Act V, page 16
“Sorry, wish I could do more to help.”
Brice’s cell phone rang and he flipped it open. “Gearhart.”
“Brice, it’s me, Leslie Handy. I know you’re off duty, but I thought you’d want to hear what just came in. We’ve got a recording of the guy’s voice. At least I think it’s him. Can you come back to the station?”
“Sure thing. I’m bringing somebody with me though.”
“The Nuckolls woman?”
“Does everybody know about that?”
“Pretty much.”
“I just don’t feel right about leaving her alone right now.”
“That makes sense, especially after that lovely news cast. Bring her on, but you know she’ll have to stay out in the lobby until we decide what goes public and what doesn’t.”
“Deal. I’ll call Addison.”
*****
Handy and Hawkins met the three of them in the lobby. “Ms. Nuckolls,” Hawkins took her by the arm and showed her to a chair, “could you wait out here for a few minutes? Dorothy over there would love to get you some coffee.” She indicated the night desk officer.
Brice looked at her with anxiety.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered. “I’m fine.”
The four detectives moved to the back conference room where Brice was surprised to see Sandra Fitchwell sitting at the table holding a mini cassette recorder.
He and Addy looked questioningly at Handy and Hawkins. “What’s up?” Addy wanted to know. “We just questioned Ms. Fitchwell.” He almost spat her name.
“Yeah, we know,” Hawkins told him, “but there’s a new twist. Ms. Fitchwell received a phone call tonight before she left the studio.” He turned to the frightened woman. “Why don’t you play it for them?”
She tapped the play button and the syrupy, muffled voice began to speak, chilling Brice when he heard what the voice requested. “You didn’t…” He yelled.
She pressed the pause button. “Of course not. I’m ambitious, not downright evil. Why do you think I’m here?”
Brice calmed and felt just a little sheepish. “Sorry, I’m just…”
She ignored him and played the rest. When he promised to see Fitchwell soon, Brice felt another chill. “Do you think it was a threat?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he just meant that he wanted me to continue to give him the press he wants.”
“Maybe,” Handy told her, “but just the same, don’t go anywhere alone.”
Brice, suffering from a bout of contrition said, “Sandra, thanks for bringing it in. We’ll try a voice analysis on it but I doubt it will help much. It only works when you have something to compare it to.”
“Might come in handy though,” Addison told her. “At least we know where his head is.”
“Yeah,” said Brice, “And we can guard against it.”
*****
Glynnis watched as Sandra Fitchwell walked past, visibly shaken. She paused for just a moment when she saw Glynnis, but then hurried away followed by Handy and Hawkins. Brice and Addy came out next. They were deep in a serious discussion but stopped when they saw Glynnis.
Addy nodded toward the door. “They’re following her home to make sure everything is okay. You take Glynnis home and stay with her. Or would you rather I take that one?” He grinned and Glynnis felt a little lighter.
Brice pulled her up and guided her toward the door. “I think I can handle it.”
*****
In the car, Brice told Glynnis about the tape.
“Oh no, Brice. I knew he’d come after me sooner or later, but this is terrifying.”
He patted her knee. “I know. I’m just as frightened as you are. But I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise. Thanks to Sandra, he doesn’t know your name yet.”
“But it won’t take too much asking around to find out.”
“I don’t think he’ll ask around. He doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s looking for you.”
“Maybe.”
“Are you sure that Timmons doesn’t know about your dreams?”
“I’m sure.”
“What about Shultz?” he asked as an afterthought.
“Only a handful of people know besides the whole police department.”
Brice grimaced. The whole situation was a pain. He didn’t even tell her the worst part, though he’d mentioned it to Addy before they left. The worst part was that Brice had recognized the voice from somewhere. The caller had intentionally muffled his voice, but Brice had still caught a familiar tone. He just couldn’t put it with a name or a face, but he would sooner or later. Hopefully it wouldn’t be later.
*****
The time was approaching and he couldn’t risk being found out, especially this close to fulfilling his goal. He had to find the psychic and do away with her. As much as he hated to ruin his favorite source of publicity, he would take care of it tomorrow. She would tell him who the psychic was, then he’d be rid of her.
Chapter 19
Glynnis had spent the night in Brice’s arms. He had double-checked the locks, made sure the outside lights were on and insisted that she relax in the tub before bed. She opted for a shower instead and wondered if he might decide to join her, but he didn’t. Brice was a man on a mission. When she climbed into the bed, he climbed in behind her and just held her. It was the most comforting thing he could have done and she had slept through the night.
In the morning they had parted ways, Brice to go home for a change of clothes and then to work, and Glynnis to rehearsal. Brice had kissed her before leaving. “Glynn, he began, not meeting her eyes, “I want you to know that it’s going to be a tough day. We have to follow up on the call to Sandra Fitchwell, and we may have to interview Timmons and Shultz again. I don’t want you to be surprised if it happens.”
She had nodded, not exactly happy about this turn of events, but willing to trust Brice to do what was right.
*****
They were seven days away from opening and the pressure kept her focused. Aaron was feeling it too. Despite his normally laid-back attitude, he was displaying signs of stress from both his brother’s death and the show. “How’re you feeling, Aaron?” she asked him after hearing him blast his crew for the third time that day.
“Sorry Babe,” he reached to hug her. “Didn’t mean to act like a jackass. I’m just stressed.”
“Don’t apologize,” she told him, hugging back. “You deserve to be a little high-strung right now.”
“It won’t affect the performance. I promise.”
“I know it won’t,” she said and pecked his cheek lightly.
He lowered his head. “The police want to see me after rehearsal. I’m not sure what it’s about, but they sure did ask me a butt-load of questions the other day.”
“I guess they have to cover all the bases. Just be yourself. You didn’t do anything wrong.” She hugged him again. Yes, he was a possible suspect in a murder investigation, but this gentle soul was the last person she would imagine as a killer.
*****
The Bard was ready to take care of this small but potentially hazardous problem once and for all. And it would be better if she believed she was in no danger to begin with. If she felt safe, secure, then she would be much more cooperative. He would see to it that she believed herself to be as safe as a babe in Mama’s arms.
*****
It was a day for calming others. At almost five o’clock, her cell rang. Rehearsal was done for the day and she’d gone back up to the theatre to sort through props and make a final list of what they needed. Between the play, the murders and the frightful realization that a killer was trying to find her, she was already on overload. Naturally, it was Dorsey.
“Glynn,” his voice was shaky but he sounded sober. “Glynn, I’m scared. I need to talk. Can I meet you at your place?”
Brice had told her to keep her distance from him, no matter what. “Dorsey, I don’t think that we should…”
“I just want to talk Glynn. They called me into the police station today for more questions….Please honey, I don’t have anybody else.”
While it didn’t surprise Glynnis to hear that he had been called in for more questioning, it was still upsetting. How could they suspect Dorsey? It was ridiculous. Yes, he was selfish and occasionally stupid, but he just wasn’t a murderer. No chance. She couldn’t leave him out there, they had spent too much time as a couple, meant too much to each other. “Okay Dorsey, meet me at the house in half an hour, but you can’t stay long. I have…a date.” She didn’t, not officially, but Brice would probably at least come by to check on her.
That last statement took him by surprise. Dorsey inhaled deeply before going on. “I won’t stay long, I promise.”
“Alright Dorsey, I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
*****
Addy escorted Aaron Shultz to the chair in the interview room opposite the one in which he would be sitting. Brice was observing from outside and would enter if and when the need arose.
“Are you comfortable Mr. Shultz?”
“I’m fine. What’s this about?”
“First, Mr. Shultz, I’d like to thank you for agreeing to this interview. We have a few details we’d like to clear up. Want some coffee?”
That was Addy, Brice thought, watching through the two-way mirror, make the guy comfortable, get him on your side, then zap him.
“I could use some.” Shultz told him. “It’s been a tough couple of days.”
“I’m sure it has.” Addy poured two cups of hot coffee adding about a pound of cream to his own. “How do you take it?”
“Black, thanks.”
Addy handed him the cup. “Again, I’m so very sorry about your brother and sister-in-law. I’ll try to keep this brief.”
“Thanks.”
“First, just to eliminate all the family questions that will pop up later, where were you on the night of your brother’s death?”
Aaron sat up, rigid in his chair. “Why? Am I a suspect?”
“Mr. Shultz, I know these questions might be invasive or even insulting, but I’m trying to establish your alibi so that there will be no reasonable doubt for the jury when someone is eventually arrested.”
He visibly relaxed. “Okay, I was at home in my apartment reading over a script.”
Addy wrote it down. “Anybody see you there?”
“I don’t think so, but that’s where I was.”
“How about your brother? Did you two get along okay?”
Aaron gave him a doubtful look. “I already told you we were fighting the other day.”
Addy just waited. Sometimes silence produced enough discomfort to bring on a butt-load of information.
“I guess we got along as well as most brothers. We fight…fought sometimes. He was an underachiever. Smart as anything but didn’t always use it and he still managed to get scholarships. Mama and Daddy doted on him because he was the youngest. He was spoiled and a little lazy. That led to fights.” He wiped a tear away. “He was still my brother. I loved him.”
Addy wasn’t letting it go. Brice could tell he’d push it until he got a confession or he was sure of the guy’s innocence. “What about your mother? She doesn’t think a whole lot of your choice of careers does she?”
Shultz was instantly out of his chair leaning over the still seated Addison. “What the heck does that have to do with anything? Look!” He shouted, pointing to the glass where Brice stood, concealed, “You and your partner out there might think I’m just an ignorant redneck, but I’m not. If you want to know if I killed my brother, just come out and ask me.”
He was almost nose to nose with Addison now and Brice thought about going in to step between them but knew that this was probably the reaction Addy had been going for. He waited. Shultz wheeled on one foot and stomped away, standing to face the wall. His stance was rigid, but he was no longer on the attack.
Addy, cool as a breeze, spoke softly. “Sit down Mr. Schultz. We’re almost done.”
Aaron Shultz fell into his chair, the adrenaline from his angry outburst suddenly draining away. He appeared exhausted. He dropped his head on the table. “My mother doesn’t like my job. She thinks only fa…gay men go into theatre, and she’d be the first one to tell you that that’s okay for somebody else, but not her son. She’s from a whole different world of thought. Mama thought I should pursue medicine or law like Kenny, or go to work at the BMW plant. That’s a manly job.” He lifted his head and ran his fingers through his hair. “It doesn’t change the fact that I loved my brother. I didn’t kill him.”
Addison played his last card. “Did you know Hamilton Danning?”
Shultz was dumbfounded. “I worked summers for him while I was in high school and college.”
“He helped you pay for some of your college tuition, didn’t he? When your parents couldn’t…or wouldn’t.”
“He was a good man. I got enough scholarships to cover most of the expenses. He covered the rest, even when I was in grad school. He was a big theatre man…thought I had a future in it.”
“So he supported you when your parents didn’t.”
“Yeah.”
“How’d it make you feel when he died and eventually, his brother, Claude married Hamilton’s widow?”
“Does it matter how I felt? She could marry whoever she wanted.”
“You didn’t feel that Claude Danning had betrayed his dead brother?”
“What? No…”
After waiting to see if anything would follow, Addy said, “Thank you Mr. Shultz. You can go home, but stay available.”
*****
After Shultz had left the building, Brice approached his partner. “You don’t think it’s him do you?”
“Even if I did, we don’t have any physical evidence against him. He might just be a real good actor, but I can’t get a feeling that he did it.”
“Sociopaths are often good actors. Plus, he has ties to both murder victims.” It was like this with the two of them; one took a position and the other played devil’s advocate. It kept them from making serious mistakes, overlooking possibilities. It was one reason they made a great team.
“So does Timmons. Can’t pin it on him either, even with the second interview we did today. We don’t have enough to arrest either guy.”
Brice thought about that. “There’s something else that’s been bothering me the whole time too,” he said, “and now I’m beginning to get a better grasp on it.”
“Well don’t keep it to yourself boy.”
“The thing is, this guy wants us to think he’s obsessed with Shakespeare. He’s gone out of his way to make his crime scenes very obviously Shakespeare-oriented and to call attention to that fact.”
“Okay, I got that already.”
“But he’s had a couple of blatant discrepancies in his crimes that a true Shakespeare lover would never have had.”
Addy waited patiently for his partner to reveal the rest. You couldn’t rush Brice when he was on a roll.
“One, he used belladonna on our Romeo, but according to scholars, and our medical examiner, that’s supposedly what Juliet used. Glynnis told me that Romeo used a different poison that he brought along for another purpose. Two, he used a nineteenth century dagger to kill the girl. It should have been a sixteenth century model.”
“Maybe those were the only things he could get his hands on at the time.”
“Maybe, but if you were truly obsessed with the forms of death in Shakespeare’s plays, wouldn’t you try to make it as authentic as possible?”
“Probably, but maybe he thinks the general public won’t know the difference.”
“We’re back to square one. Okay then,” Brice conceded grudgingly, “we go back to the drawing board in the morning.”
*****
Glynnis took Carl for a quick walk and Dorsey was sitting on her doorstep when she got back. “Come on in,” she tilted her head toward the door.
Dorsey followed her inside and sat down on the couch without being invited. Glynnis could only dredge up mild irritation about that. Two years ago he would have landed on her bed naked without being asked. Time changed many things. She sat beside him. “Tell me about what happened today,” she said.
“They wanted to know about Danning again.” He rubbed both temples with his fingers. “I told them the same thing I told them last time. But then…” He stopped. “Glynnis, this is hard.”
“Just tell me, Dorsey. We have too much between us to play games.”
He nodded. “They asked me about Gabrielle Richardson…Shultz.”
“Why would they ask you about her? Did you know her?”
He lowered his head even further and Glynnis wondered if he planned to dig a hole in the floor and crawl into it. “Dorsey?”
“She and I dated for about three months.” Then he added quickly, “But we broke up almost a year ago.”
“You were…You were dating her?” Glynnis couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Are you insane? She’s just eighteen now!” Glynnis realized what she’d said. “I mean she was eighteen when she died,” she said in a much softer tone. “Dorsey, she was a baby when you were dating her, not even legal. You were almost twice her age.” Then she did the math. Almost a year of breakup plus three months of dating would have put them together while she and Dorsey were still engaged.
He watched as her eyes darkened and widened. Her fury began to grow and as if he knew that she had figured it out, he added, “I’m sorry Glynn. It was a mistake. She came on to me and I was flattered.” He was talking so fast now that Glynnis doubted he even knew all that he was saying. “I was stupid. I had you and you were having the medical trouble and…and I was stupid.” He stopped because there was nothing left to say.
Any compassion she’d had for him had gone with Dorsey right down the stupid hole. “Why did you break up?” She shoved the words at him like hot coals in a bucket that was now too steamy to hold even by the handle. “Why?”
“She met the Shultz guy. Said I was too old. Guess I was.”
The compassion was working its way back in through Glynn’s tight lips and she felt them ease just a little. She knew the girl had hurt his pride. Glynnis understood how that felt, from experience. She wasn’t ready to forgive and forget, but she took his hand. “Ah, Dorsey, what a mess.”
