The decoy

Chapt 13

Chapter Thirteen

Sebastian spent an hour making notes on his laptop and trying to sort out what he had learned from Kristy Robinson. He wanted to get it all down on paper, including his experiences with the three thugs, before he went to sleep. He slept until nearly four in the afternoon and then woke, washed his gasoline soaked clothes in the shower and then made a few more notes before he called Kelly.

Kristy Robinson had shed some light as had the big guy Mike but although some of it cleared things up, some only made it muddier. Kristy obviously cared for Paul Vail and Sebastian felt it was more than just simple admiration but she also gave the impression that Vail was committed to his family. Sebastian was convinced that Vail was not cheating on his wife, at least not with Kristy. Could there be someone else?

He wondered about Cam Starr. From the beginning this was the person who had gained the most from Paul's death. Starr was involved with Teddy Arsenault who was importing drugs. He had been given a plumb job by Jessie Vail now that Paul was gone. Starr had done well since Vail had been murdered and Sebastian knew that Starr was a petty criminal. Kelly had sent Sebastian to find out what Pezzo's role was in this murder but Sebastian was increasingly interested in Starr.

Pezzo had come to town to buy a business and he had nothing to show for it and apparently it was even worse , he had lost some money that he had been given by his Uncle in Denver to close the deal. Now Peter Rappelo's men were coming in to town to find out what was happening. It was Rappelo who had tried to have Sebastian killed. Could it be Rappelo who had Vail killed?

When he was interrogating Sebastian, Mike had been very clear that Pezzo's friends in Denver didn't think that Pezzo had killed Vail and he had said that Peter Rappelo had lost money in this deal. Who had the money? Did Pezzo give it to Paul Vail as a down payment? Then Jessie Vail would have the money.

Sebastian needed to try and see if Pezzo had been applying any pressure to Vail's widow. It certainly didn't seem that way. Jessie didn't seem like a woman who was under any pressure. She was grieving her husband's death but she didn't seem to react when Sebastian had asked about the deal with Pezzo. She implied that she was okay with the sale. She had said it was a good offer but she knew her husband wasn't ready to sell.

Sebastian wanted to talk to Jessie Vail again and find out if she had any contact with Pezzo recently. If Pezzo had given the money to Paul Vail as a down payment then Jessie had it now and Pezzo would be pushing her hard to close the deal or return the money. If Jessie Vail was sitting on money that belonged to Peter Rappelo then she could wind up the same way her husband did.

The other option was Cam Starr. Maybe the money had gone to Starr to kill Vail. Starr was living the good life. He was buying cars and boats. Maybe the money had gone to Starr to knock off Vail so that Pezzo could close the deal with Jessie. Maybe Sebastian needed to talk to Starr again and maybe he needed to find out more about Starr's behavior. Starr had purchased a pretty corvette from Tim Black. Sebastian would visit Tim Black and see if Black was able to shed some light on Starr's behavior when he was on his shopping spree after Paul Vail's death.

Sebastian also wanted to talk to Paul Vail's daughter Morgan but he wasn't sure how to do it. Some things that had been said about the Vail family were not adding up. There was the story Black told about over hearing Morgan Vail screaming at her father about cheating on her mother.

Approaching the widow was difficult but approaching Vail's daughter would be even more awkward and asking her why she had accused her father of sleeping around and who he was sleeping with would be impossible. He thought maybe Grace could help. Shore had said something about Morgan running around with a bad crowd. Maybe there was some police involvement that would open a door. Grace felt she owed Sebastian a favor and this could be it.