Murder by the Slice

by Livia J. Washburn

  Phyllis had been expecting that. She said, “If you killed Shannon to cover up your affair with her, you can’t expect me to just meet you somewhere, Mr. Tyler.”

  “Listen, I didn’t kill Shannon and I wasn’t having an affair with her, okay?” Russ’s voice held an edge of exasperation and near-hysteria. “Just don’t go running off to the sheriff until we’ve talked about this. I’ll meet you someplace public, in broad daylight. There’s a Waffle House down the road from here. How about that?”

  Phyllis thought about it, then said, “That’s fine. I’ll be bringing someone with me.”

  “Somebody else knows about this?”

  “You don’t have to worry about him. He’s trustworthy.”

  “To you, maybe. What about for me?”

  “You don’t really have much choice in the matter,” Phyllis pointed out.

  “Yeah, yeah. All right, that’s fine.”

  “Tell me where to find this place.”

  Russ gave her directions. Phyllis knew the Waffle House wouldn’t be difficult to find. “I can be there in about an hour,” she said.

  “That’s fine.” He paused. “Are you sure you don’t just want money?”

  “The truth, Mr. Tyler,” Phyllis said again. “Just the truth.”

  *

  When she went downstairs, she found Sam, Eve, and Carolyn in the living room. She said, “Sam, can I speak to you for a minute?”

  “More secrets, dear?” Eve said.

  “I don’t recall having any secrets concerning Sam,” Phyllis said, even though that was fudging the truth a bit. She was about to share a big secret with him.

  Sam stood up and came over to join her. “What is it, Phyllis?” he asked quietly.

  “Let’s go out to the kitchen,” she suggested.

  Eve said, “See? It is a secret.”

  Phyllis swallowed her exasperation and forced a smile. She didn’t trust herself to speak, though, as she led Sam into the kitchen.

  “If this really is private, maybe we’d better go outside,” Sam said in a half whisper as he nodded toward the hallway leading to the living room. Phyllis understood what he meant. Eve might be lurking out there in an attempt to eavesdrop.

  “I just need to know if you’d be willing to take a drive over to Fort Worth with me this afternoon.”

  “This have anything to do with what we were talkin’ about earlier?”

  “It has everything to do with it,” Phyllis said with a nod.

  “Then sure, I’ll go with you. I don’t have any plans for the afternoon. But maybe along the way, you can tell me what this is all about.”

  “I will,” Phyllis promised.

  “When do we need to leave?”

  Mentally, Phyllis estimated the time it would take to reach the Waffle House where she had agreed to meet with Russ. “In about fifteen or twenty minutes, if that’s all right?”

  He nodded. “I’ll be ready.” With a smile, he added, “What’ll we tell Eve?”

  Phyllis felt another flash of irritation. “I know that Eve considers everything about you to be her business, but that’s not really the way it is, is it?”

  Sam looked a little surprised by the intensity of her reaction. He shook his head and said, “Nope, it’s not. Reckon we just won’t worry about that.”

  “Fine with me.” Phyllis knew she shouldn’t let Eve’s flirtatious, possessive nature get under her skin like that, but sometimes she just couldn’t help it.

  With the temperature outside dropping, she went upstairs to get a jacket, as well as her purse. By the time she came down again, Sam was waiting for her in the kitchen. “Want to take your car or my pickup?” he asked.

  “This is my errand,” she said. “We’ll burn my gas.”

  “Okay.” He opened the door into the garage for her.

  Phyllis got behind the wheel of the Lincoln as Sam settled into the passenger seat. The car was big enough so that there was room for his long legs. She backed out, drove past the courthouse, and headed east on the old Fort Worth highway, the same route they had followed in Sam’s pickup that morning. As they passed the sheriff’s department and jail, Phyllis glanced in the direction of the complex, wondering briefly if Gary Oakley was still in custody. She felt sure they would still be holding him for questioning. They could hang on to him for quite a while before they had to either charge him or release him.

  Sam didn’t say much until the old road merged with the interstate east of town. Then, as Phyllis accelerated onto the bigger highway, he said, “Maybe you’d better go ahead and tell me what’s up. Where are we goin’?”

  “To meet Russ Tyler. I called him earlier this afternoon and set it up.”

  “Marie’s husband?”

  “That’s right.”

  Sam guessed, “This has somethin’ to do with what you mentioned earlier, about how you saw somethin’ that might be connected to the murder?”

  “I saw Russ Tyler with Shannon Dunston in Fort Worth last week. They looked very friendly, if you know what I mean.”

  Sam listened intently as Phyllis filled him in on the details of what she had seen. When she was finished, he said, “If Tyler was foolin’ around with Mrs. Dunston, that might give him a motive for killin’ her. Maybe he wanted to break it off, and she threatened to tell his wife about it.”

  Phyllis nodded. “Yes, that’s the first thing I thought of. But there could have been any number of reasons for a lovers’ quarrel that ended badly.”

  Sam grunted. “Real badly. But here’s somethin’ you might not have thought of. Marie might’ve known about the affair already.”

  “And killed Shannon to protect her marriage,” Phyllis said. “Yes, I thought of it, but I don’t believe it. Marie just doesn’t seem like the type of woman who would do something like that.”

  “Folks do things all the time that it doesn’t seem like they would,” Sam pointed out. “Like Gary Oakley bein’ a burglar.”

  “You don’t believe he’s a killer, though. I feel the same way about Marie.”

  Sam nodded as he frowned in thought. “So you called Tyler and told him about seein’ him and Mrs. Dunston. I’ll bet he wasn’t too happy about that.”

  “Actually, he accused me of trying to blackmail him.”

  “Sounds like a guilty conscience to me.”

  “I don’t know,” Phyllis said. “Even if he’s telling the truth about not having an affair with Shannon, he could still be worried about Marie finding out there was anything at all between the two of them.”

  “I’m glad you had the sense to ask me to come along with you. If he is a killer, you could’ve wound up in a whole heap of trouble.”

  “That’s why I insisted on meeting him in a public place.” Phyllis smiled. “And why I insisted on bringing a big strong man along with me.”

  Sam chuckled. “Yeah, that’s me, all right. Just hired muscle.”

  That was hardly the way she felt about him, but she didn’t say as much. Whatever was or was not developing between them, she wanted to keep it on the light side. She was much too old for anything more serious than that.

  “This changes things quite a bit,” Sam mused. “Both of the Tylers were at the carnival, and so was Mrs. Dunston’s exhusband.”

  “And all of them had just as many chances, if not more chances, to take the knife from the cafeteria,” Phyllis pointed out as she swung north from the interstate onto the big loop that ran around Fort Worth. Russ had told her to take the first exit after she got on the loop, and to cross over the highway. In fact, she could already see the Waffle House sign up ahead on the left.

  “You’ve got to tell Mike about this,” Sam said. “Those extra folks with possible motives are enough to create reasonable doubt all by themselves. The district attorney might not charge Gary if he knew about it.”

  “I have to see what Russ says first,” Phyllis said. “If I’m convinced that there wasn’t any affair and that neither he nor Marie nor Joel had any reason to kill Sha
nnon, I … I don’t know what I’ll do then.”

  “Tyler could lie to you,” Sam said. “How are you gonna know he’s tellin’ the truth?”

  “That’s a problem,” Phyllis admitted. “But if I decide to keep quiet about this, can I count on you to go along with me, Sam?” She knew it was an awfully big favor she was asking of him, considering that it was one of his friends who was currently under suspicion. She knew that she had been willing to do whatever was necessary to clear Carolyn’s name when Carolyn had been suspected of murder, no matter who else might have been hurt.

  Sam’s forehead furrowed even more as his frown deepened. “The case against Gary’s got a big hole in it, anyway, and Mike knows it. Whoever took that knife from the school cafeteria had to be plannin’ to use it on Mrs. Dunston. That doesn’t fit at all with the scenario the sheriff laid out against Gary. He wouldn’t have had any reason to have the knife with him.”

  “That’s right,” Phyllis said. “I’ll talk to Mike and make sure he points that out to Sheriff Haney. It’s possible the district attorney may decide not to charge your friend at all.”

  Sam shook his head. “But even if he’s not charged with murder, Gary’s life is already ruined. Everybody knows about him bein’ a jailbird now. He’ll lose his job, and he’ll probably be in trouble with the law for lyin’ on his job applications.”

  “That’s better than going to prison for a murder he didn’t commit. And there’s nothing you can do about any of that now, Sam. All you can do is try to save him from a prison term … or the death penalty.”

  Phyllis had exited from the loop, driven across the overpass, and pulled into the parking lot of the Waffle House by now. As she brought the Lincoln to a stop, Sam nodded grimly and said, “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go see what this fella Tyler has to say for himself.”

  As they left the car and started into the restaurant, Phyllis thought that she didn’t know what to hope for.

  But one way or another, Russ’s story could change the direction of this case completely.

  Chapter 21

  Phyllis had been in Waffle House restaurants before and knew that they usually stayed busy twenty-four hours a day. So she wasn’t surprised that there were quite a few people in this one. The aroma of coffee was strong in the air as she and Sam went inside.

  The counter was to the left, with booths along the windows on the righthand wall. At the far end of the counter the booths continued on around to the left in an L. She spotted Russ Tyler sitting in a corner booth, as far back and inconspicuous as he could get.

  The waitress behind the counter raised a coffeepot and smiled at them. “We’re joining a friend,” Phyllis told her and pointed toward Russ. “We’ll just have coffee.”

  “Comin’ right up, hon,” the waitress replied.

  Russ watched them warily as they came around the end of the counter and approached the booth. He had a cup of coffee in front of him, tightly clutched in both hands, even though he didn’t seem to be drinking from it. Phyllis slid onto the bench seat across the table from him, and Sam sat down beside her. Even though she had a lot of other, more important things on her mind, she was aware of how close Sam was to her. It felt natural having him that close.

  Russ wasn’t saying anything, just looking at them, so Phyllis said, “Hello, Russ. This is my friend Sam Fletcher.”

  Sam nodded. “Howdy.”

  “Oh, God,” Russ said in response to the greeting habitually spoken by Texas A&M students and graduates. “You’re an Aggie, aren’t you?”

  Sam’s eyes narrowed at the tone of scorn in Russ’s voice. “Teasipper?” he asked, using the disdainful nickname his beloved Aggies pinned on anybody who went to the University of Texas.

  Phyllis couldn’t believe it. Even under these circumstances, the rivalry between A&M and UT reared its head. She said, “I don’t think where any of us went to college has anything to do with why we’re here.”

  Despite that, Russ and Sam continued to eye each other in an unfriendly fashion while the waitress brought coffee for Phyllis and Sam. Phyllis didn’t particularly need the caffeine, but she put sweetener and cream in her cup, stirred it, and sipped from it, anyway.

  None of the other booths back here were occupied. “All right, Russ,” Phyllis said quietly, “you know why we’re here.”

  “I wasn’t having an affair with Shannon.” His voice and expression were sullen. “I don’t care if you believe me or not. It’s the truth.”

  “I think you should care. I haven’t gone to the sheriff yet, and what you have to say for yourself will determine whether I do or not.”

  “Yeah, you’re a teacher, all right.” His voice took on a mocking tone. ” ‘What do you have to say for yourself, Russell?’”

  “Watch your mouth, son,” Sam warned. “Show the lady some respect. I happen to know that the only reason she’s givin’ you the benefit of any doubt at all is because she’s fond of your wife.”

  “Is that true?” Russ asked.

  “I don’t know Marie all that well,” Phyllis admitted, “but yes, I do like her. She’s a little rough around the edges sometimes, but I know she loves you and is devoted to you and your little ones. She deserves—”

  “Better than me,” Russ broke in. He stared down into his coffee cup as a look of misery came over his face. “I know that.” He lifted his gaze to stare across the table. His arrogance and sullenness were gone. “But I didn’t have an affair with Shannon. I just … thought about it. She’s the one who wanted it.”

  “You mean Shannon?” Phyllis asked.

  Russ nodded. “Yeah. For several years now, since we met each other because our kids went to school together, there’s been a sort of … connection, I guess you could say, between us. We got along well together and enjoyed talking to each other. And I have to admit, there were times I … thought about her.” His face flushed, and Phyllis realized that he was actually blushing. “Like that, you know? I wondered what it would be like … but that’s all. It never went beyond that while she and Joel were married.”

  “While she and Joel were married,” Phyllis repeated. “What about after the divorce?”

  Russ finally drank some of his coffee. His hand shook a little as he put the cup back down on the table. “I ran into her at school one day. I had to take off work early and pick up the kids for some reason. I don’t even remember why now. Marie usually picks them up. Anyway, I got there early and I was sitting out in the parking lot, and Shannon came over to talk to me. I asked her to get in the car… . I know, not a very smart thing to do… . Anyway, I asked her how she was doing. Just being friendly, you know?”

  Phyllis nodded. So far, what Russ was saying wasn’t incriminating. But she had a feeling it wasn’t going to stay that way.

  “She said she was fine, but that sometimes she missed … having a man around. She said that maybe … I could help her out with that.”

  Sam said, “Oh, come on! Sell that one to Penthouse Letters, amigo.”

  Russ bristled in anger. “It’s true. I know it doesn’t seem like something Shannon would do, but think about it for a minute. When she wants something, she doesn’t hesitate to come right out and say it. And she’s not shy about asking somebody to take care of it for her, either. I mean … she wasn’t shy about it… .” Unable to go on, he drew in a ragged breath and looked away for a moment.

  Phyllis and Sam waited, and after a minute or so Russ continued. “When I looked surprised, she laughed and said she was just joking. But she wasn’t, because the next time we were alone, she brought it up again. And that was at school, after a PTO meeting, for God’s sake! She called our house, and if Marie answered, she’d pretend to be calling about school stuff… . Well, I guess it wasn’t really pretending, because Shannon always had the other board members busy with projects for the school … but if I answered she would always ask me if I’d given her suggestion any thought, before she asked to talk to Marie. I didn’t know what to do.”

 
Sam said, “But I’ll bet you liked the attention, didn’t you?”

  Russ glared at him. “Are you asking if I was flattered that a good-looking woman was pursuing me? Damn right I was. But that doesn’t mean I was going to go along with what she wanted.”

  Phyllis said, “Marie’s a very nice-looking woman—”

  “It’s not the same thing.”

  “He’s right about that,” Sam said. “It’s not.”

  Phyllis just shook her head, having long since learned that there were nooks and crannies of the male mind that she would rather not explore.

  “All right,” she said. “So Shannon was … after you, I guess you’d say. What about that day I saw the two of you at Applebee’s?”

  “I agreed that I’d have lunch with her. That’s all.”

  “You weren’t on your way to or from a motel?” Sam asked. Phyllis was glad he was the one who put that question into words, so that she wouldn’t have to.

  “Absolutely not. I’ll admit that I was thinking about it. Shannon had just about worn down my resistance—”

  “Poor fella,” Sam drawled.

  Russ scowled. “Tell me you wouldn’t even consider it,” he snapped. “After months of some woman pretty much throwing herself at you, tell me you wouldn’t think about giving in.”

  Phyllis thought about the way Eve had pursued Sam so diligently ever since the day he had moved into the house, and she waited with interest for his answer.

  He didn’t give one. Instead, he said, “We’re talkin’ about you, not me, friend.”

  Phyllis tried not to think about the way Sam had dodged the question. She said, “So you just had lunch with Shannon that day? That’s all?”

  “That’s all,” Russ said firmly.

  “She didn’t press you for an answer?”

  “She did, but I told her I was still thinking about it. She said … she said I’d better make up my mind pretty soon. She said the offer wouldn’t be on the table forever.”

  “And Marie didn’t know that any of this was going on?”

  “Good Lord, no. If she did, she would have blown her stack. There’s no telling what she might have—” Russ stopped short and stared across the table, his eyes widening almost more than seemed humanly possible. “No! No, you can’t mean … you can’t think—”