“More than what you did.” Silver shook with anger. “I know all about the new task force, which is too little too late in my opinion, and those who are on it. I’m staying vigilant even when those who should are not.”
He sounded like some sitcom vigilante. “Mr. Silver, you weren’t so vigilant when you left the back door unlocked.”
“Ah, that’s how you got in,” he said. “I guess I need to have a longer chat with Alexander—well, perhaps an actual chat that includes words and not body language next time. Don’t be too mad at him, Detectives, because I promise he wasn’t capable of much thought when he left.” Silver had deepened the timbre of his voice, and his words were filled with sexual innuendo, leaving no doubt in our minds what, or who, Alexander had been doing in the club at the early hour.
Silver pulled the towel off his waist and dropped it to the floor before he reached for his clothes from his desk chair. “If you want to talk to me, then you can do it in the presence of my attorney. It’s the same attorney Nate used, so your task force should be familiar with him.” He took his sweet time pulling on his underwear.
“Rick Spizer?” Dorchester asked, nonplussed by Silver’s actions.
“The one and only,” Silver replied.
“That’s great news,” I told him. “We have an appointment with him at noon so why don’t you join him at the precinct?” Jonathon Silver narrowed his crystal blue eyes in speculation. If he refused, he would look guiltier and if he agreed he would have to answer questions or have his mouthpiece decline or interject on his behalf, which would also make him look guilty. “This is your moment to step up and prove that you want to help catch the man who killed your brother, as you claim.”
“I won’t be baited by you, Detective. I don’t owe you a fucking thing,” he replied hotly, “but I will be there at noon.”
“Thank you,” I told him.
“I’m not doing it for you; I’m doing it for Nate.”
“We’ll see you at noon,” I told him. “Be sure to bring your alibi information with you for the night that your brother died.”
Dorchester and I were almost to his office door when he spoke up. “Detective Wyatt, am I identical to my brother ineveryway?” His words shocked me, but I kept walking instead of responding to his crude question. I could hear his dark laughter ringing through the hallway as if it was chasing me out of the building.
“So, you and Nate, huh?” Dorchester asked once we were back in the spring sunlight.
“Once,” was my response. “We were never a couple or anything like that. In fact, a year passed between our two meetings.”
“You’re investigating the death of a former hookup while working with another. That’s got to be some interesting ‘how was your day, dear’ dinner conversation. Unless Josh doesn’t know,” Dorchester added.
“How’d you know about Paul?” I asked him after picking my chin up off the damn pavement. I didn’t like that my personal life connected to this case, but I knew that my objectivity was uncompromised.
“I’m a detective,” he replied. “I’m paid to read body language and stuff. I’m not sure if the other team members are as astute, but I saw the way your eyes widened slightly and your body stiffened. Paul’s a smooth customer, but he had similar reactions as you. The first impression wasn’t enough to convince me, but then he offered to show you to the bathroom when you asked for directions. Most guys would’ve told you to turn right outside the conference room and then left at the end of the hallway.” Dorchester laughed. “You didn’t answer my question about Josh.”
I unlocked my car with the key fob. “He knows.”
“And?”
I thought back to the conversation I had with Josh the previous night. I knew by his body language and words that he didn’t like the situation, but he trusted me. I smiled when I thought about how much faith Josh had in me. “He trusts me,” I told Dorchester.
“As he should,” he replied. “I have to ask something, and I promise your answer stays between us.”
“What?” I asked uncertainly.
“I’m coming at this from a purely scientific angle,” Dorchester said seriously. “Are they identicaleverywhere?”
I noticed Jonathon Silver’s cock, of course; I was a gay man after all. Although I knew the answer to Dorchester’s question, I wasn’t about to answer it. I pinned him with a disbelieving glare instead.
“Your silence speaks for itself,” he said smugly. “I guess I know why Nate’s stalker was so hung up on the size of his dick in that email.”
I had temporarily forgotten about the exact wording in that email due to the discovery of Silver’s existence, but Dorchester was right. Dorchester had never seen the email or the pictures, or he’d have known the answer to his one question. Commenting on the size of Nate’s dick and being remorseful that it was wasted on him wasn’t something a brother would say to another, especially one who was equally as endowed. That didn’t necessarily mean that Silver was in the clear; hell, he could’ve said those things intentionally so that he could avoid scrutiny. Smoke and mirrors.
“Unless they had a twincest thing going on,” Dorchester commented.
“Gross,” I replied. “This case just keeps getting weirder every single day.”
“Do you have the feeling that we haven’t even scratched the surface of weird yet?” he asked.
“I do,” I replied, which was why I was eager to get back to the police station to do more digging into Jonathon Silver’s property company. I didn’t want to be caught off guard more than I had already been.
