(Garrett couldn't believe his eyes as Nate Stricker pulled up in front of the office in a restored 1955 Chevy Bel Aire. The car was a beautiful blue and white with whitewall tires. That nostalgic blue color only found in that era of cars carried Garrett thoughts to have some quick memories of his childhood. Nate got out of his car, climbed the three wooden steps to the small wooden landing of a modular home that serves as the unit space rental office. Nate started to unlock the door when Garrett called to him.)
Garrett: '55 Chevy, my grandmother's neighbor had one and I thought that was the neatest car whenever we would visit her. That blue is incredible.
Nate: It's one of my favorites, too. (pauses, then says) We don't have any storage unit rentals available to rent right now. We are full.
Garrett: I'm not interested in renting a storage unit. I am really here to talk to you.
Nate: What for?
Garrett: Two things. One is being Lana Daltine's chauffeur and the other is about the death of Gus.
Nate: You don't pull any punches do you?
Garrett: It's not my style. I'll tell you what I know and maybe you can fill in some of the blanks.
Nate: Come on in. (Nate unlocks the door. Garrett is carrying a file and climbs the three wooden steps following Nate into the office part of the modular home. Nate sits at his desk and Garrett sits across from him. Everything is absolutely meticulous.)
Garrett: My name is Garrett Cummins. I am a private investigator. Garrett opens his file and hands a picture to Nate saying) I have this copy of a picture taken by Lana Daltine at J.J.'s Jewelry and it clearly shows you to be the chauffeur waiting for her by the store's front door.
Nate: And what if I deny this being me what would you do next?. What is your leverage?
Garrett: My leverage is to ask for have a search warrant to be issued for the storage unit where the limousine is being stored right now. I would then insist to impound the limousine for DNA evidence. Such evidence would prove that Lana had been in the backseat of the limousine. I'm just one call away from calling the police and I have been instructed by a top officer at the police station to keep in touch. They could be here in two or three minutes to guard the storage unit, not enough time for you to remove the limousine. But even if you would drive the limousine to evade a search I would follow you. This isn't going away. I know which storage unit the limousine is in. It's your call. What do you have to say?
Nate: I do have a limousine in one of the storage units and I was hired to be Lana's chauffeur once a month for the last seven months. It doesn't mean anything because I do have a limousine service for a few regular customers.
Garrett: Who hired you?
Nate: I don't know. I got a call and the person did everything by wired transfers and it paid very, very well. In fact, it paid so well I didn't ask any questions. I did try to find out where the money wire came from and I was told by the bank that the transfer falls under the title of a Guaranteed Confidentiality Rule which makes it automatically an allowed transfer. Besides the wired transfer being deposited into my account at the bank, Lana would, in appreciation, give me a three hundred dollar tip in cash for being such a good and attentive chauffeur each month.
Garrett: I never heard of such a thing.
Nate; Me either...but that doesn't mean something like that doesn't exist....does it?
Garrett: Why didn't you return Lana to her apartment complex that night?
Nate: She told me to leave her off at a high brow coffeeshop in the Dover Brothers Properties District. She said she was going to meet a friend there and the friend would bring her back to her apartment. Of course, that didn't happen. She ended up murdered. I know nothing about that.
Garrett: Had she ever asked for you not to return her to her apartment complex before?
Nate: No, that was the first and unfortunately, the only time.
Garrett: Do you have any idea how she would pay cash for her jewelry?
Nate; Well, that was part of my job.. I was instructed to first go to the cash currency exchange and pick up a box addressed to me. I did and I had to sign for it. I was instructed to give the box to Lana and not to open it. Well, she opened it in front of me and it was full of one hundred dollar bills. She would count out twenty thousand dollars worth of one hundred dollar bills.
Garrett: Do you know who sent that cash wire exchange.
Nate. No, I didn't ask and they didn't tell me. They kept the receipt I signed.
Garrett: Did it seem strange to you?
Nate: It seemed more than strange. It reeked, like I was putting my hand in the till for a minute or two and that was more than enough for me. I knew something wasn't on the up and up but I felt I was outside the realm with any involvement of anything illegal.
Garrett: Did that night seem different?
Nate: Yes, it did, in more ways than one.
to be continued: Monday, October 25th, 2021---mystery blog #4
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