The 6:20 Man(40)

Myers looked sympathetically at him now. “Yeah, it was a gut punch for everybody. It sure as hell looked like a suicide to me, but what do I know? I never found a dead body before.”

Devine picked up on this. “You found her around eight thirty or so?”

“Something like that, yeah. Told the cops that.”

He started to walk down the hall and Devine kept pace with him as he thought of his next question.

“Sam said you came to the lobby to tell him and that he called the police.”

“That’s right. I was shaking like a baby. Could barely hit the elevator button or swipe my card through.”

“What’d you go in the room for?” asked Devine.

“Look, I already told the cops all this.”

“I know,” said Devine quickly. “It’s . . . it’s just that we were friends and this has really shaken me to my core. I just want to know some of what you know. It might help me process all this.”

Myers studied him curiously for a moment and then nodded. “Okay, I can understand that. The fact is, I went in there to get a damn printer cartridge, if you can believe that. Got a message that one of the big printers in the business center on that floor was low and needed to be replaced. Opened the door and there she was. My ticker must be strong, otherwise I’d be dead.”

“I bet. So is that room normally kept locked?”

“I don’t know about normally. I know I had to use my key to unlock it that morning.”

The ladder banged against Myers’s leg.

“Here, I’ll take that,” said Devine. He relieved the man of the piece of equipment.

“Thanks.”

“Was it a Detective Hancock who told you that Sara had been murdered? Black guy in his forties?”

“No. I heard it on the news, I guess along with everybody else.”

He stopped at a point in the hall and he and Devine set up his ladder. Devine held the ladder steady for him, took the old light from him when he handed it down, and passed him a new light. Myers put it in, clambered back down, and they moved on.

“Was there anyone around when you found her? I mean, in the other offices near the storage room?”

“None of the secretaries were in, least that I saw. Little bit too early for them. I can’t say one way or another for anybody in their offices. Can’t remember hearing or seeing anybody. Told the cops that, too.” He shook his head. “Stupid me, I coulda called down to the security desk from my phone, or any of the other phones up there. But I was so . . . ” He shook his head again and glanced up at Devine. “You ever find a dead body?”

“No,” Devine lied.

“Well, I hope you never do.”

“So you came back up here with Sam, and then what?”

“He took a look-see in the room, probably just to make sure I was telling the truth.”

“And did you notice anyone around then?”

Myers stopped and looked suspiciously at him. “Come on, I know you said you were friends, but why all these questions, buddy? You sound like a cop.”

Devine was now ready for this. “I was in the military. Army Ranger. I have experience with the Army CID.”

“Oh, okay. Hey, thank you for your service.”

“You look like you might have worn the uniform.”

“Wanted to, but my eyesight and hearing weren’t good enough. Failed the physical. Wear a hearing aid and contacts, but they got minimums even with that.”

“Yeah, I know. So anyone else around?”

“Not that I could see. Quiet as a . . .”

“ . . . tomb?” said Devine.

Myers visibly shuddered. “Yeah. About the time the cops got here some of the secretaries were arriving.”

“How about the suits, meaning nonadmin people?”

“Nope, don’t remember seeing any of them.”

“But isn’t that strange? They all get in before the staff.”

“Don’t know what to tell you.” He glanced at Devine. “Is that what you do here?”

“Yeah. But I work on another floor. Then the cops secured the room and started clearing the space?”

“Yeah, but only after the detectives showed up, you know, those guys in suits. Until then, they wouldn’t let anyone off the floor, including me. Later, they took folks down to a conference room on another floor. I guess to take statements and such. That’s where the cops took my statement and then cut me loose. I went outside and just walked around. I couldn’t get her image out of my head.”

“How long do you think it was between the time you left the body and then returned?”

Myers knitted his brows and then said, “I had to explain things to Sam, and I was all tongue-tied, so that took a bit. Then he had to call the cops, then he had to get another guy to cover the lobby. Mighta been like six, eight minutes, something like that. Maybe a little longer. I wasn’t looking at my watch. I do know after we got back up no one went near that door other than me and Sam.”

“Okay, look, I appreciate your time.”

Myers studied him for an uncomfortably long moment. “You two must’ve been really good friends.”

“We were.”

He left Myers and walked back out into one of the main areas for the secretarial staff. Grunts like him were sequestered in large interior, windowless offices separated into cubicles, so their focus would be total. The company executives had the corner offices with views outside. He walked through the staff slots until he spied an empty space. No photos, flowers, other personal touches. But it did have a computer. With the log-in information for the computer helpfully printed on a Post-it note stuck to the screen. Decent security defeated by a tiny slip of yellow paper and a lazy or forgetful employee.