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  X-POSED By: Tony VanSluytman, LCSW “Me son,” said Ackee as we sat at either side of the screen-enclosed swimming pool attached to the rear of the house he rented from my friends Rick and Jackie Williams, “I have little use for television. It dulls the senses and just as detrimental as any street drug. In fact the cable TV news and information programs are probably more dangerous to young minds than commercial TV.” “I agree that some of the shows on TV are lacking in content and, at times, unimaginative, but I’m getting a bit annoyed with your flat out disregard for all technological advances. You of all people must have developed some interest in some of the research they’ve been doing with computers, biology, chemistry, ---.” “Chups mahn,” he sucked his cheeks at me, “I know all ‘bout the so-call super computers; DNA research, and things like that, but it can never replace mankind – its creator. Everyday life is infinitely stranger than anything the mind of man can invent. We would not dare to conceive the things that are mere commonplaces of existence. Computers and TV can’t expose us to the strange things and people that surround us on a day-to-day basis. I know people in the interior of Guyana who can hear a mahn whisper 50 meters away. Another mahn can spot another mahn half a kilometer away in the dark. Another mahn can tell you what time of what day of the week you born just from you tellin’ him your date of birth – all in a matter of seconds. All these people can hardly read or write and know nothing about television or computer. Depend on it there is nothing more complex or unnatural as the common man and the commonplace.” He said this as he walked over to pour me another cup of chamomile tea. As he did so I could not help but notice the remarkable diamond ring that sparkled upon his finger. “Ah,” he said, “I forgot that I haven’t seen you for some weeks. It is a little souvenir from the senator from Georgia in return for my assistance in helping him with that scandalous situation involving his son.” We were in the living room area. He walked over and stood between the parted blinds of the front window. Looking over his shoulder I saw that across the street diagonally from the house there stood a large woman wearing a light colored denim dress. I could not make out what she wore on her feet because she stood behind a large tope colored car. She paced back and forth giving an occasional glance in the direction of the house. While her body oscillated backward and forward her fingers fidgeted with a small black purse she held tightly in her hands. Then, suddenly, with a plunge, she hurried across the road, headed straight for the house. “I’ve seen those symptoms before,” said Ackee, taking his African chew stick from his mouth and placing it in a brass ashtray on the coffee table. “Hesitation upon the pavement always means some kind of strange love affair. She wants advice, but is not sure that the matter is not too delicate to divulge. When a woman has been seriously wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom is broken items. Here we may take it that there is a love matter, but that the lady is not so much angry as she is confused or desperate. But here she comes to resolve any doubts we may have.” As he spoke there was a tap at the door. Ackee opened the door to Ms. Florence Wiggins, as she introduced herself. Ackee welcomed her with the easy Caribbean courtesy for which he was accustomed to. After closing the door he bowed her into an armchair then looked her over for in the minute and abstracted fashion, which was his way. “Do you find it difficult doing all of that word processing with your poor eyesight?” He asked. I was startled because she did not wear glasses. “I did at first,” she answered in a slight Jamaican accent, “but now I know where the letters are without looking.” Then, suddenly realizing the full impact of his words, she gave a violent start, and looked up with fear and astonishment upon her broad, good-natured face. “Did someone tell you about my case, Mr. Acosta!” she cried. “Never mind me”, said Ackee, laughing, “it’s my business to know these type of things. I’ve been trained to see things that other people overlook. If not, why would you come to Consult me? Oh, and you can drop the last name, I’m comfortable with Ackee.” “I came to see you, sir, because I heard of you from Deputy Calvin of the Dade County Sheriff’s Department. He said that you are well regarded all over Florida. Oh, Mr.--- er, Ackee, I wish you would do as much for me as you have for all the other people he says you have helped. I’m not rich, but still I have some stocks that I get a regular dividend from, besides the little that I make by the data entry work, and I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Willis Harvey.” “You seem to have come a far way, and in a great hurry.” Ackee said with his fingertips together, and his eyes to the ceiling. Again a startled look flushed the light-brown complexion of Ms. Wiggins. “Yes, I did rush out of the house”, she said, “I was vex with the way Mr. Godfrey – that is, my father – took it all. He would not go to the police, and he would do nothing, and kept on saying that there was no harm done, it made me angry, and I just threw on me tings and come right to you.” “Your father?” said Ackee. “You must mean your stepfather, since the name is different.” “Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds strange. He’s only about five years older than me.” “And is your mother still alive?” “Oh, yes, Mummy is alive and well. I wasn’t too happy when she married so soon after Daddy’s death. The man is fifteen years younger than her. Daddy was the owner of Ace Auto Repair Shop in Coral Springs and he left a good business behind him, which Mummy carried on with the help of one of the senior mechanics, but when Mr. Godfrey came along he convince she to sell the business. She figured that he knew so much about business since he was a sales representative for a major pharmaceutical company that operated out of Puerto Rico. They get fifty thousand for the business, which ‘en near as much as Daddy could have got if he had been alive.” I was expecting Ackee to grow impatient with all of this rambling, but he seemed very interested. “Your own income”, he asked, “does it come out of the business?” “Oh, no that is separate. It was arranged for me by my uncle who is an accountant. I can only draw interest off the savings.” “You’re a very interesting person, Ms. Wiggins,” said Ackee, “And since you draw such a large sum per year, added to what you earn working I’m sure a single lady of your age can get on quite well going out and traveling.” “Actually, I could get by with much less than that, but you must understand that as long as I live at home they have use of the money. Just for the time being. Mr. Godfrey draws my interest every quarter, and gives it to my mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I earn at data entry and word processing.” “You have done a very good job of making your position very clear to me,” said Ackee. “This is my friend, Wesley Smith. You can feel free to speak freely with him as you do me. Now, tell us how you came to meet Mr. Willis Harvey.” A flush stole over Ms. Wiggins’ face, and she picked nervously at her dress. “I met him at a lodge dance.” she said. “My father was a member of a Jamaican lodge and they would have an annual fet. They invited us after Daddy’s death since he was a much respected member. Mr. Godfrey didn’t want us to go. He never wanted us to go anywhere for that matter. He would get vex if I wanted to go to a church function. But, this was Daddy’s old friends and I was determined to go. He had to go off on some company business, and Mummy and I decided that we would go – that is after I insisted. Her friend Ms. Duncan came along to keep her company. “I suppose,” said Ackee “that when Mr. Godfrey came back from his business trip he was very angry about you going to the dance.” “No, as a matter of fact, he laughed it off saying that he guessed there was nothing he could do once a woman made her mind up to do something.” “So, tell me about Mr. Harvey” Ackee said. “Yes, well, I was sitting talking with Ms. Duncan, when this gentleman came over and asked me to dance. We danced once or twice and he called me the next day to ask me out to the movies. I accepted and we went out to see a movie, then out for a walk in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. When my stepfather returned again, he was not allowed to come to the house.” “No?” “Well, you must understand that my stepfather was always going out of town on business, so we would arrange for visits around that.” “How close did the relationship get?” “He asked me to marry him after our second date!” “After the second date? What do you know about this man?” Ackee responded. “Well, I know that he worked as a bookkeeper at a company in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. Actually, he worked for a temp agency for them. He would write me the most beautiful love letters. They were all typewritten because he loved to type. He said that his handwriting was terrible.” “Where did --- or does he live?” “Well, suh, that’s the mystery --- He was renting a room downtown, but --- since his mysterious disappearance just before the wedding he is no longer registered there.” Ackee shifted in his seat uneasily, stole a glance in my direction then proceeded on with his inquiry. “Please,” Ackee asked, “tell me more ‘bout this Mr. Willis Harvey.” “He was a very shy man. He would rather walk with me at night than in the daylight. He was very courteous. He talked almost in a whisper. He was in the Viet Nam War, he says, and suffered some injuries to his throat. He was always well-dressed and neat, but his eyes were also damaged in the war and he had to wear tinted glasses even at night.” “I see --- and what happened when Mr. Godfrey heard about the wedding plans?” “Well --- I guess I should start from the actual proposal. Willis came to the house one night while my father was out of town. He wanted us to marry before my father got back. He was being very sincere and made me swear on a Bible that whatever happened I would always be true to him. My mother seemed to agree with him and found this behavior to be a true sign of love for me. She seemed to be in total agreement with him and grew to be fonder of him than I was. When he started talking about marriage within a week’s time I started growing uneasy and wanted to talk to my stepfather. But, now, both Mummy and Willis were telling me not to worry about him – that we should ‘surprise’ him when he got back. I didn’t like how things were going and although I had my issues with my stepfather I felt compelled to call him at the hotel in South America where I thought he said that he would be staying on that particular business trip. They said that he was not on the register. Mummy told me that he was at a different hotel then proceeded to discourage me from bothering to call him.” “So you went on with the wedding arrangements.” Ackee said. “New Jersey!” I exclaimed. “Yes, Willis is originally from Washington D.C. and he wanted some of his family members to attend. The wedding was to be at St. Cecilia’s Church, not far from the boardwalk area. Oh, it was very romantic. He flew Mummy and me up and put us up in the Resort Hotel. On the morning of the wedding Willis came for us in a limousine. He stepped out and said that he would meet us at the church in a regular taxicab. We got to the church, got out of the limousine, and stood outside the church waiting for the cab to arrive but it never did.” “That’s the most shameful treatment I’ve ever heard of,” said Ackee. “Oh no! He was too good a person to leave me so! Even that morning he kept telling me to promise him that no matter what happened I was to be true to him --- even if something unfortunate were to take place. It seems like strange talk on a wedding morning but whatever happened seems to give a meaning to it.” “Hmm, seems so. So your opinion is, then that something sinister took place that morning.” “Yes, I believe he knew some kind of danger was close at hand or he would not have talk so. And I think that what he foresee happen.” “But you don’t know what could have happened.” “No.” “One more question. How did your mother take all of this?” “She was very angry and said that we were never to tell anyone about it.” “And your stepfather?” “Well, he seemed to agree with me that something terrible happen, but he think that I would be hearing from him again. He said that no one would spend all of that time and money of bringing me straight to the doors of the church then abandoning me just so. Now, if he had been in the habit of borrowing money from me or if he was trying to get my money once we married I could see, but Willis was a very independent man who would never ask of so much as a penny from me. Oh, this ting driving me crazy! Why he en write or something. I can’t sleep at night.” She pulled out a little handkerchief and began to cry. “I’ll look into it for you,” said Ackee rising, “and I have no doubt that we’ll reach some kind of result. Try not to worry anymore about it. Let me do the worrying from here on out.” Then he looked at her and said solemnly, “Try to let Mr. Willis Harvey vanish from memory as he has from your life.” “Do you mean that I’ll never see him again?” “I don’t think so.” “What do you think happened to him?” ”Leave that to me. By the way, I would like an accurate description of him and any letters of his that you can spare.” “I’ve asked the police in Atlantic City, called the hospitals, and newspapers from here to New Jersey. Here are four letters from him.” “Thank you. And your address?” “1503 Garden St., Coral Springs.” “Mr. Harvey’s address was with the rooming house in Fort Lauderdale, I understand. And where is your stepfather’s place of business?” “He works for Faver and Westwood, the pharmaceutical company. He works out of their Miami office when he is home.” “Thank you. You have made your statement very clear and to the point for me. You will leave the papers with me, and remember my advice. Let the whole incident vanish from your mind, and try not to let it affect your life.” “Thank you very much, Mr. Ackee, but I cannot do that. I will be true to Willis. He will find me ready when he returns.” I must say that as naïve and ridiculous as the young lady and her story sounded to me, there was something appealing in her simple faith, which compelled our respect. She laid her small bundle of papers upon the coffee table, and went on her way, with a promise to return whenever Ackee summoned her. Ackee sat silently for a few minutes with his fingertips still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, and his gaze directed upwards toward the ceiling. He got up and took his chew stick out of the ashtray. His chew stick was something of a pacifier for his to him during moments of deep contemplation. He returned to his chair, placed the stick into his mouth, leaned back in his chair, and a look of infinite languor took over his demeanor. “Interesting case,” he observed through the corner of his mouth, “I found her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, is pretty simple. You will find similar cases in many of those I’m asked to solve. Old as is the idea, however, there were two or three details that were new to me. But the lady was most fascinating.” “You seem to have read a lot in her that I couldn’t see.” I remarked. “It wasn’t invisible Wesley, just unnoticed. You still don’t know where to look, and so you missed what was important. Now, you tell me, Wesley, what did you make of this lady’s appearance?” “Well, she wore a faded denim dress with straps. Her features were quite ordinary. Her hair was pulled up in a small bun. Her blouse was a light pink. She wore flat black shoes with rounded toes. She wore slightly large earrings, and she carried herself --- well, you know --- with some class.” Ackee clapped his hands together and let out a roaring laugh. “Me son, you are coming along wonderful, mahn, wonderful! You did miss everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and you have a quick eye for color. Never trust general impressions, me bahy, but concentrate upon details. My first glance is always at a woman’s shirtsleeves. If you noticed her sleeves, around the elbow area and more down by the wrists was slightly discolored. Just under her right cuff she was wearing a wristband of some type – probably indicating a common wrist strain suffered by typists. I then glanced at her face, and observed slight markings at either side of the nose, indicating that she wears pretty thick glasses. My remark seemed to surprise her.” “It surprised me.” “But Wesley, it was so obvious. I was then surprised that when I looked down I noticed that, although the shoes she had on were similar in style, they were slightly different. One was a dark blue with a stitch design near the toe while the other was a plain black. Now when you see a young lady neatly dressed, leaving home with odd shoes, it is no great analysis to say that she ran out of there in a hurry.” “And what else?” I asked, very much interested in my friend’s incisive reasoning, though somewhat chagrined at his feigned astonishment at my shortcomings in that area. “I also noticed that she wrote something before getting out of the car. There was a ballpoint pen sticking slightly out the side of the flap of her purse. She could not have placed it in there that way. She must have taken it out to scribble something then hastily pushed it back in either before leaving the house or while driving.” He laughed lazily then reached over and sorted out the bunch of papers on the coffee table. Out fell a picture of a couple standing together. It was Ms. Wiggins arm-in-arm with a man – more than likely Mr. Harvey. Ackee stared intensely at the picture then handed it over to me. “What do you make of this, Wesley?” He asked. I held the picture to the light. “I see Ms. Wiggins with her arm tucked under the arm of a man of about 5’7” in height. The guy is wearing a tan colored leisure suit. He is of dark complexion, strongly built, black processed hair, a shapely Van Dyke moustache, and long sideburns. He’s wearing dark sunglasses, and --- oh yeah, the shoes --- er, looks like brown loafers of some kind. Not all that stylish. Let me see --- er ---.” “That will do,” said Ackee, obviously annoyed with my bungling description. “As for the letters,” he continued glancing over them, “they are common schoolboy love letters. Gives no insight into who Mr. Willis Harvey really is. Nothing profound except for an occasional Langston Hughes quote. There is one remarkable point though ---.” “They’re all typed.” I said. “Not only that, but the signature is also typed out. Hmm, that should just about close this one out.” “What?” “Is whuh! You‘en see how strongly that bears on this case?” “Can’t say that I do, unless it means that he wanted to deny his signature in the event of a breach of promise law suit.” “No, that was not the point. But, I’m going to write two letters that should settle things. One to a company in downtown Fort Lauderdale and another to Ms. Wiggins’ stepfather, Mr. Godfrey. I’m going to ask him if he could meet us here at 6PM Wednesday night. It’s best we just handle these matters with the male relatives. Now, professor, we can do nothing until the answers to those letters come.” I had all the confidence in the world in my friend. Over the last couple of years – since the White Bear incident – I only recall him being tripped up by about two cases, then when I look back to his extraordinary energy in the incident down in the Everglades and the cane cutters, I felt that it would have to be a strange set of circumstances that he could not deal with. So, I left him, still chewing on that African chew stick, with the conviction that when I came again in a few days I would find that he held in his hands all the clues that would lead up to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Ms. Florence Wiggins. My wife and I were together at the time so I was living on the other side of town. I still had my teaching job at the high school and was teaching a class at the community college three nights a week. My schedule was quite hectic. It was not until close to 6PM that I found myself free, and was able to rush through traffic to get to Bay View Drive, half frightened that I might be too late to assist in solving the little mystery. I found Ackee alone, half asleep, with his long legs stretched out, in his armchair. A familiar aroma emanating from the kitchen tickled my senses as I entered the house. It was clear to me that Ackee had spent his day doing what he most loved to do besides solving mysteries. “Well, have you solved it?” I asked as I entered. “Yes. It needed a little more cassareep and pepper.” “No, no, the mystery!” I cried out. “Oh, that! I thought you were talking about the Pepper Pot. Oh, and by the way, I just finish mehkin’ a whole pot of Kallaloo. Go try some. It’s the best.” True to his Guyanese roots, Ackee was constantly experimenting with delicious variations of his hometown dishes. He finally came around to the business at hand. “There was never any mystery in that matter, Wesley, although, as I said yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback is that there is no law that can touch him.” “Who was he, then, and what was his purpose in leaving the lady like that?” The words were hardly out of my mouth when we heard a heavy knock at the door. “This is the girl’s stepfather, Mr. Godfrey,” said Ackee. “He called earlier to say that he would be here at six. Come right in. It’s open!” The man who entered was a stocky man of about thirty years old, clean shaven and of dark complexion. He had a smooth way about him and a pair of piercing dark eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of us. He removed his panama hat revealing thinning black hair. With a slight bow he sidled down into the nearest chair. “Good evening Mr. Godfrey,” said Ackee. “I think that this typewritten letter is from you.” Ackee showed him a letter that Florence Wiggins left along with the letters from her erstwhile fiancé. It was a letter written to her from him expressing his condolences about the situation that occurred at the church. In it he seemed affectionate but could not help but added a little “I told you so.” fatherly spice. “Hmm, she gave you this too, huh?” he grunted, showing a slight sign of annoyance. “It wasn’t enough for her to also get me caught up in it too. This is personal business Mr. Acosta. I don’t mind you so much, since you’re not officially connected with the police, but it’s not pleasant having family problems broadcast all over the place. Here we are several miles away from Coral Springs. Besides, it’s useless, what could you possibly do in this matter?” “Oh, on the contrary,” said Ackee “I have every reason to believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Willis Harvey.” Mr. Godfrey gave a violent start, then said, “Amazing, er --- great news.” “It’s curious how some of these new word processors have about as much individuality to them as a man’s fingerprints. Like typewriters, no two of them write exactly alike.” He pulled out his magnifying glass and trained it upon one of the letters. “See, there is a certain slurring of the ‘e’, or a slight defect in the tail of a ‘y’. All in all I see about fourteen other characteristics, but these are more obvious.” “I do all of my correspondence from the office on my word processor, er, typewriter ---“ our visitor answered, glancing keenly at Ackee with his dark piercing eyes. “And now I’ll show you what is really very interesting, Mr. Godfrey,” Ackee continued, “I have some letters here, all that your daughter said comes from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not only are the “e’s” and “y’s” similar to the ones I observed in your own letter, but, if you look at it through my magnifying glass you will see the other fourteen or so, characteristics I mentioned before.” Mr. Godfrey jumped out of his chair and grabbed his hat. “You’re wasting my time with this crap. If you can catch the guy, catch him and call me.” “Glad to oblige.” said Ackee, stepping over and blocking the door, “I have him!” “What! Where?” shouted Mr. Godfrey, his forehead wet with perspiration. He glanced around like a rat in a trap. “Oh, there’s no possible way of getting out of this one, Mr. Godfrey, and you were right. There is no way for me to remedy this one. So, let’s sit down and talk about it.” Our visitor collapsed into a chair looking beaten and wasted. “I’m afraid for Ms. Wiggins, that there are no legal actions that can be taken, but between you and me, suh, it was a cruel and heartless trick. Now let me just run over the course of events, and you may correct me if I go wrong.” Ackee proceeded to pace the floor gesturing with his hands like some professor lecturing to his class. Mr. Godfrey sat huddled in his chair. “Let me see, where should I start? OK. You married a woman much older than yourself for money and enjoyed the use of the money of the daughter as long as she lived with you. The daughter was an unusually good-hearted, amiable person. The money was not much but enough for you and the money you made in your business. If the daughter were to marry and move out it would mean a loss of some money to the household. So what do you do? You do all within your power to keep her at home, forbidding her from seeking the company of people her own age. When she grows more rebellious you, along with the connivance of the mother – your wife – disguise yourself and mask your voice. You begin to date her. Due, in part, to her poor eyesight, you were able to pull it off and keep her from pursuing other lovers.” “It was only a joke at first.” groaned Godfrey. “We never thought she would actually fall for it.” “Probably not. However, she did and thought that her stepfather was out of the country. She was flattered by Mr. Harvey’s attentions, and the effect was increased by the change of heart in her mother toward the man. He would call often. Eventually, the idea was drawn up to get engaged and propose marriage. This would leave a clear impression on the young lady’s mind and keep her mind off of other men for a substantial period of time. The disappearance at the wedding and implanting the suggestion that something happened to him was the icing on the cake. I think that was some idea of the chain of events.” Our visitor had recovered some of his self-assurance while Ackee had been talking and he looked up at him with an ugly scowl on his face. “Yeah, yeah, maybe, maybe not, but if you are as sharp as they say you are maybe you are aware of the fact that you’re the one breaking the law right now – holding me against my will.” “I’m no expert at American law. But I know that if that young lady had a male member of her family she should get him to put licks on you ---.” At that the man rose from his chair as if to face Ackee, but before the two could engage something dropped from Mr. Godfrey’s pants pocket. It was a gold cigarette case. They both reached down for it at the same time. Godfrey grabbed it then Ackee wrestled it from his grip. Ackee studied it for a few seconds. A strange expression came over him. He seemed to be focused on some type of design on the top. Then all at once Godfrey snatched it out of his hand. “Oooh, O.K., now I see. It’s all crystal clear to me now. You may go.” Ackee told him nodding his head up and down. They both stared at each other for a moment than Ackee yelled at him. “I said, get out! And tell your boss I said hello!” I jumped at his tone. Godfrey ran out of the house with incredible speed. Ackee went to the door to watch as the car drove off into the night. He threw himself into his armchair. He smiled and continued to nod his head like a chess player whose opponent had just made an interesting move. “What was all that about?” I demanded. “Well, well, well ---.” Ackee seemed to be thinking out loud to himself. “Oh, well, Wesley, we clearly got our man. It’s clear that Mr. Godfrey was Willis Harvey all along, but I was not aware that Godfrey – if that’s his real name – was a part of Rasmussen’s gang.” “What!” I exclaimed. Dr. Rasmussen was the most treacherous villain throughout the Western Hemisphere at that time. His gang of forgers, drug dealers, and toughs were Ackee’s nemesis. They dwelled on his mind like an obsession. Rasmussen himself had grown to be something of a recluse, however, he still controlled a good deal of the crime in and around Florida and the Caribbean. “Rasmussen!” I asked. “What, how---?” “The sign. Didn’t you see it?” he asked. “On the cigarette case. The design on the case was their sign.” “What sign is that?” “The Medusa head. Clear as day. Anyone with that kind of cunning and tact had to be getting some coaching from one of the best. This one is probably on the ‘lamb,’ as you Yankees say, from the law in some other jurisdiction and found a haven with this vulnerable, innocent family. They are very crafty at weaseling their way into respectable circles. I only hope that no serious harm comes to the young lady and her foolish love-struck mother. Well, there en much more to be done with this case. I’ve solved the mystery of Mr. Harvey and that’s the most that I could do for her. He knows that I’m onto him now, so I doubt that he would be around much longer. Besides, I should have been suspicious when she said that he worked for Faver and Westwood Pharmaceuticals. They have been under investigation for some shady “backdoor” dealings with a new synthetic opiate drug. I guess I’ll call the police in that area and put them on notice about the Rasmussen gang being in their midst.” “And Ms. Wiggins?” “If I told her about Harvey she wouldn’t believe me. And I would rather take on the entire Rasmussen gang than try to convince a woman that the man she loves does not exist.” Book Titles Available | | The BANYON NETWORK | Betty Byers | Whitlow Synopsis | INNER-VIEWS WITH CELEBRITIES | ECLECTIC REVIEWS | BOOK REVIEWER'S CORNER | The NEWS | SHORT STORIES CORNER | | Return Home | GREAT LINKS | WHAT'S NEW? | CONTACT US | |
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