In the basement, Carter found an old desk and two chairs. He pulled them into an empty space, put one chair in front of it, and one chair behind it. He then walked over to the suspects.
“Okay,” Carter said. “Here’s how we’re going to do this: We’re going to pretend like this is a police station. I’m going to be sitting behind this desk. One at a time, the six of you will be called up for questioning. You will sit in the chair in front of this desk.”
“What the hell?” Stewart said.
“When I call your name, it is your turned to be questioned,” Carter continued, ignoring Stewart. “If you choose not to be questioned, then we will be here in the basement for a long time. Do I make myself clear?”
“You can’t keep us in here!” Sullivan said.
“I believe the door is locked from the outside,” Carter said.
Anderson reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.
“I can call somebody!” he said, holding his phone in the air.
“Yeah,” Carter said. “Well, I think…”
He reached up and snatched Anderson’s phone out of his hand.
“…not.”
Carter threw the phone across the room. It hit the wall and broke instantly.
“What the hell was that?!” Anderson shouted.
“Anybody else want to call somebody?” Carter asked.
Nobody else reached into their pocket.
“Smart thinking,” Carter said. “Now, let’s get started.” He turned to walk to the desk.
“You’re going to pay for my phone,” Anderson growled.
“Anderson, shut it,” Carter said. “You have enough money to buy two hundred phones. Tax and all.”
“Have you forgotten that I’m your landlord?”
“Have you forgotten that you’re a suspect?”
Carter walked over to the desk and sat down in the chair behind it.
“Stewart,” he said. “You’re first.”
Stewart turned pale.
“Me?! Why me?!”
“Because I called your name,” Carter said. “Get over here.”
Stewart, still pale, walked over and sat in the chair in front of the desk. He breathed heavily.
“I always thought it would be cool to be on television,” he said. “But this is not what I had in mind.”
Carter gave him a confused look.
“That made no sense,” he said.
“Well,” Stewart said. “Because of all those cop shows…you know. It’s like we are on one of those…you know. I made a comparison…okay. Yeah…that wasn’t very good.”
Carter shook his head.
“Let’s cut to the chase,” he said. He cleared his throat. “What were you doing the exact instant that Freeman was shot?”
“I was looking at Elliott’s rat trap,” Stewart said.
“So you were watching the trap, and then you heard the gun blast?”
“Yes.”
“And then you turned around and saw Freeman dead?”
“Yes.”
“But as you turned around, you didn’t happen to see the person holding the gun.”
“The gun had dropped to the floor at the same instant that Freeman fell to the floor. It was kind of strange.”
Carter thought this was strange as well. But was it true? He would need another suspect’s explanation.
“So you knew the man by the name of Alan Freeman?” Carter asked.
“Yes, I sure did,” Stewart answered.
“And how did you?”
“We have talked before. We actually got along well. We weren’t as perfect as peas and carrots, but we sure got along.”
“And you sold a boat to him?”
“Yes, I did. That boat actually used to belong to my grandfather. Or, it did until he died. That makes sense. I mean, you can’t sail a boat if you’re dead. That is unless you’re a ghost or a zombie or a…”
“Stick to the question, please.”
“Oh, right. Sorry. Yes, I sold my grandfather’s boat to Freeman. I just didn’t have enough space for it. I also never used it. I was never much of a fisherman. I mean, I used to go fishing with my dad when I was a kid. But I guess I just lost interest in it once I reached adulthood.”
“How much did you sell the boat for?”
“Five thousand dollars. Yeah, I wasn’t just going to give away the boat for a couple of bucks. I needed some real money to come from it. I mean, it was a pretty expensive boat. I’m sure you wouldn’t give Einstein’s brain away for a nickel.”
“But from what I understand, Freeman never gave you the money.”
“No he did not. That’s one reason it angers me that he’s dead now. Now I’m never going to get my five thousand dollars. That is, unless the government gives the boat back to me. Then I can just sell it to someone else.”
“If Freeman never had the money, then why did you give him the boat?”
“Like I said, I needed space. Getting rid of that thing was like getting an eight hundred pound gorilla off my back.”
“Okay. And from what I heard, you weren’t all too friendly with Freeman on his reminders to pay off his money.”
“Well, I was at first. But after months went by, I started acting firm about it. It wasn’t for about another year that I started to angry. And after about two years…”
“…you started to threaten him.”
“Threaten him? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Just last month you told him, on quote: ‘If I don’t have my money soon, things are going to get very ugly.’”
Stewart turned white again.
“What…who…how’d you find out about that?” he stammered.
“Freeman told me,” Carter said. “He told me everything.”
Stewart was completely silent.
“So,” Carter said. “What exactly did you mean by ‘things are going to get ugly’?”
“I…I didn’t kill him,” Stewart said.
“But what did you mean by that statement?”
“I was only making a threat. I thought if I threatened him, it would convince him to get the money to me.”
“And you were trying to keep that a secret.”
“I regretted making that threat almost instantly. I thought it would get me in serious trouble. I’m actually surprised that Freeman didn’t call the cops. After that night, I tried to forget all about what I said.”
“Freeman sure never forgot about it. And you scared him to death. You sure were spitting diarrhea when you told me you and him got along well together.”
“We did get along well. But that was before I sold him my boat.”
“And you deny killing him because he never gave you the money that he owed you.”
“Yes, I do. I would never kill anybody. I’m not a murderer.”
“I do recall you saying at the party: ‘I would love to give him a break. A break in his leg’”
“I was only joking. You know that I like to joke around.”
Carter glared at him. When he had first met Stewart, he actually liked him. He was now starting to not like him at all.
“Are you even sorry that Freeman is dead?” Carter asked.
Stewart lowered his head for a minute.
“As much as I had a problem with him not giving me my payment, I am not happy that he’s been killed,” he said. “I know he had friends. I know he had a wife. And I know that you and him have been friends for quite some time.”
“Thirty-eight years to be exact.”
“Freeman is a nice man. I know there are some people who care for him. And he didn’t deserve to die. He didn’t at all.”
Carter thought to himself for a moment. And then he cleared his throat.
“So,” he said. “You are absolutely certain that you did not kill Freeman.”
“Yes,” Stewart said. “I am absolutely certain about it.”
“Very well, then. I guess we are now done.”
“Okay.” Stewart was pale for the third time. He left the chair and sat down in a far part of the room. Nobody said a word to him.
One suspect down, five to go.
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