Hometown Detective

Detective Work, Again! (Part 13)

I led James downstairs and into Josh's office. There were two shelving units facing you as you walked in. When you walked into the office, you almost walked right into one of them. He had set the shelves into an L shape with the stereo sitting on the end of one of them on the back shelf. There was a ladder that went up to Edwardo's office so if he needed to talk to him, he could easily reach him. Along the wall with the door, he had a couch and his desk. The desk was cluttered with paperwork.

"So, this is the infamous manager's office?" asked James.

"Yeah, it's pretty roomy. It is actually bigger than Edwardo's office." I answered as I walked over to the cluttered table in the middle of the room.

I started digging through some of the papers. There were many letters to suppliers that we have delt with in the past. I dug some more and found an unfinished letter to a lawyer. It read,"

Dear Mr. Linden,

I am writing this letter because of some things Edwardo has done to me. We talked last night about the will and who he was leaving the restaurant too if he stepped back or died suddenly. He just changed it three weeks ago. He will not leave it to me. He is leaving it too..."

The letter cut off there. He never took the time to finish it. I handed it to James to read and he threw it in a bag . I walked over to the desk and dug through some papers there too. There were a bunch of invoices of what the restaurant owed the suppliers we use. His computer was completely shut down. James's phone started ringing as I was digging through the drawers and he walked out of the room. Moments later, he came back.

"Did you find anything else but this letter?" he asked.

"No, there is nothing in here." I replied.

"Well, there are two officers upstairs. They have a lie detector!" said James with excitement," I will have to have you go first so I know whether or not you were lying."

"Awesome, let's go, I guess." I replied.

We both went upstairs back into the kitchen. There were to officers standing there. They laid the machine on the table and hooked me up to it.

"Okay, so this is how this is going to work. When you are telling the truth, it will create a straight line, but if you are lying, it will look like a heart pulse, meaning it will have a bunch of squiggly lines. To get this started, I will ask you a simple question. Is your name Zane Maddox?"

"Yes." I replied.

The line on the machine was straight meaning I was telling the truth. He wrote that down, and continued to ask me the very important question.

"Did you kill Edwardo?" asked James.

"No. I did not kill Edwardo." I replied.

Once again, the line was a complete straight line. James smiled as he wrote it down.

"Okay, let's get this game started!" said James in pure excitement," I want you to bring people in one by one so I can double check their stories."

I walked out of the room, and moments later returned with Tanya. She was so happy to be back. I pointed at the seat she sat in earlier in the day, and she hesitated. She did however sit down.

"Okay Tanya, that is your name correct?" asked James.

"Yes." replied Tanya.

"Is the story you told me this morning true?" asked James.

"Yes." replied Tanya.

When both questions were asked, the lines were straight. James motioned for me to go grab someone else. I followed Tanya out of the room, and came back moments later with Josh. Josh was so angry that he was still here and not getting paid.

"This is ridiculous officer, I shouldn't be here like this." he screamed.

"Listen to me, this is going to determine whether or not you are innocent. Once we figure out who isn't innocent, we can find out how it happened." replied James," Officer Derek will be conducting your interview because I have to run to the bathroom really quick. So, I will be back."

James walked out of the room, and Derek sat in his seat. He looked at Josh dead in the eyes.

"Okay Josh, are you the general manager?" asked Derek.

"Is that a stupid question?" asked Josh.

"Answer the general manager?" asked Derek.

"Yes, I am the general manager." replied Josh.

"Did you kill Edwardo?" asked Derek.

"No. I did not kill Edwardo." replied Josh.

The line on the device was straight. He wasn't lying. I walked him out of the room, and came back with Vincent. Vincent sat in the seat and smiled at Derek.

"Vincent?" said Derek.

"That's me." replied Vincent.

"Did you kill Edwardo?" asked Derek.

"No sir, I did not." replied Vincent.

Once again, straight lines appeared on the page. Vincent walked out and Bethanie came in.

"Hello, you must be Bethanie Willard." said Derek.

"Yes, I am." she replied.

"How are you today?" asked Derek right as James walked back into the room.

"I'm fine." replied Bethanie as she watched the lines on the device make squiggles.

"That's understandable." said James," Okay Bethanie, did someone in the dining room murder Edwardo?"

"Yes." she replied hesitantly," I believe someone out there did."

"Was it you?" asked James.

"No, it was not me." replied Bethanie as the lines went squiggly again.

James and Derek looked at each other. James looked over at me, and motioned for me to go into the side room. I walked over to the corridor, and waited for James to come in.