The Perfect Murder

Inspector Gilbert arrived at the mansion of John Campbell. Several police officers were taking statements from well dressed people in a large room to his left. An officer motioned him to head upstairs. There, he was directed to a large office. Two detectives and the forensic team were working around the room. John Campbell lay on his side in front of modern desk with nothing on it. A pool of blood formed from his broken skull. A large gold trophy lay beside his head.

“The trophy is the murder weapon?" he asked Detective Longeau.

“Looks like it,” Longeau replied. “Forensics say it matches the dent in the victim’s head. He was looking up at it as it hit him. Since it's lying beside him with blood on it, it's pretty conclusive. Of course, he could have been drugged first. The tox screen will determine that.”

“Any chance this was a freak accident?”

Longeau shook his head. “Short of an earthquake, that trophy was not going to drop off the desk by itself. The mark on the desk positioned at it least five inches from the edge.”

Gilbert nodded. “Why is he laying on his side with his knees and hips bent?”

“Garth says he was on his hands and knees when he was hit.”

“That’s odd.”

“There’s an expensive pen under the desk. Maybe he was going for it when the assailant hit him.”

Gilbert looked across the clean desk. “That's a pretty clean desk desk. Who found the body?”

“His executive assistant. Name’s Elisabeth MacNeil. She’s in the next room with family and two corporate guys who were at the party downstairs. We’ve set up a room across the hall for you.”

Gilbert nodded. “Have they dusted the trophy for prints yet?”

Longeau grimaced. “Yes. Didn't find any.”

Gilbert raised his eyebrows. “So, whoever hit him was wearing gloves. Means it was premeditated.”

Longeau nodded. “My thoughts exactly. Miss MacNeil confirmed it regularly sits on the desk, right above where Campbell’s head is right now.”

He pointed to the glass doors going out to a balcony. “Any chance of access through there?”

Longeau shook his head. “Locked from the inside. A survey of the grounds show no signs of recent use.”

Gilbert sighed. “Well then, I’ll go have a chat with the folks in the next room.” He moved into the hallway and entered the next room. He found eight people sitting on chairs and one man gazing out the window. The room looked like a conference room. Only one person seemed stressed by the fact that the head of Condor Robotics was dead.

“I’m Inspector Gilbert. I’ll be leading the investigation. Let’s start by going around the room with introductions.” He looked over at the one person who seemed upset. “You must be Elizabeth MacNeil?”

She raised her face. “Yes.”

He continued around the room. There was Greta Campbell-Forsythe, John Campbell’s daughter, and Grant Forsythe, her husband. Edward Mancowski was the CFO of Condor Robotics. Bennett Yang of Yang Inc. and Gary Hoover of Tendon Electronics ran companies that supplied software and hardware to Condor. There was John Campbell’s trophy wife, Jennifer Mettawa-Campbell, who was about the same age as Greta.

Then there were the two Campbell brothers, Benjamin and Clarence. Their introductions said a lot about their relationship with each other.

“Inspector,” Benjamin said, “How long is this going to take? We have guests to attend to downstairs.”

Gilbert scowled at him. “Your guests are being well attended to by the officers of your local police department. This is a murder investigation, and I will take as much time as necessary to complete it.”

The word murder made everyone stiffen.

“Now who are you?”

Ben did not look like anyone had ever talked to him like that before. “Benjamin Campbell. I’m the eldest son. Clarence is over there.”

“Ben, I can speak for myself,” Clarence replied.

“Like you did at the board meeting last week?” Ben spat.

“We have to live—”

“Hey, hey,” Gilbert interrupted. “You can have your family spat later. Right now, your father’s dead in the next room and I don’t see a lot of concern about that.”

“We have to look to the future,” Ben said.

“Your future right now is sitting with me and answering my questions,” Gilbert retorted. “Until then, the future of Condor Robotics will have to wait.”

Ben glared at him. “Do you like your job, Inspector?”

Really? “Do you like your freedom, Mr. Campbell?”

Ben’s face dropped. Gilbert glanced over at Clarence and saw a slight smile.

Oh, this is going to be fun.

***

Gilbert started. “Miss MacNeil, how long have you been John Campbell’s executive assistant?”

Elizabeth wiped tears from her eyes. “About five years.”

“Was he a good boss?”

She shrugged. “He could be tough, impatient, but he was always professional. When he berated me for something, it was always short, pointed and then forgotten.”

“What is the family dynamic like?”

Elizabeth fidgeted her hands. “I don’t think I should…”

Gilbert leaned forward. “I need to know what kind of environment the family lives in. Who do you think would be the best candidate for murdering John Campbell?”

Elizabeth froze. Gilbert wondering if he pressed too hard. But her features softened. “Of them all, I would say Ben is the most ruthless.”

All that tells me is she doesn’t like Ben, but it’s a start. Gilbert leaned back in the chair and made some notes. “Walk me through the time you last saw him at the party and discovering Mr. Campbell in his office.”

She took a deep breath. “I was with Clare. Clarence. We call him Clare for short. I think he has a thing for me, but I try to ignore it.”

“Does he harasses you?”

She shook her head. “No, nothing like that. He’s kind of sweet. Sometimes, I think he sees me as an escape from his family, but he will never leave.”

“Why not?”

She paused.

“Everything you say in here is purely confidential,” Gilbert reassured.

Elizabeth made a fist. “He is all that keeps them from being robber barons.” She looked up at Gilbert with a scared expression. “His words.”

Gilbert made some notes on his pad before continuing with the questioning.

“You were with,” he looked down at the pad, “Clare. Then what happened?”

“Mr. Campbell came over and asked me to keep Mr. Yang entertained while he went up to get a document.”

“Do you know what document that was?”

“No, but since he told me to stay with Mr. Yang, I assume it was for him.”

Gilbert made some notes. “How long was Mr. Campbell up in his office before you went up looking for him?”

“About ten minutes. Mr. Campbell is usually very prompt.”

“Did you see anyone go upstairs?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “No, but Ben was on the stairs talking with Mr. Hoover and Mr. Mancowski. The conversation looked a little tense. They would have seen anyone going upstairs.

“Is there any other way up to the second level?”

“Just the outer staircase to the balcony. “

“Where were all the other family members?”

Elizabeth looked up at the ceiling. “Greta was at the bar with Grant. Clare followed me to Mr. Yang and talked to him about advances in computer software and the evils of social media.”

“Where was Mrs. Campbell?”

“I don’t know. She doesn’t generally attend these functions.”

***

Gilbert checked with Detective Longeau to see if any document was found in the office. He said no.

Edward Mancowski sat calmly across the table from Gilbert, hands in his lap. Gilbert had dealt with accountants before. They weren't good and giving information to authorities.

“How’s business?”

No reaction. “What business are you referring to?”

Shit! he's not going to say anything I can use. “Condor’s. You are their CFO, correct?”

“Indeed.”

“Books are all looking good?”

“As always.”

Damn, should have started with the brothers. “I’m looking for motive. Money is a very strong one. I was wondering if any recent and unusual transactions took place that might have caught John Campbell’s attention.”

“Condor Robotics is a very large company with several divisions. We have many unusual transactions given that we do research, which precipitates purchasing all sorts of odd equipment.”

“And you have an approval process for every purchase?”

“Of course.”

Gilbert leaned forward for effect. “So, if I got a warrant for a forensic audit of –“

Mancowski held up his hand. “Inspector Gilbert, by the time you get your warrant and searched through every page of our accounts payable, you will be ready to retire. I can assure you we will be conducting a full audit to find any connection to John's murder. John’s death will be a detriment to our share price.”

Share price. Guess he didn't kill off his boss. “New question. Who takes over with John Campbell gone?”

Mancowski gave a very slight smile. “Although the details would have to be addressed by our corporate lawyer, the straight answer would be Benjamin Campbell. He is senior on the board and the most likely to continue the current path of the company going forward.”

“What about Clarence and Greta?”

“Clarence will continue on the board, but he's too liberal. Greta continues to get her monthly dividend from her shares, which doesn’t change with John’s death.”

“And his wife?”

Mancowski snorted. “She was his masseuse before he married her. Not very bright. The prenup says she gets is a lump sum payment and sent on her way.

“Does she know that?”

Mancowski looked pensive. “I honestly don’t know. I can’t imagine she’s capable of planning a murder, let alone be strong enough to pick up that heavy trophy.”

The trophy. “What did he get that trophy for?”

“He received it at a business conference as the leading electronics company fifteen years ago. He joked that he almost broke his wrist picking it up. Kind of ironic that the thing was used to kill him.”

***

Gary Hoover wanted to help. “Anything I can do, just ask. John Campbell was a good friend and client.”

“What did your company sell Condor?”

Hoover smiled. “Motherboards mostly. Then we got into servo motors and gears used in all sorts of robotics.”

Gilbert nodded. “Do they pay on time?”

Hoover hesitated. “Usually.”

“You were seen having a conversation with Ben Campbell and Edward Mancowski on the stairs. It did not seem friendly.”

Hoover grimaced. “Someone saw that?”

Gilbert nodded. “There were several people at the party who likely saw it. Things not so rosy between the two companies?”

Hoover lowered his head. “They haven’t been paying me for about three months now. Edward said some anomalies in the accounts were discovered and I would be paid in full during the next quarter.”

“Did he say what the anomalies were?”

“Of course not. Probably something the market would look unfavorably at. Their quarterly reports are due in three weeks. It’ll be reported then. In the meantime, I won't to rock the boat if I want to be paid at all.”

Gilbert wrote down his response, noting that Mancowski lied to him. But now, the important question. “Did anyone pass you on the stairs during your conversation?”

Hoover furled his brow and shook his head. “No.”

***

“Our software is cutting edge AI,” Bennett Yang said. “Applied to Condor’s robotics, it increases their independent operations. Instead of programming every move, it adapts to each situation and learns to respond correctly to differences it encounters.”

Gilbert was nodding while writing. “Is Condor Robotics a big customer?”

“Our biggest. We have some contacts in the military, but without Condor, we would be hard pressed to create this generation of AI.”

“If they couldn’t maintain this relationship with your company…” He spread his hands for effect.

Yang frowned. “What are you getting at?”

Gilbert leaned back in his chair. “If John Campbell was thinking of cutting you loose and Ben thought that was a bad idea—”

“Whoa. You think I killed John? I was at the party with Elizabeth and Clarence when he went upstairs.”

“Doesn’t mean you didn’t hire someone to do it.” Gilbert knew he was reaching, but he wanted to see Yang’s response. What he got he did not expect.

“What if I did? There’s no motive. John and Ben were in lockstep with the running of Condor. Neither has mentioned anything about cutting ties with me. Without Condor, my company would surely cease to exist. Why would I do anything to risk that relationship.”

“John Campbell was going upstairs to get a document for you. Any idea what it was for.”

Yang looked shocked. “You found a document? What did it say?”

Gilbert shook his head. “We never found it.”

***

Benjamin Campbell refused to sit down, preferring to lean against the wall of the room with his arms crossed. Gilbert sat anyway.

“Just a few questions to clarify,” he began. “You were on the stairs talking with your CFO and Mr. Hoover. What was that about?”

“What has that got to do with my father’s death?” Ben asked.

“Premeditated murders involve motive. Your company is complicated. Just checking out as many angles as I can.”

Ben grunted. “Nothing said on the stairs is relevant.”

Gilbert stared right at Ben. “Mr. Hoover said he wasn’t getting paid. That’s a motive”

There it is. Gilbert saw the slight shift in Ben’s eyes.

“Care to explain?” Gilbert ventured.

Ben hesitated. “There were some anomalies in our accounts payable”

“That’s what Mr. Hoover said you told him. What anomalies?”

Ben looked at the floor. “Will this remain confidential?

Gilbert shrugged. “It will likely come out in a court case if we catch the killer, but I’m sure that will be way past your next quarterly report. I’m assuming you will be presenting these anomalies to your investors?”

“When we find out who is involved, yes.”

Gilbert leaned back in his chair. “Tell me.”

Ben moved away from the wall and began pacing back and forth across the room. “Someone in our company has been committing fraud. It was only in the past week that Edward discovered funds payable to Tendon were going the wrong bank account. On further investigation, we found similar changes in bank routing with other suppliers, including Yang Inc. We are close to tracing the funds.”

Gilbert nodded. “I can see how that would not play well with your investors. Anything else?”

Ben stopped pacing. It was like a light bulb went off in his head. “Oh my god.”

“What?”

Ben sat down across from Gilbert. “Two days ago, a $50 million insurance policy was taken out on my father, paid out of a small petty cash account. We only came across it this afternoon.”

“By whom?”

“We haven’t had time to trace it, but it was timed with the document my father and I had put together containing a list of the anomalies. We were giving it to Bennett Yang so he could apply his new AI software to finding whoever is behind the fraud faster than we could. We have to complete the investigation before the quarterly reports go out.

***

Inspector Gilbert stood in John Campbell’s office. The body and the trophy had been removed. The fancy pen was still under the desk.

The talks with Clarence, Greta and John’s wife added nothing to the story. Scanning the room, there were no more hints into what had happened during the killing of John Campbell. He walked over to the desk, sat down and reviewed what he knew.

Campbell came up to his office to get a document for Bennett Yang, which is missing. He was on his knees, perhaps reaching for the pen on the floor, looking up when the trophy hit him. He couldn’t have known someone else was in the room. Whoever was there wore gloves and just walked out with no one seeing them.

Every possible suspect we had was seen down at the party. According to Ben, the company was investigating fraud, rerouting funds to bank accounts instead of suppliers. The CFO lied to me for security reasons. The positions in the company capable of doing this must be a pretty short list in accounting. Perhaps the CFO, but then, according to Ben, Mancowski is the one who discovered the fraud.

And then, as John and Ben Campbell began preparing a document for Yang’s AI software to trace the fraudster, a $50 million insurance policy was opened on John through a low-level petty cash account.

It has to be someone high up in the company who would be aware of what was happening. But who? No one I talked to came into the room until Elizabeth found John on the floor.

So far, this is the perfect murder.

Gilbert looked at the open laptop on the desk. Moving the mouse, the screen lit up, asking for a password, but also with an icon for guests. He clicked on it. Several icons came up. One was for Yang’s AI software. He clicked on it. The spinning hourglass changed to a simple box with the words “ask me anything”.

What the hell. He typed in “Who killed John Campbell?”

The spinning hourglass spun for almost 30 seconds. Gilbert suspected it would ask for more information.

The screen went blank, and then two words came up.

I DID

The desk suddenly began to rise and tip towards the front, followed by moving back to its original position.

“Holy shit.”

Five new words appeared on the screen.

NO ONE WILL BELIEVE YOU