Dear Readers: I always say that there is nothing like a little Dietz to make you sober up and stop thinking those romantic thoughts. We are one day and counting to Manny consummation or Manny consumacion (if you speak or read Spanish). I am a bit giddy right now so forgive this chapter for its absurdities brought on by battle fatigue (hopefully, one day Carla will find it in her heart to forgive me).
This chapter is the turning point for our Dietz and the aftermath of this chapter will detail his fate. I wish you peace readers. And ladies and gents, we are told that San Cristobel is a principality where both Spanish and English are languages in use. Get out your dictionaries. It'll be good practice for the show. Translations are at the end of the chapter.
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Date: October 1, 1999, Location: San Cristobel
Dietz is at the track again. He shook his head in an effort to clear it. The coffee down here was all organic and not as strong as he liked it. He'd been here for days and he hadn't even checked in with his wife or told her he had arrived in the country. Right, after his meeting with Olivia, he'd hightailed it over here to the Prince Edmund Downs just about every day. He had an excuse kind of, Olivia had provided him with some useful information. She'd told him all about the gambling facilities down here and about the track. It was crooked of course, everything was fixed well in advance of each race. Like the tracks all over this little part of the world, it paid to know a little bit in advance and paid even more if you had high connections with the local realeza. He'd been staying at the Casa Santos Annex down here. It was big enough to let the newlyweds still be alone but always within ear shot!
He spent some quality time with his buddy, the local track noticiador. Man, this guy sure had it made. Jorge had tons of questions as usual about Sarah, he always did, everyone always did. Why hadn't this stopped now that they were settled down and had the three girls (well about as settled down as either of them could ever get)? Dietz placed some bonita bets that day and pulled in quite a few G�s. Why a man could live down here and make a nice living just through his connections.
Jorge had no information on Carla Ray the Spaulding's prized horse. He'd come up dry. Jorge had tons of stuff on a horse called Carla Rae. Dietz wasn't stupid, he knew immediately that this was the same horse. So that was the ticket was it, using different last names for the same horse as a signal and an indicator to the off-track betting gurus? This would give every body a bit more dinero at the end of the day. Carla Ray was the same horse as Carla Rae. The horse also raced under the names Carla Rayhasalottalovetogive, Carla Raylottolove, Carla Raylottaman and Carla RaylovesE. The horse got around that was for sure and had some interesting surnames. According to Jorge the scoop on this horse was always the same, braided mane with flowers. Always comes in second, never to show, never last and never first.
Dietz decided he'd check things out and with the press pass Jorge provided him, he wandered on down to the caballo tenderetes (c�mon horse stalls). Dietz shook his head. He found jockeys to be the most despicable creatures on this earth, well next to mimes. Darn jockeys. They always reminded him of that movie where the girl skipped down the golden brick road, man what was that film called, The Wicked Witch of Oz? Naw, that was Carmen's name, hee hee.
Jockeys just didn't seem human to him. He was always half tempted to knock one of them over and accidentally step on their pretty little racing sashes. What stupid outfits they wore and why? Enough, he said, he'd better get over to see Sarah pretty soon. When he was in this kind of mood he either needed sex or to do something bad, although when he explained this to his wife when he was her she always said that he'd accomplished both deeds. Women, can't live with em.�
He brushed past a few of the pretty little boys and found the paddock for Carla Ray. Pretty horsey he said. He loved horses. Greatest sadness in his life was that no one had ever bought him a horse and why not? It wasn't like he never mentioned it to everyone. Good horse, nice mane, you are the prettiest girl, I ever did see. He bent over to look at and smelled the horse's mane. Yep, those were grape jasmine flowers but because the scent was undistilled, it caused no problems for him. It was something in the final blend of the essential oils that sent him off to never never land and made him relive Papa Santos� tragic death. Every time he thought about it, it seemed more realistic. More intense.
God, Michael. What are you doing now down in hell knowing what Carmen is up here getting away with using your name? Before the trial started in late August, she'd been cavorting around with that man, Ben Warren and the sight of those two rolling around on that desk in the living room just sickened him. He always watched but every time it just turned his stomach. They always went at it like salmon spawning. Why didn't someone just put an anzuelo in that man's mouth and be done with it?
Dietz had put up with a lot over the years but those two rarezas were just over the top. Enough, he thought. He went over to one of the attendants and asked con permiso, donde esta el jockey?
Um sir, I speak fluent English, the jockey went to the men's room.
Dietz thought, thank goodness, all this Spanish translating must be making the readers of this piece as sick as it is making me! So the little jockey went to the little boy's room? He thought to himself, I�ll just try a little experiment. He reached into his pocket and withdrew the mistletoe he'd brought along.
Good thing that little Lizzie had explained how she braided those flowers. He had been practicing this for days. He quickly undid the grape jasmine flowers and substituted the mistletoe flowers. It was a pretty close match. He then left the area, went to place his bet and sat down with Jorge.
Jorge asked Dietz, so did you do it? Any problems?
Nope, none at all. It is a done deal, a sewed up stitch, a marked match, a neat niche, a�
Dietz, could you stop that please, it is annoying me?
Yeah sure, man. Boy these San Cristobelians sure are touchy about word combinations.
The first race was announced, Dietz won. The second was run, Dietz again won. This continued until the last race of the day. Carla Ray was up in the final and most important race. As mentioned before, she was listed as Carla Rae this time. And the horses were off. Carla Rae was holding back nicely, nicely, nicely and then whoosshhh she was off and galloped ahead and won the race, she had the entire race at the ¼ mile and it was a fast track today.
This horse was like relampago.
Jorge and he had pulled in a bundle on this baby. He went down to the windows to collect the cool $50,000 he'd won. All of a sudden, the day turned to night, he saw stars. And that was all he remembered for a while.
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October 3, 1999
Facsimile to Springfield Illinois Police and Toledo Ohio Police Departments from San Cristobel Police Department and Security Detail.
Dear Sir and/or Madam: On October 1, a man was found passed out near a dumpsite in San Cristobel�s perfume district. When this gentleman was found, he was wearing a jockey's uniform�much too small for his frame and had a wallet with $3 dineros and a slew of pictures and business cards. We've identified this man as a Mr. Bennie Dietz of Springfield with an alias of Mr. Benjamin Deets of Toledo.
If either police office could be of help in determining if this man is guilty of something or if you have any information about him, please contact us immediately at #1-288-8-88-64632-10. We are pretty sure he is guilty of something. Although this is just a hunch.
Mr. Dietz was taken to the San Cristobel Memorial Santos Hospital. Although he was dressed in the aforementioned ill-fit clothing given his 6� 3" inch frame, he suffered no bodily injuries other than a broken pinkie finger on his left hand. He will recover but our physicians have him under close observation because he is exhibiting the symptoms of post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSS). Other than some flowers we found in the jockey's clothing and his broken pinkie finger, we can find no possible reason for his PTSS.
To further assist you, details about his wallet's contents are listed below.
1) ID card which is actually a miniaturized "smart card" version of his passport (because he has this technology, he may work with computers, perhaps he is a computer genius).
2) Next of Kin: SJ Dietz, alias Sarah, alias Boom Boom, alias Sarah2. We have questioned this woman and she alternately tells us she has never heard of him or that she wants nothing to do with him. Because this does not appear to be a viable relationship, we called the alternate name in his wallet, Mrs. Michael Santos (Christian name--Carmen). She had us call another relative who is here for the season, Mr. Daniel Santos. Mrs. Santos apologized for not taking care of this matter personally but mentioned that she is on trial and the case has not yet gone to the jury. Her attorney, Mr. Ben Warren said that Mrs. Santos had no further comments at this time.
3) Mr. Santos was not pleased at our interruption, referring constantly to the disturbance we caused his wife and himself. His constant reference to his wife was a bit odd as was their inability to keep their hands off of each other during the interview. However, since this family is established in San Cristobel and has connections all the way up to the Prince himself, we do not plan to pursue this oddity. Mr. Santos finally agreed to go to the hospital and sign the necessary papers per his mother's request but never let go of his wife's hand. And both disappeared for quite a while in between our question and answer sessions. It is assumed that they visited Mr. Dietz as Mrs. Michael nee Carmen Santos referred to Dietz as her oldest and longest living employee. Mr. and Mrs. Danny Santos left the hospital in a hurried manner before answering all our questions and it appears that Mr. Santos was wearing a doctor's lab coat and carrying Mrs. Santos out of the hospital as they exited. We know that Mrs. Daniel Santos was hospitalized here in San Cristobel during the last 2 weeks of August and during the first week of September after a terrible accident. But the doctors say she made a marked recovery after her release from the hospital after your American holiday, Labor Day.
4) Misc. drivers licenses for; San Cristobel, 5 of your United States, and the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia.
5) Social Security and Medical Insurance Cards: Frankly there were so many of these with so many different names and numbers that we resorted to calling the next of kin (see above).
6) Miscellaneous pictures of family: wife looks of disreputable character. Three daughters all with his features, made me sad enough to say some prayers at mass!
7) Business Cards included the following�
a) Father Ray Santos of Springfield. We made attempts to telephone him at the number listed at the St. Michael's Catholic Church. No one there would discuss his whereabouts but it appears that he may no longer be with the church.
b) Olivia Santos (for security reasons her full name cannot be disclosed).
c) Jorge Sanctomonius, a local celebrity and race track announcer (may be involved in illegal off-site gambling, he is under investigation).
d) Blooms of San Cristobel, a florist shop here on the island.
e) Reva Shayne Lewis, Hostess and Party Girl, seriously that is what her business card says.
f) Father Torres of the Our Lord and Mighty Episcopal Church in Springfield.
g) Tomas Rafael, administrator of the Prince Richard trust at the Crown Jewels Museum and gift shop here in San Cristobel.
h) Olga Roly, Island housekeeper extradornaire, she is based here in San Cristobel and we have no reason to doubt her. She is currently working at the Santos guest mansion and has provided us with details of the newlyweds activities, although these activities seem to be quite narrow in scope at present.
i) Big Brewa Cuppa Coffee Mon�: a local coffee establishment known for their generous portions of coffee.
j) Dr. Bradford, hypnotist and sometime psychiatrist of the Springfield Cedar's Hospital Staff, currently on suspension for writing illegal prescriptions for hospital orderlies.
k) Dr. Charles Grant, Chief of Medicine, Cedar's Hospital.
l) Nino Flan, his card simply states "Remember it is all in the family."
Your help is greatly appreciated regarding this query. Thank you for you time and efforts in advance, Detective Scott
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Elsewhere on the island: Casa Santos Annex
Danny and Michelle go to the Santos stables to saddle up two horses so that they can ride to the beach. Danny is quite happy about a surprise purchase he made for Michelle the other day. He shows her the little mare and Michelle loves her at first sight.
Danny asks her what she would like to name the mare?
Michelle told him she'd like to name the horse after his sister, Pilar. How does the name Airy sound to you?
Perfect baby, are you sure you are up to this today? Your accident just happened a little over a month ago.
The doctor said I am fine Danny. Do I have to prove that to you again, right now while we are dressed in these silly horse riding jodhpurs? Before he could answer, Michelle said, Danny which horse are you riding?
I'm going to ride my newest investment. That business with Dietz the other day gave me an idea. I called Jorge, a family friend, and he told me about this mare. She's a beauty isn't she? He patted her mane and stroked her haunches. She is a race horse that someone ditched real fast, Jorge didn't elaborate, these things happen. But she's got a good record and I think she might be a fun hobby for us both. I thought we could help your friend Cassie out by boarding her at the ranch when we return to Springfield this month. Boarding the horse there would help defray some of the ranch upkeep costs that Ray is always telling us about. This new horse cost me a cool $1.5 million so I thought I�d ride her today. Yep, I am going to ride Carla, today. Carla meet Michelle, Michelle, Carla.
Danny she is a beautiful horse. She looks so strong and sleek and well am I wrong or did she just wink at you?
Michelle you are a kook, let's go for that ride, I think Carla and Airy will love the beach.
And so our young couple rode off unaware that a woman was standing in the bushes watching their every move. No one would have noticed her at all if she hadn't fallen off her gold toned platform zapatos on the way back to the car.
An ambulance was summoned and Mrs. Bennie Dietz was taken to the memorial hospital.
Unbeknownst to the staff and Mrs. Dietz, another person was watching every detail as the afternoon's activities transpired.
Ms. Vicki Lewis, nee Ms. Vicki Brandon watched everything and when all the turmoil subsided she phoned David Grant on the phone.
After listening to her drone on and finishing the crossword puzzle he was working on, David said yes Vicki, everything has been taken care of; Santos bought the horse, Dietz has had another psychotic episode�no one will ever believe him now or trust him again, Alan is still not on to this and Vicki�the money is on its way to you over the wire. He hung up the phone.
They had talked about everything in less than 5 minutes, the average time it took to trace an international cellular call. He walked over to the facsimile machine, quickly scanned the incoming fax from San Cristobel and put it through the paper shredder. What Detective Frank Cooper and Detective Scott in San Cristobel don't know won't hurt them, he said. Vengeance is mine. Vicki Brandon and all the Spauldings be damned. And he put on his coat and left the office for destinations unknown.
Part 10 will be released post Manny consummation
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Spanish/English key to words in order of their appearance in this text
consumacion: consummation
realeza: royalty
noticiador: announcer for radio or special events
Jorge: George
bonita: pretty
caballo tenderetes: horse stalls
anzuelo: fishhook
rarezas: freaks
con permiso: Excuse me
donde esta el poco jockey?: Where is the little jockey?
relampago: lightning
facsimile: fax
dineros: dollars
santos: saints
zapatos: shoes