BLACK in the Box

by Russell Blake

  “If it was me or Tanika who’d come across him, we’d already be convicted. You know that as well as I do.”

  “Yeah, maybe. But you don’t strike me as clueless enough to pull the axe out of his back, either. So maybe not.”

  “You got that right.”

  “What do you think about that? About Bethany finding him? Did she have anything going on with him?”

  “You mean like…? Nah. Princess Bethany saves it for higher rent than Alec. Got yourself a gold mine, you don’t give it away, you know?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  The big man crossed his arms. “Maybe you should investigate instead of wasting my night. That’s what you do, right?”

  Black leaned forward slightly. “You got something against me, Kyle? Maybe…something to hide?”

  “White man named Mr. Black comes in and starts asking a bunch of questions? Nope. Nothing against you at all. Maybe we can have lunch or hang out when this is all over, okay?”

  Black refused to be baited. “You mentioned you were with Tanika when Bethany found Alec?”

  “That’s right. I was with her for ten minutes or so before, too. So you got to find a new theory, if the best you have is the black man did it.”

  “Oh, I don’t believe you did it at all, Kyle. That’s why your attitude is puzzling. Seems like you’d want to help, not stonewall me.”

  Kyle matched Black’s stare. “Look, Mr. Black, no disrespect, but I walk down the street in my hood, cops pull me over just because, and if I stand up for my rights, I’m face down on the pavement for resisting arrest. I drive here at night, cops pull me over for some bullshit or other. When I deposit my check at the bank, you can feel the fear from the others in line. My attitude is based on being treated like I’m a danger to society when I risked my life for my country and I’ve never been arrested for so much as jaywalking. So it’s nothing personal, but some white punk gets himself offed, that’s not my problem. I keep my nose clean, you know? I don’t want to know what everyone else is up to. That’s their business. I got a family to support, a little girl to take to school after I get off work, and I get paid too damn little money for a job a ten-year-old could do.” Kyle shook his head. “Let me ask you something, Mr. Black. If it was my black ass that got caught with the axe in my hand, you think you’d even be here?”

  Black let the tension hang for a few seconds. “Of course not. But like you, I’m here to do a job and then leave. That job involves asking you questions. That’s all that’s going on here. I’m not here to apologize for society or act as father confessor. I’m here to try to figure out who killed Alec. That’s it.”

  Kyle nodded. “All right. You got any more questions?”

  “Yes. I understand Alec and Nancy were going out?”

  “If you say so.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “I don’t know nuthin’. Besides, what’s that got to do with anything?”

  “Just background.”

  “Well, there’s my answer.”

  “Was Alec seeing anyone else that you know of?”

  “Not that I know.”

  “He seem like he was into drugs or anything like that?”

  “Beats me. I never saw anything.”

  Black’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you want to find out who killed him? Doesn’t it bother you to know there’s a murderer working with you tonight?”

  “Hell, in my neighborhood, half the homeboys on the block have popped a cap in someone. Man turn down a job because of that, half of L.A. would be unemployed.”

  Black wound the interview down, having learned little more than he’d known when it started, and went to find Nancy next. Kyle’s hostility wasn’t unexpected. If anything, it underscored that he wasn’t involved, at least to Black’s ear. The guilty tended to tell the interrogator whatever they thought he wanted to hear, in Black’s experience, which is where they usually slipped up. Kyle could barely keep the contempt out of his words for more than a few seconds, and if he was trying to pretend cooperation, he was the worst actor in the world.

  Although the man knew something.

  Black’s sixth sense had picked that up. But whatever it was, Kyle wasn’t sharing, so Black would have to get it from someone else.

  Chapter 17

  Nancy looked obviously fatigued in the harsh fluorescent break-room lighting. Black sipped a cup of coffee he’d decided he needed to stay alert, in spite of his earlier misgivings, while Nancy eyed him from across the table. Mary had reported back that she’d been unable to find Mugsy yet, but that she’d warned the staff to watch for him, and Black had thanked her and reassured her that the paunchy feline was probably sleeping his newfound freedom off someplace.

  Black took Nancy through a series of innocuous questions about her time with the store, her background, her aspirations, and then turned to Alec.

  “I’m sorry you had to see that,” he said.

  “It was…horrible.”

  “And poor Bethany.”

  “I know. She was in total shock.”

  “I’m surprised you came in tonight.”

  “It was either that or sit at home staring at the walls thinking about it all. I haven’t slept, haven’t eaten…I needed to get out of the house.”

  “Are you from around here?”

  She shook her head. “I moved from Fresno when I was eighteen.”

  “Not a lot to do in Fresno.”

  “Tell me about it. At least there’s a cool surf scene here. I mean, not in Long Beach, but, you know.”

  “You live up in Redondo Beach?”

  “No, Huntington.”

  “Oh. Sorry. My bad.”

  “I wish I lived up in Manhattan or Redondo. There’s a lot more going on up there, but hey. The job’s here. And so’s Alec. I mean…”

  “I know what you meant. You really cared about him a lot, didn’t you?”

  “Of course. We were supposed to get married.”

  “You were?” Black asked, surprised.

  “Yes. I told the police.” She pulled at her gold necklace and showed him an engagement ring dangling from it.

  “So it was really serious.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why aren’t you wearing it?”

  “We wanted to save the announcement until the holidays, when we went and saw my folks. We were supposed to drive up tomorrow, spend a few nights, you know. That, and I didn’t want to wreck it here, with work and all.”

  “Sure. How long did you know him?”

  “Coming up on…seven months in January.”

  “How did you meet?”

  “We were both out at a bar in Newport Beach, hanging with friends. Alec came in, and it was like, bam.”

  “Sometimes it happens like that, doesn’t it?”

  “Oh, definitely.”

  “Can you think of anyone who had something against Alec? Who would want to murder him?”

  “No. Everyone liked him.”

  “Well…”

  Nancy’s brow furrowed. “What? Did someone say something?”

  “No. It’s just that I got the impression he could be a little…standoffish.”

  “That’s all wrong. He was just shy.”

  “Okay. So you met him…that must have been right after he got back from Iraq?”

  “Yeah. He’d been discharged a few weeks earlier.”

  “Was he…affected by it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, a lot of guys are. I have friends who served.”

  “No. I mean, he never said anything.”

  “When did he propose?”

  “Two weeks ago. Like I said, I didn’t tell anybody. We wanted it to be a surprise.”

  This was leading nowhere. Black switched to work-related questions. “What did Alec do here?”

  “Mostly fixed computer stuff. The systems are always causing problems. People enter things wrong, a drive goes down, a wire fizzes out, whatever.”


  “He was good at that kind of thing?”

  “Oh, yeah. A wiz. I mean, that’s what he did in the military. And they can get anyone.”

  Black nodded and decided to hit her with a hardball. “Nancy, don’t take this the wrong way, but did he use drugs?”

  She frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “I have to ask.”

  “I’m not going to answer that. It’s way over the line. I don’t see what whether or not we party has to do with Alec getting murdered.”

  Black took another sip of coffee. Nancy and Alec liked to party, as did half the country. So far there was no smoking gun, just a pair of normal kids.

  “How did he and Bethany get along?” Black asked.

  Nancy threw him a morose look. “Okay, I suppose.”

  “There was no animosity?”

  “Why would there be?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, she had the axe in her hand…”

  “He didn’t really like her, but it wasn’t like they hated each other.”

  “Why didn’t he like her?”

  “She’s been kind of arrogant since she got promoted. Kind of the teacher’s pet thing.”

  “Oh, really…”

  “Yeah. But, I mean…I don’t know what I mean.”

  “So you didn’t have any second thoughts when you found them?”

  “I…sure. I mean, at first, I was like, oh my God, what have you done, but then she explained, and, well…”

  “Her story sounded reasonable.”

  “Apparently the cops thought so. They didn’t arrest her.”

  Black switched gears again. “Do you have any idea who did it?”

  She shook her head. “No, and it’s totally creeping me out. I mean, it could be anyone.”

  “Well, not really. We know some people are accounted for.” Black paused. “Where were you?”

  “I found them, remember? I was coming from the back. I had a question for Alec.”

  “Were you with anyone?”

  Her tone got defensive. “You can check my time card. I only got in maybe fifteen minutes before. I think I said hi to Tabitha, and…oh, no, I also saw Brent on the way to the office. So he can vouch for me.”

  “The police didn’t ask?”

  “Not me.”

  They finished up, and Black made a few notes. So far he was holding a big fat bag of nothing. Except for being four thousand dollars richer, he reminded himself, and went in search of Brent.

  Chapter 18

  Brent accompanied Black to his ad hoc office and bought a soda before taking his seat. Black studied him without expression: young, Caucasian, haystack hair the color of wet straw. Black began the questions with the usual, trying to ease into the meat of the interrogation. After they’d covered his age, education, years on the job, Black moved to personal interests.

  “So what do you do when you’re not here?” Black asked.

  “Oh, you know. I surf. Hang out. Nothing special.”

  “Any pets?”

  “Nah.”

  “Where do you surf?”

  “Usually Huntington. It’s got the best curl. Or sometimes down by the breakwater in Newport. That can be pretty gnarly.”

  “You pretty good?”

  “Some people think so.”

  Black cut to the chase. “Where were you when Alec was killed?”

  “I was working on some shelving over by the flooring section.”

  “Did anyone see you there?”

  “Yeah, sure. Nancy.”

  “You see anyone else around that time?”

  “Um, yeah. Matt was wandering around, and I remember spotting Kristen and, I think, Lee.”

  “What were they doing?”

  “Talking.”

  “Where?”

  “They were walking up the aisle.”

  “Coming from?”

  “I don’t know. Ask them.”

  Fair enough. Black checked his notebook. “How well did you know Alec?”

  “Pretty good, I guess.”

  “Did he have problems with anyone here?”

  Brent hesitated. “Not really.”

  “Not really or no?”

  “Well, I mean, it’s none of my business…”

  “Spit it out. Any piece of information could be relevant.”

  “It’s just that, well, I heard a rumor that he was a big-time user, you know?”

  “User? You mean drugs?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Who did you hear that from?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t want to get anyone into trouble.”

  Black’s tone hardened. “Who, Brent?”

  “It was just something that was floating around. But he always did right by me.”

  “Were you friends?”

  “Sure. I mean, we’d have a beer every now and then.”

  “Then you’d be in a position to know, wouldn’t you?”

  “Nah. It wasn’t like that. We’d just get together and knock a few back, bitch about the job, the military, that kind of thing. Normal stuff.”

  “He had a rough time in the service?”

  “Yeah. I mean, I figured he liked to exaggerate, because some of the stories were over the top, but if even half of the shit he talked about happened, it was gnarly.”

  “What kind of things?”

  “You know. Terrorists, taking fire, killing people, that kind of thing. I mean, one of his best buddies died over there. That would fu – that would mess anyone up. I can totally understand why he’d want to blot that out.”

  “What kind of drugs do you think he was taking?”

  “Well…he was always kind of amped. So probably uppers or something.”

  “But he didn’t strike you as a junkie.”

  “No. Just that he liked to party. I mean, who doesn’t, right?”

  “Sure,” Black said, like it was no big deal. After all, he was a reasonable man. If the workers wanted to take the edge off with a little something, he could certainly understand it. At least that was the impression he would present to Brent. “What about Nancy?”

  “What about her?”

  “Drugs.”

  “Not that I know of. Seemed to be just him.”

  “You think she knew about it?”

  Brent smirked. “Who knows? What’s that saying – the girlfriend’s the last to know?”

  “How did Alec get along with the rest of the crew?”

  “He sort of kept a low profile. Stayed in his office most of the time.”

  “But you thought he was high?”

  “I didn’t see him that much. Why? You think this is about drugs?”

  “Somebody put an axe in him. What do you think?”

  “I don’t know what to think. I guess I just assumed it had to be Bethany.”

  “Really?”

  “Well, duh. I mean, she’s still got the axe, Nancy catches her, and she comes up with some story. Nancy’s just lucky that she didn’t go for a twofer.”

  “Why don’t the cops think that?”

  “Maybe they do. I told them what I thought last night. But you know cops. Not the smartest.”

  “Why would Bethany do it, though? The police always establish motive. What was her motive?”

  Another shrug. “We may never know. Could be that Bethany was dealing. Maybe he owed her money. Or maybe they had something going, and she lost it. Or maybe she was high. How would I know? They’re the experts, not me.” He paused. “You talk to her yet?”

  “Let’s stay on track. Did you ever see Bethany and Alec together?”

  “You mean, like, in private, or here?”

  “Either one.”

  “Around here, just the usual stuff. You know, like she couldn’t figure something out with the computers and she needed help.”

  “Nothing that would lead you to believe it went any further than that?”

  “Not really.”

  Black caught his discomfort. “Come on, Brent. Help me out h
ere.”

  “Well, he commented a couple of times that she was hot. But, I mean, she is. That doesn’t mean anything. It’s just something you say.”

  “I thought he was pretty seriously involved with Nancy.”

  Brent smirked. “You never know. He wouldn’t be the first to be getting a little on the side. You should ask Bethany, not me.”

  “You can’t think of anyone else who might have had a beef with him?”

  Brent shook his head. “Everybody here tries to get along. It’s a crappy job, the hours suck, but we have to make it through, so why pick fights?”

  “But if you had to arrest someone…”

  “Oh, no question. Go with the person holding the murder weapon. The rest of this is a waste of time. I mean, I get why you’re here, but still.”

  “Really? Why don’t you fill me in on what I’m doing here?”

  “Jacobs hired you. He wants you to pin this on anyone but Bethany. Am I close?”

  Black shook his head. “That’s not how I operate.”

  “Then I’ve got it all wrong.”

  “Why do you think he’d want to do that?”

  Brent gave him a skeptical look. “Come on. You have to know he and Bethany have it going on.”

  “You’re the first one to come out and say so.”

  “Yeah, well, read between the lines. His little bit of fun slipped up, and now he wants to sweep it under the carpet. Enter Mr. Black. Cool threads, by the way.”

  “Thanks. But for the record, you think Bethany planted the axe in Alec’s back.”

  “What’s that saying? Shortest distance between two points.”

  Black continued until he’d exhausted any productive lines of inquiry and excused Brent, who, out of all of them so far, struck him as the smartest. Still, there was something a little too glib about his reactions. The rest were obviously in fear of losing their jobs. Brent didn’t seem to care, although at the end of the discussion he’d asked Black not to tell Jacobs about what he’d said in confidentiality. Black agreed – there was no point in getting the kid fired.

  Black checked his phone. No return call. He noted the time and rubbed a tired hand across his face. Maybe Brent was right, and this was all an attempt to create a smokescreen for Bethany, who was looking increasingly like she was guilty as hell.

  Which reminded Black. He extracted the card Larry had given him and entered the number. Larry answered on the third ring.