January 19, 2022 The night watchman had lost count of how many times he had circled the second-floor observation walkway that night. Although the storm had begun to subside, the wind still howled outside, heavy rain lashed against the building, and lightning struck so close it shook the platform beneath his feet. As he approached the first row of fermentation tanks numbered one, two, and three on his final round, he noticed the fluorescent light above tank three had burned out. “Shit, now I’ve gotta change a friggin’ light.” Swearing under his breath, he climbed down the narrow stairs to the first floor. As he gathered the necessary equipment, he continued muttering, “Friggin’ past time for this old building to be torn down and replaced. So what if it was built in 1913? So what if it’s considered historic? So what if it still has the original fluorescent lighting? GD! Don’t they know what a pain it is to change them when they go out?” Still grumbling, he climbed back up, replaced the light, and switched it on.
Out of the corner of his eye, something faintly blue caught his attention. He looked down into the tank and gasped. A body lay face down, floating atop the fermenting liquid, long dark hair spread out around it. What had once been a bright blue dress was now darkened by the liquid, and the shoeless feet were beginning to sink. Shaking, he climbed down once more and grabbed the emergency phone, preprogrammed with his boss’s number. He knew there was no time to waste. Jacob Wasserman, lead foreman at Tutley Brewery in Tutley, Georgia, received the call early that Wednesday morning, January 19, 2022. The night watchman’s urgent report of a body floating in tank three triggered a profanity-laced tirade. Wasserman arrived within ten minutes. Stepping out of his haphazardly parked car, he hurried past several idling 18-wheelers that had arrived early to transport the fermented liquid to another facility for bottling. He knew he would have to deal with them later. There would be no transfers from the fermentation tanks today.
As he entered the building, he glanced up at the towering tanks, each nearly two stories high. Even in the midst of the emergency, the sight of the stainless steel structures never failed to impress him. There were fifteen in total, covering an area nearly the size of a half an acre. The pungent smell was strongest inside but could be detected miles away. This ground-floor area also housed the temperature controls, keeping the tanks at a steady 72 degrees Fahrenheit for the brewery’s prized golden craft ale. The night watchman approached, quickly recounting what he had found. Choosing the narrow metal stairs to the second-floor observation walkway instead of the vertical ladder welded to the tank, Wasserman made his way up to the platform. As he peered into the opening of tank three, he saw the body, the bare feet now under the surface. Another string of curses escaped him as the heavy scent of fermenting grain hit him full force. He cursed himself for not putting on a mask before climbing up. He descended as quickly as he could and picked up the phone by the front entrance, which connected directly to the brewery’s business office complex less than a five-minute walk away. Despite the early hour just before 6 a.m. he knew the Wein siblings, Hardy, Wolfram, and Wilhelmina, would already be in their offices. Hardy answered, listening as Wasserman quickly explained the situation, then instructed him to keep everyone out of the building. There would be no employees allowed in the building today.
Wasserman stepped outside to get some much-needed fresh air. As Hardy and Wolfram approached, he frowned. “Where’s Wilhelmina?” Hardy replied, irritation evident in his voice, “No idea. Her office is locked, so she obviously hasn’t come in yet. Let’s go up and take a look.” All three donned masks and climbed the narrow stairs to the second floor.
Looking down into the tank, Wolfram was the first to voice the unthinkable. “That’s Wilhelmina’s blue dress!” “It can’t be! Are you sure?” Wasserman’s voice cracked with shock. “Yes, I’m sure! She was wearing that dress when I said goodnight to her last night! We’ve got to get her out of there!” Hardy immediately dialed 911, notifying the local sheriff. With no time to waste, he called for a heavy forklift to be brought in, delaying the recovery effort by nearly fifteen minutes. In the meantime, the two-story double doors were opened wide to allow the forklift to be positioned near tank three.
As the sun began to rise, Tutley County Sheriff Tom McFee arrived with Deputy Cal Jackson, Detective Hucksley Bail, Coroner Jim Bailey, and a photographer. Leaving their car doors open, they hurried toward the scene just as the forklift was put into position. No other vehicles would be allowed in the parking lot today.
~~~~~~
No other fingerprints? No unidentified fingerprints? How could that be? How could an unknown suspect have been in her office and not left any fingerprints? And how could that person have lifted and carried her without leaving a trail of blood? Despite these unanswered questions, a scenario began to take shape in my mind. Murder by severe head trauma. The location was her own office. The suspect was unknown. Premeditated? Or possibly an accident triggered by an argument, one violent enough to shatter several priceless antiques? Then, her body was carried to the fermentation building and dumped into the tank. Carried. Not driven. But why?
This just might be the best book written by Behcet Kaya. Of course, I've been know to quip that my favorite book is the one I'm reading now, so don't hold me to the fact that I found this a fascinating, extraordinary book from an author I've been reading since his first book was published. Nor that on the night before a major medical procedure, I couldn't stop reading until I finished this, even though I had to be at the hospital the next morning around 6 AM...
Kaya has the wonderful ability to move from one book to the next while creating a totally new and different chain of events that stops readers cold. What will happen in this latest?! And I must say that this book wins the prize for storyline. Yet, in some ways, it's right from today's headlines if you think about it...
Kaya hit me cold with concern when his main character was adamant that he was not going to take a case! After a case in which he'd been physically incapacitated and decided to take a lengthy time off, he still felt he didn't want to return to a case where he might get into a similar situation... And, when he had the call from the owner of a beer brewery he immediately explained that he wasn't taking cases.. But the owner had done his research of who he felt could find the answer to who had murdered his granddaughter, and he kept calling... It was only when his own family started pressuring him to return to what "he loved" that he changed his mind. It was clear, however, that he resented his family for taking the position they had.
Detlef Wein Jr. Please! Please do not hang up on me this time.” It was the same voice, the one that was now starting to wear on my nerves. When I didn’t respond, he continued. “Mr. Ludefance, just hear me out. I am calling because nothing in my life is more important than finding out who murdered my granddaughter.” The desperation in his voice was unmistakable. “Sir, you need to understand. As I told you before, I no longer take cases. Period. End of conversation.” I ended the call and immediately blocked the number. Honestly, some people have a lot of nerve.
Kudos to Ben because even I saw the difference in his main character and his desire not to return to his role as a private investigator and was hoping that he didn't plan to close out this series (I peeked and saw that there was another coming, LOL) In any event, after he had met with the owner and decided to take the case, he had learned that there might be a connection with another family in Germany who had been a competitor and bad family feelings.
Then, readers learn that his granddaughter had been placed as head of the company, while two brothers were also given high positions. As we continue reading, both brothers had quite different issues which might have played a part in how they felt about their sister. Their parents had died so the owner, who was now in his 90s had moved to try to get the hierarchy established in a timely fashion. Me, I was already wondering about family relationships at that point.
And, right there is where Behcet placed a major twist that could shake the entire plot... What?!
So while investigations continued on the possible brewery competitors, the investigation took an entirely different angle. And Jack was forced into exploring the personal lives of each of the three siblings much deeper than had been planned.
And that's when an entirely different plot twist was revealed. Actually, I didn't first see where the book was going, but once I did, the revelations related to certain files that are now being discussed and sought after to be released by the government soon was identified as, perhaps, how the choice of actions took shape by Kaya...
This is the type of book, however, where any revelation other than the previous paragraph, could be a problem, so I'm closing out discussion of the mystery and investigation as it moves further.
Jack Ludefance takes on a different personality during this book... Set during Covid, he had easily stopped accepting cases, so much so that, he had begun to appreciate being able to stay home and become closer with his child. In fact they had become so close that when he finally had taken this case and would need to travel, he would ensure that he spent face time with his child. Was it a combination of Covid, plus being given drugs without his knowledge, that began him thinking about retiring from acting as a Private Investigator? In any event, readers spend more time with his introspection than perhaps normal. There are several times when he flashes back to other cases that we learn about at an overview level. And we meet with one of his contacts with whom he'd worked in the past... From that individual, Jack learns a secret that shocks him and he becomes agitated as to whether this should be revealed to his client... I enjoyed getting to know internal thoughts of our main characters as he faced each extraordinary set of events that were revealed during the murder investigation.
Indeed, the amount of personal revelation was so high that readers will watch as he ponders just how he will present his findings--and to whom. One character, in particular, had admitted to an early sexual affair which ultimately led to being able to close the case. However, again, there was a request to ensure confidentiality of what he'd learned. In one important way, readers are placed into the character, Jack, as we wonder just what we would do, if we were an investigator, and had become so intimately involved with those involved with the murder. So much so that I was still worrying about whether this was a series heading for a possible ending... The author had several ways in which he could have closed this case and still meet the requirements of identifying the murderer...
I was gratified that I agreed with everything that Kaya chose to have as endings for his various characters--that were exactly what I wanted to see happen. No wonder I've turned to Behcet (Ben) Kaya as a favorite author who I do want to keep reading! Congratulations for a story that is both important in content, as well as a murder mystery/PI case that keeps readers on the edge as we strive to determine the whodunit, as well as an ending that closes out every single event that came along... This is a personal favorite for me! Kudos to the author!
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