Death Among The Stacks: The Body In The Law Library (8 page)

“
No, no; I never did but
I’ve heard stories from other employees that he got a bit too
friendly with other male inspectors.”

“
Just other male
inspectors?”

“
Well, actually he had a
reputation with female inspectors too. I think he swung both ways,
if you know what I mean. He liked to party was the word around
here. He was a pretty hard worker but I think he liked to cut loose
at any chance he had.”

“
So you’re not aware of any
‘incidents’ with any GPO employees relating to his behavior? Did he
get into any trouble that you’re aware of?”

“
None that I’m aware
of.”

“
Can you think of any reason
why anyone would want Mr. Gaylord dead?”

“
No, no; none at all. Maybe
he had some issues with management. Heaven knows they can create
some problems. I just think that Sean didn’t have the smarts and
experience to navigate the GPO waters and get ahead in a successful
way. He sometimes didn’t seem like he was comfortable here. I’ve
been here for a long time and I know what goes on around here.
You’ve got to get to know people and know just how to work with
them if you expect to get ahead. It’s a skill that I’ve developed
over the years and I think Sean could have learned quite a bit from
me had he taken the time. It’s just a shame. Just a
shame.”

“
Did Sean have a
‘significant other’ that you know of? Did he have a
girlfriend?”

“
Not that I know for sure.
He often said he’d never go ‘steady’ with anyone. He didn’t want
the attachment for some reason. He’d get fired up just talking
about it.”

“
Was anyone sweet on him
that you knew? Male or Female?”

“
Not that I know of; man,
that’s beyond my pay grade. He liked to party and have people
around him but I never saw anyone that looked to be of that
type.”

“
OK, Mr. Masters, I thank
you for your time and your candid answers to my questions. You’ve
been very helpful.”

“
I hope I’ve made a
difference. I know quite a bit of what goes on around here so
please don’t hesitate to call or email me if you have any more
questions about the GPO and Sean. I’m your guy. Think of me as your
GPO ‘mole’.”

“
Thank you Mr. Master, I
will keep that in mind. One more question, I see that you were in
the Army, looks like during the Vietnam War.”

“
Yes, I was. Proud to have
served during that rough time for our country.”

“
Where were you stationed?
Did you see much action?”

“
I was, well, ah, I was a
Supply Officer. I spent my time state-side making sure that our
troops got the supplies they needed to kill the Cong.”

“
Well I’m sure they all
appreciated your work. Without you, they wouldn’t have been able to
carry on. Thank you, Mr. Masters. I’ve got your number. If I have
any questions, I’ll give you a call.”

Willis headed back down the hall
towards the lobby. He has a bit more information about Sean Gaylord
and feels that the picture of this man was starting to come into
focus.

Chapter Sixteen

After Willis makes a quick
stop for lunch at McDonald’s, he drives to Baltimore in order to
see Gaylord’s apartment. Upon removing the police tape that is
blocking the entrance, Willis’s first thought of Gaylord’s home is
that it looks like a showroom on a model home tour. It is very
tastefully decorated, but has a cold feeling about it. Willis
thinks it could’ve belonged to anyone. He can find no framed family
pictures, nor any CD’s or DVD’s. The bookshelves contained
beautifully embossed copies of the Classics from the Franklin Mint
which look like nobody has ever read any of them. He is surprised
to find no home computer; he must have only used the one at work.
Gaylord’s desk has a pad of stationary and an expensive looking
fountain pen. The stationary has red roses across the top of each
page. It looks too feminine for Willis’s taste.
Did this man write letters instead of e-mails?
Willis wonders.
If so,
where was his correspondence kept? Did he write letters that were
never sent?
Willis also notices some
commemorative stamps with pictures of Walt Whitman on
them
. I wonder if he reads poetry,
Willis thinks.

The kitchen is spotless and looks like
it was rarely used. The refrigerator has a block of Parmesan cheese
and an unopened bottle of Columbia Crest Chardonnay. Willis could
only find two boxes of food in the cupboards. One was a box of
Fiber One cereal and the other a box of Wheat Thins. Other than
that, it looks like Gaylord mainly dined out or had fast food.
Willis cannot find any “junk drawer” for various odds and ends,
like everybody else he knows has.

Willis goes next to inspect the
bedroom. The wardrobe closet contains clothing that is fastidiously
assorted according to layered outfits. The shirts have matching
ties on the same hangar. His sock drawer contains no mixed-matched
or leftover socks—Willis thinks of his own drawer at home which
always seems to have a few lonely socks that didn’t match any of
the other ones. Gaylord’s underwear and T-Shirts were folded
meticulously in two other drawers.

Willis has never seen a
murder victim’s house so devoid of clues. Gaylord seemed to have
led a monk-like existence.
I don’t know
what Sledge is going to think about this,
he says to himself.
He’s probably
going to assume that I’ve overlooked something
important.

*******

As the plane begins its descent into
the Denver airport, Willis goes over everything in his head about
Gaylord. The more he tries to make sense of the man and his life,
the more questions arise. He certainly knows more about where he
spent his life. He knows who he spent his work time with. He
cannot, however, get rid of the gnawing feeling that he’s missing
something about Gaylord. He seemed such a man of mystery; a man who
purposely hid details about himself and his everyday life. What was
it about this guy that would cause someone to murder
him?

Chapter Seventeen

Willis arrives at work early the next
day. He’s still on east coast time. He’s always been a morning
person and this suits him just fine. He gets caught up on his email
and the various memos and paperwork left over from three days out
of the office.

“
Good morning, Ronnie!”
Sledge bellows as he limps into the office with his leg in a
cast.

“
Good to have you back. How
was your trip? Was your flight okay? Did you find anything good for
us?”

“
Good morning, sir. I’m glad
to be back home. I’m not much of a traveler. Did enough of that in
the service. I like being home. I think I have a pretty good
picture of Gaylord after all. The more I found out about him, the
more questions I had, though. He was quite the odd
character.”

“
How so?”

“
Well, he just didn’t seem
to fit anywhere, easily. I got the feeling that during his life,
wherever he went or worked, he seemed to be out of place. The odd
man out always. He was raised in a pretty privileged world. His dad
was in the Navy, a graduate of Annapolis. They lived all over the
world on the Navy’s dime, it seemed. He always went to the best
schools. He was the eldest child—the only son. He has two
sisters.”

“
Are his parents still
alive?”

“
Only his father. His mother
died when he was very young. Not sure what kind of impact that may
have had on him. From what I could gather from his sisters, he
didn’t get along with his father. They had a tough relationship. I
think he felt like he could never please him. He rebelled more as
he grew older. Joined the Marine Corps and went to Vietnam. I’m
sure that really bugged his dad. It’s like he did it just to get
back at the old man or something.”

“
How was his service? Did he
see action?”

“
I think so. He was in
Vietnam for one tour, but didn’t actually leave until the fall of
Saigon. Not sure what he was up to. His sisters lost contact with
him during that time and are not sure what became of him. Sometime
later, he shows up in Baltimore.”

“
Wow, this guy really was a
mystery man. How did you get all that information about his
military record?”

“
Brewster.”

“
Oh yes; good old Brewster.
I forgot. Sorry to have sprung him on you without telling you. I
hope he wasn’t too overbearing.”

“
Nah, he was pretty helpful
actually. He got me quite a bit of information; see this stack?
This is everything about Sean Gaylord that you’d ever want to know.
Kinda scary isn’t it what the FBI can put together?”

“
It sure is. Brewster
thrives on this kind of stuff. I was glad he was able to help you
out.”

“
Sir, I do have to say that
he seemed more than just helpful. I dunno, it seemed like he was
really, really curious about how I was doing. I mean, I’m still
green in some ways but I ain’t no doofus. He made me feel like he
was looking over my shoulder every day. Was he always like
that?”

“
Well, he is a bit
caffeinated, I suppose; but I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s my
fault I guess. I just wanted you to have the best information
possible.”

Sledge starts to think about it more
and begins to feel the same as Willis. He has known Brewster for
many years, and after talking with him on the phone, he got the
feeling that Brewster was maybe more interested that he should be
about this case.

“
I spoke to his coworkers at
the GPO. He seemed to be a hard worker but had quite the romantic
tendencies. I think he was gay, sir. Still in the closet, you might
say but nonetheless, very possibly gay. He was known to make moves
on the ladies too. Not sure what that means, maybe he’s bi? I don’t
know. His sisters didn’t discuss it and I didn’t want to bring the
issue up with them. They’ve been through so much I wasn’t sure it
had any bearing on anything.”

“
Wow, I’d say it could,
Willis. Did anyone see any violent tendencies on his part or on
those of his coworkers? Maybe he pushed somebody too
far?”

“
Not that anyone would admit
to sir. I asked his supervisor the same question and he said his
record was clean. I had his personnel file from Brewster and it
showed clean as well. Doesn’t look like there were any upset lovers
in his life.”

“
Did you get a chance to see
his apartment?”

“
Yes. The Baltimore PD was
very helpful. They kept the place yellow-taped for me so I could
see it before I flew back. This is another weird thing about this
guy. His house was like a model house tour; without much of the
character. It was clean and tidy; almost too clean and tidy. No
music, very few books, very much like a monk’s existence. There
wasn’t much warmth or character in the place. I didn’t find any
computers or a television. The books he had didn’t look well read.
His refrigerator was almost empty. This guy was a real mystery sir.
I spoke to his landlord and he said Gaylord made no noise at all.
Always paid his rent on time. Left early in the morning and came
home late at night. Said he was the best tenant he’s ever
had.”

“
Well I think you did a
great job, Willis. Sometimes you’ll think you didn’t get much
information but later it will start making sense. You’ll see. It
always comes off this way. I think that it’s time to revisit our
friends at the Law Library.

Sledge and Willis make plans to meet at
the Law Library in order to ask the staff a few more questions.
They call the Director to ask if they can use the conference room
again. She seems a bit put off, but agrees to rearrange her
schedule so that the room will be free. They would like to talk to
Nic again, since she is the one who found the body.

Chapter Eighteen

Once Nic is seated in a chair in the
conference room, Sledge begins, “Nic; tell us again about how you
found the body.”

“
Well, as I told you before,
I took the elevator down to the basement to file some microfilm.
Immediately after I got out of the elevator, I noticed that the
heavy book tape dispenser was on the floor, which seemed odd to me
at the time. I mean, who would be so inconsiderate as to be leaving
that where someone could stub their toe or trip over it. It’s as
heavy as a brick and you could really injure yourself. Maybe even
go on Worker’s Comp. OSHA might even have to get
involved.”

Sledge asks, “Have you ever filed a
worker’s comp claim?”

Nic is annoyed. “What does that have to
do with this case?”

“
Nothing personal. Just a
simple question.”

“
Well,” Nic answers, “it’s
no secret that this is a toxic workplace and lots of us here have
suffered work-related injuries. An elderly lady, Beatrice, who
works here almost got squished in the compact shelving herself.
You’d think the library would have learned something from that
disaster. I can’t believe that it’s happened again. This is
outrageous.”