The Big Gamble - Michael Mcgarrity [115]
“Pooh,” Fletcher said, smiling broadly at the compliment. “You know full well that I am always home to visitors. I thrive on distraction. Come in, dear boy. Join me in the kitchen for a cup of coffee.”
Kerney sat at the large antique Spanish colonial table, where he’d spent many pleasant hours chatting with Fletcher, and told him about Jack Potter’s murder. On an open shelf above a kitchen counter, a small menagerie of hand-carved, wooden folk-art animal figures—two chickens, a rabbit, and a pig—overlooked the scene.
Fletcher’s cheery expression vanished. “You can’t be serious,” he said, his voice filled with dismay. He filled Kerney’s coffee cup with a shaky hand and replaced the carafe in the coffeemaker. “This is tragic.”
Kerney nodded solemnly. “What can you tell me about Jack that I don’t already know?”
“You can’t be thinking that Norman had anything to do with it,” Fletcher said as he sat down across from Kerney.
“Norman is in London. He doesn’t know what happened, unless of course, he hired a contract killer.”
“Don’t be absurd,” Fletcher replied. “This will break the poor man’s heart. They were such a loving couple, perfect for each other. How familiar are you with Jack’s private life?”
“Until he came out, I just figured him to be the confirmed bachelor type,” Kerney said. “I’ve met Norman socially, but Jack never talked to me about any of his personal relationships or his family.”
“Until Jack met Norman he’d kept his sexual orientation out of public view,” Fletcher said. “His love for Norman helped him realize that being gay was something to openly celebrate. As far as family goes, he was an only child and both his parents are dead. He is close to an aunt who is retired and lives in Tucson. Jack and Norman visit her several times a year.”
“Do you have a name?” Kerney asked.
“Maude is her first name, I believe,” Fletcher said. “But I’m sure Norman will know how to get in touch with her, or Jack’s secretary should.”
“Did he have any lovers before Norman who caused him trouble?” Kerney asked.
“He had a long-standing affair with a rather troubled young man whom he supported on the q.t. for several years. Jack paid the rent, gave the boy expense money when he wasn’t working, and bought his clothes. It was a May-December affair. The lad was a good twenty-five years younger than Jack. It was also common knowledge that the boy was not mentally sound.”
“How so?” Kerney asked.
“He was in and out of the psychiatric ward for fits of depression and suicidal tendencies. When he was stable, he worked as a waiter. But as time went on, he became more unbalanced, less able to hold a job, and totally promiscuous. Jack had no choice but to end it.”
“Did it end badly?”
“In chaotic uproar,” Fletcher replied. “But Jack kept it under wraps from the straight community.”
“Do you have a name to give me?” Kerney asked.
“That’s a story in itself. The young man’s name was Matthew B. Patterson. It’s now Mary Beth Patterson. He had a sex-change operation up in Colorado six years ago. It made a world of difference for him.”
Kerney finished his coffee and put the cup aside. “In what way?” he asked.
“Matthew was small-boned, almost petite, and very feminine, with soft doe eyes and pretty features. But he wasn’t at all the swishy queen type. There was a woman hiding inside his body, and once Mary Beth emerged, his depression and self-destructive tendencies seemed to vanish, at least for a time.”
“Aren’t sex-change operations expensive?” Kerney asked.
“Indeed. Jack paid for it as a settlement to the affair.”
“And to keep it quiet?”
“That also,” Fletcher replied. “All this happened before Jack and Norman became an item.”
“So did the problem with Matthew go away?”
Fletcher nodded. “Only to be replaced by the arrival of Mary Beth on the scene. She came back fully expecting Jack to marry her, which of course he did not do.”
“Then what happened?” Kerney asked.
“Mary Beth took on the characteristics of a hysterical, wronged woman. She tried every ploy to get Jack back, including stalking him for a time.”
“Did she make any threats?