Act V (20 page)

*****

“
Package for you, Ms.
Fitchwell.” The office boy practically undressed her as he handed
her a manila envelope. He spoke directly to her chest. “I think
it’s something important. It was delivered by courier.”

“
Zack,” she used her
deepest, sexiest, come-on voice just for fun, “I’m up
here.”

“
Um, yes ma’am.” Zack’s
ruddy eighteen-year-old face turned even redder. It caused the zit
on his chin to stand out more than ever. “Anyway, I think it’s
urgent.”

“
Thank you Zack,” she almost
moaned. “Please let me know when I can do anything to return the
favor.”

Without saying a word, Zack dropped his
remaining packages to a lower position, concealing the front of his
khakis, and then scuttled away like a sand crab. Sandra waited
until he was gone to laugh out loud. “Let’s see what’s going to be
the end of the world issue today,” she said only to herself as she
slit the top of the envelope with a hardened acrylic nail and
pulled out a single typed sheet.

“
Rodrick!” she could barely
get the words out. “Rodrick! Rodrick!” she yelled. “We’ve got work
to do.”

Chapter17

On the way to Itza Pizza, Brice looked
over the police services report for himself. Then his cell phone
rang. It was Hawkins. He sounded groggy but excited. “Just wanted
to update you, before I hit the sack, man. Me and Handy didn’t have
a whole lot of time last night to research the new case, but we did
find one connection you should know about.”

“
Tell me.”

“
Guess who used to date your
new murder victim, Gabrielle Shultz?”

“
Why do I feel there’s a
name I’ve heard before coming here?”

“
Probably because there is.
Gabrielle’s ex, of only a year ago by the way, is none other than
Dorsey Timmons, our only suspect on the Danning case.”

The cell felt suddenly foreign in
Brice’s hand and he fumbled and dropped it. Grabbing for the phone,
he managed to say, “Sorry man, didn’t mean to drop you. Listen, are
you sure? This could be a big thing.”

“
Yeah. We got her mother to
give us a list of past relationships. Seems like they were hot and
heavy for a couple of months, then she dropped him like he was made
of manure or something. Her mama wasn’t too upset about it ‘cause
she thought Timmons was too old for the girl anyway. There’s more
than fifteen years between them.”

“
Guess Dorsey was robbing
the cradle.”
And Brice knew
why
. “Did he take it badly?”

“
Mama said he did. Kept
calling her for a while, sending flowers, showing up without being
invited. Stalker stuff.”

“
Thanks man…get some
sleep.”

“
Already
snoring.”

Brice dialed Glynnis’ cell and got her
voice mail. He left a message. “Glynnis, no matter what, don’t go
near Dorsey Timmons. And don’t go anywhere alone either. I’ll
explain later. I’ll come by your place after work if you’re free.”
He had almost told her to keep her distance from Aaron Shultz as
well, but that wasn’t very practical since they worked together and
as long as she was with the rest of the cast, it didn’t seem likely
to be a problem.

*****

The corporate offices of Itza Pizza
were located downtown in one of the new complexes popping up
everywhere. Brice referred to them as stack-a-shacks and Addy
called them Mc-office buildings. They all looked exactly alike and
cost megabucks to rent.

Graham Itzen sat behind his imposing,
mahogany desk tapping a pencil to the rhythm of some unheard song.
“How may I help you, detectives?”

Addy started the ball
rolling. “Mr. Itzen, this is a very nice place you have here. We
appreciate the fact that you’re willing to take the time to talk to
us.”
Not that you really had a
choice,
he thought. “Are you familiar with
either Claude Danning or Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Shultz?”

“
Of course I know who Claude
Danning is…was. What a shock. And the others, weren’t they the kids
that were killed a couple of days ago?”

“
That’s right, Mr. Itzen. We
have reason to believe that one of your delivery guys, or somebody
dressed like one, may have been at the Shultz apartment prior to
the murder.”

“
Oh, no, that just couldn’t
be.” His calm demeanor disappeared, replaced by fluster.

“
Sir,” Brice interjected,
“We don’t know what happened but we’re checking all the leads.
Could you possibly just check to see if there were any deliveries
made to that apartment? La View Apartments, number 212.”

“
I’ll do better than that.”
He hit the intercom buzzer on his desk. “Janine?”

“
Yes sir?” The secretary’s
tinny voice responded.

“
Janine would you please
call for Dylan? Let him know I need him right away.”

“
Yes sir.”

“
Dylan is my right hand man.
He’s presently running the public relations department. He’s also
my stepson. I would trust him with my life.”

“
Pretty high
accolades.”

“
He deserves every kind word
I say about him.”

*****

Minutes later, Dylan walked into the
room. “Dylan Michaels,” Graham Itzen began, “Detectives Gearhart
and Paddix have a few questions possibly relating to one of our
delivery guys. Could you give them the grand tour and answer any of
their questions?”

Dylan was of average height, with the
kind of dark, auburn hair that blends in with almost any color. His
face was freckled and he gave Brice the impression of being in his
early thirties. “Pleased to meet you both,” he acknowledged. “Why
don’t you follow me.”

“
You’re in good hands,”
Graham Itzen called after them, but despite his constant praise,
Brice felt an undertone of dislike between the two men. Perhaps he
was imagining it.

Dylan Michaels led the two of them
though several corridors all containing Itza Pizza offices. Then he
showed them the delivery only restaurant stationed within the same
building as the corporate office. Garlic and oregano, along with
the smell of yeasty crust, hung heavily in the air. “This is one of
twenty-five pizza restaurants across the state, eight in the rest
of the county, and,” he told them, a speech he’d given by rote a
number of times apparently. “Next year we’re planning to open five
restaurants in North Carolina and four in Georgia.”

“
Congratulations,” Addy told
him, then getting to the original point of the interview, “Can you
tell us if any of your employees delivered pizza to the La View
apartments, two nights ago? We’re investigating the Shultz murders
and we have reports that one of your guys might have been in the
area. Maybe he or she saw something.” That wasn’t the whole truth
of the matter but it was much less threatening than the real
thing.

“
That’s easy enough to
check,” he replied. “All of our deliveries are recorded in the
central computer system. He walked out of the restaurant and opened
the door of an office. It was small, cramped and made Brice wish
for a more open space. “This is my office, gentlemen. Come in.”
Dylan’s office was a fifth of the size of his stepfather’s. As if
sensing Brice’s thoughts, he said. “It’s small, but not as small as
the one I moved out of, and before that, I was managing the branch
of the restaurant you just saw. I didn’t even have an office. My
stepfather believes that I should learn every aspect of this
business from cook, to delivery, to all levels of management, and I
have. He feels it makes for good management material.”

Brice almost felt sorry for the guy.
Here he was, stepson of one of the most successful businessmen in
town, and his stepfather was treating him like the hired help.
Still, he was considered upper management and Brice was willing to
bet that Junior’s paycheck made his look like chicken feed. “Do you
have other siblings in the business?” Brice asked him.

“
No, actually, I’m the only
one. I was only ten when my mother married Graham and he had no
other kids. I’ve been in the pizza business since before I was old
enough to work.” He began pulling information up on his
computer.

“
Oh, well then it’s just
you, your stepfather and your mother.”

“
No, actually, mother owns a
bridal boutique across town. She’s not a huge pizza fan.” He smiled
and then said, “Okay, here are the delivery records for two nights
ago. Deliveries to that address probably would have come from this
location, but I’ll check them all to be certain.” He tapped a few
more buttons and scrolled with his mouse. “I’m sorry, I don’t see
anything at all for that apartment complex.”

Brice was disappointed but not
surprised. “Is there any way you could canvas your managers and
find out if anyone had a connection with the Shultz couple? Also if
there are any former employees that might have had a
connection.”

Michaels considered this for a moment.
“I’ll give it a shot. The branch managers would know more about
their own employees than I would. Give me a couple of days and I’ll
get back to you if I find out anything.”

Both detectives thanked him and shook
his hand. “We appreciate any information you can give us,” Brice
said and handed him a business card.

*****

Back in the car, Brice noted, “That was
a colossal waste of time.”

“
It would seem so,” agreed
Addison. “If it wasn’t on the books, then maybe our murderer is a
former employee that still has his gear.”

“
Maybe.” More phone calls to
make. “Did you get the feeling that Itzen and his stepson don’t
really get along?”

Addy thought about it. “You know, it’s
not so much that they don’t get along as that they plain don’t like
each other. It’s like they keep up the civil talk but they’d love
to light into each other with their teeth and claws
bared.”

“
Nothing like familial
love.”

*****

“
Did you get rid of them?”
Graham Itzen didn’t even bother to look up from his computer
screen. He just kept working away, deciding profit and
lost.

“
They’re gone.” Dylan told
him.

“
Did you tell them what they
needed to know?”

“
Yes.”

“
I hope you handled it
appropriately. We can’t afford to have bad relations with the
police.”

“
I handled it just
fine…Dad.”

“
Don’t take that tone with
me. You may be grown, but I’m still your father and your
employer.”

“
My stepfather,” Dylan said,
but not loudly enough to be heard. “Of course, I didn’t intend any
disrespect.”

“
Of course not. Be certain
they are kept happy. It wouldn’t do to offend the
police.”

*****

There were several messages waiting for
Addison and Brice when they got back to the station. Only one was
helpful. Andy Wofford had left word for them to stop by. There was
also a ‘call me’ note from Sandra Fitchwell. “Like that’s going to
happen,” Brice groaned, tossing the note in the can. Then his desk
phone rang. He picked it up. “Gearhart.”

“
Detective, this is Sandra
Fitchwell with News 4.”

Brice grabbed a notepad and
jotted Fitchwell’s name on it, shoving it over to Addy. In
response, Addy wrote
Bitchwell?
On the paper and passed it back. “How can I help
you Ms. Fitchwell?” Brice maintained his professional if irritated
manner to avoid being reamed by the captain later.

“
I’m just checking my leads
Detective, and I understand that you are still getting information
from a psychic named Glynnis Nuckolls. Isn’t she the same woman I
saw you with at the restaurant a few days back?”

“
Where did you hear that
we’re consulting a psychic?”

“
You know I can’t disclose
my sources, Detective. Is it true?”

“
Ms. Fitchwell, we’ve been
over this before. We are not consulting a psychic on this case and
if you cause trouble for an innocent woman who has nothing to do
with this, then I’ll bring you up on charges of impeding an
investigation.”

“
Fine then,” she went on as
if she hadn’t just been threatened. “Is it true that you suspect
this killer of using Shakespeare as a model?”

“
Do what?”

“
I said…”

“
I heard what you said, Ms.
Fitchwell. Where are you getting your information, at the hair
salon?”

“
Detective,” she continued
unperturbed, “I have sources now calling this guy
The Bard.
Is it true? Is
this a serial killer?”

Unbelievable. “Ms. Fitchwell, if you
have information regarding this investigation, then come in and
make a report. Otherwise, get your…yourself off the phone so that I
can do my job.”

“
As always, detective, it’s
been a pleasure.” She hung up leaving Brice with the feeling that
he could bite off a piece of the phone and spit out
fire.