by J. Valentine
She opened the desk drawer to find other equipment that would help a PI. A USB recording device, a small GPS tracker that would relay information to a phone, and a small surveillance drone. I wonder if this was just a toy, or if he actually used this, Olivia laughed to herself. The cream of the crop was her father’s zoom lens camera. A compact Nikon device, that must’ve cost thousands. Olivia was pleasantly surprised that her father had all this modern tech. She hoped he wouldn’t mind her borrowing some of it for her investigation.
She slipped the USB recorder in her pocket, and opened up her laptop on the desk. Curious, she took the SD card from the camera and viewed the most recent pictures. Nothing of too much importance, just pictures of some sap switching tires on his car. Probably someone committing insurance fraud, saying they aren’t able to work and collecting money on the side. Her father was the bane of their existence, always thwarting their basic scams.
It was time to set up the interviews. She called Barry first, planning on having a formal interview with him at her familial home. She messaged Max to make sure he wouldn’t mind, and he quickly gave her the go ahead. Anna and Layla, she’d want to interview at the lake house. She wanted to have the chance to look around the home, and see if there were any clues about their home life laying out in the open. Any information would help the case.
“Barry, good morning, how are things?” She asked after calling his phone.
“Oh he’s sleeping, let me get him,” the unknown female voice said on the other end of the line.
“Hello?”
“Hey Barry, it’s me Olivia, sounds like you had a fun night,” she laughed.
“Yeah, you could say that,” he said, sniffing obnoxiously into the phone.
“Well, what would you think about coming by some time today and doing an interview? If you’re not too busy that is.”
“Umm… yeah sure. I kind of told you everything I knew at Mark’s Diner though,” he complained.
“Uhhh, that was just my initial questioning to see if I would take the case. I’m going to need you to answer quite a few more, and maybe repeat yourself from last time. I need to get everything on tape for my records, and cross referencing with everyone’s story. Are you comfortable with that?”
“Yeah, okay,” Barry said. Olivia could sense the nerves in his voice.
This definitely isn’t helping me believe he didn’t do it, Olivia thought to herself. “Can you come by today around noon? I’ll order some pizza in.” She hoped the bribe of pizza would entice him enough to agree.
“Yeah, okay… noon it is.”
“Also I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind giving me Anna, and Layla’s phone numbers. I have to call them as well.”
Barry happily gave Olivia their cell numbers, along with the number to the lake house. Olivia tried the lake house first.
“Hello?” Said the woman’s voice. Olivia quickly realized this wasn’t Anna or Layla, as the voice had a thick Jamaiican accent.
A maid maybe, Olivia considered. “Hello, good morning. I’m looking for a Mrs. Cartwright, either Anna or Layla.”
“Sure thing ma’am, may I ask what this is regarding?”
“You can just tell them it’s Olivia Guilbault,” she told her.
“Okay, Miss Olivia Guilbault.”
Olivia waited a moment, while the maid went to get one of the ladies of the house. It took a little longer than Olivia would’ve liked, but she waited patiently.
“Hello?”
“Good morning, who am I speaking with?” Olivia asked.
“This is Anna Cartwright.”
“Yes, Mrs. Cartwright. I’m not sure if you know me, but,” she was quickly interrupted.
“Who hired you to work on the case? I was actually planning on calling you myself,” she said.
“Well, Barry Dillon hired me. I hope that’s okay?” Olivia asked.
“Yes, that’s fine. It’ll save me some money at least. What can I do for you?” Anna asked.
“I was wondering if you and your daughter would be available for an interview some time in the near future. I’d like to gather all the information I can on the death of your wife, Maryam Cartwight,” Olivia explained.
“I’ll have to confirm with Layla, but I think we are both available today. Would you like to come by the lake house?”
Almost too easy, Olivia thought to herself. “Yes, that would be great. Would 3pm work?”
The time difference would give Olivia plenty of time to interview Barry, hopefully his answers would help her understand more of this intoxicating and exciting case. They agreed to the place and time, exchanging information, and giving their pleasantries as they hung up the phones.
*Barry, good morning* she heard herself speak on the tape recorder, glad that she had figured out how to properly use it. The old technology was baffling to her.
Chapter 7
“Barry, glad you could make it.” Olivia answered the door, a little upset that he was 15 minutes late.
“Yeah, happy to help,” he replied, not giving any apology or even mentioning his tardiness.
He stood in a barely buttoned up white dress shirt, no tie, and black pants. The dark sunglasses on his face matching his vibe, and the dark brown belt matching his shoes. Olivia glanced in the driveway to see a new BMW M3. Not very practical, and very sporty. A douchebag must-have vehicle. Barry saw her looking at the jet black sports car sedan.
“Beautiful isn’t it?” He took off his sunglasses to peer back at the car he seemed to love so much, “the last ‘19 M3 on the lot. Picked it up in Winnipeg.”
Olivia looked into his bloodshot eyes, and thought back to the girl who had answered his phone this morning. The USB recorder in her pocket was already turned on, in case Barry slipped up. What kind of sociopathic murderer would hire a private investigator to investigate their own crime? One playing games, Olivia answered her own thoughts.
“Yes it’s a very nice car Barry. I don’t know how practical it is up here though,” she laughed. Olivia hoped the joke would calm his nerves a bit and loosen him up. If it took talking about his ridiculous M3 for a few minutes, it would be worth it to her.
“Oh I have good tires on it,” he explained.
Olivia ushered him inside, noticing his eyes again as he crossed by her. What was he up to last night?
“Looks like you had a fun night,” she touched his arm in the entrance to the home.
Olivia heard growling from behind her, and looked back to see a very nervous and angry looking dog, the hackles on Alvi’s back standing at full attention. Not a good sign, she thought.
“Oh you know nothing too crazy,” he tried to brush past the probing question, as Olivia brought the dog outside. She appreciated the K9’s warning of the potentially dangerous man, but she felt safe in the home, knowing her brother would soon be home.
“It’s okay Barry, you don’t have to hide anything from me. Think of it like attorney / client privilege. I’ll keep everything to myself,” she told him. She knew well that they had no attorney / client privilege as she was most certainly not an attorney, but the little white lie of hers couldn’t hurt in getting the defensive man to open up.
“Just a bit of partying with some friends,” he brushed his nose with his finger, and inhaled sharply through it.
To Olivia it sounded like a bit of septal perforation. A hole that has eaten right through the septum dividing the nostrils. It happens to many who partake in certain party aids. “The girl who answered the phone was a friend of yours?”
“Yeah I actually met her when I picked up the beemer, she just got in from Winnipeg.”
“Oh I see,” Olivia said, considering the possibility that it may have been a street girl he picked up. He seemed to be spending his new found money pretty laveleshly. “Anyways, let’s get started on the interview. Follow me to the living room.”
***
“So how’d you know Maryam?” Olivia began the interview.
Barry looked down
at the recorder, sitting between them on the desk. They sat in the living room. Olivia sat with an open posture in a chair facing him. Barry, with his arms crossed, and legs a little too close together, sat on the couch across from her and the recorder.
“It’s recording. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” he assured her. “Maryam and I got along really well. I met her shortly after Layla and I started dating. Not a lot of people supported her transitioning, but I thought it was kind of cool and interesting.”
“A lot of people in town seem to think you have something to do with the murder,” she stated.
“That couldn’t be further from the truth. Everyone thinks that because of the inheritance. Maryam and I were friends!” His intensity began to grow.
Olivia nodded, and jotted down notes on her legal pad. She liked to create an environment similar to a therapist’s. She thought it helped people relax and open up a little more. “Can you explain the inheritance a little bit more in depth?”
“Yeah, I had no idea that I would receive anything, so the theory that I murdered her for the money is insane. It’s why the cops dismissed me as a suspect so soon. No one in town, or Layla and Anna seem to believe me though. Even they got a good chunk of the money as well.”
“How much did you receive in comparison to them, if you don’t mind me asking?” She pried further.
“I got half the estate in cash. The value of all the properties and assets were added up and divided between Anna and I. She got all the property plus what cash was left, after my half.”
“You can understand why that’s a bit strange right? How much did you get?” She insisted.
“Yeah… two point four million dollars.”
Olivia’s eyes widened. She had no idea the dollar amount had been so high. Things were starting to make more sense. “Why you?”
“Well I can explain that. It’s embarrassing, but… I have a bit of an addictive personality. Sport gambling was a big thing for me. I was doing well for the most part, then I started doing research on the stock market. I started betting on Tesla and a few other meme stocks to do well. Before I knew it I ten x’d by bankroll, and increased my net worth like crazy. In less than a year I made over a hundred grand. I paid off all my debts, and maxed my TFSA and RRSP contributions.”
“What’s this have to do with Maryam?” Olivia questioned.
“I showed her what I was doing. Before I knew it we were trading stock information, and from what I know, she at least tripled her portfolio. Turned out that she was a pretty big gambler too, and unbeknownst to her family, and myself… she added me to the will.”
“That’s a lot of money.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s crazy,” Barry was smiling and happy, a hint of bragging peppered into his regular amount of charm and charisma. Peppering that didn’t suit him well.
“It’s too bad Maryam won't be around to spend it.”
Barry quickly realized the smile on his face was inappropriate and wiped it off. He seemed to be overcome with sadness, “Yeah it’s so horrible what happened to her.”
Is he acting right now, Olivia considered. “So tell me about the murder. What all happened that you remember?”
“Layla and I were already broken up at the time, so I wasn’t spending as much time with them.”
“Why did you break up,” Olivia interrupted him. “Something to do with the hostess?”
“No, I met her after,” he ran his hand through the long hair on the top of his head.
He certainly is attractive, I can see how he’s been so successful with women, Olivia thought.
“Layla and I just,” Barry continued after a pause, “we just grew apart over time. She has views that are a little extreme for me. Nothing too crazy, she really just only likes being around other left wing type folks. She didn’t like that I have right wing friends, even though I'm a lefty myself.”
“I see. Continue on with the murder please?” She asked him.
“Layla and I were already broken up. We broke up maybe about a month before Maryam was murdered. I was hanging out with Rachel, the hostess from the diner you met.”
“It was nice of her to call you that day.”
Barry hadn’t realized that Olivia had worked that out, “Yes it was.”
“Continue,” she said, jotting down notes.
“So this all happened late December. Every year Anna, and Layla used to go up to their family’s cabin for a girls weekend away. No cell reception, the cabin is all run on a gas generator, and they’d just hang out and read. A nice little get away. I was never invited.”
“Maryam didn’t get invited either?”
“Not that I know of. It was always just Anna and Layla. They went up there for a few days around Christmas, when they came home, Maryam was missing. Then a hunter found her a few days after her death, north in the forest off the road towards the cabins,” he finished explaining.
“How long have they had the cabin for?”
“As long as I’ve known them.”
“So Anna and Layla went north to the cabin for Christmas weekend. You were partying and spending time with Rachel. I assume your credit card and bank statements prove your whereabouts for the whole time in question?” Olivia asked.
“Exactly. I couldn’t have done it,” he said, exasperated.
“So they went north to the cabin, you were home. Did you know they were going to the cabin?”
“I had no idea. I was surprised they’d go so close to the holidays honestly.”
“Were they at the cabin on Christmas day? I’m confused why they wouldn’t want to spend time with Maryam on the holiday.”
“I think they came home on Christmas.”
“So let me get this timeline down. We know they were at the cabin that weekend, Saturday the 23rd, and Sunday the 24th. Possibly came home on Christmas Day. Maryam wasn’t there when they got back. Did they file a report that day?” She asked him.
“I’m not sure.”
“And the body was found on the 27th,” she stated.
“Yes.”
“When did people start thinking you had something to do with it?”
“Right after the reading of the will. I wasn’t even sure why I was invited at the time. I had no idea she left anything to me,” Barry looked down at the ground, away from Olivia’s prying eyes.
“Okay. Well Barry, thanks for your time, I’ll be in touch. And thanks again for hiring me, I promise I’ll do my best to answer all the questions you have.”
“Hey I thought you said you were going to order pizza,” he complained.
“Oh I’m sorry Barry, I must have forgotten,” she told him, showing him his way towards the door.
***
Max was arriving home just as Barry was leaving. Perfect timing, thought Olivia. Max stopped for a moment to admire the M3 in his driveway, impressed by Barry’s taste in automobiles. Alvi was happy to greet him at the door, after Olivia had let the lab back inside.
“How’d that go?” Max asked, as Barry backed his sports car out of the driveway.
“I have a lot more questions, but it was a good start,” Olivia told him.
“What’s next?”
“I have an interview with Anna and Layla Cartwright for this afternoon. I got some time before that, want something for lunch?”
“Sure, I can order in pizza.”
Olivia laughed, “sounds good Max. How are the roads out there?”
“Oh pretty good. I heard on the radio we’re supposed to get a pretty good snowfall this evening. We are due for it. I picked up some supplies in case the power goes out again. It may be a blizzard they’re saying.”
“Good thinking, Max,” she said, not looking forward to the potential snow.
The pizza arrived shortly after. Olivia and Maxed enjoyed it together. She filled him in on the progress she’d made, and they laughed about stories from their adolescence together.
Afterwards Olivia went downstairs to her f
ather’s work station, and looked on at the corkboard. She added a piece of paper outlining the current timeline of the murder.
Friday 22nd - Anna and Layla leave to go to Cabin for the weekend (possibly happened 23rd?)
Saturday 23rd -
Sunday 24th -
Monday 25th - come home to find Maryam missing
Tuesday 26th - report her missing
Wednesday 27th - body found
She should probably find out who exactly found the body, and talk to him. Maybe he can answer some questions as well. It would also be beneficial for her to find a copy of the police report. Maybe if Brad Wilson would call her, she’d be able to negotiate some kind of trade off with him.
Chapter 8
Olivia climbed over the middle console of the old honda civic.
This is ridiculous, I should’ve taken Max up on the offer to drive the Subaru, She thought to herself. She had a few minutes to kill while the car warmed up. She opened her phone and prepared another blog entry:
More and more questions. Would a murderer hire me to solve their own murder? Is that insane to think. Is your dog not liking someone, enough information to judge their character? Could a degenerate gambler with a drug problem be clever enough to hatch a scheme like this? Even after they’d been given the all clear by the police. It just doesn’t make sense.
She finished typing, best not to hit publish on that one, I don’t want to scare Barry away, she thought to herself.
The car’s engine had idled it’s way up to a decent temperature and the ice had melted off the windshield. She gave it a squirt of washer fluid to clean it up a bit, and hit the road. She should make it to the lake house just in time, according to her phone’s GPS. The sky was overcast and somewhat dark, even though it was only the afternoon. Olivia realized Max was right about the snow storm coming, and turned on the radio to hear the information for herself.
