bathroom.”
“Closet,” said Blum, and she opened the door and poked her head in.
Laredo looked at Pine. “Guess that leaves you and me for the bedroom.”
Pine gave him a funny stare but didn’t reply.
A thorough search took all of about thirty minutes.
Wallis had found nothing unusual in the bathroom, and all the meds in the medicine cabinet were over-the-counter.
Pine and Laredo had tossed the bedroom and found pretty much nothing.
However, Blum had struck gold in the closet and laid out some of her finds on the bed.
“Look at all this,” said Wallis as they stared down at the women’s clothing, underclothes, shoes, and purses Blum had placed on the bed.
“These look like serious performance outfits to me,” said Pine. She held up one outfit and then the shoes that matched it.
“I agree,” said Blum. “And this stuff is not cheap. This is first-rate material and workmanship.”
“And he lives in this dump?” said Wallis.
“Maybe he spent all his money on clothes,” quipped Laredo.
Pine held up a pair of white panties. “Maybe this explains the Army kicking him out.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” said Blum.
“I thought they had ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ for homosexuals,” said Wallis.
Pine said, “That’s no longer the law. But even then, just because he has all this stuff doesn’t mean he was gay. And let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For all we know these clothes belong to someone else. Maybe a woman who stayed here.”
Blum added, “Or Gillespie could have been a cross-dresser or a drag queen. If he were a cross-dresser, that could be why the Army might have let him leave with a general discharge, or else they could have been facing some legal trouble. But how they handled his discharge may have been their way of telling him what they thought of his lifestyle.”
Pine said, “What the hell? I mean, if he could do the job, he could do the job.”
Wallis interjected, “He might have been a distraction in his unit. Or maybe he did something else. I’m inclined to give the Army the benefit of the doubt.”
Pine said, “Well, Gillespie might have been working at some club around here. If he was gay, there is a strong scene in Savannah.”
“How do you know that?” said Wallis.
“I’ve been here before. And if you know where to look, the vibe is pretty obvious.”
“For such a quaint Southern town,” added Blum primly. “Who would have thought?”
“I know I’m just an old fart, but I don’t understand any of that stuff,” said Wallis. “But live and let live, that’s my motto.”
“Well, the guy who killed Gillespie obviously didn’t get that memo,” said Pine. “So let’s go talk to the apartment manager again.”
“Why?” asked Wallis.
“Because I’m pretty sure he knows all about it.”
“No way that old guy is gay,” said Wallis confidently.
“I’m not saying he is or he isn’t. I’m just saying I think he knows stuff. So let’s go see.”
Chapter 37
THE MANAGER’S NAME, he told them when they returned, was Clarence Spotter. He was sixty-eight years old, had a male partner, knew the gay community in Savannah well, and also was aware that Gillespie was working as a dancer at a nightclub called the Silver Shell.
He shook his head sadly when he was told of the man’s death.
“Damn shame. Layne was a good person.”
“Did he have any friends?” asked Pine. “Folks he hung out with who could help us?”
“He never had anybody come by here. You can check at the Shell. You might find somebody who knows something. Andersonville?” He shook his head again.
“He ever mention the place to you?” asked Wallis.
“No. He was in the Army for a spell till they made him get out. He traveled a lot then before coming here, least that’s what he told me. Maybe he just wanted to settle down.”
“We knew about his leaving the military but just didn’t know the circumstances.”
“I never really knew, either. But I imagine it had something to do with who he was.” He added sardonically, “The Army probably likes its soldiers in pants at all times.”
“You know you could have told us all this when we first got here,” pointed out Wallis.
Spotter smiled. “Sure I could have. But I decided not to.”
“Why not?” asked Laredo.
“’Cause you never told me what happened to Layne, that’s why. You want the whole truth from me, you got to be reciprocal, all I’m asking.”
“That’s fair,” replied Blum.
As they were walking back to the car, Wallis shook his head. “Never would have pegged that guy as a homosexual. He