3 Sin City Hunter (22 page)

She shook her head and said, “Not really, Susan. Everyone’s been trying to be secretive
, but the entire company knows
Carlton was unpleasant with you, and that you beat him last night, but that’s not a problem from a company standpoint. I was with Mortimer Davis when he heard Paul Diamond telling someone how shocked he was
when
you didn’t throw the game like everyone else does. Mortimer actually chuckled as he was walking away.”

There was something she wasn’
t saying, and I could tell
she was disturbed. Her usually perky nature was subdued. “
I don’t mean to pry,
but did Carlton give you a hard time today?” I asked.

I could see I’d landed on the problem. Her eyes were a bit misty as she said, “He was in h
ere this morning demanding
you be fired and put on the
next plane home. He said he didn’t want to see your face in here again, and if he did
,
my job was going to be on the line. He stormed off and left the building. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

I stood up and closed her office door. I didn’t need Gregory hiding outside the door and eavesdropping. I sat down in the chair again and leaned forward toward her a bit. I had my hand in my pocket
. I could feel her picture
, but I didn’t
pull it out right away. “I’m
sorry
,” I told her
.
“
If you think it
would be
best, I can leave right now.”

She shook her he
ad. “No, Susan, I told you
he can’t really fire you, and I don’t think
he can force me out by himself. No.
We’re not going to cave in to him.”

I nodded my head in agreement and said in a lowered voice
,
“Betsy Ann, I have to talk with you, and we have to keep this between ourselves, ok?”

She nodded
,
but
I could see concern cross her face immediately. I hated bringing this up to her, but I needed to know what was going on. “I can’t tell you too much, because I don’t want to involve you, but I think Carlton Waltham was behind the death of Gilbert Torres.”

Her eyes opened wide and she said, “The thought crossed my mind, but I didn’t really think he was capable of murder.”

“It’s more t
han a hunch,” I told her. “H
e
’s
said things to me
which
pretty much confirm his involvement. But I don’t know why. Why would he want to kill
Gilbert
Torres?”

“I don’t know,” she said looking confused. “As a matter of fact, it was Carlton
who
went around the morning of the funeral and took up a collection for Mrs. Torres. He
was all puffed up later and said
he delivered the money
to her
himself at the cemetery.”

Now I knew what he had handed to Anna. A small mystery solved.

“Betsy Ann, I think you do know why. You just might not
realize
it. I hate to show this to you, but would you please tell me what this means?” I pulled my hand out of my pocket and placed the picture on the table in front of her.

She let out a gasp and cried, “Where did you get this?” She snatched up the picture, and I could see she was starting to panic.

“I can’t tell you,
” I told her, “
but please talk to me about this. No one knows I have it, and whatever happened to you has happened to other people
, too
–
a lot
of other people.”

Tears were slipping down her face as she said, “Oh Susan, this is so horrible. It happened almost two years ago. I had a brief affair. It was a mistake. My husband and I were having problems, and rather than agree to counseling or trying to work things out, I wanted a
trial separation
. While we were separated, I met a man. Our meeting place was in a downtown hotel, and until I received one of these pictures in the mail –
here at work
– I had no idea anyone had even the slightest inkling about me and Dav
id
. Gilbert Torres was behind it. He wanted $10,000 to keep quiet or he was not only going to tell my husba
nd, but he would make sure
everyone here at work would kn
ow
I was a …” She stopped and put her head down. The word was unpleasan
t for her. “Let’s just say
it was going to be ugly. I was so frightened for my marriage, for my reputation here at work, and that I could lose my job, I paid the money. True to his word, Gilbert gave me the negatives from his surveillance of me, and it never came
up again. I can’t believe
you have this picture.”

“Did he ever tell your husband?” I asked her.

“No, he didn’t
,” she said
.
“
When I received the picture in the mail,
I thought
my husband
hired a private detective to follow me. I was frightened and called it off with Dav
id
right away. We
weren’t
seeing each o
ther long enough for it to
become too serious, and I refused to see him again. I was a wreck for about a
week, and then I found out
it was Gilbert behind the extortion. I paid him, and then agreed to counseling with my husband. It was the best thing we could have ever done. Our marriage is stronger than ever, but it would be shaken, and maybe even destroyed, if he ever saw these pictures.”

I nodded. I could certainly understand her concern. “Betsy Ann, I think
Gilbert
had something on Carlton. Something serious enough that Carlton felt he had to kill him.” I reached into my other pocket and pulled out the other two
pictures of the employees
I had met on Tuesday. I
turned them up i
n front of
her
.

Her hand instinctively fl
ew to her mouth indicating
she was shocked. She picked up one of the pictures, looked at it, turned it over, and saw the $5,000 amount. “Susan, both of these people work in distribution!”

“I know
,” I said
.
“
Do you think we could talk to them and try to find out what Gilbert had on them?”

“I don’t know, Susan,” she said with great hesitation. “I think it crosses the boundary of work-place ethics.”

“Betsy A
nn, I truly can’t tell you
very
much. The fewer people who know about this, the safer everyone will be, but I think we have to find out what’s going on before someone else gets hurt.”

She no
dded her head. I could see
she was trying to regain her composure.
A few moments
later, she picked up the
tele
phone, called distribution, and asked to have the two employees sent to her office. She slipped her picture into a desk drawer.

Five minutes later
,
there was a knock on the door, and a girl and a guy entered. I stood so they could each take a s
eat in the two chairs
in front of Betsy Ann’s desk.

“Robert, Jackie, this is Susan Hunter. I believe you met her on Tuesday.” They nodded and smiled at me. I
returned warm smiles, and
Betsy Ann continued, “I want you both to know
you’re
not here for company business. Everything you say in here today will get you a pass and
won’t
affect or jeopardize your employment
here
at Slimmers in any way. This is highly personal, and whatever you hear from the other cannot be shared with anyone in any way, or
that
could
jeopardize your employment. Do you understand?”

Both of them looked like scared kids. I felt sorry for them. Jackie said “yes” while Robert simply nodded his head.

Betsy Ann placed their pictures in front of them. Jackie’s reaction was the most intense, and she immediately started to weep and slightly rock back and forth in her chair.

Betsy Ann tried to calm her. “Jackie, this isn’t going to be used agains
t you, I promise. We know
Gilbert Torres extorted money from both of you, didn’t he?”

Jackie blurted out, “I hated
him
!” As soon as she said it,
her eyes lit up with fright,
and
she
followed up with, “But I didn’t kill him!”

Betsy Ann smiled and said, “Jackie, we know you didn’t. We know both of you didn’t have anything to do with his death.” She
looked
to
me for a little help.

“Robert, what do you know about this?” I asked him. “Why did Gilbert want money from you?”

He looked at me and simply said, “Cocaine and pot.”

I gave him a quizzical look and said, “And?”

“He had pictures of me buying pot from a guy on the street. And then he had a picture of me doing a line of coke at a party. He
told me if I didn’t pay him
$5,000, he was bringing the pictures to Mrs. Tucker here. Slimmers has a
no drug policy, and I knew
I would be tested and fire
d
. I need this job,
and I like this job. I paid the
sleazebag the money
,
and
I
quit the drugs. It wa
s mostly recreational, but
to protect myself
,
I enrolled in a short-term rehab program.” He looked at Betsy Ann and finished with, “I’ve been clean for six months, and you can test me if you need to be sure.”

Betsy Ann smiled at him and said, “That won’t be necessary, Robert.”

I looked at Jackie and asked, “What about you, Jackie?”

She looked at Robert with concern
,
as though she were afraid he
might not keep her secret. He tried to reassure her by saying, “Jackie, I have to trust you. I don’t want it
known around the building
I was into drugs. I pr
omise, I won’t tell anyone
.”

S
he nodded. “Mrs. Tucker, I’m
sorry. I did something really stupid last year. I was desperate for money. I had a m
arker at a downtown casino
I had to pay. I started sneaking out boxes of product. I thought if I sold them on eBay under generic terms, I could make enough money to pay off my debt. Then Gilbert showed up with pictures of me putting a box in my car, and the
printout of the first box
I listed
on eBay. He said if I didn’t give him $5,000, he would bring the
evidence to you and demand
I be prosecuted. He said it was a felony offense, and I would end up in jail for years.”

She was crying
harder
now. This was going to be really hard for Betsy Ann. Stealing from the company was an immediate termination offense, but Betsy Ann had promised them immunity for anything they said, so she would have to honor her word.

Jackie continued h
er story, “I was so afraid
Gilbert would tell
,
I had no choice but to go to my parents and beg for the money. They gave it to me, and I paid Gilbert. The whole thing scared me so much
,
I snuck everything back into the warehouse, and I’ve been trying to figure out how I
could
make it up for the one box
I did sell. I’ve been clocking out at 5:00 every day, but a coupl
e of
days
every week, I
work over for an hour. I thought if I tried to give the company free work, it might make up for what I did. I’ve been doing it for a long time, but the guilt never goes away.
Mrs. Tucker
, I’m so sorry. I’m not a criminal.”

“I know,” she told her sympatheticall
y. “I promised both of you
your jobs wouldn’t be in jeopardy, and I’ll keep my word. Jackie, I’ll get confirmation from your supervisor
of your extra hours
. If he confirms this, we’ll consider your debt paid and never talk about
it
again. Ok?” Jackie nodded.

I thanked both of them for talking with us. They left the office, and I looked up and down the hallway. Gregory wasn’t anywhere in sight, and neither was
Carl
. I shut the door again.

“Betsy Ann, Gilbert was obviously making a side living off of extortion. There isn
’t any doubt in my mind he
had somethin
g on Carlton. Gregory said
he
was
snoopy, and I think he found out something about Carlton and Slimmers.” I stood up to leave her office. “I have some things to follow up on. As soon as I can tell you anything, I will; b
ut for now, it’s important
you don’t discuss any of this with anyone.” She simply nodded her head, and I left her office.