Stickley-style oak tables and bookcases. Abby Sexton put a plastic box on the table and said, It's an intercom, so we can hear if the baby cries.
Virgil didn't quite know how to open the conversation, with Mark Sexton sitting there, and said, I don't know exactly how to get into this . . . ?
If you're worried about Mark, he knows all about it. He knew about it at the time, Abby Sexton said.
Mark Sexton nodded; he didn't seem put off.
All right, Virgil said. He still felt uncomfortable this wasn't exactly a country-western scenario. I've interviewed a number of people, and it's been suggested that the murder may have originated here in the Cities. That Miss McDill was about to get full control of the agency, and that she planned to fire a number of people. I've been told that Mark might have been one of them, not because of job performance but as revenge for . . . the unpleasantness at the end of your relationship.
We didn't know that she'd gotten control of the agency, Mark Sexton said. I read that in the paper this morning, and called up some other people. One guy had heard rumors, but most of us were clueless. I don't think I would have been fired anyway, because I'm pretty on top of the job. But who knows?
Who heard the rumors? Virgil asked.
The two glanced at each other, then Mark shrugged and said, Barney Mann. He's the creative director for the agency. He's sort of the information central.
What was Mr. Mann's attitude toward Miss McDill? Virgil asked.
They got along, Mark Sexton said. Barney's really good at what he does. So was Erica, in a way. She wasn't any threat to him.
Like Hitler, Abby Sexton said. Good at what she does, if you don't mind working with a Nazi.
But you had a relationship with her, Virgil said.
That was sex, Abby Sexton said. Even a Nazi can be good in bed. Mark Sexton smiled indulgently at his wife. Like Ward Cleaver finding out that June had just dropped an oatmeal cookie on the good carpet, Virgil thought.
He said, Huh. Virgil didn't like either one of them, and struggled to hide it. When you and Miss McDill broke up, was there any kind of an aftermath? Did she come around to see you? Were there any threats? Or scenes?
Phone calls. But it was typical breaking-up kind of stuff, Abby Sexton said, wrinkling her nose. The problem was, she didn't want to share. I mean, she wanted to stay with Ruth while we went out you know about Ruth? but she didn't want me with Mark. But I like men and told her I was going to stay with Mark. So then I suggested that we share Mark, that we three get together. But she wasn't into that. She'd be happy enough to share a man, but not an employee, if you can believe that.
Huh. So she wasn't strictly gay?
Not strictly technically a bi, I guess, like Mark and me, she said.
He digested that for a moment, then smiled at them, apologetically, and asked, Where were you the evening before last? Here in the Cities?
We got a babysitter, Sandra Oduchenko, who lives down the street, and she came at seven o'clock, and we went out clubbing with some friends, Abby Sexton said. We are completely alibied, up to our necks. That's why we didn't call a lawyer. Do you want everybody's names?
Virgil took the names down, and then asked, Who do you think did it?
Abby Sexton rolled her eyes up and took a deep breath. Her husband deferred to her, and she said, We definitely think it's possible that it was somebody with the agency. If we had to take a guess you're not going to tell anybody that we said this, right? we'd say Ronald Owen.
Ronald Owen, she said, was in his late fifties and for the past five or ten years, had slipped from being one of the top account managers to being something less than that: the guy who got small stuff, and who no longer did much with it.
He burned out, Mark Sexton chipped in. But he's got kids and alimony and a second wife and he can't afford to quit. The other thing is, he's one of those veteran guys you see around he was in Vietnam toward the
Virgil didn't quite know how to open the conversation, with Mark Sexton sitting there, and said, I don't know exactly how to get into this . . . ?
If you're worried about Mark, he knows all about it. He knew about it at the time, Abby Sexton said.
Mark Sexton nodded; he didn't seem put off.
All right, Virgil said. He still felt uncomfortable this wasn't exactly a country-western scenario. I've interviewed a number of people, and it's been suggested that the murder may have originated here in the Cities. That Miss McDill was about to get full control of the agency, and that she planned to fire a number of people. I've been told that Mark might have been one of them, not because of job performance but as revenge for . . . the unpleasantness at the end of your relationship.
We didn't know that she'd gotten control of the agency, Mark Sexton said. I read that in the paper this morning, and called up some other people. One guy had heard rumors, but most of us were clueless. I don't think I would have been fired anyway, because I'm pretty on top of the job. But who knows?
Who heard the rumors? Virgil asked.
The two glanced at each other, then Mark shrugged and said, Barney Mann. He's the creative director for the agency. He's sort of the information central.
What was Mr. Mann's attitude toward Miss McDill? Virgil asked.
They got along, Mark Sexton said. Barney's really good at what he does. So was Erica, in a way. She wasn't any threat to him.
Like Hitler, Abby Sexton said. Good at what she does, if you don't mind working with a Nazi.
But you had a relationship with her, Virgil said.
That was sex, Abby Sexton said. Even a Nazi can be good in bed. Mark Sexton smiled indulgently at his wife. Like Ward Cleaver finding out that June had just dropped an oatmeal cookie on the good carpet, Virgil thought.
He said, Huh. Virgil didn't like either one of them, and struggled to hide it. When you and Miss McDill broke up, was there any kind of an aftermath? Did she come around to see you? Were there any threats? Or scenes?
Phone calls. But it was typical breaking-up kind of stuff, Abby Sexton said, wrinkling her nose. The problem was, she didn't want to share. I mean, she wanted to stay with Ruth while we went out you know about Ruth? but she didn't want me with Mark. But I like men and told her I was going to stay with Mark. So then I suggested that we share Mark, that we three get together. But she wasn't into that. She'd be happy enough to share a man, but not an employee, if you can believe that.
Huh. So she wasn't strictly gay?
Not strictly technically a bi, I guess, like Mark and me, she said.
He digested that for a moment, then smiled at them, apologetically, and asked, Where were you the evening before last? Here in the Cities?
We got a babysitter, Sandra Oduchenko, who lives down the street, and she came at seven o'clock, and we went out clubbing with some friends, Abby Sexton said. We are completely alibied, up to our necks. That's why we didn't call a lawyer. Do you want everybody's names?
Virgil took the names down, and then asked, Who do you think did it?
Abby Sexton rolled her eyes up and took a deep breath. Her husband deferred to her, and she said, We definitely think it's possible that it was somebody with the agency. If we had to take a guess you're not going to tell anybody that we said this, right? we'd say Ronald Owen.
Ronald Owen, she said, was in his late fifties and for the past five or ten years, had slipped from being one of the top account managers to being something less than that: the guy who got small stuff, and who no longer did much with it.
He burned out, Mark Sexton chipped in. But he's got kids and alimony and a second wife and he can't afford to quit. The other thing is, he's one of those veteran guys you see around he was in Vietnam toward the
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