21 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

The detective tapped her lip as she stared at Merlyn. “You see, that’s another problem, he did change his will, about a month before his death. Until then his mother was his sole heir other than a few small bequests, one of which was to you.”

“So you think I influenced him somehow to make me half-heir and then I killed him to get my hands on the money. Wouldn’t that have been rather stupid on my part?”

She nodded. “Exactly what I told my captain. He… ceded the point a bit, but you are still on the top of the list of Mr Weber’s potential killers.”

“Just who else is on the list if I may ask?”

“Your mysterious man who sent Mr Weber the message of course, and the man who will own the gallery once the will is probated. He only made the list because the gallery is worth a fair amount on its own.”

“My money’s on him,” Merlyn muttered morosely. When the detective arched an eyebrow he shook his head. “Just kidding. I don’t think he’d hurt a fly, to say the least of planning and executing a murder.” He crossed the room to stare out the window for a few long moments before turning back to look at her. “So what happens now? Are you here to arrest me?”

“If I were I’d have done that the minute I walked in the door. Honestly, I came by to see what your reaction would be to what I’ve told you. As I said, I didn’t think you were the killer. I still don’t, which means I have to find out who is.”

“And until then I have this hanging over my head and every cop in the city keeping an eye on me to make sure I don’t strike again somewhere.”

She chuckled. “It won’t be that bad I promise you, but yes, your life will be under a microscope. By the way we did find that cab driver and he confirms that he brought you home from the club. Of course that was early enough that you could have taken off again to meet Mr Weber at the gallery and kill him.”

“That’s what I don’t understand. Why was he there in the first place at that hour? Did our mysterious man want something that he kept there and if so, what?

“One possibility is the he was shot when he was leaving, not as he arrived but according to the manager nothing was taken.”

“That he knows of. I’m sure Alton had papers, contracts, what have you and maybe one of them is what the killer was after.”

“A possibility, yes,” she replied after a moment’s consideration. “I think I need to go back and have another word with the manager. Have him check the files.” She started towards the door. “I presume you’ve heard nothing more from your stalker, for lack of a better word?”

“Nope. I’m hoping that was a one-time thing. I just wish I knew what he was trying to tell me.”

“Not to ‘the dark side’ go,” she intoned in a passable imitation of Yoda.

Merlyn snorted softly. “A possibility I suppose. I’m not planning on it, trust me.”

“I hope not,” she replied with a smile as she left, closing the door behind her.

Once she was gone Merlyn collapsed on the sofa as the reality of what she’d told him took over in full force. “Damn it, Alt,” he muttered, “what on earth possessed you to do that?” He sat there for a long while, his mind whirling, wondering what he could possibly do to make things right in his world again. That brought his thoughts to Alan, causing him to smile. At least there was one bright light in his life. If the young man actually called of course. He had promised he would, but then as Merlyn well knew, promises were meant to be broken. With a sigh he got up and headed to the studio. At least there he could work and get his mind off of his problems.