Chapter 6
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After the incident in the club detective Fredo planned to go to the local motel to sleep for the night, but first he needed to get some dinner. He decided to try Krystal's diner and got some burgers to go. As he was leaving Gary glanced at the receipt, it said that the time was 6:19 pm. That didn't seem right, Gary's watch said it was 7:19 pm. Gary remembered that the receipt Marissa showed him said that she was at the diner at 11:03 pm, but apparently this machine was an hour slow. This meant that Marissa would have had plenty of time to murder Michael and get to her mother's diner. But Gary didn't yet know if Marissa tried to be clever and give herself an alibi, or if she didn't know about the machine error. Still, he decided this was worth looking into later.
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The next morning Gary was woken up by a phone call from sheriff Anna Hayward. There had been another murder, Ryan Lavery was dead. Gary got some coffee and doughnuts to eat on the road and went over to Ryan Lavery's house. The police, including sheriff Hayward and deputy Chandler, were here.
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Anna: Ryan was shot and killed around 11 pm last night. It's not certain it was the same gun used against Michael.
Fredo: There was an incident last night at the Sunset Club. Ryan's ex-girlfriend Kendall picked a fight with him and Greenlee.
Anna: Kendall definitely has a short temper.
Fredo: Father Clarence drove Ryan home last night. I doubt he's a suspect, but he might have seen or heard something.
Anna: I'll speak with him as well.
Fredo: There's something else. Where was your husband the night Michael was killed?
Anna: He was working at the urgent care center.
Fredo: Maggie says he wasn't, but he asked her to lie about it to me. And Jackson's daughter Lily, she says that night you called her and asked her to babysit your daughter Leora. Lily's autistic, I doubt she knows how to lie well. So where were the two of you that night?
Anna: I've suspected for some time that David was having an affair, I tried to follow him.
Fredo: What do you mean you tried?
Anna: I thought he was having an affair with Krystal, so I stayed out her place that night. But if they were together they were somewhere else, maybe the motel.
Fredo: Did you see Marissa there that night?
Anna: No, but then she said she was at Bianca's place.
Fredo: True. Where were either of you last night?
Anna: David and I were at home last night, sleeping.
Fredo: You'll pardon me if I have difficulty accepting your word.
Anna: I deserve that.
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Detective Fredo knew Anna had lied at least once, whether she was lying now was anyone's guess. Marissa could have made a mistake on the timing, but Anna and David had outright lied to his face. But then Gary saw something else. Deputy JR Chandler was taking something from Ryan Lavery's house, and putting it into his own pocket. He and sheriff Hayward confronted him about it.
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Anna: What was that you just put into your pocket?
JR: Nothing.
Anna: Empty your pockets.
JR: Fine.
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JR emptied his pocket, and there was a CD. It didn't seem to have been made by a big studio, more like a local low budget studio. It said "Sunrise Records" on it.
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JR: It's just a CD I loaned Ryan a few months ago, and he never returned it.
Fredo: So if I listen to it I'm just going to hear some music?
JR: Yes.
Anna: Let's find out.
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The three of them went to Anna's car radio and played this. JR seemed to be telling the truth, it was just one song. A woman whose voice Gary did not recognize was singing. It was mildly seductive. She sang "Come on over to the sweet ones baby."
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JR: See, just a song.
Anna: Why were you removing it from a crime scene?
JR: It's my property. I'm sorry okay.
Anna: Who is this singing?
JR: Some local singer, I don't remember her name.
Fredo: She sound familiar to you sheriff?
Anna: No, I don't think I've ever heard her voice before. But it says "Sunrise Records." Reggie runs that studio. He knows just about every local musician in the area.
Fredo: Than I'll speak with him and see if he recognizes her voice.
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JR tried to hide it, but he clearly seemed a bit nervous when Gary mentioned playing this to Reggie. Gary went over to the "Sunset Club" and found Reggie. Reggie was supervising a delivery of soda.
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Reggie: Hey detective, what can I do for you?
Fredo: We found a CD at a crime scene, it was labled "Sunrise Records." That's your studio right?
Reggie: Not much of a studio, but a lot of local artists come to me to help distribute their music.
Fredo: There's no name on it, and I don't think I've heard her before. Would you mind listening to it, see if you recognize it?
Reggie: No problem.
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Reggie listened to this music, and he seemed to have the same nervous expression that JR had. Yet he claimed to not know her.
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Reggie: Sorry, I don't know her voice.
Fredo: Really? I thought you knew all the local artists.
Reggie: Most of them yes, but I guess this one escaped me.
Fredo: Thanks for your help.
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Detective Fredo was certain that Reggie was lying, but he had no evidence. So he went to his next lead, father Clarence. He would be very surprised if father Clarence was capable of murdering anyone, but he was one of the last people to see Ryan Lavery alive.
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Clarence: Hello detective.
Fredo: Hello father. Have you heard about Ryan Lavery?
Clarence: Yes, a pity.
Fredo: I saw you with him last night.
Clarence: Indeed. After his little altercation with Kendall I offered to take him home, wanted to make certain he didn't drive drunk.
Fredo: Did you stay with him or just put him to bed?
Clarence: We talked, I'm not sure how long that was.
Fredo: What did you talk about?
Clarence: I'm sorry, that would violate privilege.
Fredo: I'm sorry to be intrusive, but aside from the killer, you were probably the last person to see Ryan Lavery alive.
Clarence: I'm not entirely certain that is true.
Fredo: What do you mean?
Clarence: When we finished talking, I put Ryan to bed, and he was very much alive. It was late, and I called an Uber back to my house. Just before I got home, I realized I had forgotten something. My driver, Carlos, offered to go back and get it. He went alone, I was very tired, and Carlos retrieved the package. I don't know what he might have seen.
Fredo: Does this "Package" also fall under the seal of the confessional?
Clarence: It does.
Fredo: Thank you father.
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Detective Fredo called an Uber, specifically asking for Carlos. When Carlos arrived detective Fredo began talking to him.
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Carlos: You specifically requested me, you must like my work.
Fredo: I do, perhaps you would be interested in becoming my official driver for the duration of my time in Pine Valley?
Carlos: My shift ends soon, I could take time off from the company.
Fredo: Fair enough. But I'd also like to ask you a few questions. For starters, were you at Ryan Lavery's house last night?
Carlos: Yes. Father Clarence called from there, I picked him up. Then, just as we got to his house, he remembered he forgot something. Now I have great respect for priests and nuns, so I offered to go back and get it for him so he could get some sleep.
Fredo: That was very nice of you. What did you get for him?
Carlos: I'm not certain, it was a package he wanted to mail to someone. I just went inside and grabbed it. Father Clarence asked me not to look at who it was addressed to. It was dark, couldn't have seen it anyway. But I dropped it off in the nearest mailbox.
Fredo: By any chance did you see Ryan Lavery?
Carlos: No, I might have heard him. I heard, something, going on upstairs. I figured he was just getting up to go to the bathroom or something. But in hindsight, who knows.