Chapter 5

.

After the meeting with the Druid Council Gary decided to go to the local nightclub called the "Sunset." Supposedly calling his club "Sunset" was an inside joke between Reggie and his investors. In any event, this might be the best chance to speak with the other suspects. Gary went inside and soon found Reggie.

.

Reggie: You wanted to see the owner?

Gary: Yes. I'm investigating the murder of Michael Cambias. I understand you owed him money.

Reggie: Yes I did, so did half of Pine Valley. If you're wondering, I didn't like the guy, but I had to borrow the money to start this club from Michael, I would have been better off going to a loan shark. Now that Michael's gone, I'm sure I'll owe the money to his brother Zack. But Zack's not as big a jerk as his brother was.

Gary: Where were you the night he was murdered?

Reggie: Right here, catching up on paperwork.

Gary: That's interesting. I spoke with Krystal, she also said she was catching up on paperwork.

Reggie: I thought owning a club would be listening to music all night and having a few drinks with attractive ladies. I underestimated how much paperwork was involved, Krystal did too.

Gary: Fair enough.

.

Gary had now spoken to ten of the 16 suspects from the funeral. He looked around, five of the remaining suspects were indeed here. Gary saw Ryan and Greenlee together, clearly intoxicated. Perhaps they were drowning their sorrows or their guilt in alcohol. Gary decided to speak with them first.

.

Fredo: How you two doing?

Ryan: Too drunk to drive but not drunk enough.

Fredo: How did you two feel about Michael Cambias?

Ryan: He was my boss, I've had worse.

Fredo: Where were you the night he was murdered?

Greenlee: We were with him, celebrating his aquittal.

Fredo: You two testified in court that he was with you the night Bianca Montgomery was raped.

Greenlee: Michael was having a business dispute with Erica Kane, he was involved in a hostile takeover of her company. Erica had her daughter lie in order to put Michael behind bars. Anyway we left the same time as JR. Ryan and I went back to his place, had sex, and fell asleep.

Fredo: Is that true Ryan?

Ryan: Yeah. What Greenlee just said is the truth.

.

Detective Fredo did not believe their version of events, but he had no evidence they committed perjury for Michael Cambias, and maybe they were telling the truth about Michael being alive when they left. In any event he went to the other side of the club. There were Bianca, her girlfriend Maggie, and their friend Marissa.

.

Fredo: Hello ladies. I was wondering if you could help answer some questions for me.

Bianca; You're wondering where we were when Michael was killed. It's understandable, noone had more reason to hate Michael than I did.

Marissa: Should we be speaking to a lawyer?

Fredo: That is certainly your right.

Bianca: I was home. The whole day was emotionally exhausting, and mom fell off the wagon. Kendall offered to stay with me, but I wanted to be alone. Marissa and Maggie consoled me, then Maggie left for her shift at the urgent care center.

Fredo: You work at the urgent care center?

Maggie: As a receptionist yes. I plan to be a doctor one day, have to start somewhere to get a feeling for medicine.

Fredo: Did you see David Hayward there that night?

Maggie: Actually no, he wasn't there. The next day he asked me to lie and say he was there.

Fredo: He asked you to lie about his whereabouts the night of the murder?

Maggie: Yeah. Call me a coward if you want but I don't want to go to prison for perjury.

Fredo: Fair enough. So, Marissa, you were with Bianca that night?

Marissa: Yes. When Bianca fell asleep I went to get some food from my mother's diner.

Fredo: What time was that?

Marissa: I'm not sure. I think the receipt might still be in my car.

.

Gary and Marissa went out to her car and she searched her car for about five minutes before she finally found it. It was a receipt for two orders of burgers and fries. It was time stamped 11:03 pm, almost the exact time Michael was murdered across town. If this receipt was accurate, Marissa was innocent. But the receipt also said the customer paid in cash, and no name on it. Gary couldn't help but wonder if Krystal had saved the receipt to give her daughter an alibi.

.

As Gary and Marissa went back into the club they saw Kendall go inside. Kendall was the one suspect that Gary hadn't yet questioned, now was as good a time as any. By the time Gary got back into the club Kendall seemed to already be picking a fight with Ryan and Greenlee. Reggie had to call his security guards to break it up. When it was over Greenlee left the club, and father Clarence was putting Ryan into his car, even offered to give him a ride home. Gary spoke with Kendall.

.

Fredo: I take it you don't like them.

Kendall: I don't "Like" mayonnaise on my sandwiches or the New York Yankees. I f...g hate those two. They died in court to make certain that the bastard who raped my sister went free. They betrayed me, all of them.

Fredo: What do you mean "Betrayed."

Kendall: I thought Greenlee was my friend, once. Ryan and I, we had a brief thing. And in case you haven't heard, I also dated Michael for a brief period.

Fredo: And I thought my daughter had bad taste in men. She's divorced now. The problem was she married outside of her species, he was a jackass.

Kendall: I might have her beat in the bad taste department. I have a "complicated" relationship with Erica and Bianca, but when I heard what Michael did to my sister, he's lucky the cops got to him first.

Fredo: You wanted to kill him?

Kendall: Yes. And Ryan and Greenlee lied so that he wouldn't be convicted. Maybe the jury really believed that three people wouldn't commit perjury like they did. Or maybe Michael bribed them, maybe JR threatened them. Maybe all of the above.

Fredo: Where were you the night Michael was murdered?

Kendall: I was going to kill Michael actually. But then Erica called, said she was drunk and needed a designated driver. So, as much as I wanted to kill Michael, I didn't want my mother to die. I got an Uber, Carlos specifically, and he drove us to our respective homes. After I calmed down, I didn't want to go back to prison.

Fredo: You have been incarcerated before?

Kendall: Juvenile Hall specifically. I didn't exactly have great foster parents, took off at 16. I did what I had to do to survive, and I found who my birth parents were.

Fredo: Those records were sealed.

Kendall: Yeah, but it wasn't exactly Fort Knox. If you're determined enough, you can get to them. While I was incarcerated I told my cellmate, Sarah, about my plans to look up Erica when I got out. But she betrayed me too, and she got out first. That's one reason Erica doesn't accept me as her daughter, someone's already used that line.

Fredo: Thank you for being so helpful. I'll come back to you if I have any questions.

.

Gary Fredo didn't know it yet, but he would never be able to speak to one suspect ever again. It was already dark outside, and before the sun rose one of the suspects he had spoken with would be dead.