Act V (28 page)

~~Othello, Act V, Scene
II~~

William
Shakespeare.

Chapter 24

Brice tossed both local afternoon
newspapers on the desk. The press hadn’t been this excited in
years. The headlines were full of the fodder of serial killer
mania.

Pizza mogul found dead in
office: Police questioned regarding connection to Bard
Murders.

CEO of pizza empire
murdered. Is this another in a series of serial
killings?

It was mostly speculation since the
department had given out very little to the press. The reporters
had interviewed people in the area and company employees but had
nothing much official to go on yet. The department had avoided
pulling in the State and Federal boys so far, but this was getting
out of control and they were only moving closer by
millimeters.

As Glynnis had predicted, the crime
scene had been gruesome. Blood covered almost every surface,
including the computer and ledger books on Itzen’s desk. The man’s
head was completely separated from his body and had been impaled on
a stick which was shoved deep into a huge potted plant. They hadn’t
shared that small detail with the media yet. Upon entering the
crime scene, one of the newer guys saw the blood and disembodied
head and had to run outside and throw up. The whole scenario went
along with The Bard M.O. The medical examiner was determining what
sort of weapon had been used as it wasn’t left at the crime scene.
As in the first two scenes, (the jury was still out on Sandra
Fitchwell), a taser had been used to subdue the victim. A press
conference was set for later in the day and Brice dreaded it with
his whole being. This time he had drawn the short straw.

Even though Glynnis had known it would
happen, she was devastated none the less. She had planned to cancel
Friday night’s performance because of the connection to the murder,
but Brice had convinced her to go on with the show in case the
killer wanted to gloat somehow and made the mistake of showing
himself. Glynnis had agreed, but had called the actors together to
rework the last scene so that Macbeth’s death was not shown so
graphically. Brice arranged to have undercover security all over
the park for the next three nights at least. She would not be happy
with the demand he would make on her after the press conference,
but she’d have to live with it.

*****

Addison and Brice were once again in
the corporate headquarters of Itza Pizza. Dylan Michaels invited
them into his small office. He was visibly distraught. His eyes
were puffy and showed dark circles underneath. “Detectives, please,
come in,” he showed them to chairs. “I’m sure you have a lot of
questions.”

Brice and Addy took the seats and Brice
tried to think how one should approach the stepson of a man who had
been brutally decapitated. He settled for the company line. “We’re
very sorry for your loss, Mr. Michaels. We’re going to do
everything in our power to find the person who did
this.”

Michaels nodded, but didn’t
reply.

Addy spoke up. “Can you think of anyone
who would want to see your stepfather dead? Did he have any enemies
that are capable of this?”

Michaels rubbed tired eyes. “My
stepfather was a powerful man. You don’t get to where he was in the
business world without making some enemies.” He shrugged, “I just
can’t think of anyone specifically.”

“
What time did you leave the
office last night, Mr. Michaels?”

“
I left the office at about
seven.”

“
Was anybody here when you
left, besides Mr. Itzen?”

“
The restaurant stays open
until ten on Thursdays, but nobody was in this part of the
building.”

“
Was it common for him to
stay that late at work?”

“
Nothing unusual. He stayed
that late several times a week.”

“
Where did you go after you
left work?”

“
I went home for a shower
and then out to meet some friends at the Handlebar last night
around eight. There was a band playing there that we all
like.”

“
Good, so you’ll have people
who can vouch for your whereabouts,” Addy said. “Excuse me for
being so blunt, but I’m sure you know that we always check out the
family first.”

“
No offense taken,” Michaels
told him. “It would seem to be the smart thing to do.”

Brice looked around his office. There
were no certificates or memorabilia on his walls or shelves. “Have
you been in this office long?”

“
Only a few months,” he told
them. Then he seemed to understand why Brice had asked the
question. “I’m getting ready to have it painted and my things are
in storage down the hall.”

Brice went on to the topic at hand.
“Any idea why Mr. Itzen might have been here so late?”

Michaels just shrugged. “It was his
habit. He was here until eleven or twelve two or three nights a
week. It drives…drove my mother crazy. I guess that’s one reason
the business has been so successful.”

“
Without a doubt,” Addison
agreed. “What about your relationship with your stepfather? Sorry,
but it’s going to come up sooner or later. We may as well get it
over with.”

Michaels hesitated. “We got along okay.
He believed in hard work at the expense of all else, and I didn’t
always agree, but I think that most people who knew us both would
tell you that we were friends. He was my mentor. He was training me
to take over one day.”

Brice stood, followed by Addison.
“Thank you Mr. Michaels. Would it be alright if we interviewed some
of your other employees?”

“
That’s fine, and if you
need anything at all, please ask.”

*****

Brice got into the car on the passenger
side, tossing Addy the keys. “Addy, what’s your take on Dylan
Michaels?”

“
Appropriately
grief-stricken and smooth as silk.”

“
That’s what bothers
me.”

*****

He read the headlines and they were
good. As with the television news, people were speculating. They
wanted this to be another Bard murder and by God it was. He drove
to the library. It was time to get out another message. Too bad
Sandra was no longer around to promote his little adventures but
there were other, equally ambitious reporters out there. Where to
begin?

*****

After a multitude of interviews Brice
and Addy had firmly established that nobody had seen anything. What
a surprise. But the fates weren’t completely against them. They had
gotten lucky on two counts. One, the M.E. had established that a
large bladed instrument such as a sword would have been used to
decapitate the victim. That went along with what they had earlier
suspected. Brice made a mental note to ask Glynnis about the
sword.

The other bit of luck came with
research. Brice had gone after connections to previous cases and
Addison had taken on Dylan Michaels and the Itza Pizza
Corporation.

“
Holy, freakin’ cow!”
Addison exclaimed, setting the phone back on the cradle. “Would you
like to wager a guess as to who will get monetary control of Itza
Pizza?”

“
Dylan Michaels?”

“
Guess
again, oh incorrect one. I just got off the phone with the man’s
lawyer. It’s Dylan Michaels’ mama,
Rosalind Michaels Itzen. Graham left it all to her, with the
provision that she could not sell the business or make major
changes for five years after his death and that Dylan was to be
kept on in his current position for the next five years; only then
can he be named CEO. For now that position also goes to the
wife.”

“
Wait, I was under the
impression that Graham Itzen was grooming Dylan to take over and
would leave the whole thing to him.”

“
So was Dylan, apparently,
but he left it to his wife instead. Looks like he wanted them both
to be held responsible.”

“
Not a very good business
move. His wife has no interest in the pizza business.”

“
True, she’s got that
boutique, but apparently, he felt that the two of them together
would keep things going. Why don’t we go pay our condolences to the
Widow Itzen tomorrow?”

Brice agreed. “It would be the
neighborly thing to do.” He tapped a few more keys on his computer
and asked, “Don’t you want to know what I came up with?”

Addy knew this to be
Brice’s
cat that ate the canary
expression. “Okay, give.”

“
This is good. I tried to
get something on Aaron Shultz, but I don’t have a connection there
yet. But you’ll love this. Do you recall a local pizza chain that
was pretty big around here some years back called Pizza
King?”

“
Sure, not far from the
station, right?”

“
Right, well a few years
back, Graham Itzen got tired of the competition and made an all-out
effort to put the company under.”

“
Business is business.”
Addison noted.

“
Of course, but after he
successfully forced Pizza King into bankruptcy, the owner and CEO
had a massive stroke and died. Doctors determined that the stroke
was brought on by high blood pressure and…”

Addy just had to finish it. “…and
stress from the loss of his business.”

“
You got it. Now, would you
like to know who the late owner and CEO of Pizza King
was?”

“
I’ll just bet you’re gonna
tell me.”

“
Yes, I am. His name was
Bradford Timmons.” He watched as Addison’s smile spread to cover
his whole face.

“
Well shorten my pants and
call me Junior. How is he related to our man Dorsey
Timmons?”

“
Bradford was Dorsey’s
father. Want to check out his alibi tomorrow too?”

“
You bet.”

*****

Dylan Michaels was exhausted. He had
taken care of the basic arrangements for his mother who was too
distraught to handle anything. He’d also made statements to the
press about how his stepfather was a wonderful leader and would be
missed both professionally and personally, yada, yada, yada. On top
of that, he’d spent the last hour tearing through Graham’s papers
to find what he knew was there somewhere. He hadn’t wanted to call
Graham’s lawyer yet. It would make him sound greedy. He was, but
that wasn’t public knowledge. Finally, he’d laid his hands on the
document, Graham Itzen’s most recent will and testament. It was a
copy of course, because the original would be on file in the
lawyer’s office.

He opened the document and saw that it
had recently been changed, about two months ago as a matter of
fact. He skimmed for details taking in the changes and then felt
his skin grow very warm.

*****

Once again the members of the press
were gathered outside the police station. This time Brice was on
the hot seat, or hot podium in this case. “May I have your
attention please.” He read the prepared statement. “The death of
Graham Itzen has been determined to be intentional and we are
pursuing all possible leads. At this time we have potential
suspects but nothing solid to give you. Questions?”

The gray haired reporter in front
asked, “Is this connected with the Bard murders?”

Brice had known that question would
come up and was ready. “We have no solid evidence that this killing
is connected to the Danning and Shultz murders. However, we are
keeping all avenues open at this time.”

“
Is it true that he was
beheaded?” another reporter asked.

Brice groaned. It was bound to get out
though the maid who’d found the body had promised to keep it to
herself. “I can’t comment on the state of the victim at this
time.”

“
When will you let us know
if it’s another Bard killing?”

“
We’ll tell you when we know
and that’s the best we can do.”

Handy stepped to the podium. “No more
questions at this time, please.”

*****

Brice slipped back into the office and
dialed his home number. Glynnis picked up on the third ring.
“Brice.”

“
Hey sweetheart, you feeling
okay?”

“
I suppose. May as well get
over it. I can’t do anything about it.”

“
That’s a girl. Listen, do
you have an assistant director?”

“
Of course,” she began, but
suspicion kicked in. “Wait just a minute Brice. If this show is
going on tonight, I’m going to be there. I’m not turning it over to
somebody else.”

She was adamant and Brice knew he had
an uphill battle ahead of him. “Glynnis, I want you out of the
spotlight for the next couple of nights. We just don’t know what
this nutcase is going to do.”

“
No.”

“
Glynnis, if I have to, I’ll
make a case out of it and put you in witness protection until this
settles down.”

“
You would not. Besides, you
said yourself that I’m not considered a witness.”

“
Well, it wouldn’t take much
effort to get you there.” His voice was getting louder and he
didn’t want to fight. He brought it back down. “Glynnis, please,
just for tonight, and then we’ll take it one day at a time after
that. Besides, I want to ask you about swords again. It could help
the case if we knew what kind of weapon was used.”