Page 62 of Killer Honeymoon
The older man sighed and shook his head. “It’s not looking good for him, is it? I’m struggling to wrap my head around it all. What would’ve caused Gary to kill these two men?”
Royce looked over to the cruiser where the mayor waited. “Let’s find out what Gary took from the safe.” Like Sawyer, Royce thought that was the key to the entire investigation.
They waited on-site until the coroner left with the body and the officers secured the premises. Chesterfield handed down strict orders that no one was permitted to enter the house for any reason unless accompanied by the chief or a detective from the state police.
Royce and Sawyer followed Lowell to his squad car. Sawyer didn’t call out shotgun, but Royce let him have the front seat anyway. The young officer looked less green around the gills and even started chatting more freely as they drove to the island’s tiny precinct.
“We mostly just get golf cart violations and hand out drunk and disorderly citations,” Lowell said. “Two murders so close together is unimaginable.”
“Let’s hope it’s an isolated occurrence going forward,” Sawyer said.
The interview room was smaller than their closet back home in Savannah, but they squeezed four adult males around the table. The chief sat next to Leighton Massie while Sawyer and Royce sat opposite him.
Chesterfield turned on the video equipment and noted the date, time, and parties present. Then he looked at the mayor and said, “Start from the beginning.”
They listened as Leighton talked about the past forty-eight hours of storm prep and cleaning up the aftermath. “I haven’t been home in all that time. When I finally did return, I noticed the garage door had been shimmied open.”
“You didn’t think to call the police?” Royce asked.
“I didn’t anticipate finding a dead body inside,” Leighton said with an edge of defensiveness coloring his voice. He heaved a weighted breath. “I guess I don’t know what I expected, but not that.”
“It’s okay,” the chief told him. “What did you find inside?”
“The first thing I noticed when I entered the house through the garage was that the light was on in my office. I know for a fact I hadn’t left it on. I hadn’t been in my home office for days prior. That’s when I noticed the coppery smell and something fouler.” The man’s lips quivered, and he broke into a sob. “I… He…”
The chief patted Leighton’s shoulder. “Take it easy, Leigh.”
The mayor sucked in a shaky breath and tried to continue his story. The chief pushed a glass of water in front of him and encouraged the man to take a drink and a few deep breaths to settle down.
“I will never know what possessed me to walk down the hall and enter my office.” He burst into another round of sobs but gathered himself quickly. Leighton reached for tissues from the box and dabbed at his eyes. “If not for the anchor tattoo on the leg, I wouldn’t have known who had been killed.”
Royce had responded to murders where shotguns were used on the victim, and he wouldn’t wish the gruesome discovery on anyone. “I’m truly sorry you saw that,” he said.
The mayor looked directly at Royce. “Why would someone be so vicious? And why inmyhouse?”
“Leigh,” the chief said gently, “did you notice your safe was open?”
The mayor shook his head vigorously. “I only saw Todd.” The realization of what Chesterfield asked rolled over Leighton in slow waves. His shoulders stiffened, his eyes widened, and his mouth fell open on a small gasp. He looked at the chief. “How? I’ve never shared the combination with anyone.”
Had Todd and Gary entered the house together to rob the safe before Gary turned on Todd? Or had Gary ambushed Todd and taken the prize?
“Someone used a blast of some kind to open the safe,” the chief explained. “We think the safe’s contents are key to solving Todd’s and Lester’s murders.”
Either Leighton Massie was well and truly flummoxed by the idea, or the man was one hell of an actor. “Impossible. I just had the usual items in there.”
“Such as?” Sawyer prompted. “What you think is typical might seem spectacular to someone else, especially a person who’s desperate or feels trapped. Listen, the four of you met to play poker, right?”
Leighton looked at the chief, who told the mayor he wasn’t looking to bust anyone for a little poker game. Everyone in the room knew something salacious was going on, and if they wanted Leighton to confirm their suspicions with the details, they needed him to relax. Leighton confirmed Sawyer’s question with a nod.
“Two of the four men are dead, and one is missing,” Sawyer said.
“And safes at both crime scenes were emptied,” Royce added.
A look of regret washed over the chief’s face as he studied someone he viewed as a friend. “I’m worried for your safety, Leigh.”
Leighton sucked in a sharp breath, then shook his head like he had a debate with the voices inside his mind. “I’m telling you. I didn’t have anything valuable there. No cash or jewelry. Just my passport and important legal documents.” Leighton stiffened and jerked his head toward the chief. “I think I know what they were looking for.”
“We’re listening,” the chief said.