am, to have him.”

“Yes, very. The file? You said you had it?”

Palmer planted a thick thumb down in the middle of the page. “Heavy equipment rental.”

“Rental?” said Decker. “Did you not do the work?”

“No, that’s what rental means.” Palmer laughed and gave Lancaster a funny look. “Can tell he doesn’t know shit about construction.”

“What sort of equipment?” asked Decker.

“Excavator, dump truck, front loader, bulldozer. It’s all there.” He tapped the file.

“How long did they rent it?”

Palmer looked over the page. “Says here two weeks.”

“Did you normally rent out equipment like that, or did you also typically do the work?”

Palmer sat back and closed the file. “We like to do the work, of course. But that was an odd project.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Decker.

“This Katz guy. Darren?”

“David,” corrected Decker.

“Right, David Katz. He later got murdered, you know.”

“Do tell,” said Lancaster, nearly rolling her eyes.

“Oh, yeah. Killed. Him and some others. Anyways, he came into town and got this loan and wanted to build this restaurant. Okay, fine. Lots of people here could have done that for him.”

“But he got a company from outside the area to do it,” said Decker. “We know that.”

“And he tarped things off and had really tight security around the construction area,” added Lancaster.

“That was odd. I tried to get the work, but we got turned down. We were the biggest outfit back then. Still one of the biggest today. Surprised me, but it was his money.”

“Was that the only thing odd about it that you found?” asked Lancaster.

“Well, no.” He tapped the file. “That was.”

Lancaster looked confused. “You’ve lost me.”

“What I mean is, what do you need all that heavy equipment for, if you’re just digging a foundation for a restaurant? I mean, how much excavation is there to do? Most projects like that, there’s none. You just grade the property, lay your foundation, and build up from there. Hell, what they rented from me, they could’ve dug down to China, nearly.” He laughed. “China, get it?”

“And did you ever ask them why they’d rented so much equipment like that?” asked Decker.

Palmer gaped at him. “What, are you serious? ’Course not. It was more money to me. None of my business what he does, so long as he pays. And he did. I will tell you that the construction took longer than it should have. And they had to pay some additional fees to me because of it. I remember driving by some days and wondering when the hell they were going to finish up.”

“Why do you think it took extra time?” asked Lancaster.

“Not sure. But it did, that’s all I know.” He laughed. “I do remember one thing.”

“What?”

“When we got the equipment back, they’d washed it all. Clean as a whistle. Now, I can never remember that happening before. Most times it comes back all crapped up and we have to clean it up. But not that time. I could’ve eaten my lunch off the stuff.” He laughed heartily. “Eaten my lunch. Get it?”

“Yeah,” said Decker. “I get it.”

*



After leaving Palmer’s office Lancaster looked up at Decker. “So what did we just learn?”

“That David Katz undertook, apparently, the strangest construction project in the history of Burlington.”

“And what does that tell us?”

“That it’s time for us to find out who the hell David Katz really was.”

They were walking down the street when a car drove past and then stopped. The window came down.

“Amos Decker?”

Decker glanced over at the expensive car. Duncan Marks was sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Mr. Marks, how are you?”

“Well, I’m fine, but you look great. Lot different from the last time I saw you.”

“Yeah, things have looked up for me.”