Chapter 34

 

Three days after his last visit, Fred returned to Schultz’s house to continue the interview.

Most of the bandages had been removed from Schultz’s face. One remaining bandage covered his left eye. Fred asked how he was feeling and Schultz replied, “It looks as if my eye can’t be saved.” Fred felt a resurgence of the sympathy that he had felt for Schultz during his last visit.

As interested as Fred was in the paranormal testing that Schultz’s organization was conducting, he realized that he had to now focus on those who might be suspects and were employed by Schultz’s company. First Fred asked about the killer of the County Bank victims. He pulled out a photograph of Slivers from the folder he had brought along and asked if Schultz knew him. Schultz studied the photograph intensely and finally said, “No, I can’t say I do.”

Fred asked if he would check personnel to see if Slivers had ever applied for work there.

Schultz said, “Sure, I’ll call our personnel head now and I can let you know the results before you leave. Is it your theory that if Slivers had been refused work here, that he might have been seeking some type of predatory revenge?”

Fred said, “It’s a long shot, but who knows?”

Fred waited while Schultz placed a call to his office; then he asked about the two AU employees killed at the bank and theater.

Schultz said, “I expected you to ask me about them. Of course, I’ve heard about their deaths and I feel a deep loss, both professionally and personally. But until you visited me I never thought that their deaths were any thing but a bizarre circumstance. Long and Jackson were both division heads. Long’s group was working on a remote viewing effort, and Jackson was involved with the mind over matter component of our work. Both areas have shown significant successes and advancements.”

Fred asked, “Can you identify anybody who had a grudge against them?”

Schultz thought for a minute and then replied, “I don’t know if you could call it a grudge, but two of their subordinates had submitted formal grievances. Neither had any merit and both were denied. Other than that, both Long and Jackson seemed to have been liked by everyone.”

Fred said, “I need the names and divisions of the two who submitted the grievances. I also need a list of all the subordinates who worked for each of the deceased division heads, and I need names on all the photographs of your employees.”

The phone rang. Schultz listened and said, “Are you sure? OK, thanks.” Schultz turned toward Fred, “That was personnel; Mr. Slivers never applied for employment at our firm. Our records go back to the time our company started in business.”

Fred thanked Schultz for his cooperation. “Oh, one more question before I leave. I see your home is right on the Sarasota Bay. What type of boat do you own?”

“Not much of a boat, I’m afraid, just a small Bass boat. I’ve had it since I lived up north.

As Fred opened the door to leave, Schultz was waving a weak goodbye. Fred thought, what a change in this man in just a few days. All the spirit seemed to have been drained from him.