10 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

The detective nodded. “I have to ask, was there anything more to your relationship than his being a father figure?”

“No, never! We both knew that while we were the best of friends we’d be lousy as lovers or partners. Besides for several years I was in a relationship. When it ended Alton was the one who kept me from going totally off the deep end.”

“The man you were involved with, would he have any reason to hate Mr Weber?”

“Elliot?” Merlyn shook his head. “I can’t see any reason why he would have. He didn’t approve of Alton’s lifestyle but other than that they were, if not friends, at least they were friendly with each other.”

“So Mr Weber had no involvement in your and this Elliot’s breakup?”

“No! And even if he had, that happened three years ago.” Merlyn stopped, looking at the detective. “Am I under suspicion for his murder?”

She smiled in reply. “Do you have an alibi?”

He shrugged. “Probably not. I left the club around ten p.m. and came straight home. A cab driver can attest to that at least. Then I worked for a while until I was tired enough to fall into bed. I think that was probably around one. That’s the last I remember until your phone call.”

“And no one else was here with you?”

“No. I’m not in the habit of having visitors other than Alton.”

The detective eyed him, doubt on her face. “When you answered the phone it certainly sounded as if you were, shall we say in the throws of emotion.”

Merlyn nodded. “Specifically I was jacking off. I was in the middle of a dream when the phone woke me, half-asleep and hard. So I took care of myself.”

“That’s honest,” she told him with a small laugh. “Sorry to have interrupted you.” She glanced at her notebook, jotting something down before asking, “Is there anything you can think of, anything at all, that might shed some light on his death.”

“Not really, other than what I told you about the message he got at the club.”

“Speaking of which I’d like you to come with me tomorrow when I check things out there so that you can point out the server who delivered it. Hopefully he can tell us something about the man who wrote it.”

“That’s fine. Just call me an hour or so before you plan on doing that so that I can clean up. I tend to get pretty messy when I’m working.”

“I will.” She stood, closing her notebook. “Thank you for your time Mr Knight. I’m sorry that we had to meet this way.”

“Not half as sorry as I am,” he replied bitterly as he showed her to the door.