Death Among The Stacks: The Body In The Law Library (10 page)

As they are talking, the phone rings
and Brewster is on the other line. Sledge puts the call on speaker
phone so that Willis can listen, too.

“
How’s it going, boys?”
Brewster asks. Both Sledge and Willis look sheepishly at each
other.

Sledge responds, “We are a bit at loose
ends. Something’s been bugging me. I still can’t understand why the
FBI is so interested in this case. Is it because Gaylord worked for
the federal government?”

Brewster does not respond immediately.
He’s trying to weigh how much information he wants to tell his old
friend without getting himself in hot water later. “Alright,
Sledge. I’m trusting you to be discreet about this since we both go
way back. I know this sounds like ‘top secret’ and straight out of
a movie; but the library’s position in the Civic Center is right
smack in the middle of both the Federal and State buildings. It
gives the folks at Homeland Security a unique opportunity to
monitor phone lines and Internet chatter. We don’t want another
Oklahoma City terrorist attack. The feds have dubbed this operation
‘Freedom’s Ear’.”

Sledge and Willis are astonished.
Sledge asks if Gaylord was moonlighting as a “mole.”

“
Yes, he was,” Brewster
replies. “At least until he met his maker. Now you know why so many
eyes and ears were on this case. We have got to solve this thing
ASAP before anyone finds out about ‘Freedom’s Ear’.”

Sledge asks Brewster if the library’s
Director knows anything about this. Brewster responds, “Of course
she does, since she agreed to have the monitoring equipment built
into Library’s roof.”

“
Anything else you’d like to
share with us?” Sledge asks with an attitude.

“
Well, that’s all I can say
for the moment.”

Sledge says, “It looks like Willis and
I will be pulling some all-nighters.”

Brewster responds, “Good luck, guys. I
have total confidence in you.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

The next morning, Willis stumbles out
of bed and throws on some clothes. He logs into his computer and
sees an email with a red exclamation point in the subject line next
to the words “This could be important.” It’s from Phyllis
Gaylord.

He immediately calls his boss and they
agree to meet at the police station.

******

He walks into Sledge’s office and tells
him, “She’s attached a picture. I haven’t looked at it yet. I was
waiting to see it with you.”

Willis logs into his email and brings
up the message. When he opens the attachment and they see the
picture, their eyes widen and they can’t believe what they’re
seeing.

Sledge says, “We’re going to the
library, Willis. I think we’ve got our guy.”

*******

Sledge and Willis arrive at the Law
Library a little after nine and ask to see the library’s
Director.

Once they are situated in her office,
Sledge says, “Thanks for seeing us on such short notice. We’d like
to see if we can get your staff together for a few questions, say
in about 20 minutes?”

“
Why yes; I suppose we can
arrange that. Where would you like them?”

“
How about the lunch
room?”

“
I’ll get everyone there in,
say 30 minutes?”

“
That will be
fine.”

The Director picks up the phone and
speaks to Kelly, asking her to please call everyone for a quick
meeting downstairs.

“
Who’ll watch the desk?”
Kelly asks.

“
Have some of the extra help
take over for a few minutes. This shouldn’t take long.”

Sledge and Willis wait in the lunch
room. A faint odor of stale coffee permeates the room.

“
I could use some coffee. My
brain is just barely staying alive,” Willis says.

Slowly everyone gathers in the lunch
room, looking anxious and sheepish in the presence of two police
officers. Sledge and Willis smile back. The room is quiet as the
Director comes in and closes the door.

“
I believe everyone is
here.”

“
Thank you, Director. I
appreciate the help on such short notice.” Sledge
answers.

“
Detective Willis and I have
a few more questions and with any luck this will be the last you
see of both of us.”

The staff nervously laughs.

“
We’ve been doing quite a
bit of work since Mr. Gaylord was found murdered in the basement.
We’ve followed a lot of leads and spoken to a lot of people
relating to the case. The more questions we asked, the more
questions we had. That’s the nature of police work I suppose. In
all honesty, each one of you has some reason, or motive, to want
harm to come to Mr. Gaylord. Yvonne was very intent on getting the
library certified and was very passionate to that end. You and Mr.
Gaylord had several conversations in the days leading up to his
death about what you could do to keep your certification. You
wanted this so bad that you appeared to be able to stop at nothing
to achieve it. And when your conversations with Mr. Gaylord did not
go as you hoped and you felt the possibility of not being
recertified, you became more, should I say, desperate didn’t
you?”

Yvonne says nothing.

“
On top of that, Mr.
Gaylord’s behavior towards you as a woman was just about the end
for you, wasn’t it? Did he not treat you with his familiar disdain
and chauvinism? And isn’t it also true that you almost killed your
ex-husband for similar behavior?”

Yvonne’s eyes widen as she turns red,
and slowly says, “That was a personal matter, with my ex, and it is
ancient history. Yes; it’s true that Mr. Gaylord was a chauvinist
but I’m a professional person and I care very deeply about this
library. I was not going to let someone like him get in the way of
our great library! Yes, I felt contempt for him but I would not
kill him, no matter what happened earlier in my life.”

“
Yes, I know you wouldn’t,”
Sledge answers.

She shoots him a dirty look
wanting to say,
did you really have to
bring up that part about my marriage and embarrass me in front of
all these people?

“
Kelly, you were also
someone with very similar feeling towards Mr. Gaylord, weren’t
you.”

“
I don’t know what you mean,
Detective Sledge.”

“
Didn’t you have ‘issues’
with certain male officers while you were in the Marine Corps?
Didn’t you in fact get discharged for almost killing a male officer
for his ‘behavior’?”

“
Hey, he had it coming.
Nobody treats me, let alone anyone, that way and gets away with it.
I should’ve killed him after what he did, but didn’t. That shows
great restraint on my part, don’t you think?”

“
That’s not what the
military report shows. You laid this guy out with a pool cue. He
was in a coma for months.”

“
He put his hand up my skirt
after about 5 beers. He had it coming.”

“
A pool cue? You could’ve
killed him.”

Upon hearing this, her coworkers stand
a few inches away from her.

“
He deserved it. I played
the game for 5 years holding back and taking abuse and then I’d had
enough. I couldn’t take it anymore. I should’ve laid all his
buddies out too. The women treated me like a hero in that
bar.”

“
Too bad that didn’t get in
the report. You had some pretty similar motives with the way
Gaylord treated you.”

“
He was harmless. Yeah, he
was an asshole like the rest of them but I couldn’t see smacking
him. He wasn’t worth it.”

The staff looked on in horror and
amazement at Kelly’s attitude and choice of words. This was like
watching a movie to them.

“
Mr. Meadowlark, you also
had some bones to pick with the government, didn’t you? Didn’t you
see Mr. Gaylord as emblematic of all that’s wrong the government?
You’ve been seen at neo-Nazi rallies that espouse open warfare and
death to the government, am I right?”

“
Oh no. I’d never do that; I
don’t feel like that. I liked Mr. Gaylord, I really
did.”

“
So the posters on your desk
and the rallies were all for show?”

“
Well, no…I mean well…they
don’t mean I’d kill the guy! Sure, I think the government should be
more constitutional but I’d never kill him!”

The staff starts to smile now as Mr.
Meadowlark digs himself in deeper. He began to resemble a nervous
penguin, swaying from side to side unable to get his bearing to
stay straight.

“
You can’t really think I’d
want to kill him do you?”

“
No, Mr. Meadowlark, we
don’t. Honestly, it took us no time to find that out.”

Sledge turns his attention to Hung who
is quietly sitting with his hands clasped almost in a prayer
shape.

“
Now Hung, we haven’t talked
too much about Mr. Gaylord, is that true?”

“
Yes, I believe so, sir.
We’ve only spoken a few times about this whole affair.” Hung’s
hands clasp tighter.

“
You also said that you had
never met Mr. Gaylord before,” he says and pauses for effect before
continuing. Then he looks Hung straight in the eye and says, “Now,
Hung: What would you say if I told you that I had proof that you do
indeed know him. That you know him quite well. Maybe this will jog
your memory.”

Sledge holds up an 8 x 10 print copy of
the photo Phyllis Gaylord sent that morning. The photo is of Mr.
Gaylord with a monk; both with their arms around each other. On the
back is written, ‘I’ll be waiting for you, with love’. The monk in
the photo was clearly Hung. There is an audible gasp in the
room.

“
Mr. Tran, do you have
anything to say about this?”

Hung stands up and through his tears
began to speak. “It’s true; that is me in that picture. We were in
love.”

The room is completely silent except
for Hung’s quivering voice.

“
I loved him and I thought
he loved me. We spent several precious months together at the
monastery. We were devoted to each other and he promised we would
always be with each other, no matter what.”

“
So you met Mr. Gaylord at
the monastery in Vietnam?”

“
Yes; we met and fell in
love immediately. Those were the happiest days of my life. He said
he loved me. He promised!”

Everyone in the room is hanging on each
word he says.

“
He said we would meet again
after the fall of Saigon. We were to meet again in the United
States. I came home and waited for him. I waited and waited but he
never came. I began to think he was killed and my heart broke over
and over.”

Hung rises and begins to pound the
table as he speaks.

“
He promised me! He promised
me!”

“
What happened when he came
to the library?”

“
That was the first time I’d
seen him since Vietnam. All those years and there he was at last. I
saw him and couldn’t believe my eyes. I was so stunned that I
couldn’t move. I stood frozen at the desk. Mr. Meadowlark took him
downstairs. I took the elevator and saw Sean in the basement. I ran
to put my arms around him but he pushed me away. I couldn’t believe
it. I asked him why he would treat me so bad after all our time and
love together. He pushed me away and told me I was a ‘queer’ and
that he didn’t love me at all. I was so mad at him then. I ran to
him and pounded on his chest with both fists! We fell to the ground
and he began to choke me. He had such rage in his eyes. He choked
me so hard that I could barely breathe. As I laid there I found a
heavy book tape dispenser nearby and hit him on the head with it.
He fell off of me and into the compact shelving. As he fell, his
leg hit the switch and the shelves began to close with him lying in
them. There was nothing I could do. I was helpless. I didn’t want
him to die! I didn’t.”

“
Yet you didn’t do anything
to help him did you, Mr. Tran?”

“
It all happened so fast.
There was nothing I could do.”

“
Or there was nothing you
would do. He hurt you deeply and you became enraged, didn’t you?
You wanted him dead; he rejected you.”

The rest of the staff becomes
increasingly tense and visibly pulled back to the safety of the
walls. Hung becomes more agitated as Sledge speaks.

“
You left Gaylord there to
die and you went back to your desk as if nothing happened. How
could you do that?”

“
I don’t know…I don’t
know... I was so mad and upset with him. I wanted him to feel the
pain and loss I felt missing him for so long. He promised me he
would return and I believed him! He said he loved me and I believed
him! He lied to me!”

Hung begins to bob back and forth as he
speaks, looking at his coworkers directly in their eyes. They’d
never seen Hung look like this. He’s acting so unlike himself. He
is so animated. The staff is transfixed.

“
Mr. Tran, I’m afraid you’re
going to have to come with us,” Willis spoke.