27 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

The moment the door closed behind the detective Merlyn pulled away from Alan. “How did you get in here and why did you lie to her about being here with me last night?”

Ignoring the first part of the question Alan stated emphatically, “I lied to keep her from arresting you. Is that such a bad thing? I know you didn’t kill that man.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence but actually you don’t know that, do you? I could have dropped you off and gone straight there to murder him.” Merlyn’s face was etched with despair. “That’s what the detective was thinking. I’m the prime suspect in three murders now despite your vouching for my whereabouts last night.”

“So it would seem.” Alan took a step back to study him. “Someone doesn’t like you very much.”

“No shit. I wish I knew if this was aimed at me or if I’m in line to be the next victim.”

“The two aren’t mutually exclusive you know.”

“Depends,” Merlyn replied with a frown. “Two of the three murders took place at the gallery, and the third one was just to eliminate a witness. A smart cop, and I think Detective Jonas is just that, could wonder if I killed the waiter to make my story about him delivering a message to Alt seem more plausible.”

“That would make you a very evil man and you’re not. Even she has to see that.”

“She sees what’s being presented to her, which is three men dead and my knowing at least two of them. And then there’s Alt’s will that leaves me with a small fortune. I have to wonder who gets the gallery now that Brian’s dead. If it’s me then I’m really up the creek.”

“Merlyn, who gets everything of Alton’s if you die too?”

“I suppose it depends on whether I die before of after the will is probated. If it’s before then probably Alt’s mother. But come on Alan, she’s almost seventy and well-to-do in her own right. I don’t see her coming half way across the country to kill first her son, and then Brian and me just to get all of Alt’s holdings.” He twisted a strand of his beard as he thought about it. “No, her I’d definitely eliminate.”

“Probably, although she could have hired someone. So, who else stands to profit or hates you so much they want to see you in jail or possibly dead?”

“No one. Not even Elliot.”

“Whoa. Who is this Elliot?”

Merlyn took a deep breath. “He’s my ex and we didn’t exactly part as friends.”

Alan’s face was a study in contradictions, worry, anger and pain. “You were in love with someone else?”

“I thought I was, yes. We lived together for quite a while. Then I began to realize it wasn’t me he was interested in as much as my ability to keep him in the life-style he’d come to expect. The final straw came when he wanted me to buy him a particularly expensive car, that he didn’t need because he already had one. I put my foot down and told him I wouldn’t. That in point of fact I wasn’t buying him anything more or giving him any more money. I let him know it was about time he stood on his own two feet.” Merlyn sighed deeply. “It was a vicious argument during which things were said on both our parts that couldn’t be taken back. By the time it was over I felt worthless both as a man and a lover.”

“And you believed that,” Alan said softly, moving swiftly to Merlyn to embrace him.

Merlyn smiled wanly. “I did. Perhaps I still do.”

“No! You are a wonderful lover and the perfect man.”

Merlyn looked at him, chuckling softly. “You base this on what, the two times we’ve been together? I’m not certain that’s enough time to find out much about me, Alan. I’m quite certain you’ve been with men who are much more skilled than I, and given that as far as you know I just might be a multiple murderer, that doesn’t say much about me as a man either.”