from Akron and take the elevator to the third floor where Tyler has a large suite. I follow him to a terrace with a lovely view of the beach and ocean beyond. He fetches two beers from a fridge and we sit down for a talk.
He begins with “I admire you, Post, for what you’re doing. I really do. I walked away from Quincy because I had no choice, but I’ve never believed he killed Keith Russo. I still think of him often.”
“Who did?”
He exhales and takes a long drink from his bottle. He gazes at the ocean. We are under a large umbrella on a terrace, with no sign of human activity anywhere in the vicinity except for some distant laughter on the beach. He looks at me and asks, “Are you wearing a wire, Post?”
Not today. Thankfully.
“Come on, Tyler. I’m not a cop.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“No. I’m not wearing a wire. You need a strip search?”
He nods and says, “Yes.”
I nod back, no problem. I step away from the table and strip down to my boxers. He watches closely, and when I’ve gone far enough he says, “That’s good.”
I get dressed and return to my seat and my beer.
He says, “Sorry about that, Post, but I can’t be too careful. You’ll understand later.”
I raise both hands and say, “Look, Tyler, I have no idea what you have on your mind, so I’ll just shut up and you do the talking, okay? I know you realize that everything is deathly confidential. The people who killed Keith Russo are still around, somewhere, and they’re afraid of the truth. You can trust me, okay?”
He nods and says, “I think so. You asked me who killed Russo, and the answer is I don’t know. I have a good theory, in fact an excellent one, and when I tell my story I think you’ll agree.”
I take a swig and say, “I’m all ears.”
He takes a deep breath and tries to relax. Alcohol is important here and I drain my bottle. He gets two more beers from the fridge, then leans back in his chair and gazes across the ocean. “I knew Keith Russo, and pretty well. He was about ten years older and going places, already tired of the small town and dreaming of something bigger. I wasn’t particularly fond of him, no one was really. He and his wife were making some money repping drug dealers in Tampa, even had an apartment down there. Lots of rumors around Seabrook that they were planning to pull up stakes, leave the backwater, and step into the big leagues. He and Diana kept to themselves, like they were a cut above the rest of us small-time ham-and-eggers. Occasionally, they were forced to get their hands dirty when things were slow—divorces, bankruptcies, wills and deeds—but that work was beneath them. The job Keith did for Quincy in his divorce was pathetic and Quincy was rightly ticked-off. They picked the perfect stooge, didn’t they, Post? Disgruntled client goes berserk and kills lazy lawyer.”
“Their plan worked.”
“Yes it did. The town was shocked. Quincy got arrested and everybody breathed easier. All the lawyers hid, everyone but me, and I got the call. Had no choice. At first I figured he was guilty, but he soon convinced me otherwise. I took the case and it ruined my law practice.”
“You did a marvelous job at trial.”
He waves me off. “I don’t care anymore. That was another life.” He leans in close on his elbows, as if things are now even more serious. “This is what happened to me, Post. I’ve never told anyone this story, not even my wife, and you can’t repeat it. Not that you’ll want to because it’s too dangerous. But here’s what happened. After the trial I was emotionally and physically exhausted. I was also disgusted with the trial and the verdict and I hated the system. But after a few weeks some of the fire returned because I had to do the appeal. I worked on it day and night and convinced myself that I could sway the Florida Supreme Court, something that rarely happens.”
He takes a drink and studies the ocean. “And the bad guys were watching me. I just knew it. I became paranoid about my phones, apartment, office, car, everything. There were two anonymous phone calls and both times a really eerie male voice said, ‘Back off.’ That’s it. Just, ‘Back off.’ I couldn’t report this to the police because