Page 65 of Living Hell

“Did you or your realtor find the property?”

“He did. He showed me a few dumps at first and I wondered if he was any good at his job, but then he pulled out the Dante Drive house. Said it hadn’t even come on the market yet and the owner was quick to sell. I thought I was getting a deal.” I rolled my eyes realizing I was getting robbed instead.

“Maybe you can answer this, Mr. Goode. The lawyer for closing, had you ever seen him before? I’m sure being the bank manager, you’ve dealt with a lot of real estate closings in your career.”

Austen nodded. “The lawyers around here have tiny offices. They usually ask to use our conference room for legal signings. But I had never met the lawyers for that property—I assumed they came from out of town. Every so often we get a lawyer from Bangor or Portland.”

Garrison nodded and scratched at the stubble on his chin. “Do you have any information on that lawyer? Did he leave a business card or paperwork behind?”

Austen shook his head. “No, sorry. Nothing that I can . . . Wait.” He held up his finger. “Jane, one of the tellers, told me how the lawyer was flirting with her after the deal. Gave her his phone number. She said he seemed sleazy so she might have thrown it out, but I can ask her if she still has it.”

Garrison stood. I followed, as did Austen. It seemed the thing to do.

“Great. I’ll need it. Even if you can only get a name, anything would be helpful. Here’s my card. Call me with anything.” As if out of thin air, he held out a small card for Austen.

Was the man a magician, too? What couldn’t he do?

“I’ll take you back, Tyler, for questions about the movers. It was nice meeting you, Austen.”

Austen said his goodbyes and Garrison led me out of his office and down a hall. We came to a small room with a large mirror, table, and four chairs. I thought it would look different than what I had seen in the movies, but it didn’t.

“I wanted to mention Babette Gotti, Iona’s agent.”

Garrison held up a finger as he fiddled with the recording device. I wanted to explain what she told me about her masseuse. I’m sure that would be something he’d need to know about the property.

“I’ve already met with her. Give me a minute while I get this going.”

He pushed some buttons and said, “Tyler, you aren’t being arrested and you have the right to leave at any time. If you wish to have your lawyer present, we can reschedule for that.”

I thought about it for a moment. What do I have to hide? Nothing. What could the sheriff ask me that would lead me to lying? I never met those movers. It was a service I found on the Internet that was close by.

“Ask away. I’ve got nothing to hide.”

He nodded and waved his hand in the air. Within seconds, a woman walked into the room. She introduced herself as Officer Lewiston.

The sheriff started the recording and read off the time and date and other facts.

“Now, Tyler, remember two years ago when you egged Mayor Bailey’s float?”

Shit.

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