"He killed himself Mac. We couldn't reach him at home so we went to the office. Found him dead at his desk. Swallowed a bullet...and Mac there was a note. Short and to the point, 'I DID IT', neatly typed next to the body."
Mac didn't believe it for a minute.
"Describe the scene to me."
Simpson went through everything they found. "The gunshot wound was through the mouth up into his brain. No sign of an exit wound. His fingers were still wrapped around the gun, a 38." "What position was the body in?"
"Forward on the desk. The note has his blood on it."
"He didn't kill himself."
"Mac." Simpson said calmly as he still stood over the dead body. "I'm standing here looking at the man. He's dead. The guard at the front told us no one has come in or out all day..."
"Sit in a chair, take your gun out and pretend you are offing yourself just the way he did. Try and angle the gun in the exact same position he did. Tell me what you feel."
There was silence on the phone until Simpson picked it back up again. "I would have fallen backwards from the angle of my head and the force of the bullet...and the kickback from the gun would have cause me to drop it." Simpson was dead quiet as he thought this newest revelation through.
"There is either a glass of liquor on the desk which I'm sure is spiked or you are going to find he was knocked unconscious before the murderer fed him the bullet."
"There is a drink on the desk, I'll have it checked out...fuck Mac...this is getting bad. Maybe it wasn't a jealous lover, maybe it had something to do with the business."
Simpson was always in awe how Mac could logically think through a murder scene and know immediately cause and effect. The fact that he was across town and didn't even see the body impressed him even more. "No...it was jealous lover. Someone killed Wallace and left the note for two reasons; one was to make us think he did it figuring that we'd jump at the opportunity to close the case because of the circumstances and the other was because we are getting too close to him and he needed the attention off himself."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Lock and seal the office. No one goes in or out until the case is closed. Post a police officer outside the door."
"Yes boss."
"It's Sunday, go have Sunday dinner with your family. I'll be here tonight."
Mac hung the phone up only to have it ring again. "I spoke with Jessie." Standish said without the formality of saying hello. His voice was low and filled with sexual desire and Mac knew that was directed at him. "He said that in the past year the only person in the apartment that wasn't a part of our group was Cecil George."
"THE Cecil George, the king of Wall Street, the 'I've got all the money in the world'?"
"Yeah him. Good looking SOB but he's a sadistic fucker. He came on the scene a few years back. He's been trying to worm his way into our circle for a couple of years but no one likes him and everyone is afraid of him. He has a live-in slave -- name's Dolan. Dolan is his manservant and fuck toy, but can't take the pain that Cecil likes to dish out so he's constantly on the prowl for men to torture." "How did they meet?"
"Mac we are all rich influential men and we all run in the same circles. My wife knows his wife,that type of thing. I imagine that they met at a gala or a fund raising event. He's a lot like Waldo he's a staunch top that wouldn't even consider being a bottom at all -- won't even suck cock and has an ego bigger than New York. He thinks his cock is an instrument to be worshiped and anyone that touches it will instantly fall for him. He likes to inflict pain, lots and lots of pain."
"Loren liked pain?"
"Loren liked everything -- and I do mean everything but more than that Shelby loves pain. I mean he really gets into it. I don't know if Shelby had been Cecil or not, but if he was he would have loved him. As far as Loren, there wasn't anything he wouldn't try or do. Jessie said that they were only together a few times, and each time he left Loren was sore for days. I can also tell you that Cecil couldn't have done this...I know that for a fact. This time it's the truth - Cecil has been out of the country for the past month. He's been in England on behalf of the government working on getting aid to rebuild after the war."
Mac contemplated Standish's thoughts on Cecil George. Mac also knew that he needed to let Standish know about William Wallace. "After I left you this morning did you speak with anyone?"
"Other than Jessie...no."
"You are most likely going to hear about soon enough. William Wallace is dead."
There was silence on the phone as Standish absorbed Mac's words.
"What happened?" Standish asked in a morose tone.
"Someone killed him, tried to make it look like a suicide. Left a note saying 'I did it' at the scene. But we've already blown the lid off that."
"Oh Mac, this is getting serious."
"Yes, I know. Standish I don't want to invade the privacy of the group, but is there anyone else in the group that might have it out for Loren or might feel he has a lot to lose if his secrets came to light?"
There was a long silence. "I can speak honestly about the group without giving you any names." He finally said. Cappy knows everyone in the group and if you feel you need to talk to anyone I think it would be best that Cappy did that."
"I understand."
"Back when the group formed, we decided we wanted to keep it small so we restricted it to twenty men. Waldo, Sam, Loren, Lancaster, Cappy and I are six of the names you know. There are two politicians, they spend a great deal of their time in Washington but manage a weekend here and there. There is another judge, on the state level, three well known attorneys, a museum curator, two members of the arts and the other five men are just very rich powerful businessmen. As I explained to you yesterday we have all had each other, in one way or another, plus when we are together we are allowed to bring a date to any of our get-togethers if we are so inclined. I would say that of those twenty men at least two of them saw Loren outside of gatherings but to the best of my knowledge none of them had any emotional attachment to him."
"But you did?"
"I had a very special relationship with Loren that went beyond the sex we shared. I was his confidant, he was mine. Mac, when Waldo called and told me about Loren I cried for the first time in my life. I actually couldn't imagine how I could go on without him in my life anymore."
"When you heard he was murdered who did you first think might have done it."
"Waldo" he said slowly and precisely, "only because I was with Shelby that night." It didn't surprise Mac one bit to hear him say that. "Stan, I want you and Jessie to be especially careful." Mac was truly concerned that whoever was doing this knew they had nothing to lose and would strike out at anyone and everyone they could. "I can arrange for police protection if you'd like."
"No...I don't need someone getting in my business. I will be careful. We can go to my hunting lodge in upstate New York. My wife will think nothing of me going there for a few days."
"Can you tell your wife you are going someplace other than the lodge?"
"Mac...you are scaring me."
