was the maitre d’, had the job there for a couple months before he made his move.” There was a clunk and a buzzing on the line for a few moments. “Tell me your email address, I’ll send you the photograph we have of Wyatt that his girlfriend gave us.”
Ingrid spelled out the address. “So Wyatt was early thirties, white… dark or fair skinned?”
“Depends how much time he spent in the sun I guess. See for yourself when the picture comes through. He was a little under six feet tall, medium build, maybe even a little athletic, if you’re talking tennis player rather than football.” He made a sound as if he were sucking his teeth.
“That’s it?”
“Real charming with the ladies, by all accounts. He had good dental work, they all seemed to remember.”
“Any distinguishing features?”
“He did as a matter of fact. Something only the girlfriend reported—a tattoo on his left forearm.”
“Of what?”
“A dark red rose with the word ‘MOM’ written across it.”
Ingrid sketched something similar in her notebook. “Sentimental.”
“Not a word I’d use to describe him.”
“What was his connection to the victim? Why did he want her dead?”
“We just don’t know enough about the guy to work it out. Mind you, Mrs Highsmith musta made plenty of enemies over the years.” He sniffed again. “You really haven’t looked at the details on file at all, have you?”
“I’m sorry. I guess I was a little eager.”
“I’m just joking with you, I’d do exactly the same thing in your position.”
“Thanks for being so accommodating. Why did she have so many enemies?”
“Barbara Highsmith was a congresswoman for Georgia. Not when she died, she didn’t get re-elected a second time, but before she was elected to the House, she was the District Attorney here. Any number of disgruntled convicts or disappointed voters could have been lining up to take potshots at her.”
“Can there be any doubt that Wyatt was responsible for her death?”
“Only three people in the restaurant knew about the allergy: the chef, the restaurant manager and the maitre d’. We interviewed the chef and the manager extensively. We couldn’t interview Wyatt because he skipped town right after she was killed.”
“Maybe he left for some other reason.”
“Highsmith carried around two of those special auto-injectors—just in case she came into contact with peanuts accidentally. She kept both of them in her purse. Her purse never left her side. Except on that day. A number of witnesses confirmed they saw Wyatt remove the purse from under her table. They thought nothing of it at the time. They just assumed he was taking it to the cloakroom. The purse was never found.”
“How soon did he leave? Did he stay to watch her die?”
“The sick bastard sure did. While everyone else was screaming for help, looking for the missing purse, calling 9-1-1, he just stood there and watched while she gasped her last breath.”
“What did you find at his address when you searched it?”
“The address he gave the restaurant was fake. Just like every other piece of information they had about him. We couldn’t track down an address for him hard as we tried. It was as if he didn’t really exist. The whole thing musta taken some careful planning.” The creaking leather noise sounded again, louder than before. “Listen, I’ve got a briefing I got to be at in precisely two minutes.”
“Thanks for your time, detective. Would it be OK if we spoke again later?”
“Sure. And the name’s Carl. I’ll send over the girlfriend’s details.”
Ingrid put down the phone and sank back in her seat, thinking about what she’d just learned. Wyatt was a poisoner who was aware of a weakness in his victim that wasn’t widely known. He used that vulnerability to kill her. Matthew Fuller had kept his OCD and excessive hand washing secret. Very few people knew about his vulnerability.
The similarity between the Highsmith and
Ingrid spelled out the address. “So Wyatt was early thirties, white… dark or fair skinned?”
“Depends how much time he spent in the sun I guess. See for yourself when the picture comes through. He was a little under six feet tall, medium build, maybe even a little athletic, if you’re talking tennis player rather than football.” He made a sound as if he were sucking his teeth.
“That’s it?”
“Real charming with the ladies, by all accounts. He had good dental work, they all seemed to remember.”
“Any distinguishing features?”
“He did as a matter of fact. Something only the girlfriend reported—a tattoo on his left forearm.”
“Of what?”
“A dark red rose with the word ‘MOM’ written across it.”
Ingrid sketched something similar in her notebook. “Sentimental.”
“Not a word I’d use to describe him.”
“What was his connection to the victim? Why did he want her dead?”
“We just don’t know enough about the guy to work it out. Mind you, Mrs Highsmith musta made plenty of enemies over the years.” He sniffed again. “You really haven’t looked at the details on file at all, have you?”
“I’m sorry. I guess I was a little eager.”
“I’m just joking with you, I’d do exactly the same thing in your position.”
“Thanks for being so accommodating. Why did she have so many enemies?”
“Barbara Highsmith was a congresswoman for Georgia. Not when she died, she didn’t get re-elected a second time, but before she was elected to the House, she was the District Attorney here. Any number of disgruntled convicts or disappointed voters could have been lining up to take potshots at her.”
“Can there be any doubt that Wyatt was responsible for her death?”
“Only three people in the restaurant knew about the allergy: the chef, the restaurant manager and the maitre d’. We interviewed the chef and the manager extensively. We couldn’t interview Wyatt because he skipped town right after she was killed.”
“Maybe he left for some other reason.”
“Highsmith carried around two of those special auto-injectors—just in case she came into contact with peanuts accidentally. She kept both of them in her purse. Her purse never left her side. Except on that day. A number of witnesses confirmed they saw Wyatt remove the purse from under her table. They thought nothing of it at the time. They just assumed he was taking it to the cloakroom. The purse was never found.”
“How soon did he leave? Did he stay to watch her die?”
“The sick bastard sure did. While everyone else was screaming for help, looking for the missing purse, calling 9-1-1, he just stood there and watched while she gasped her last breath.”
“What did you find at his address when you searched it?”
“The address he gave the restaurant was fake. Just like every other piece of information they had about him. We couldn’t track down an address for him hard as we tried. It was as if he didn’t really exist. The whole thing musta taken some careful planning.” The creaking leather noise sounded again, louder than before. “Listen, I’ve got a briefing I got to be at in precisely two minutes.”
“Thanks for your time, detective. Would it be OK if we spoke again later?”
“Sure. And the name’s Carl. I’ll send over the girlfriend’s details.”
Ingrid put down the phone and sank back in her seat, thinking about what she’d just learned. Wyatt was a poisoner who was aware of a weakness in his victim that wasn’t widely known. He used that vulnerability to kill her. Matthew Fuller had kept his OCD and excessive hand washing secret. Very few people knew about his vulnerability.
The similarity between the Highsmith and
Similar Books
