“Yeah, thank you. And if that person at NamUs keeps bothering you, don’t hesitate to call.” Andi reached for the button to end the call.
“Will do, bye.” The line went dead.
For a few minutes, George drove in silence. They were both mulling over what Shireen had just told them.
“I guess we’re visiting this nursing home today.” It wasn’t a question. It was the next sensible step in their investigation.
“Yes. After we see Tucker. Seems like we have more questions for him than we thought. First, though, you need to rest.” George set the light to turn into the street where their hotel was.
Three hours later, they were standing in front of the reception of Monahan’s Garage while the grumpy mechanic manning it shouted into the back for Tucker. The man appeared only moments later, giving the mechanic a dirty look. “Geez, Jasper, tone it down. We’re all taking turns up front. You’ll be back with your cars tomorrow.”
Jasper didn’t look the least chagrined. “You know I hate this shit.”
Tucker sighed. “We all do. Dorothy is going to get a raise when she’s back.” He patted Jasper on the shoulder. “Only two more weeks.”
“Eternity,” Jasper whimpered.
“What can I do for you, gentlemen?” Tucker had come around the battered reception desk.
George held out his badge. “We’re Detectives George Donovan and Andrew Hayes. I believe Officer Kaustrowitz talked to you yesterday about seeing us?”
“Ah, yes, I remember.” Tucker gave the two badges only a cursory glance. It told George that the man had probably never been in conflict with the law. “Please follow me.” The mechanic led them left of the reception area into a small hall with two doors on the right. He opened the first and let them step through before he shut it. After he had freed the two guest chairs in front of his overladen desk of the stacks of papers that had been stored there, he gestured for them to sit down. George used the time it took Monahan to do all this to examine the man closely. He looked like somebody who had worked hard all his life and took great pleasure in his capabilities. His short dark hair was interspersed with some silver strands, though not as many as George would have expected from a man in his early fifties. His face showed some lines, which were partly hidden under a black smear on his right temple. A blue overall covered his wiry, slim body.
Tucker sat down behind his desk, leaning back in his chair. “I’m sorry about the rude welcome.” He gestured vaguely toward the reception area. “Dorothy, our receptionist, had to have surgery. I couldn’t find a replacement, and now me and the guys take turns doing the paperwork. It’s not going great.”
“Only two more weeks, you said.” George tried to sound encouraging.
“Two weeks are an eternity.” Tucker sighed as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. Or at least the weight of the paperwork of his business. “You wanted to talk about Suzie?”
So, they were back to business. George glanced at Andi, who was sitting next to him, leaving the interaction to his partner as almost always. “Yes. First, we want to express our condolences. It must have been a shock.”
Tucker shrugged. “It wasn’t pretty. I can tell you that.”
“You were the one who found her?”
“Nah, my neighbors did. They called me, and I saw her body before they brought her to the morgue. Blasted ants.”
“Did you know you had fire ants in the garden?” The garden behind the Monahans’ house wasn’t big. George imagined they could have been aware of a problem such as potentially dangerous arthropods in their greenery.
“No. And I had just mowed the lawn two days before. You would think they would have attacked me.”
Again, George glanced at Andi. His partner gave an almost imperceptible nod. This fit with what they already knew. Suzie Monahan had been specifically targeted.
“Yes, strange indeed. I can assure you we’re looking into this.”
“I don’t see what good it does.” Tucker made a vague gesture with his hand. “She’s dead.”
“Excuse me if this is insensitive, and I know everybody grieves differently, but you don’t seem to be overly…heartbroken.” This statement was a bit of a gamble. George trusted his instincts, which told him Tucker wasn’t missing Suzie too much. If he had misjudged, this could very well mean the end of their talk.
“I’m not. Suzie and I—” Tucker carded his hands through his hair, flattening it with the residue grease on his hands. “We married young, thought it was true love. Well, it was only lust as it turned out, but by the time we realized this, we had already built too much together and neither of us ever met somebody else. Divorces are expensive, while living together with a person you don’t actively hate isn’t too bad, so we stayed. Paid the mortgage for the house, lived our lives, didn’t bother each other. It was fine.”
George believed him. He could totally see how two equally pragmatic people could come to such an arrangement. “I understand. Suzie worked at Paradise Home for the Elderly. Is that correct?”
“Yes, though she’d been let go in March.” Tucker’s left eyelid twitched. There was more to this.
“Was there a reason?”
For a moment, Tucker seemed to consider not saying anything at all. Then his shoulders slumped. “I don’t like speaking ill of the dead.”
