Chapter 26. Out, Damned Spot
OUT, DAMNED SPOT
WHITNEY
Over the weekend, Collin and Colette came out to the barn to help Buck and me work on the remodeling job.
Buck’s parents were thrilled to babysit Mari for an entire day.
Like the veterinarian in Eenie Meenie Miney Mine, the four of us had jobs that could be all-consuming at times.
Sometimes, the best way for us to get time together was to spend it working.
We installed glass in the window openings, as well as shutters on either side of the windows. By Sunday evening, the place was beginning to look like a home, from the outside, anyway. We still had a lot of work to do on the interior.
On Monday, Colette and Collin were back at their usual day jobs, and my cousins and I were at the building supply store, getting plumbing supplies so that we could begin plumbing the apartments. We’d need a variety of pipes, fittings, valves, and fixtures.
Buck insisted on sitting on the toilets to test their comfort. “Bring me a magazine, will ya?”
I shook my head. “You’re on your own, buddy.”
We filled Buck’s van and trailer with fixtures and pipes, then transported them to the barn.
I checked my phone every hour or so to make sure I hadn’t missed a call or text from Detective Alonzo, but she hadn’t tried to get in touch with me.
I figured the suit had been turned over to the police lab to see if any traces of blood might remain for testing.
I knew police labs didn’t work nearly as fast as TV crime dramas implied, and I didn’t want to pester Alonzo by constantly asking for updates.
I knew she’d get in touch as soon as she knew something.
We were still installing pipes on Thursday when a honk outside caught our attention. We stepped outside to find Deputy Swisher rolling up in his SUV. Detective Alonzo sat in the passenger seat.
She unrolled her window as the vehicle came to a stop. “We’re on our way to arrest Gentry.”
“Woo-hoo!” I threw a victorious fist in the air, happy to know that Tyler Yee would get justice and that I’d helped make it happen.
Alonzo said, “His assistant told me he’s at River Valley Ranch this morning. Given that you found the clue that led to this arrest, I figured you deserved to see the fruits of your labor. Want to come with us?”
“Heck yeah!” I climbed into the back seat of Deputy Swisher’s SUV and buckled myself in, noting the damaged suit hanging from the hook on the other side.
As Swisher turned the SUV around and headed for the drive, I leaned toward the metal safety screen.
“Was the lab able to get blood from Gentry’s suit? ”
“No,” Alonzo said. “The dry-cleaning chemicals made extracting a sample impossible, so we weren’t able to match anything to Yee.
But the crime scene team said the blood pattern on the jacket and pants are not consistent with a nosebleed.
If the blood had been from Gentry’s nose, the blood should have been more centered on the jacket and higher up on his chest. The drops would have also been larger at the top and then elongated into a narrower line as they ran down the fabric.
There might even be traces on the shoulders since someone experiencing a nosebleed tends to tilt their head back and pinch their nose to stop the flow. ”
“What about the Bakers? Did they see Gentry leave the trailer and come over here?”
“No,” she said. “They didn’t notice whether he’d changed his suit, either.
They only got a glimpse of him through the door.
Same for the salesman. I spoke to him yesterday.
He said he didn’t notice whether Gentry had changed his suit while he was out on the property with the Bakers.
He said Gentry wears a lot of gray suits, though, and that they aren’t particularly distinguishable.
He said Gentry never mentioned getting a nosebleed.
Admittedly, we don’t have anything definitive on him: just the pin, the suit, and the fact that he was in the area when Yee was killed.
It’s all circumstantial, but it adds up.
It seems like too much to be mere coincidence. ”
Swisher pulled up to the trailer. Gentry’s Infiniti was parked next to the Land Rover. A silver Lexus was parked on the other side. The golf cart sat under the canopy.
The three of us climbed out of the SUV. Alonzo retrieved Gentry’s suit from the hook in the back seat and led the charge into the trailer.
We found the salesman in the main room going over the map of available lots with two women.
Alarm skittered across his face when he saw the detective and the uniformed deputy.
Alonzo greeted the salesman with a curt nod. “Is Mr. Gentry around?”
“He’s in there.” The salesman pointed to a door that was cracked open a couple of inches.
As Alonzo and the deputy aimed for the door, the women exchanged a furtive glance. One asked, “Should we come back another time?”
The salesman put a hand to the back of his neck. “Um … why don’t y’all go next door and check out the model home? It’s unlocked. I’ll be over in a few.”
The women left and the salesman simply stood there, waiting to see what would happen.
Alonzo rapped her knuckles on the door. “Mr. Gentry? Got a minute?”
“Sure. Come on in.”
Alonzo and Deputy Swisher walked into the office. I decided to remain in the main room with the salesman and watch through the now-open door.
Gentry stood behind his desk and cast a glance my way.
“Brought your shadow again, I see.” He returned his focus to Alonzo and eyed the dry-cleaning bag in her arms. “That looks like my best Armani suit. Is the sheriff’s department providing laundry pickup service now?
” He chuckled, probably trying to sound nonchalant, but it came off as arrogant and disrespectful.
Alonzo said, “So you acknowledge this suit is yours?”
“I’d have to check the size and tags to make sure.”
Alonzo held the hanger out. “Check.”
Gentry strode around the desk. He checked the tags on the outside of the bag, then asked, “May I?” When Alonzo gave him a nod, he lifted the clear plastic covering and looked inside the suit to find the size tag.
“Forty-two regular. That’s my size. I dropped it off on my way to the airport a couple of weeks ago.
Got a horrific nosebleed that morning.” He put a hand under the jacket to raise it up for a better look.
“They did a poor job getting the stains out.”
Alonzo said, “When you got the nosebleed that morning, you…?”
“Well, right off, I cursed. This was my favorite suit and I’d worn it to impress the folks I was going to see later that day in Charleston. Then I cleaned myself up in the bathroom here, and changed into another suit. I was lucky to have a spare in my luggage.”
Alonzo glanced around his office and poked her head out the door to look around. “Are there security cameras in the trailer?”
“No,” Gentry said. “Nothing much to steal in here, and we lock the front gate at night. So far, that’s been enough to keep any thieves out.”
Alonzo lifted her chin, cueing Swisher to pull his cuffs from his belt.
As the deputy moved behind Gentry, Alonzo read him the Miranda rights.
“Thad Gentry, you are under arrest for the murder of Tyler Yee. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can’t afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. ”
Gentry rolled his eyes, but put up no resistance as Deputy Swisher clicked the cuffs into place and Alonzo finished her recitation.
As the deputy escorted Gentry from the office, Gentry turned to his salesman.
“Don’t worry. They’ve got the wrong guy.
My attorney will get this all straightened out before the end of the day.
Keep your appointments. We can’t let their mistake cost us sales. ”
Gentry’s words were obviously bluster, but the slack-jawed salesman nodded anyway, seemingly unable to speak.
I followed Deputy Swisher, Detective Alonzo, and Thad Gentry outside, where Swisher loaded Gentry into the seat I’d vacated only minutes before. I climbed in on the other side so they could drive me back to the barn.
Sitting on the same seat as Gentry was beyond awkward. Thankfully, he ignored me and stared out his window.
When we pulled up to the barn, I cast a glance his way and caught his gaze darting to the hayloft. He was probably thinking back to the day he killed Tyler Yee, how Tyler had flung his backpack up into the loft, where I’d been napping. He must have heard me call Tyler’s name.
When Gentry realized I was eyeing him, he said, “You and your cousin have done a good job rehabbing the barn. It’s probably a good thing Gail didn’t sell me this property. I’d have torn the barn down to make way for a modern clubhouse.”
Destroying a barn of historical significance might not be against the law, but it would have been a crime nonetheless.
I slid down from the SUV and bade the deputy and detective goodbye.
As they drove off to take Gentry to the county jail in Franklin, I looked up at the horseshoe Virgil had made nearly two centuries earlier.
That horseshoe had hung over this door during bad times and good times.
With Gentry’s arrest putting an end to the murder investigation, today counted as a good time.
I hoped the horseshoe would continue to hang there for at least two centuries more.