And Decker desperately needed something to go right.
He left the apartment, got back into his truck, and set off for his next stop.
Betsy O’Connor, Toby Babbot’s last known roommate.
Chapter 40
“It was beyond horrible, what happened to him.”
Decker was sitting at a coffee shop. Across the table from him was Betsy O’Connor, who worked as a waitress there. She was about five-five with a blocky build. Her graying hair was cut short and a pair of eyeglasses dangled on a chain around her neck. Decker had gauged her age at closer to fifty than forty.
He spooned some sugar into his coffee and said, “So you lived with him for a few years?”
“Yes. I mean, it was totally platonic,” she hastily added. “My husband was an ass who liked to beat me when things went wrong in his life. I dated a couple of guys after my divorce and found them to be much the same. So, I’ve chucked men, at least for the foreseeable future.”
“But Babbot was different?”
“Look, Toby had his issues, but he was basically a good guy who’d had a crappy life. That’s why we were living together. We had to. We couldn’t make ends meet otherwise.”
“How’d you two come to know each other?”
O’Connor looked a bit embarrassed. “At an addiction meeting. We were both coming off issues with pain pills and trying to get our lives back on track. We were both working, but the jobs just didn’t pay enough. Together, though, we made enough to live in a small house.”
“I understand that he’d been in an accident. Had an injury to his head?”
“That’s right. At the construction site, when they were building the fulfillment center. That was such a rough time for him. At first the company was helpful, but then they got nasty and cut him off.”
“I understand there was an issue with alcohol?” said Decker.
“That was trumped up. Toby hadn’t had a drop of alcohol for years. I would know. I lived with him when all that was going on. He worked so hard trying to get back to normal.”
“But he never did get back to normal?”
“No. He tried but just couldn’t keep a job. And I tried to make things work for us, but in the end my paycheck just wouldn’t cover the expenses. So we had to move out. Broke my heart. I really liked that place. It was my first real home after my divorce.”
“We found quite a few prescription bottles in his trailer. They were all painkillers.”
“Well, he was in a lot of pain because of his injuries.”
“I understand that you now live with some other people in an apartment?”
O’Connor dropped her gaze and fingered her coffee. “Yes, like when you’re in your twenties. But I’m not a kid anymore. It wasn’t the future I had mapped out at this stage of my life, but there you go. This job only pays minimum wage with no benefits. I work another job part time after I leave here, but both don’t even add up really to a livable wage.”
“Did you ever try getting hired at Maxus?”
“Me and every other person in town. They employ a lot of people and it’s really the only thing going here now. But I couldn’t pass the physical requirements. Lifting all that weight and walking all that way. Or running, more like it. I’m probably going to have to move. I’m burned out on this place. I need a fresh start.”
“Babbot lived in a trailer after he stopped living with you. Did you ever visit him there?”
O’Connor nodded. “Several times. I’d bring him some home-cooked food. Give him a few dollars. I hated that he was living in that trailer. It didn’t even have electricity or running water.”
“Somebody burned the trailer down.”
O’Connor looked alarmed. “What?”
“While my partner and I were in it.”
“Dear God!”
Decker pulled out the sheet of graph paper that he had penciled in.
“Did you ever see this while you were at Babbot’s trailer?”
She examined the page. “No, what is it?”
“It’s basically the construction plans for the fulfillment center.”
“Why would Toby have had that?”
“I was hoping you could tell me. Did he ever mention working on the center?”
“Before he was injured he seemed to like the construction work. It paid pretty well, and he didn’t have to lift stuff. He drove a forklift and other heavy equipment. Maybe this paper relates to the work he did there.”
“But I don’t know why he would bother to replicate construction drawings on graph paper. Did he say anything about the center after he was injured?”
“Not much until they turned against him. Then he was angry.”
“How angry?”
“Well, since he’s gone now, I guess it doesn’t matter. He said he was going to get back at them.”
“How?”
“He never said.” She paused. “You don’t think he was planning to, oh, I don’t know, maybe bomb the place? Would that be why he would have made those drawings?”
“It’s possible. Do you think he was capable of that?”
“Before his injury, no. But after, he changed. Head injuries can change you, did you know that?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard something like that,” Decker said drily. “So, you think it was possible for him to be violent?”
“I don’t want to think that. He never was with me. But I guess it was possible. They really had screwed him.”
“Anyone in particular?”
“It was mostly the company lawyers. Toby didn’t have the money to hire anyone, so he handled all that himself. It was a chore, I can tell you that. Lawyers can be nasty.”
“No one wanted to take it on contingency?”
“Toby said there weren’t that many lawyers left in town, and none of them wanted to get on the bad side of the biggest employer in town.”
Decker nodded. “Did he ever mention Joyce Tanner, Michael Swanson, or Bradley Costa?”
“No, never. But wasn’t Joyce Tanner the name of the woman he was found with?”
“Yes.”
O’Connor shrugged. “Well, he never mentioned her to me.”
“How about John Baron?”
She frowned. “He lives in the mansion on the hill.”
“Yeah. Although I’ve been up there and I wouldn’t call it a mansion anymore.”
“Well, it’s a lot more than I’ve got.”
“But did Babbot ever mention John Baron?” asked Decker.
“Not that I can recall. I’m not from here, but Baron’s not very well liked, is he?”
“Not very.”
O’Connor said, “I’ve heard some people say he’s really rich. That he has money stashed away up there.”
“And he lives like a pauper because why?”
“I know, I could never figure that out either.”
“There was a Bible verse written on the wall of the room where Babbot’s body was found.”
O’Connor looked curious. “The paper said something about that.”
“Does that ring any bells for you? Was Babbot religious?”
“Toby never went to church as far as I know.”
“So, nothing else you can remember?”
She thought for a few moments. “I really don’t think so. Toby was a good man who just got dealt a bad hand. I guess that could describe a lot of us. But then again, our life is what we make it, right? Bad choices. You can’t blame others for that.”
“I guess not.” Decker rose to leave.
“Mr. Decker, do you think you can find who killed Toby, and the others?”
“That’s what I’m trying to do.”
“He didn’t deserve to die like that.”
“I can’t really think of anyone who does.”
Chapter 41
Back in his truck Decker took out the piece of graph paper and studied it more closely. Then he lifted the paper so it was only a few inches from his face.