Steele With a Twist 3:

Tarnished Steele

Episode 5

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"Old friends," Jarvis repeated in a distant voice. "Where was my 'old friend' when that case blew up in my face and left me with no other choice but to leave LA for a year?" Jarvis asked. "He could have stood up and told them what he knew-"

"He explained about that, Jarvis. He tried. Our client refused to let us involve him. IF we'd done what you wanted without his permission, we'd have lost our license. Look, you're back now, hell, they even made you a lieutenant! Probably because Steele put in a good word for you when he heard you were coming back."

"That doesn't matter. Looking at the evidence, I'd have to say that Steele's got some explaining to do at the very least."

Murphy sighed. "You used to be able to look PAST the evidence, Jarvis. To the person behind it."

"I COULD arrest you."

"Go ahead. I'll be on the street before dark." Another sigh. "Look, Jarvis, someone's set Steele up. Someone with a big grudge. Now, we can't access our files to find out who it might be- and my contact at the Parole Board hasn't called me back yet. You could find out that information for us, if you wanted to."

Jarvis stood there for a long moment, and Murphy began to hope that he would agree to help them. But when Jarvis spoke again, Murphy shook his head. "I'll tell you just like I told Miss Holt: If you see Steele, tell him to turn himself in. Right now, all we want to do is talk to him. Ask some questions."

"Jarvis-"

"And Miss Krebs-"

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"I'd think twice before involving myself any further in this, if I were you. Government pensions aren't something to be tossed away on a whim." Another glance at Murphy. "I'll be around, Michaels."

Mildred closed the door behind the detective and gave Murphy a confusedd look. "Am I missing something here? Mr. Steele and Jarvis KNOW each other?"

"It's a long story." Murphy looked out of the window beside the door with speculative eyes until he saw Jarvis' car pull away. "Steele? He's gone. It's safe to come out now. I think we have a problem-"

When there was no response, Murphy met Mildred's concerned gaze. "Steele?" he called again, leading Mildred to the bedroom door. He opened it and looked around. "Steele?"

The closet door was closed, and even before he opened it, Murphy knew that Steele wasn't there. "Where is he, Mr. Michaels?" Mildred asked.

Murphy's gaze moved to the window. "You don't usually leave your windows open, do you, Mildred?" he asked, going to look out at the back yard with its easily scaleable wooden fence.

"No. Oh, Mr. Michaels, you don't think he ran away, do you?"

"That's exactly what he's done," Murphy confirmed, his voice somber. He slammed his fist down on the windowsill. "Dammit! He's only making things worse!"

"Why don't we try to call your friend again?" Mildred suggested, her own eyes searching the backyard area, trying to decide where Mr. Steele might have climbed over the fence. "Maybe she knows something that will help."

Murphy shook his head. "I think that's a dead end, Mildred. I think I know who's behind this."

"You do?" the woman questioned in surprise. "Who?"

"Lt. Jimmy Jarvis."

***

Remington Steele ducked behind a row of hedges to wait until the patrol car passed him and turned the corner. He went to the telephone booth, intending to call a taxi, but discovered to his surprise that he didn't have any money on him. Not one dime.

He'd left Mildred's house the moment he'd entered the bedroom, not wanting Jarvis to find him there and further implicate the woman. He knew that Murphy was going to be angry at his departure, but he hoped that once things were cleared up, he'd be able to square things with his partner, make him understand why he had HAD to do this himself.

Trouble was, Remington wasn't certain of his reasons for wanting to clear his name without anyone's help. Maybe he was beginning to doubt his talent as a detective- after all, how often was it that he actually got hands on experience in a case these days? With associates as capable as Murphy and Laura, all he had to do was glad-hand clients and attend luncheons, and award ceremonies- Maybe he wasn't really as good as his reputation touted him as being.

His headache was returning full force, and the spot on his arm where he'd been injected with some unknown drug felt as if it were on fire. He needed to follow through on Laura's plan- find a doctor, discover what had been done to him during those missing hours.

But walking into a hospital would be problematic at best. Someone would surely recognize him, and then call Jarvis. Remington recalled a small clinic in town- run by an old friend of his from the old days. He was sure that Doc would put him up- He glanced down the street. But how to get there?

"Need a ride, mister?" a woman asked from the low slung sports car that pulled up to the curb.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do," Remington said, studying her features, comparing her to the description of Lila Malone in the morning's paper. The Malone woman was reported to be a twenty something blonde. This woman was younger- a brunette with a wide smile and sparkling eyes. He got into the car. "Thanks."

"Car trouble?" she asked, putting the car into gear and setting off down the road.

"Might say that."

"Where are you going?"

"Into town, or as close as you're going," he amended. "Don't want to put you to any trouble."

"Oh, it's no trouble," she insisted, turning a corner.

Remington frowned, looking over his shoulder. "Shouldn't you have turned the other direction?" he asked.

"I'm afraid we're going to be making a slight detour enroute to town," the woman apologized.

"A detour? To where?"

"Why, to your death, Mr. Steele," she said in a calm voice.

"Mr. Steele? I'm afraid you have the wrong man-"

"Oh, I'm quite aware of who you are. You've been a very important person to me these last few of years."

Remington made a grab for the steering wheel, but froze as he heard the sound of gun cocking. He glanced down to see the dark, short barrel of a .38 pointed at his chest, and sat back in his seat, hands in the air. "You won't shoot me after having gone to all of this trouble."

"I won't- if you sit quietly until we reach our destination. If you try to escape, well- I can always tell the police that I recognized you and you tried to steal my car- and well, a girl DOES have the right to protect herself, doesn't she?" The amused gleam in her eyes faded. "Keep your hands where I can see them, please, Mr Steele."

Remington lowered his hands, trying to place the girl's face. He'd never seen her before. But her style of speech, her mannerisms, was all somehow familiar. Frighteningly familiar.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked.

"You'll see when we get there," she told him. "Just sit back and enjoy the ride, Mr. Steele. It will be the last one you're ever going to take."

****

"He did WHAT?!" Laura demanded upon her arrival at Mildred Krebs house and being informed that Harry wasn't there.

"He left," Murphy repeated. "While Mildred and I were talking to Jarvis. Laura, I think Jarvis might be behind this."

"Jarvis? I admit he doesn't seem to like H-" she paused, glancing at Mildred. "Mr. Steele," she amended, "but why would he set all this up?"

"To get back at Steele for not backing him up a year ago on the Conklin case."

"Conklin," Laura mused. "Conklin. Investment firm president who hired the agency to prove that his first vice president was embezzling funds- and in the course of the investigation found out that the man was having an affair with another VP's wife."

"Yeah. And then the VP turned up dead," Murphy finished. "Jarvis went after the other VP- who hired us to prove he didn't do it."

"And then the focus turned to the wife-" she recalled.

"And then she turned up dead," Murphy added. "The dead man's first wife had come back into the picture and had killed them both- Jarvis totally overlooked her- She made an attempt to take Steele out before falling ten stories to her death. Jarvis cut a couple of corners on the case, and STILL had the wrong person. He wound up transferring to New York for a year on an exchange program."

"I don't see why that would make him so angry with Mr. Steele," Laura insisted.

"It's simple, Miss Holt," Mildred interjected. "He blames Mr. Steele for not coming forward about the embezzlement accusations- because the reason the man was stealing the money was to pay blackmail to his ex-wife. Mr. Conklin refused to let the Agency reveal the fact that they'd been investigating a Vice President for fear of destroying the investment firm's reputation."

Laura stared at the woman in disbelief. "He didn't mind the scandal with the adulterous Vice President, but not that he was stealing from the firm?" She shook her head. "Okay. But I still don't buy Jarvis being the one who's set Mr. Steele up. Why do through that show at the bank if Jarvis is the one responsible?"

"To make it look good," Murphy suggested.

Laura sighed. She'd gotten tired of waiting, knowing that Harry and Murphy were here. So she'd piled her hair up under a hat, dressed in jeans and a baggy shirt, then gone out the back gate into the alley. Luck was with her as she caught sight of some of the neighborhood kids on the corner and joined them to walk past the unmarked police car sitting down the block. Once out of the officer's line of sight, Laura had flagged down a taxi, asking the driver to take her to North Hawkins Street. Then, she had snuck down the alley to the back of the small house and tapped on the glass.

And Harry wasn't there. She shook her head. "It just doesn't feel right, Murph," she insisted, sitting down on the sofa. Looking at the newspaper clippings, she asked, "What's this?"

"The contents of the safety deposit box," Mildred informed her.

"Circumstantial," she muttered, glancing through them.

"Innocent men have been sent to the chair on circumstantial evidence, Miss Holt," the woman reminded her, and Laura found herself smiling at the way Mildred Krebs had sounded like a character out of a bad detective novel.

"Was there anything other than these?"

"Just a confession supposedly written by this Malone character-," Murphy told her, coming over to join them.

She found the coin and held it up to inspect it. "And this?"

"Oh, yeah. Steele thinks it might have been one of the coins stolen from Conover. Wants me to check the list from that robbery, see if any of the coins had a General on them."

"It's not a General," Laura told him.

He looked at her with a frown, his eyes narrowed. "It's not?"

Laura shook her head as she began to remember something. "It's a Major. Murphy-." She rose to pace the room. "I remember reading a case file from a couple of years ago- a teller at a bank embezzled some money- Lily---Oh, Lily Martin."

"Lily Martin," Murphy repeated, and smacked his forehead with his open palm. "Of COURSE!"

"The answer was staring us in the face all the TIME, Murphy!" Laura declared. "The lilies in Harry's apartment-Lila Malone, Louis Malone- L. M. And this-" she said, holding up the coin. "Lily Martin's accomplice in that embezzlement was-"

"Major Descoine," Murphy finished for her. He grabbed her tightly and whirled her around. "You're amazing, Laura! I always knew that memory of yours would come in handy one day!"

"You don't think I'm reaching for this?" she asked, suddenly uncertain.

 

"Hell no. It all tracks."

 

"We need to find out when Descoine was released from prison," Laura reminded him.

"Already ahead of you on that one. I've got a call in to Lesley down at the Parole Board." He checked his watch. "And I'm supposed to call her about now."

Laura watched as he picked up the telephone and dialed a number. "Would someone explain what allthis means?" Mildred asked, drawing Laura's attention.

"It's simple, Miss Krebs," Laura said, sitting down again to face the older woman. "Major Descoine went to prison for his part in the embezzlement. Evidently he's out and behind this attempt to frame Mr. Steele for blackmail and murder."

"What about the woman?" Mildred asked. "Is she the one who gave that interview?"

"No. Lily Martin- couldn't face the thought of prison. She killed herself."

"Oh. Well, then who-" Mildred's attempted question was cut short as Murphy hung up the telephone.

"Descoine was released last week, Laura. Served two years of a three year sentence and was paroled. He met with his parole officer yesterday, and the man's report says that Descoine was still trying to find a job."

"Not much of a job market for ex embezzlers," Laura muttered. She was on her feet again, Murphy and Mildred's eyes on her movements as she paced around the room. "Murphy, he won't be satisfied with seeing Harry- seeing Mr. Steele in prison - "

"The case would never hold up in court, Laura. You said yourself it's all circumstantial."

"Exactly. So else could he have in mind?" She looked out of the window. "He's out there, alone, wanted by the police, his face plastered all over the newspapers and evening news as a blackmailer and suspected murderer. The Agency's been shut down, why should he go on?"

"You think Descoine plans to drive Steele to the same decision that Lily Martin made?"

"It would make sense. At least to someone with a twisted mind like Descoine's. And for him to achieve satisfaction, it would have to happen the SAME way as Lily Martin's death."

"In the same place. The old El Camino power plant," Murphy recalled. "It's used as a switching station now-"

"Come on, Murphy," Laura said, grabbing his hand.

"Is there anything I can do, Miss Holt?" Mildred asked as they went to the door.

"Call the police and tell Jarvis why he's chasing the wrong man."

"What if he doesn't believe me?"

"Then tell him that Remington Steele is on his way to the El Camino power station."

"You got it," Mildred assured them. "Good luck," she called as they got into Murphy's car. Rushing to the telephone, she dialed the number for the police. "I need to speak to Lt. James Jarvis, pronto. Yes, it's an emergency. A man's life is at stake!" she declared dramatically.

To Be Continued---

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Original content ©2000 by Nancy Eddy