I wasn't sure how to respond. I said, "Mcgarrity Associates is an… insurance company? Is that correct?" I don't know why I was surprised to realize the nature of the business I'd called, but I was.
"Agency. We're the largest independent in Routt County. Serving our clients since 1982"
"What kind of insurance do you sell?"
"Home, auto, health, life, disability-you name it, we sell it. Soup to nuts.
Are you looking for malpractice? Because if you are, I'm afraid we don't do that." I heard a second line ringing in the background. Her voice jumped an octave as she said, "Oh my, but things are starting to hop around here. Now may I please tell Win what this is all about?"
I wasn't sure I was ever going to get past this woman who was guarding the door and actually speak with Winston Mcgarrity. I decided to use what I assumed would function as the verbal equivalent of a skeleton key. I said, "Please tell him I'm calling about Gloria Welle." She said, "Gloria? Really? Oh my! Just a moment. Oh my!" "Hi," he said, "this is Win." His voice was softer than mine, which made it as soft as a whisper.
"Mr. Mcgarrity, my name is-," I began. Before I could say another word, he interrupted.
"Win. Mr. Mcgarrity is my father. You're Doctor…?"
"Gregory. Call me Alan."
"Alan, what can I do for you? I already understand from Louise that you're not buying anything, you're not selling anything, and you're not complaining about anything. So right off the bat-just from the point of view of complete novelty-you have my undivided attention " I smiled.
"I'll try to be brief. I'm calling about a recent meeting that you had with a Washington Post reporter by the name of-"
"Dorothy Levin-Dorothy. What a shame what happened to her. What a complete and utter shame. I liked her. She talked a bit fast for my taste. And she smoked like my brother-in-law's John Deere. I tried to tell her that her premiums would be much lower if she just stopped smoking. Health, life, everything. She wouldn't listen; they never do, the smokers. But I liked her. Know what else?
Tragedy is that at the time she disappeared she was severely under insured Young ones often are" Actual tragedy was, I thought, that it mattered that she was under insured I said, "I'm fond of her, too, Win. The meeting I was talking about? I understand that you spoke with her the day before she-"
"Actually, didn't just speak with her, I had dinner with her. Nice place in town called Antares? You ever been there?"
Before I had a chance to acknowledge that I had, he said, "Well, try it next time you're up here. Use my name if you like, may get you a kick in the rear."
He laughed. I sensed that his self-deprecation was not exactly genuine.
"I recommend the mixed grill. Dorothy had it on my advice. And I think she enjoyed it just fine. That's my memory anyway."
"Do you mind if I ask what you talked about? Why she-"
"Why she thought I might know something that might interest the Washington Post?" The interruptions were becoming less jarring. I was actually beginning to expect him to finish my sentences for me. And I had to admire he was doing a pretty fair job of anticipating my drift.
"Don't exactly know. Somebody probably gave her the name of some local citizens who might have been considered movers and shakers in this town back in the eighties and early nineties. You collect enough lists like that, my name would probably show up on one or two. I've been here awhile. I've made some friends over the years. I've been lucky enough to own some land in some of the right places. And unlucky enough to own in a few of the wrong ones, too." He chuckled.
"But nobody ever really wants to talk about the mistakes I made. Dorothy never would say exactly how my name came up. Turned out, though, that what she wanted to talk about was Ray Welle's campaign finances for the primary elections he lost ten years or so ago. The first couple of elections. It was a short conversation cause I didn't have much to say. I didn't run with Ray Welle's herd back then."
He laughed self-consciously.
"Truth is that I don't run with Ray's herd now."
I tried to keep my tone conversational as I said, "And after you were done talking about Ray, that's when you and Dorothy started discussing Gloria Welle's murder?"
He hadn't been able to anticipate the end of that question. When he spoke again his voice was suddenly a little raspy, as though his throat had dried considerably. He asked, "Now how did you know that?"
I considered lying but didn't.
"Dorothy sent me a note the night before she disappeared. Said she'd had an interesting dinner with someone who had some unusual theories about Gloria's death. She knew that the whole episode out at the Silky Road is an interest of mine."
"Why's that? Curious interest for someone." I'd anticipated the question and told him that I'd recently befriended Kevin Sample.
He said, "Oh." His voice grew even fainter at the mention of the Sample name. I pressed the phone hard against my ear in a vain attempt to increase the volume.
Win asked, "How is that boy?"
"He's in veterinary school in Fort Collins. He's doing better than you would expect."
"Good. Good. I'm relieved to hear that. Life like that boy had when he was young-could have ended up with all kinds of tragic outcomes. Hey, I'm sure you don't want to play guessing games with me, so I'll just tell you what I told Dorothy about Gloria's death. No harm there. Curious thing is, only a week or so before he killed Gloria, Brian called me and asked about buying some additional life insurance."
Really?" For himself?"
"For himself, that's right. Well, I knew of course what had been happening to the Samples-everyone in town did. I knew about his son's terrible accident.
And Brian's suicide attempt, too. But I heard him out, polite and professional as can be. When he was all done, I told him the honest-to-God truth, which was that, if he insisted, I'd take his application right then over the phone. But I explained that there wasn't much likelihood that any of the companies that I represent were going to be too eager to underwrite a life insurance policy on him after looking at his recent medical history."
"You were referring to the suicide attempt?"
"Yes, that's right, I was."
"And?"
"And nothing. He asked me a few questions about the way the policies worked, the underwriting and all, and after I explained, he said he understood. He hadn't even known that the policy he had already bought from me just before his son's car accident-that one was for two hundred and fifty thou-he didn't even understand that if he had died from his recent suicide attempt, it wouldn't have paid death benefits."
"And that's because…?"
"There's a grace period, a waiting period if you will, on life insurance policies so that someone can't just buy one and then kill himself the next day.
The waiting period on Brian's existing policy wasn't up. He didn't remember that. Anyway, I answered all his questions and he thanked me for my time. Brian had always been a gentleman and he was that day as well. He was a gentleman right up until the very end, I would say."
"Do you think he was thinking that he might die while he was doing whatever he was planning to do at the Welles' ranch? Do you think that's why he wanted the additional life insurance?"
"Don't see any other possible conclusion. Do you?"
"No sir," I said, "I don't."
It all made more sense than it had before.
At least a week before he made his way out to the Silky Road Ranch, Brian Sample had already decided to seek his revenge on Raymond Welle. He assumed that his plan for vengeance might result in his death. In fact, he judged it to be enough of a risk that he endeavored to increase the insurance on his own life prior to kidnapping Gloria Welle.
In our recent meeting, Kevin Sample had been eager to view his father's optimism and relative ebullience the morning he died as a sign that his depression had abated. The exact opposite might have been true. The reality is that the mood of a suicidal individual often brightens after he has decided on a plan that will end his life. Many families and many psychotherapists are fooled by the improvement in mood and lulled into believing that self-destructive danger has ameliorated. It appeared likely that the morning Kevin Sample had breakfast with his father, Brian Sample was more talkative because he had already settled on a plan that was likely to end his life.