“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
“Mr. Muehlenhaus, the last time you spoke those words to me, people got killed.”
“You didn’t kill them. Neither did I.”
“You tried to have me killed.”
“A simple misunderstanding that fortunately was rectified.”
“Yeah? Tell Norman that.”
“I have, Mr. McKenzie. Several times.”
I didn’t like where the conversation was going. In fact, I didn’t like any of my conversations with Muehlenhaus.
“Mr. Muehlenhaus, I’m going to try to get Merodie Davies out of jail. If that helps you, swell. If not, tough titty, said the kitty, but the milk tastes fine.”
“I like you, Mr. McKenzie. You’re so colloquial.”
“I’m just trying to do a favor for a woman who could use one.”
“Truth be told, that is all I am doing, as well. A favor for friends. In so many ways we are very much alike, Mr. McKenzie. If there is a significant difference, it is merely at the level on which we grant our little favors.”
“Now you’re just being nasty.”
The smile on Muehlenhaus’s face changed with my remark. It looked the same as it had, yet the mood behind it was different. I supposed that he thought he was paying me a compliment and was angry now that I didn’t see it his way.
“Thank you for your time, Mr. McKenzie.” Somehow Norman knew I was being dismissed, because the car door opened abruptly. “I will be following your progress with great interest.”
I stepped out of the air-conditioned car. The midday heat hit me like a brick, and I actually lost my balance for a few beats. The asphalt beneath my feet was soft; I could cut into it with a butter knife. Norman, in his black sports coat, didn’t seem to notice. He skipped around the limo and opened the driver’s door. He glared at me over the roof of the car, yet said nothing.
A moment later I was standing alone in the nearly empty parking lot. There were only a few golfers hardy enough to take on eighteen holes in that heat. I figured the smartest thing I could do was get my clubs and join them. I didn’t. Pity.
7
I doubted I’d be welcomed at the Anoka County Records Division, so I drove all the way to the public library off Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis and made use of the bank of personal computers available to the library’s many patrons. I used one to surf the Web for something, anything, on a man named Becker who died of carbon monoxide poisoning twelve years ago in Anoka and another named Richard who might or might not have been dealing drugs from the same address. Nothing. I even tried Googling Richard Becker and discovered a sculptor, an illustrator, a bird-watcher, a film director, and a wine-maker, all very much alive.
Robert St. Ana, however, was a different matter. I had a number of hits on his name, nearly all of them tied to Cilia. None of them told me much about the man’s life or death, probably because he had died so long ago, but I did learn the exact date he died.
Fortunately, the library had preserved every copy of the Minneapolis Star Tribune ever printed on microfiche and stored the rolls in a bank of gray metal file cabinets. Next to the cabinets were a number of viewers, provided free. I threaded the appropriate reel of microfiche into a viewer and hit the fast-forward button. About a month’s worth of news events and advertisements whirred past. I slowed the deluge of newspaper pages as I approached the correct date.
Andover man’s death ruled alcohol related
A man whose body was found in his snow-covered car at the bottom of a ravine by cross-country skiers Thursday died of carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the Anoka County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Robert St. Ana, 24, of Andover, died from breathing the deadly fumes after falling asleep as a result of “acute alcohol intoxication, ” the autopsy report said. St. Ana’s blood alcohol level was measured at .187, nearly twice the legal limit.
St. Ana’s vehicle was found in a ravine near Coon Rapids Dam Park. Evidence at the scene suggests that he drove off of East River Road and plunged 30 feet into the ravine during Tuesday’s record snowfall.
It is not known if St. Ana lost consciousness before or after his car left the road. The car stayed hidden until discovered Thursday morning by a family of cross-country skiers.
Authorities believe that the car continued to run even after it came to a halt. An examination of the vehicle revealed that the keys were locked in the “on” position when the car was found, yet the gas tank was empty.
Sources at the Anoka County Sheriff’s Department reported that several witnesses saw St. Ana drinking heavily at the Ski Shack, a popular restaurant and bar in Coon Rapids, the evening the accident occurred.
St. Ana is the son of Donald St. Ana, founder of St. Ana Medical Co. Donald St. Ana died two years earlier, drowning in his backyard swimming pool. It was reported at the time that he had also been intoxicated when he died, with a blood alcohol level of .163.