“When you say that you felt like Gregory was whispering in your ear, what kinds of things was he saying?” I asked.
“That my struggle served a higher purpose. That my final transformation was yet to come. And that my true destiny would be revealed soon.”
“When all of this was happening, were you taking the pills he gave you?” I asked.
“Don’t get me started on those pills,” Gavin replied.
“Why? Didn’t they help?” I asked.
“Just like his hypnotherapy sessions, they seemed to work at first. But the more I took them, the more I began to realize that the side effects from taking the pills were worse than the headaches they were meant to treat. Gregory told me the pills were all-natural, but I’ve never taken something herbal that was as strong as that. Sure, the pills took my headaches away for a few hours, but they also seemed to take something else, too,” Gavin said.
“What else?”
“I kind of felt like they were eating away at my soul. The longer I took them, the less I felt like myself. Most of the time, I was like a zombie sleepwalking through the day, never fully in control of my own mind.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “Did you bring that up with Gregory?”
“I did. And he told me that the brain sometimes has a hard time adapting to transformative change. He stressed to me that it was just a rough patch I was going through and that to overcome the hurdles my mind was dealing with, the best course of action was to just stick with the program,” Gavin said.
“You didn’t believe him, though?” I asked.
“No. It also didn’t help that I felt like he was putting subliminal messages into my mind during each session. I have no way of proving it, but there was something shady about that guy. I’m so glad I have decided to stop going to him,” Gavin said.
“I can understand why you are so angry,” I said.
Gavin squinted at me. “By the way, why are you asking me all of these questions about that punk, anyway?”
“I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but Gregory was murdered last night,” I said.
Gavin’s eyes got as wide as saucers. “No way.”
“I’m afraid so,” David said.
Gavin stared long and hard at David and me. “Wait a minute. You don’t think I had anything to do with his death, do you?”
“Look. We just need to ask you some questions,” I replied.
Gavin shook his head vehemently. “No. This can’t be happening.”
“This isn’t easy for me, but the fact that you berated him on the phone shortly before he was murdered didn’t exactly do you any favors,” I said.
“Yeah, I was mad at him, but I didn’t kill the guy,” Gavin replied.
I replied with as calm of a tone as I could muster. “We never said you did. Like I told you before, we’re just here to ask you some questions,” I said.
“Sabrina, you know me. Do you really think I’m capable of murder?”
“If you just let us ask you the questions, this will go a lot easier,” I said.
“You didn’t answer my question. Do you think I’m capable of murder?” Gavin asked.
“This isn’t about what I think. It’s about the truth,” I said.
“Ask yourself this. Do you really think I would have told you all that stuff about Gregory if I had killed him?” Gavin replied. “If anything, the fact that I was so honest with you proves that I’m innocent.”
David held his pointer finger up. “I’m afraid that proving innocence isn’t as simple as that.”
Gavin shrugged. “I don’t know what else you want from me.”
“To start, I’d like to know where you were last night between seven and eight o’clock,” David said.
Gavin groaned. “Come on. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“It’s a simple question. There’s no need to make things so complicated,” David replied.
“You’re going to feel really foolish in a second,” Gavin said.
“Why is that?” David asked.
“Because I was here all night,” Gavin replied. “Now are we done?”
David held his hand out. “Not so fast.”
Gavin groaned again. “What now?”
“Was anyone here with you?” David asked.
“No. I was just here chilling out and playing video games all night,” Gavin said.
David became deflated. “That’s unfortunate.”
Gavin scrunched his nose. “Why? What’s the matter now?”
“If you were here alone, that means you don’t have anyone who can confirm your story,” David replied.
“It’s not a story. It’s the truth,” Gavin said.
“Unfortunately, that’s not good enough,” David replied.
“It’s going to have to be. You asked me the question, and I answered it. I don’t know what else to tell you,” Gavin said.
David exhaled. “You’re really not making this easy for us.”
“Let me tell you something, this is a little harder for me. I’ve already told you, I didn’t do anything. Now I’ve answered all your questions. I have nothing else to say,” Gavin replied.
Chapter Thirteen
After finishing up with Gavin, I had to take a few quiet moments to myself. Mostly because I knew that things were about to get even worse. If questioning Gavin hadn’t been bad enough, my ex-boyfriend, Wally Tuttle, was the next suspect on our list.
I was tense on the entire drive over to Wally’s south-side apartment. When David pulled into the driveway of the brick town house that Wally was renting, he didn’t open the driver’s-side door.
Instead, David reached over and put his hand on my knee. As I glanced at him, he had a look of deep concern in his eyes.
“Do you want to sit this one out?” David asked.
I shook my head.
“Are you sure? I mean, after how things went with Gavin—”
My face filled with resolve. “I need to do this.”
“I’m just looking out for you,” he replied.
“I know. And I appreciate that. But the fact is that I know Wally better than you do.”
“I can’t deny that.”
“Which means that I’m in a better position to get information out of him.”
“Theoretically.”
“Trust me. If there is information to get out of him, I’ll get it.”
“All right. Let’s do this,” David replied.
I held my pointer finger up. “Just let me say a little prayer here first that this interview goes better than the last one.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” David replied. “I think I’ll do the same.”
***
Wally Tuttle was a twenty-eight-year-old mess of a man with shaggy brown hair, a full beard, and a tall, jittery body. He was especially on edge when David mentioned that we needed to talk to him.
“Can we do this later? It’s not the best time,” Wally said.
I stared long and hard at Wally. “Why not? What’s going on?”
“I’m just in the middle of stuff,” Wally replied.
The bloodshot look in Wally’s eyes gave me a good hunch about what he was in the middle of.
“Wally, have you been drinking?” I asked.
Wally became very defensive. “What’s it to you?”
I let out a sigh. “But Wally, you were doing so well.”
Wally shrugged. “So I had a few drinks. It’s not a big deal.”
I shook my head in disapproval. “You know that’s not true—”
“Did you just come over here to tell me off?” Wally asked.
“No,” I replied.
“Then why are you here?” he asked.
“We want to ask you some questions about Gregory Morton,” I said.
“I didn’t have anything to do with his death,” Wally replied.
David’s eyes narrowed. “No one said you did. Although, I will say that you’re awfully jumpy right now.”
David folded his arms. “It’s going to get a lot worse if you don’t calm down and just answer our questions.”
“If your questions are about whether I killed Gregory, save your breath. Like I said, I had nothing to do with his death,” Wally replied.
“If that’s true then we want to help you. But you need to help us first,” I said.
Wally’s forehead wrinkled. “How?”
“We know that you and Gregory had a falling out,” I said.
“A lot of people did,” Wally replied.
“We also know that you had some very choice words for him,” David said.
“Again, I wasn’t the only one—”
“We know that,” I replied. “But right now, we’re talking to you.”
“So I stopped seeing him. That doesn’t mean that I wanted him dead,” Wally said.
I groaned. “Why are you making us go over the same ground again? You did more than just stop seeing him. You stormed into his office yesterday to chew him out. Clearly you had a bone to pick with him.”
“Having a beef with someone is a lot different than wanting to kill them,” Wally replied.
“I don’t disagree. I will also remind you that we haven’t accused you of anything,” David said.
“I may be drunk, but I’m not stupid. I know that’s where you’re going,” Wally replied.
“Don’t put words in my mouth,” David said.
“Fine. If you’re not here to accuse me of murder, then why are you here?” Wally asked.
“Like I told you before, we just need you to ask you some questions about Gregory,” I said.
Wally groaned. “Fine. But this is all just one big waste of time.”
“We’ll be the judge of that,” I said. “Now what was your falling out over?”
“I just wasn’t getting much out of the treatments anymore,” Wally replied.
“So it wasn’t because of the intense headaches that you were having? Or the delusions you were experiencing? How about the crazy nightmares? Or the feeling that your sanity was slipping away?” I asked.
Wally’s eyes widened. “How do you know about that?”
“Wally, you’re not the only one of Gregory’s patients who was experiencing those side effects,” I said.
“That just goes to prove my point. He rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. There are a lot of people in this town who were very angry with him,” Wally replied.
I stared deep into Wally’s eyes. “Including you. That’s why we’re here—to get your side of the story. Now I’m curious, what promises did he make to you that he didn’t deliver on?”
“Why don’t you go talk to someone who really hated his guts? Like his assistant,” Wally said.
“Why don’t you just answer my question?” I replied.
“I’m telling you, Scott O’Connor couldn’t stand his boss. And I can’t blame him. After all, Gregory stole Scott’s girlfriend from him,” Wally said.
“We know that,” I replied.
Wally’s nose crinkled. “You do?”
I nodded. “We already talked to Scott. Now, back to you. Did Gregory promise that he could cure your alcoholism? Or did he tell you he could do even more than that?”
“Why does it even matter?” Wally asked.
“It could be more important than you realize,” I said.
“Trust me. It’s not,” Wally replied.
“If it’s not a big deal, then why don’t you just tell me?” I asked.
Wally groaned. “I had forgotten how stubborn you are.”
Great. He wasn’t just being evasive, but now he was taking a swipe at my personality as well.
I kept a cool head. “Say whatever you want about me, but I’m not leaving here until you answer my question.”
Wally saw the look of resolve on my face. He took a deep breath then replied, “Gregory told me that he could make my craving for alcohol go away. That when he was done with me, I wouldn’t be tempted to ever have another drop again.” Wally groaned. “I have an empty six-pack of beer inside that proves just how wrong he was.”
“After he failed to live up to a promise like that, no wonder you were upset with him,” I said.
“I answered your question. Now can you let me get back to my beer?” Wally said.
“I’m afraid we have a much more important question to ask you,” David said.
“I can’t believe this. There are probably a hundred better ways you can be spending your time right now,” Wally replied.
“I disagree,” David said. “Now where were you last night?”
Wally smiled. “That one is easy. I was here.”
“Doing what?” David asked.
“Drinking myself silly,” Wally said.
“Did you have any company?” David asked.
Wally shook his head. “I’m afraid it was just me and a six-pack here all night.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” David said.
“There are worse ways to spend a night,” Wally replied.
“I meant because that means you have no one to verify your story,” David said.
Wally held his arms out. “David, look at me. I’m a mess. I haven’t left my apartment in a couple of days.” He opened his front door and pointed at a collection of empty beer bottles on his coffee table. “Besides, that beer didn’t drink itself.”
“No, but you could have drunk that beer at any time,” David replied.
“But I didn’t. I sat on my couch and drank it last night while watching TV,” Wally said.
“I’m afraid that’s not good enough,” David said.
“It’s going to have to be,” Wally replied. “After all, it’s the truth.”
“I’d like to believe you—”
“Then do it. I’m not stopping you,” Wally said.
“It doesn’t work that way,” David replied.
Wally turned his focus to me. “Sabrina, will you talk some sense into your boyfriend?”
“I’m afraid that David is right—” I started to say.
Wally cut me off. “Sabrina, you know me. Do you really think I would murder someone?”
“No,” I replied.
Wally glanced at David once again. “See. There you go.”
“Wally, just because I don’t think you did it doesn’t mean that you’re innocent. The fact is that things don’t look great for you,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter how things look. I didn’t kill Gregory, and nothing you say is going to change that. So I wouldn’t bother wasting your breath anymore,” Wally replied.
“I just have one more question for you,” I said.
Wally groaned. “Of course you do.”
“Don’t worry. It’s not about Gregory,” I said.
Wally shot me a glare. “It better not be about my drinking.”
“I was actually just wondering if you have a toothpick on you.”
Wally shook his head. “No. I don’t.”
Chapter Fourteen
So much for getting a break in the case. Once again, David and I had done all we could to get answers, only to come up woefully short. Even more, if that last interview wasn’t discouraging enough, there was more bad news. We were fresh out of suspects.
Sure, we could always question Cindy Morton, Scott O’Connor, Doug Stevenson, Kayla Green, Wally Tuttle and Gavin Zeller another time, but since we didn’t have any significant leads to work with, we would most likely end up treading over the same ground without anything to show for our efforts.
Typically, this was the point in the investigation when exhaustion and frustration took turns sucker-punching us into submission. David would then drop me off at home, where I would proceed to crash out in front of the television for a little while before heading off to bed at a surprisingly early hour.
I was determined to do things differently this time. After all, David and I had tried to do things by the book al
ready. One by one, we had questioned the suspects, hoping to catch a break. And what did we have to show for it?
Not a whole lot. As strong as my suspicions were about a number of the suspects, they could only take me so far. Especially considering that I didn’t have a shred of evidence that could pin any of them to the crime.
David was in the exact same boat. He was adrift in open water, wanting to paddle somewhere while feeling completely rudderless, and worried that a storm was coming that could capsize the ship.
My mind was telling me that it was time to try something different. To think outside the box. So I followed my gut all the way to William Bolton’s import-export business on Ocean Boulevard.
Typically, a trip to the ocean was pleasant. Unfortunately, David and I weren’t headed to Treasure Cove Beach. William Bolton’s establishment was located near the wharf. I tried to avoid this area of town. As much as I disliked the industrial blight on the east side of Treasure Cove, the wharf was almost worse because it managed to make something as beautiful as the Pacific Ocean look seedy and grimy.
I didn’t fault anyone for trying to make a living, but did they have to do so in such a charmless fashion? Faceless buildings dotted that stretch of the coast, thrown up in the most utilitarian way possible. Bolton’s business, for example, looked like nothing more than a rectangular block of brown stucco.
There wasn’t even a sign out front to differentiate the place from the other faceless businesses that surrounded it. Instead, there were just three numbers on the building—154—which indicated the street address.
Things weren’t much better on the inside of the building. Bolton’s business was nothing more than a warehouse filled with rows of boxes stacked as far back as my eyes could see. In the southeast corner of the building was an office area where Bolton and his administrative staff worked.
That was where David and I headed. As expected, we were not greeted with a smile. When David and I arrived at William Bolton’s corner office, the muscle-bound, square-faced, black-haired forty-five-year-old gave us a wary look.
Daley Buzz Cozy Mystery Boxed Set Page 49
