Incident on Ten-Right Road

by Randall Silvis

  DeMarco: There’s no shame in not going to college. I never went.

  Fletcher: Tell that to the rest of the world. (pause) Anyway, she’d seen enough of his family and he’d seen enough of hers to know there was no future for them. He plans to get an MBA and work on Wall Street, and her just praying to squeak through high school?

  DeMarco: And yet they never really broke up.

  DeMarco: Teenage hormones. You remember those, don’t you?

  DeMarco (after a pause): What’s your relationship with Mr. Hickman?

  Fletcher: What do you mean, my relationship?

  DeMarco: There has been some speculation…I don’t know if you’ve heard the rumors or not….

  Fletcher: That he likes young girls? Everybody knows that. (pause) You don’t need to look so shocked. I told you that me and Meggie had no secrets. None. Other than that thing about her father, I mean.

  DeMarco: So you knew about Mr. Hickman and, uh, his room at the back of the lab?

  Fletcher: You want to hear my philosophy on sex?

  DeMarco: Sure.

  Fletcher: God gave us the equipment to use it. To have fun with it. To give and receive pleasure. Because if He didn’t, He’s the most sadistic sonofabitch there’s ever been. Tell me one thing in this life, one other physical pleasure, that feels half as good.

  DeMarco: So in terms of Mr. Hickman and Meghan….

  Fletcher: You’re avoiding the question. What else feels as good? What else in this hard, nasty, painful, ugly existence of ours makes you even consider for half a second that there maybe is a God in heaven?

  DeMarco: I don’t know.

  Fletcher: The hell you don’t. (long pause) My cigarette’s done. And I feel like I haven’t even smoked one.

  DeMarco: I don’t want to belabor this point, but…I do think it might be relevant.

  Fletcher: She was going to flunk chemistry. Three weeks into the course and she was hopelessly lost. He made them memorize the freaking Periodic Table of Elements! What good does that ever do anybody?

  DeMarco: Was he making overtures toward her?

  Fletcher: She asked me what she should do. She was 17. Already having sex with Alex. I told her that a woman in this world is entitled to use whatever gifts God gave her, same as men do. Just not to let it go too far. And she didn’t. She might not have had the book smarts she wanted to have, but she was smart and strong in lots of other ways. She got herself through high school just fine. And she got herself into community college too. Now what you need to do is to quit setting there judging us and go find that rotten, slimy bastard who sneaked into my house right under my nose and killed my baby girl!

  (At this point, I stood to leave.)

  Fletcher: Wait a minute, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken that tone with you. None of this is your fault.

  DeMarco: I will do everything I can, Ms. Fletcher. I promise you that.

  Fletcher: I’m sorry I barked at you. You’re the only person I’ve met who might have some idea of what I’m going through right now.

  DeMarco: I do. And I give you my word—

  Fletcher: Stop, stop, stop. I know you’re going to do everything you can. You’re a good man, I know that. I also know that you know it’s not going to change anything, is it? (pause) What happened to the man who crashed into your car four years ago?

  DeMarco: He spent 18 months in jail. Two years probation.

  Fletcher: You’d like to kill him, wouldn’t you?

  DeMarco: No.

  Fletcher: Liar.

  (long pause)

  DeMarco: I would keep him alive. Keep him chained in my basement. Give him just enough food and water to keep him from dying. And I would beat him. Every morning and every night.

  Fletcher: And twice every afternoon.

  DeMarco: Yes, ma’am.

  Fletcher: Is that how you cope, then? Is that what keeps you going?

  DeMarco: I guess so, if that’s what I’m doing. Coping.

  Fletcher: You have any other survival tips you could share with me?

  DeMarco (after a pause): Don’t follow my example. That’s probably the best advice I could give anybody.

  Fletcher: Your example being what, exactly?

  DeMarco: Keep your friends close. Don’t shut them out. And don’t think that passing out every night is any kind of remedy. It’s not. (pause) I’m sorry, I, uh…I need to get going here.

  Fletcher: Mister, you need to give yourself a break.

  DeMarco: Call the barracks if you think of anything new, okay? I’ll keep you apprised of our progress. Thank you for your time.

  Fletcher: Hey, just hold on a minute. Hey! What was your baby’s name?

  End of interview.

  Notes:

  It is interesting that Junie Fletcher suspects Alex as much (or more than?) she suspects Tad, though she has no concrete reason to do so. She seems to have good instincts and insights into human nature, but obviously doesn’t let those skills guide her life.

  I need to find out exactly what went on at the Taco King. Did Meghan humiliate Alex somehow? Could he have assumed that she would be meeting him there alone?

  Identify any other interesting parties at the bar.

  And what about the people she knew at the community college and from work? Track down those contacts if necessary.

  Hickman said he moved to Ten-Right Road 10 years ago: Junie Fletcher said she threw her husband out 10 years ago. Coincidence?

  Note to self: Do not let your sympathies for the subject of an interview allow the subject to control the interview. I need to watch that.

  Do your job and follow the law, but do not judge. The complexities of the heart make their own laws, and these must also be respected.

  Summary of cell phone records: Meghan Fletcher

  The iPhone belonging to Meghan Fletcher, victim, was recovered from her bedroom upon discovery of her body by Chief Melvin of the French Creek Township Police Department on August 12. The phone was offered for police examination by the victim’s mother, Junie Fletcher, who also provided the password to access voice messages. A compilation of the incoming and outgoing calls and texts on the phone logs for August 7-12 was compiled by Trooper Carmichael, Pennsylvania State Police Troop D, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.

  What follows is a summary of the data deemed relevant to this investigation. Junie Fletcher expressed to Chief Melvin a willingness to provide copies of the phone company’s full records upon request. However, based on the sheer number of texts and calls listed in Trooper Carmichael’s full compilation, it does not appear that any texts or calls had been deleted from Meghan’s phone.

  August 11

  Text exchanges between M. Fletcher and A. Gessler:

  4:32 p.m. to Gessler: What u doin tomorrow nite? U free?

  4:33 p.m. from Gessler: Maybe. What’s up?

  4:33 p.m. Missing u. Thinking of coming over.

  4:34 p.m. In that case I’m free. Where when?

  4:35 p.m. Haven’t shot any pool for months. Losing my touch. I hear Taco King has tables. (smiley face)

  4:35 p.m. Not sure about Taco King. A little too public.

  4:35 p.m. U ashamed of me?

  4:36 p.m. You know better than that.

  4:37 p.m. Then C U there. 8:30-9ish.

  4:37 p.m. You’re going to be the death of me.

  4:38 p.m. Exacly my plan. (kissy face)

  4:41 p.m. to M. Cochran: Guess who Im seeing tomorro nite?

  4:41: p.m. from M. Cochran: !!! thought u had a date with T?

  4:42 p.m. I do. (smiley face)

  4:43 p.m. Call received from M. Cochran. Call terminated 5:19 p.m.

  August 12

  Text exchanges between M. Fletcher and T. Blyler:

  1:14 p.m. to Blyler: Not feeling like a movie tonight. U any good at pool?

  1:15 p.m. from Blyler: Good enough to beat you.

  1:15 p.m. Doubt it. Pick me up at 8.

  1:16 p.m. Where we headed?

  1:17 p.m. Taco
King Hubbard. Three pool tables.

  1:17 p.m. Cool. Been there once or twice. Winner gets whatever he wants.

  1:18 p.m. Whatever she wants. (kissy face)

  August 13:

  All texts and calls:

  12:28 a.m. Text to Alex Gessler: Can you give me a ride home?

  12:29 a.m. Text from Gessler: What the hell was that all about!? Are you trying to get me killed?

  12:30 a.m. Text to Gessler: I need a ride home! Unlock your car so I can hide in it.

  12:30 a.m. Text from Gessler: Why didn’t you tell me he was coming with you? What made you think that was a good idea?

  12:31 a.m. Text to Gessler: Are you taking me home or not?

  12:33 a.m. Text from Gessler: Don’t make matters worse. I’ll call you tomorrow.

  12:34 Text to Gessler: Ur an even bigger pussy than I thot. Btw I’m pregnant. And guess whose the only guy I let go bareback.

  12:35 a.m. Call to Missy Cochran. Call terminated 12:42 a.m.

  12:43 a.m. Call from Missy Cochran; went to voicemail; no message left.

  12:44 a.m. Text from Meghan to Missy: I’m fine, don’t worry. Headed home with loser #1. Ttyl.

  1:19 a.m. Text to Alex Gessler: So what are you going to do BMOC? Going to man up or not?

  1:36 a.m. Text to Gessler: Coward.

  9:25 a.m. Call from Tad Blyler. Went to voicemail. Message recorded: Hey. You still sleeping? That’s okay. Anyway, I just called to say I’m sorry about getting so pissed last night. You know the way I get when I see you talking to other guys. And him especially. I know I gotta work on that, and I will, I promise. Give me a call when you get up, okay? Love you.

  10: 07 a.m. Text from Cochran: What happened last nite?

  10: 51 a.m. Text from Cochran: You ok? Call me!

  10:56 a.m. Call from Cochran. Went to voicemail. Message recorded: What the hell are you doing, Meghan? You need to talk to me. I just need to know you’re okay. Call me! Please!

  11:00 a.m. Call from Cochran. Went to voicemail. No message recorded.

  11:03 a.m. Call from Cochran. Went to voicemail. No message recorded.

  11:06 a.m. Call from Cochran. Went to voicemail. No message recorded.

  Notes:

  Missy Cochran when interviewed made no mention of Meghan’s alleged pregnancy. Nor did Junie Fletcher. They didn’t know? Inquire of medical examiner.

  Telephone call placed to the Cleveland Clinic: Clinic has no record of admitting Richard Hickman for bypass surgery or any other procedure. There is no Dr. Abdus Salam on staff. Online search identified only one Abdus Salam, a theoretical physicist who was co-winner of the Nobel Prize in 1979 for something called the electroweak unification theory. He was the first Muslim to win a Nobel Prize for science.

  Update: The medical examiner has confirmed that Meghan Fletcher was not pregnant at the time of her death. Could Meghan have mistakenly believed that she was pregnant? Or told Gessler she was so as to force the desired outcome?

  Interview with Theodore Blyler

  This interview with Theodore Blyler (25), also known as Tad Blyler, is taking place inside my vehicle at a work site along route 173, Sandy Lake Road, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Mr. Blyler is employed as a carpenter with Bryce Construction. Today is August 14th, and the time is 3:21 p.m.

  DeMarco: According to what you told Chief Melvin, you and Meghan spent approximately a little over five hours at the Taco King Grille last Friday night.

  Blyler: Sounds about right. You mind if I light up?

  DeMarco: Yes I do. This shouldn’t take long. Just need to verify some information.

  Blyler: I can stand outside the car and talk, makes no difference to me.

  DeMarco: I need you to focus here, Tad. It’s nice and cool with the air conditioner running, you have that big field of corn to look at. Let’s just get through this and you can get back to work.

  Blyler: Yeah but I’d like to grab a smoke before I climb back up on that roof.

  DeMarco: Here, take this. The bottle’s never been opened.

  Blyler: Feels warm.

  DeMarco: Warm water is better than lung cancer, isn’t it?

  Blyler: I guess I’ll find out.

  DeMarco: Does Bryce always work you fellas on a Sunday?

  Blyler: The rain don’t care what day it is. We need to button up that roof by nightfall. There’s supposed to be a cell out over Cleveland right now.

  DeMarco: I’ll be as quick as I can. Though I think the rain is going to miss us this time. Last I looked, it was heading north.

  Blyler: Still got to play it safe.

  DeMarco: (after a pause) So how did you and Meghan spend your time at the Taco King?

  Blyler: Had some dinner. That took an hour or so. Then we went into the bar and waited for a pool table to open up. We played a couple games of eight-ball, sat around, talked, listened to the music, played a little more pool. That’s about all there was to do.

  DeMarco: Did you go there frequently with Meghan?

  Blyler: That was the first time with her. I’d been there once or twice in my younger days, back when it was just a shot and beer bar called The Majestic, of all things.

  DeMarco: Whose idea was it to go there last Friday night?

  Blyler: Hers.

  DeMarco: What made her want to go there?

  Blyler: What makes a woman want to do anything? Some idea pops into her head, and that’s that. This time it was playing pool.

  DeMarco: You didn’t mind driving to Ohio just to shoot some pool?

  Blyler: It’s 20 miles, no big deal. Besides, I only had a quarter of a tank in my truck, so I figured I’d save six or seven dollars and fill up over there before coming home.

  DeMarco: And did you?

  Blyler: Yeah, at that Love’s station back toward town. Gas is 40 cents cheaper a gallon there than it is here.

  DeMarco: Approximately what time was it when Alex Gessler arrived at the bar?

  Blyler: So you know about that, huh? (pause) I wasn’t paying much attention to the time, but I’d say… We’d just started shooting pool, so a little after 9:00 maybe?

  DeMarco: Were you aware that he would be there that night?

  Blyler: Hell no.

  DeMarco: But you were aware that he lived over that way, right?

  Blyler: Yeah, but as far as I knew, he was away at college.

  DeMarco: In August?

  Blyler: I guess I didn’t think about that. I mean, Meggie was taking classes. I figured it was normal to go to school in the summer. Truth is, he never entered my mind. He was in her past.

  DeMarco: You knew that he and Meghan had dated in high school?

  Blyler: She told me all about that back when we first got together.

  DeMarco: Did you recognize him when he came into the bar?

  Blyler: Nope. Never saw him before.

  DeMarco: How did you find out who he was?

  Blyler: I asked her.

  DeMarco: Just out of the blue? You said who’s that guy at the bar?

  Blyler: She kept looking over at him and smiling, and he kept looking back. So after a while I asked her what was going on.

  DeMarco: What made you think something was going on?

  Blyler: It was like she was…performing for him, you know? Dancing and singing and always looking his way.

  DeMarco: And how was he reacting to all this?

  Blyler: Honestly, he looked confused. I caught him holding out his hands one time like, you know, what the fuck, girl? That’s when I asked her if she knew him.

  DeMarco: And she said what?

  Blyler: She said, I know him very well. We dated all through high school.

  DeMarco: How did you feel about that?

  Blyler: How do you think I felt?

  DeMarco: Tell me.

  Blyler: Kinda sick. Kinda mad.

  DeMarco: And then what happened?

  Blyler: I said that’s Gessler? And she said yeah, handsome, isn’t he?

  DeMarco: Did that make you
see red?

  Blyler: I was already seeing red. I told her to keep her eyes on the pool table or on me. Those were her only two choices.

  DeMarco: Did she listen?

  Blyler: Not long enough. (pause) We finished our game, and there were other people waiting for the table, so we headed back to our booth. At least I did. I got there and turned around, and she was talking to him up at the bar.

  DeMarco: And what did you do?

  Blyler: I went up and told him to keep his fucking eyes to himself if he knew what was good for him.

  DeMarco: And?

  Blyler: He said some smartass thing like, it’s a free country, he could look anywhere he wanted to look. So I got up in his face a little bit and told him to look at her again and see what happened.

  DeMarco: Keep going. Take me through this.

  Blyler: That’s about all there was too it. He turned around and smiled at her, she kinda laughed a little, so I took her by the arm and I…escorted her back to the booth.

  DeMarco: Would you say you escorted her forcibly?

  Blyler: She didn’t fight me, if that’s what you’re saying.

  DeMarco: So you sat in the booth a while longer. Did you argue?

  Blyler: Hell yes, we argued. (pause) And okay, maybe I said some things I wish I hadn’t. Called her a name or two I shouldn’t have. So then she said she’d find herself another way home, got up and went outside and called her friend Missy.

  DeMarco: How do you know it was Missy she called?

  Blyler: Cause I went out after a while and that’s who she was talking to.

  DeMarco: What do you mean by ‘after a while’?

  Blyler: I don’t know. Five minutes or so.

  DeMarco: You weren’t worried about her being outside alone?

  Blyler: I figured I’d give her a little time to cool off.

  DeMarco: Had you cooled off?