Pulling the Trooth

by Robert P. Wills

“So are you saying that Scott threatened Brian?”

  “If he did,” he leaned forward, “and that’s not an admission, I didn’t know about it.”

  “Who actually runs your company?”

  “I do.” Terrance smirked. “Now.”

  Summer stared at the man. “And your business dealings with Stephanie Dixon?”

  “I don’t have any dealings with her. She’s not... a good fit for our business model.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’m not sure there’s more to say about that.” He shrugged. “Square hole, round peg. It just wouldn’t work.”

  “So did you and Scott operate the franchise equally?” Summer took a different approach. “As partners, that is?”

  “We were more like a board of directors.”

  “That doesn’t sound right.” Summer said.

  Terrance smiled. “Well, it’s not, really. I’m the C-E-O, Brian is... was the C-F-O...”

  “Chief Financial Officer,” Summer said.

  “See? You have some business sense after all. There is hope.” Terrance said. “And we had a board directors,” he held up three fingers. “Three that were elected from the office managers of the various clinics.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t trying to mislead you earlier, I didn’t think you would understand how businesses worked.”

  Summer seethed. “I’m really not interested in that, Doctor. I am just trying to figure out who would want Brian dead.” Summer said flatly. “And I think it’s you.”

  Terrance was taken aback. “What? Me? Be serious.”

  Summer stood. “I think that’s what I’ll tell Detective Thorndyke. He and I have been working closely on this case. I’m getting a front page spread on the whole thing. An exclusive. Above the fold, even.” She smirked. “I don’t think you know how news print works so that means I’m the lead story for what will probably be the entire week.”

  Terrance gestured at the seat. “No, please. The publicity would be horrible. I’m sorry.”

  Summer hesitated. “I don’t see why I should listen to you anymore.”

  Terrance looked up at her, obviously worried.

  “But I suppose I have a few more questions.”

  “Excellent.” Terrance stood and gestured at the chair. “Have a seat then.”

  Summer sat. “So does the death of Scott negatively affect your bottom line?”

  “Wow, right back at it, huh?” Terrance leaned back in his seat. “Actually it does.”

  “Really?”

  “Significantly.” Terrance said. “Scott was a hot head, that’s true but he was excellent at marketing and managing the franchise operations to keep them profitable.” He frowned. “He’s going to be hard to replace.”

  “Who will replace him?”

  “Honestly?” Terrance shrugged. “I’ve no idea. We’ll have a board meeting, maybe pull in all the office managers and see if anyone in-house fits the bill. I am great at getting people on board, opening clinics, sure, but it was Scott that made them successful. We were a perfect match.”

  “Huh.” Summers decided to change her line of questioning. “So who do you think would want Scott dead?”

  Terrance shrugged. “Well, I’m sure that Stephanie doesn’t like him. And Brian, of course.”

  “Because you and... I mean, Scott was pressuring Brian to join the practice by threatening to reveal their affair?”

  “I don’t have any direct knowledge of that, but it sounds plausible.”

  “But you just said Scott ran the finances and you did the recruiting. So why was he recruiting Brian?” She held up her recorder. “Do you want me to play that back for you?”

  The man just stared at Summer.

  Summer waved a hand dismissively. “In any case...”

  “Do you have any questions or just accusations?” Terrance interrupted.

  “It is kind of tough since after all, what you were doing to Brian and Theresa were also the same thing you did to Bill and Heather.”

  Terrance stare turned into wide eyes. “Who the hell are they?”

  “Bill.” Summer said. “And Heather.” She frowned. “I don’t know her last name.

  “I have no idea who you’re talking about.”

  “The Vegas showgirl!”

  Now Terrance smiled. He crossed his legs and leaned forward. “Okay, this is getting good. Who’s the showgirl?”

  “Heather! She and Bill had a fling at a conference. A dentist conference.”

  “Good for them.” He raised his eyebrows. “Good for Bill, actually since she was a Vegas showgirl, I suppose.”

  “I’m being serious.”

  “Me too. I honestly don’t know who you’re talking about.”

  Summer raised her voice. “Stop lying, Doctor Brushwood! Bill Volker works for you!”

  Terrance looked around. “Keep it down.”

  “Well then stop lying. You have Bill come to your conferences so you can do dental work on him. He’s your ringer.”

  “Willie? Sure, I put him up and give him free dental procedures. I’ve never heard him go by Bill.” Terrance held up his hand. “Honest. He’s always been Willie to me.”

  “Well, Willie is staying at the Ritz and he’s pretty upset by it.”

  Terrance fought to keep a smile from his face. “Well, you know...”

  “Oh, I know, Terrance. You want Bill to go away because you ruined his life.”

  “What?” Terrance pointed at himself. “Me? I’m making his life better. What has he told you?”

  “He said that at a conference in Des Moines, he met the love of his life and you and Scott broke them up.”

  “Hah! Willie and a Vegas showgirl? Come on. I mean; have you seen him?”

  Summer considered that. Bill was, when all was said and done, definitely not very attractive- pasty and a bit pudgy was more like it. “Well, sure, but... love is weird sometimes.”

  “So is insanity. Ask Stephanie about him. Ask any of the other women dentists about him. If you give him the time of day, you are suddenly the target of his obsession.” He looked Summer up and down. “Uh oh. Did you... talk to him one-on-one? Show him any sympathy?”

  “Well... I... Maxine and I did talk to him in that horrible hotel you put him up in.” She pointed at him. “Because you want him to quit.”

  “Damn right I do! Practically every woman at the convention has asked me to not bring him around anymore. And if you’re trying to recruit people into your business, you sure as Hell don’t start by making them uncomfortable.”

  “But he and Heather...”

  “Come on, Summer; there is no he and Heather. Sure she might have said good morning to him at one point and the rest was in his crazy head.”

  “So who was Scott’s ringer...”

  “I wish you’d stop calling them that.”

  “Who did Scott bring to the conference in Des Moines?” Summer said.

  “Des Moines?” Terrance thought for a moment. “Oh, that’s right; it was actually Brian’s wife.” He smirked. “She needed a filling and we were using her as way to get Brian on board. We had no idea he didn’t care about her or even about the affair with Stephanie at that point. Seemed like a good plan you know; get the wife on board, and the husband would follow.”

  “Oh.”

  “Hey, she’s Vegas showgirl material, now that I think about it.” He snapped his fingers. “And she didn’t make it to the filling competition either.” His eyes got large. “She told us afterwards that she had stayed in their hotel room because she said there was a weird guy sitting in the hallway! So he must have somehow got it in his mind that she liked him and he started stalking her.”

  “Come on, that’s not what Bill...”

  “But her name isn’t Heather; it’s Ann.”

  “I see,” Summer said, let down.

  “What other fantasies did he tell you?”

  “He’s from Des Moines, Washington?”

  “Okay, that’s true.” Terrance grinned. “I’ve got
to give him that.”

  “He works online?” Summer cringed.

  “Yeah, that’s true too.” Terrance snorted. “Pretty glamorous; he’s a Game Master for this popular online game.”

  “He said he ran a software development company.”

  “He monitors several of their hundreds of servers and when people get into an argument in the game, he pops into the game and settles the dispute. Or if he catches someone breaking the game’s rules of conduct, or taking advantage of a glitch, he jumps in and stops them. He’s a Dungeon Master or Arbitrator or something like that.”

  “Come on...”

  “Honest; he makes about twenty five grand a year doing it. Settling fights between people who live in their parent’s basement and fourteen year old kids. It’s a job, I guess, but it has no dental plan so that’s why he comes to us for procedures.”

  “Oh man.” Summer slouched in her chair.

  “If you want my advice, don’t go near that guy; he’s delusional. You’ll have a Grade-A stalker if you’re not careful.” He smirked. “And if he thinks Scott broke up the love of his life, maybe you even have a murderer on your hands.”

  “He blames you just as much as Scott, just so you know.” Summer said.

  “Geeze. Thanks for the warning.” He put his hands on his knees and pushed himself up. “Anything else?”

  Summer stood as well. “No, I suppose not.” She frowned. “Thanks for your time, Doctor.”

  Terrance hesitated for a moment. “How about I buy you a drink to make up for being rude earlier?”

  “I need to meet my photographer in a little bit,” Summer said.

  “Then a drink until you do.” He smiled. “No strings attached, honest. I was pretty rude and it was uncalled for.”

  “Okay then.” Summer said with a smile of her own. “I’m supposed to meet her at six, so I’ve got some time anyway.” She took out her phone and swiped at her message application. “At the bar with Terrance.” She said then sent the message. She then looked at Terrance, “Letting Maxine know where I’ll be. This is a big place, you know.”

  “Oh, I know. Lots of space around here.” Terrance looked at his watch. “Okay then, we’ve got plenty of time to make amends.” He gestured toward the door, “After you.”

  “Thanks.” Summer said as she walked toward the door. As Terrance followed close behind, he took out his phone and sent a quick text of his own as he tried to convince who he thought the murder was to commit just one... or two more.

  TWENTY-TWO

  Maxine walked to the escalators, heading to the first floor and the concourse that led to the hotel where Brian was staying, next door. When she got to the bottom of it, she went to the main concourse.

  Bill ran up to her. “Maxine!” He said as he skidded to a stop. “I’m glad I found you!”

  Maxine jumped. “What?” She looked around, relieved the area was crowded.

  “How are you?”

  “Okay, I suppose.”

  “Can we talk?” Bill wrung his hands.

  “Well, I have a meeting... an interview I have to get to, so it has to be quick. Otherwise, we can talk later on, if that’s okay.

  Bill shook his head. “I don’t think later on will work.” He moved very close to Maxine. “There’s been a murder!” He whispered.

  Maxine stepped backward, away from him. “That’s terrible.”

  Bill looked left and right. He stepped close again and whispered: “And I’m probably next!”

  “Oh.” Maxine took another step back. “Wait, what? How are you next?”

  “I need to talk to Summer about it!”

  “Can you tell me?”

  “You said you were in a hurry.”

  Maxine frowned. “Yeah, I did.” Without thinking she jerked a thumb toward the convention center behind her. “She’s in there.”

  “Thanks!” Bill ran toward the entrance.

  “N-u-t-s, nuts.” Maxine said. She took out her phone and typed a quick text to Summer: ‘FYI- Crazy Bill looking for you.’

  With a shrug, she walked toward the hotel, hoping Brian was still in his room.

  TWENTY-THREE

  Maxine knocked on Brian’s door in what she hoped was a friendly knock.

  After several seconds, she heard the lock click then the door opened a crack.

  “What do you want now? You want another photo? You’re kind of demanding, you know that?”

  “Demanding?” Maxine shook her head. “No, Brian, no. I’m just running down something for Summer is all.” She smiled. “Can I come in? Just for a little bit?”

  “Inside?” Brian snorted. “That’s all I need with everything else going on; someone seeing a beautiful woman coming into my room.” He still didn’t open the door further. “I don’t think so.”

  “I know you’re being blackmailed by Terrance and Scott, Brian.” Maxine grinned. “Beautiful, huh? Thanks.”

  “Oh man.” Brian closed the door a little more. “How about we do our talking in the lobby?” Brian asked. “In a nice public place.”

  Maxine nodded. “Sure, sure; that works just fine for me.” She gestured. “Let’s go there now.”

  “Let me get dressed first.”

  “Oh, uhm...okay.”

  “Don’t jump to conclusions; I took a shower is all. I’ll meet you downstairs in ten minutes at the fireplace.” Without waiting for a response, he closed the door.

  Maxine pointed toward the elevators. “Okay then, I’ll just meet you there.” She said to the closed door before she turned and walked to the elevator. “Look at me, all beautiful and demanding.”

  True to Brian’s word, less than ten minutes after she sat in front of the large gas fireplace, Brian walked over.

  Brian looked around suspiciously. “Okay then.”

  Maxine gestured at the other overstuffed leather chair in front of the fireplace. “If you want, we can both just look at the flames and pretend to be on our phones so no one suspects anything.” She held up her phone.

  Brian laughed. “That’s pretty cloak and dagger, Maxine.”

  “Well...” She said. “There has been a murder.”

  “Yeah, that’s terrible. Stabbed through the heart like that.” Brian said.

  “Do you mind if I take notes?” Maxine asked. She took out a small pad.”

  “No recorder?”

  “Summer’s the one who usually does the interview. I take the pictures.” She patted her pocket. “Oh.” startled. “Crud. Do you... have a pen? Or a pencil? I should have stolen one from the front desk.”

  Brian laughed. “I’ve got a pen; most doctors carry one.” He reached into his coat pocket and took out a pen. “It’s a Pilot Custom so I’m going to want that back.” He held it out for her.

  Maxine took the pen. It was in Brian’s left hand- he had taken it from his right breast pocket. “Oh, wow.” She said as she pulled the cap off the fountain pen.

  Brian smiled. “What? You don’t like fountain pens?”

  Maxine smiled. “It surprised me is all; I have never actually used a fountain pen.” She looked at it. “These are usually expensive, right?”

  Brian nodded. “You can get a cheap one for four or five bucks at a regular store.” He gestured at the pen. “That one has a Waverly Nib which is best for left handers because it has a slight upturn on the end so it doesn’t jump or snag on the paper. But anyone can use it. It does cost several hundred dollars.”

  “Several hundred?” Now she stared at the pen.

  “They can cost into the thousands. But that’s just being flashy. I think that model just writes really well.”

  “I see.” Maxine put the cap on the end of the pen. “So...”

  Brian stared at her. “So.” He repeated.

  Maxine took a deep breath. “So Terrance and Scott were blackmailing you.”

  “How do you know?”

  “We talked to Stephanie.” Maxine looked down at her pad. “She told us they were going to tell your wife about
the affair if you didn’t join into their.” She looked at him. “What would you call it?”

  “A cage.” Brian said flatly.

  Maxine nodded as she wrote ‘cage’. “Wow, this does write smoothly. But seriously, a cage?”

  “That’s exactly what it is; with my practices...” He spread his arms out wide, “I don’t have near as many as they do, by the way. But with my practices, I’m in charge. I hire people to provide excellent service and fire the ones that don’t. And I like that. I am not going to be someone’s lackey.”

  “Lackey?”

  “L-a-c-k-e-y,” Brian spelled.

  “Yeah, I know.” Maxine wrote. ‘Not a lackey’, then because she was enjoying writing with the fountain pen, she added ‘likes to be the boss’. “I see. So you didn’t want to be just a rank and file dentist again.”

  Brian brought his hands down to his knees. “Who would? I mean, why go from being in charge to being told what to do? I’ve got plenty of money, enough to do what I want when I want. What do I need more for?” He frowned. “Greedy bastards is what they are.”

  “They want to be the Coors of the dentist world.”

  Brian laughed. “That’s a good way of putting it. But I still told them no.”

  “Who hit you in the eye?”

  There was a long pause before Brian answered. “Stephanie did.” He exhaled slowly. “She said I betrayed her.” His exhale became a laugh. “Isn’t that a riot? A mistress saying she was betrayed!”

  “How did you betray her?”

  “When they told me they would tell my wife if I didn’t join them, Stephanie was sure I would keep our affair secret and join their practice.”

  “And you didn’t?”

  “I told those two to tell my wife because I cared as much about her as I did Stephanie.”

  “Ouch. Did she hear you say that?”

  “I don’t see how she couldn’t; she was in the room when I said it. It was in the back room before the extraction demonstration.”

  Maxine decided not to confront him on the difference between a demonstration and a competition and instead asked. “So where were you later that day? When Scott was busy being killed?”

  “I was here.” Brian said. “Talking to my wife on the phone. I was telling her how the conference was going.” Brian’s phone played a tune.