Page 86 of Gem Warfare

“Could be,” said Huff. He shrugged and refocused his attention on the candy bar, savoring every bite.

Garrett opened his file, appearing to read, although I was sure he’d memorized all the pertinent details. “I have here that you were on the maintenance crew the museum hired for a refresh prior to an important exhibition.”

“That’s right. I was on the painting detail. Walls, ceilings, woodwork, I can do it all.”

“And you worked with a guy called Timothy Wright.”

Huff shrugged. “I’m not so good with names unless they’re on a paint can.” He laughed.

“Says here you got Wright the job.” Garrett tapped the file.

“Nice of me.”

“So how did you know him?”

“Who?”

“Timothy Wright.”

“Oh, hardly at all, I think. It’s coming back to me. I think he lived down the street from me. There was a bar on the corner, crappy, little place but the beer was cheap. Probably a Starbucks now. We got to talking one day and Tim asked what I did for work on account of the paint splashes on my hands. Said he was looking for a job if there were any openings. Figured he was an okay sort of guy so I told my supervisor and Tim got called in. They didn’t want to put him on the museum job and he was kind of grousing about it, then the day before the job starts, one of the guys had an accident and they needed to fill his spot.”

“An accident?” I asked.

“Got jumped. Broke his arm. Can’t paint with a broken arm.”

“That’s unfortunate,” said Garrett, glancing at me.

“Right.” Huff nodded and shrugged as he swallowed the last bite. “That tasted so good,” he said, heaving a sigh while hecrumpled the wrapper. “When I get out, I have to avoid going nuts on these things or I’m gonna end up the size of a house in six months.”

“So Timothy Wright gets the job in the museum. Did you work with him the whole time?” I asked, moving Huff along before he forgot what we came here to talk about.

“I don’t recall. I guess so. He was painting, just like me.”

“Were you working in the same room?”

Huff shrugged and his gaze shifted to the remaining candy bar. “Maybe. Some of the time, for sure. I think he did some woodwork stuff too.”

“Did you notice him leaving for any lengths of time or doing any tasks he wasn’t assigned to be doing?” asked Garrett.

“No, I don’t think so but I was concentrating on my work. It was a high-end job and they pay better so at the time, I suppose I was seeking more of them and wanted to do a good job.”

“What can you tell us about Timothy Wright?”

“Nothing much. Okay guy. Put his hand in his pocket so he was popular with the guys. You could rely on him to get you a beer or stand you lunch if you forgot yours. He’d take an extra shift if one of the guys needed to swap too.”

“Sounds like a nice guy.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“What happened after?” asked Garrett.

“What do you mean?” asked Huff.

“After the robbery at the museum. You all got interviewed. Did you stay in the job?”

“Yeah, I did. We didn’t get any more high-end stuff though, what with the hit to the firm’s reputation. Just shop fitting and house painting and stuff like that. Easy in, easy out.”

“What about Timothy?”

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