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“Got it.”
“We’ll compare notes.”
Brandon climbed out of the Jeep. “Can I talk to you a minute?” he called out to the caretaker.
“Front door?” Walt asked the man, who suddenly looked a little frantic.
“Back patio,” the caretaker said.
That made things easier for Walt-he wouldn’t need an invitation inside.
Walt let himself through a split-rail fence gate and circled behind the house. The back patio was the size of a te
“Gentlemen,” he said.
“Don’t you knock, Sheriff?” asked Marty Boatwright.
“Your caretaker told me where to find you.” Technically, Walt could spin this into an invitation if pressed to do so.
Walt recognized Alex Macdonald, Richie Fabiano, and Vince Wy
“You know Mandy Halifax, Sheriff?” Wy
To Halifax, Wy
“Pleased to meet you,” Halifax said.
Walt came around the table and shook the man’s hand, briefly feeling like an eight-year-old, only to realize this hand had been the one that had grabbed the joint off the table.
“Mr. Boatwright, Mr. Wy
“It’s Marty, Sheriff. These guys call me a lot worse than that, but Marty will do.”
The group enjoyed that. Boatwright had been drinking, as had Wy
Boatwright struggled to stand. Halifax jumped up to help him out of his chair, and Walt thought how well the action fit with what he knew of the man. Mandy Halifax went beyond legend to sports god. He wished he could think of a way to involve Halifax in the questioning just to spend more time with him.
With Halifax out of his chair, Walt made a point of retrieving the smoldering joint, snuffing it out, and placing it into a glassine evidence bag. He took out a pen and labeled it.
The joviality died around the table.
Boatwright grabbed one of the wine bottles and carried it with him, causing the others to bark with laughter.
“I’d look out for him,” Macdonald shouted to Walt.
Wy
“I have a very good hand, Sheriff,” Boatwright said. “First decent hand of the night. You screw up my luck and you’ll be sorry.”
“Marty!” Wy
“Can’t piss but a thimble full,” Boatwright said. “Can’t get a hard-on without riding a goddamn paint shaker. Don’t talk to me about feeling no pain.”
Wy
“Martel Gale came here to Sun Valley to make amends with you two,” Walt said. “To make amends, not to threaten, not to make any financial claims. We’re in the process of tracking down his communications, and we’re going to find he contacted both of you, or at least your assistants or secretaries, and that could conceivably put you in a bind, so I’m here to let you get out ahead of it.”
“Slow down, Sheriff,” Wy
Boatwright’s face reddened. His watery eyes dancing, he reached for the wine, but Wy
“Who wants to go first?” Walt asked.
“You know my situation,” Wy
“Mr. Evers? You want to go that route?”
“It’s not a ‘route,’” Wy
“Deny it,” Walt said. “Deny that he contacted you.” He looked between both men.
“Martel Gale was a human time bomb,” Boatwright said.
“Shut up, Marty,” Wy
“Was,” Walt said, “as in the past, or in the present?”
“What’s the difference?” Boatwright said, slurring his words. “Trouble is trouble.”
“And how did you react to that trouble?” Walt asked.
“Marty!” Wy
“Yeah, yeah,” Boatwright said to Wy
“Speaking for myself, I was not contacted by Martel Gale,” Wy
“Yeah, yeah,” Boatwright said. He raised his rheumy eyes to Walt. “The hell you looking at?”
“The list server notice was the first I’d heard about Gale in a long time,” Wy
“Gale showed up here, didn’t he, Mr. Boatwright?” Walt convinced himself he would never have Boatwright as vulnerable again.
“Marty, don’t answer that.”
“I’d like to speak with Mr. Boatwright alone, please, Mr. Wy
“No,” Wy
“Let me explain how this plays out,” Walt said, patting his pocket that contained the joint. “Marijuana in plain view is enough to get drug charges on all of you, so you will be booked into jail. My booking reports are a matter of public record. They’ll be sent to the press tomorrow morning and will be posted on our website. You’ll spend the night at Public Safety, in jail. It’s also likely to win me probable cause to search not only Mr. Boatwright’s home, but yours as well, Mr. Wy
Wy
“Here’s what we know,” Walt said, controlling the anger he felt. “Martel gets a Get Out of Jail card, and the next week Caroline Vetta goes down hard. Ten days later, Gale himself is dead. It’s either sweet justice or coincidence or incredibly convenient. I’m supposed to figure out which, and for whom. You boys hold some of the answers. And I’m going to have those answers.”
Wy
“Don’t want to keep my guests waiting,” Boatwright said.
“You did or did not hear from Martel Gale prior to the discovery of his body?” Walt asked.
Boatwright glared at Walt, checked over with a disapproving Wy
“I’d like an answer to the question,” Walt said.