When a Stranger Comes to Town by Michael Koryta

Author:Michael Koryta
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
Published: 2021-02-22T00:40:58+00:00

* * *

The next day was a Thursday, and it was raining heavily when I woke up. I figured I’d stay in bed all day watching movies and trying to enjoy my new bachelor life, but that plan went out the door when a pair of cops knocked on my door asking me about Howard. One of the cops was in uniform and the other was wearing black cargo pants and a polo shirt with an embroidered badge on one side and the name Wilson on the other.

“You drove Mr. Howard to a hotel and then to a strip club,” Wilson said. “But only the trip to the hotel showed up in the app Mr. Howard used.”

I wanted to know how they knew that so quickly. There was no way they got a warrant for the phone that quickly, so somebody must have told them. But I also wanted to help, for the time being, so I told them what I knew and gave them a full recap of the night’s events.

“What time was it when you dropped them off at the hotel?” Wilson asked.

“I wasn’t really paying attention to the clock,” I said, “but it was late. Maybe 3 a.m.?”

“Maybe?”

“I wasn’t keeping a journal or anything. Didn’t think it would be important. Why are you asking?”

“Did you talk to Mr. Howard at all after you dropped him off at the hotel?”

“No. Why are you asking me these questions?”

Wilson looked at the uniformed officer, who gave no response at all.

“Mr. Howard killed a stripper named Misty Maize in his hotel room this morning after what appears to be a lovers’ quarrel and then killed himself. We’re trying to tie up any loose ends that might be—”

“Misty was the love of his life. He wouldn’t kill her. It was his birthday.” Even as I said it, I knew how naive I sounded, but I was trying to justify my involvement and pretend like I hadn’t been absolutely played by Howard.

The cops nodded condescendingly and left their cards so I could call if I thought of anything important. I threw the cards in a bowl by the door where I kept my keys and loose change and went back to bed. My body wasn’t used to staying out that late, and the rain made it easy to justify trying to catch up on those missed hours of sleep, but every time I closed my eyes, my imagination tried to reconstruct the scene in Howard’s hotel room and see if there was a way I could have stopped it.

My phone buzzed several times, but I ignored it and tried to watch TV instead. A few minutes into a Hallmark mystery movie, my cable went out. When I reached for my phone, I saw two missed calls and a text message from Howard, plus two more missed calls from a number I didn’t recognize. I’d put Howard’s number in my phone before going to pick him up in case he tried to contact me, and I hadn’t gotten around to deleting it yet.

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