Hometown Detective

The Story of the Infamous Nephew (Part 5)

Not long after I got situated in the doorway, James walked back in with Zander Cole. They were arguing.

"I did not do it. You always go for the past felons." screamed Zander.

"I didn't say you did. I wanted to ask you a few questions." replied James.

They got situated at the table and they sat in complete silence. James was writing things down, and Zander was staring off into my direction.

"Why is he here? I thought it was just the two of us?" complained Zander.

"He is here to help me. He knows you guys better than I do. Anyways, where were you at 8 this morning?" James asked suddenly.

"I was at home. My mother can testify to that!" screamed Zander.

I started snickering in the doorway. He always relied on either his mother and Edwardo. Edwardo gave him the job to get out of his parents' house, and he still lives there a year later. James looks at me and gives me a "Stop it Zane. This is serious." look. Then he continued on with the interviewing process.

"Listen, stay calm. I am not here to charge you with the murder. I just want to clear you of all of the charges." replied James as calmly as possible," Do you know anyone who would want to murder your uncle?"

"My uncle was a caring man. He cared about every employee and most definitely every customer that walked through that door. He treated all of his customers the same way he treated his daughter Emily." replied Zander," He lost his daughter a few years ago, and it took a heavy toll on him. He spent a lot of time working on this restaurant, and even renovated it to make it catch up with the times."

"Is that the reason for the Emily"s Macaroni and Cheese Pizza?" asked James.

"Yes, he loved that girl with everything in his heart, and we she commited suicide, he lost it." replied Zander.

Then the conversation shifted. I could tell James was starting to think it might have played a role in Edwardo's death, or that at some point Edwardo might have wanted to hurt himself due to the fact that he lost his daughter.

"Explain your relationship with your uncle. Is there anything that he could have said that might have hinted that he thought he would be murdered?" asked James.

"Definitely not. He most likely wouldn't have let it known. He was a very private person when it came to his personal life, and I myself, tried to stay out of it as much as possible." he replied nervously," My mother always told me that he suffered from depression, but when he thought about hurting himself, he always came to the place that mattered to him most."

"Edwardo's Pizza." replied James," Okay, you may leave now, I think we have everything we need from you. Thank you for spending time talking to me."

Zander got up and walked out of the room. I watched as he walked right by Bethanie who was no longer crying but was scrolling through an app on her phone. He walked straight to his Uncle's office.

"So, what do you think Zane?" asked James.

"I'm not sure. He was always a private person, and I remember him saying something to me about how his daughter would have loved me." I replied," but with that said, I don't think he would have even had the guts to kill his uncle. His uncle did everything for him."

"That is true. Why did his uncle hire him in the first place?" asked James.

" He hired him so that way he could move out of his parents' house, but it didn't have an affect on his choices." I replied.

"Okay. Well I think I am going to bring in the only Josh Dally next." replied James as he left the room.