Chapter 2 - investigation part one

When we enter the reception of the motel, a bright and friendly round face greets us. When we came closer, we see a big handsome man behind the counter.
“You called the police?”
“Yes, Sir. I did.”
“I’m Inspector John Johnson and this is Constable Marc Brown. We investigate the death of ...? What’s his name?”
“Oh, it’s Mr. Paul White, whom you talk about. He checked in yesterday, early afternoon. A Taxi brought him to our motel.”
“Well, fine. What do you know about him?”
“Mr. White was our guest quite often. He always wants this room because this room is a pit apart from all other guests and it is a very quiet room. All other guests stay near to the reception so no one will disturb him. That’s what he always wanted.”
“So, he was a regular guest?”
“Yes, once a months or less he stayed here for a night – maybe for two. He loved it, to be alone.”
“Didn’t he have any visitors?”
“No, not really. The only visitors he had were delivery boys or girls.”
“That explains all the smaller or bigger boxes we found”
“Yes, that explains it. He liked to eat and to eat more. Normally it starts in the afternoon. The first delivery boy arrives and later on the next one and the next one and so on.”
“Really? Are you sure that there was no one with him? Because we found an unbelievable amount of different boxes.”
“Well, I’m quite sure! He checked in alone. He always stayed alone during his stay.”
“That’s puzzling because we found two glasses on the table. And when I remember well, one glass with lipstick.”
“I don’t know, Inspector, how this happened because I’m sure there was no one with him. He was an honest man and he would have told me. He would have paid for two if another person would have slept with him.”
“Are you sure? I mean, your motel is well known.”
“Yes, I know, what you mean. But Mr. White was not that kind of guest. There was no whore with him! He was more into gaining, you know!” Saying this he smiles bright and patters his ample belly while he looks at me. Immediately I know what he is talking about. I’m not a slim person like Constable Brown. I‘m about the age of the motel’s owner, Mr. Smith, but not his size, he looks a lot bigger. But I can’t see his whole frame because he stands behind the counter.
“Well, well, you’re right. I know what you mean. Are you into gaining as well?”
“More or less, Inspector. That depends on my wife. She likes to cook and I like to eat up. I don’t like to waste food. So, she knows how much I can eat. She knows that I will eat up. And, when she’s in the right mood she’s cooking a lot more and I’m doomed to eat. Sometimes I’m stuffed to my gullets. Sometimes her eyes forces me to eat more than ever. Now, you can answer your question by yourself.”
“I see, I see, Mr. Smith. Like you I have times when I eat more and more – when I can’t have enough - but then there are times when I eat less.”
Pointing to my prominent belly Mr. Smith says with a laugh: “You have done well so far, but I guess there is room for more!”
“Em, em …” Constable Brown clears his throat. I understood what he wanted to say.
“Okay, okay, let’s return to Mr. White and to our case. So, what did you see after Mr. White had checked in?”
“Well, let’s think. I remember that there was a handsome delivery boy at about 3.30 p.m. A second one came about an hour later and a third one arrived at about 5.30 p.m. Usually, that’s it. Only sometimes, there is a fourth delivery boy in the evening. However, yesterday there were two more. One arrived at about 7.30 p.m. and the next one at about 8.30 p.m. This was unusual: Five delivery services! He never did it before!”
“And you know this for sure, Mr. Smith?”
“You bet, Inspector! I always count the services because I want to know, how much he’s eating. If he eats more than I do. Do you understand?”
“So you were competitors?”
“No, not that way, Inspector! We never talked about it. There was just a secret understanding between us. When he checked out, I looked at his enlarged belly, his tight shirt and pants. I always had the feeling that he was proud of his new girth. When he looked into my eyes, he smiled and then he examined my belly with his eyes. He was satisfied seeing that my belly was much smaller than his well-swollen gut. Well, well, but now, he’s gone. I will miss him very much. How did he die?”
“I don’t know yet for sure! Maybe he ate too much. Maybe not. I have a lot of investigation to do and D.C. Brown will help me to reveal the secret.”
“He’ll do it, for sure. But talking about a secret. There was something strange last night. Nearly every day I go to bed at midnight. I close the counter overnight, you know. Yesterday, my wife wanted me to come to the kitchen and to close earlier. However, before I went to my wife I saw a small red car parking in front of room 38. I don’t know when it arrived, but it left at about 11 p.m. You can ask my wife because I told her to wait. I was curious who it was. But she couldn’t wait. With a big pot of chocolate pudding, she came to the counter and I digged in while watching the red car. My wife stood next to me. Eagerly, she watched me eating and I didn’t leave the counter until the red car drove away at 11 p.m. Then we went to the kitchen and it took a while until I had eaten up. Afterwards I was stuffed to the brim.”
“That’s very interesting, very interesting, Mr. Smith. Did you see the driver of the red car?”
“No, I’m sorry. I was too dark. There are not many lights at the parking lot.”
“What a pity, Mr. Smith. That’s really sad. Thanks so much for your information. Here is my business card. Please give me a call if you remember some more details.”
“For sure, Inspector.”
“But before we leave, did the housekeeping change anything in the room?”
“No, I asked her. She came in and was shocked to see him lying on the floor. She left immediately the room locked the door and told me what she had found. You can question her, if you like. Miss Maria Young is at home now. She wasn’t able to work after she found him.”
“Thanks, Mr. Smith. I’ll do this if necessary.”
I left the reception. Mr. Brown and I drove back to room 38. I knew now, that I had to find out who delivered the food and who delivered first und who at last. We sorted out the different services. Finally, we had five services: Asian food, Mexican food, Italian food and American food and dessert boxes. Afterwards I ordered Mr. Brown to find out who delivered food to room 38 yesterday. We drove back to our office where Mr. Brown took the phone. Luckily, he hadn’t to look for the phone numbers because the address and the phone were printed on the boxes. While he fulfills his duty, I go to Detective Chief Inspector Marty King for a report. Because of his big frame, he was our Big Boss! He was very happy about the progress of my investigation and wanted to know every detail about the giant dead man. But he also was interested in Mr. Smith. Quite often, he asked me to tell him more about Mr. Smith and his wife. I told him every word and added some words to make him happy. Finally, I told him that I had to leave and look for Constable Brown. What has he found out while I briefed the big boss?
Constable Brown had been very busy and successful. He had made a timetable, so that I could overview everything. At 3.30 p.m., Mr. Harry Stone delivered American food. At 4.30 p.m., Mr. Chan Kim delivered Asian food; afterwards at 5.30 p.m., Mr. Giancarlo Neapolitano delivered Italian food. In the early night at 7.30 p.m., Mr. Pablo Rodriguez delivered Mexican food and an hour later Ms. Jennifer Hope delivered dessert.
“That’s the sort of commitment I like to see, Constable Brown. Well done, very well done! Now it’s quite late and I will go home. You should do the same. We will go on with our investigation tomorrow morning, okay.” D.C. Brown nods and we leave the office. I was pleased to see that he is ready to work for the weekend.

When I entered the office on Saturday morning, D.C. Brown was already there. He had phoned up the different services to find out when we can question our suspects. As they work in three shifts, it will take us the whole day to meet and to ask them.
According to the timetable of Constable Brown, we drove to the Chinese restaurant first. A friendly old couple greeted us. We asked for Chan Kim and they called for their nephew. A well-tuned muscle young man entered the room.
“Morning Mr. Kim. I’m Inspector Johnson and this is Constable Brown. As far as we know, yesterday you delivered Chinese food to room 38 of the motel outside the town.”
“Yes I did. It was quite a lot of food and I thought this would be for a party. But when I arrived I didn’t hear any music nor did any people talk. Maybe they would come later, I thought. The huge man on the couch told me to put everything on the small table in front of him. Then he paid the bill and I left his room.”
“Fine. Something else to mention?”
“Well, it’s just a small point. His clothes were quite snug and he spread his legs to give room for his tremendous gut. Never seen a gut like this. Really impressive!”
“Something more to tell?” I asked.
“No Sir, that’s all. But tell me why are you question me? What happened?”
“We are not sure yet, Mr. Kim. We only know that he is dead and we like to find out how he died.”
“I understand Inspector. He was happy and alive when I left him. Sorry, I can’t tell you more.”
“It’s okay, Mr. Kim. Please come to our office Monday morning to sign your statement.”
“Okay. See you.”
When we left the restaurant, I told Constable Brown that he seems to be harmless. But I want to be safe. So, on Monday, he should take his fingerprints as well as his DNA.
“Where do we go now, Constable?”
“Jennifer Hope will be by her parents at the bakery. We’ll meet her there.”