Page 31 of So Twisted

The security guard lifted his head from the corner of the room to answer that. “Gus.”

The agents turned their attention to him. “Who’s Gus?” Faith asked.

“He’s a wolverine. They’re normally very aggressive, but Gus has been handfed his whole life. He’s about as mellow as wolverines get.”

“How mellow do they get?”

He sighed. “He’s cranky, but he’s never done anything more than nip a couple of times. Never anything like that.”

“What’s your name?” Faith asked.

“Trevor.”

“You’re the night watchman?”

Trevor’s lower lip trembled. He lowered his eyes and nodded.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

He took a shaky breath, then squeezed tears from his eyes. “No. I was asleep.”

He dropped his head into his hands again and began crying softly.

Faith and Michael shared a look. Faith squatted down to eye level with the morose guard and said, “Trevor, I understand that this is hard, but I need you to talk to me. Even if you didn’t see anything, you might have information that is critical to helping us solve this case.”

Trevor took another shaky breath and lifted his head. “Okay.”

“So you were sleeping,” Michael said. “When did you wake up?”

He sniffed. “About… I don’t know how long ago. Maybe five minutes before I called the cops.”

Faith looked at Cuthbert, who was standing a few yards behind them, hands folded across his chest. “That would put it about forty minutes ago. So roughly an hour after she was murdered.”

Faith nodded. “What woke you up?”

“Gus. I was at the front desk. He wandered in and nuzzled me to wake me up. I… I usually have beef jerky and potato chips with me. He likes the jerky. Sometimes when I’m here by myself, I’ll sneak to his enclosure and feed him some. Just a little, not enough to irritate his stomach.”

“So you were at the front desk, and you didn’t hear someone walk in?” Michael asked.

Trevor’s lips trembled. He shook his head and released another shaky sob.

“The killer appears to have come in through a rear entrance,” Cuthbert offered. “It doesn’t look like he ever passed the front desk.”

Faith turned back to Trevor. “What did you do after you woke up?”

“Well, I knew something was wrong because I saw the alarms. I got up and checked the office, and…” He glanced at Dr. Vasquez’s body. “Oh man. I’m such an asshole. Oh man.”

“Focus, Trevor,” Faith said. “Beating yourself up over things helps no one. Did you see anyone else? Anyone at all?”

“No. Just her. And Gus.”

“Where is Gus now?”

“I took him back to his enclosure. I should have called the cops first, but I was in shock. I didn’t even think that someone might still have been here, I was just… God, this is crazy.”

“I have to ask,” Michael said. “Is there any chance Gus might have done this?”

Trevor stared at the agents in shock. It seemed he hadn’t thought of that possibility. He cocked his head and replied, “I guess… No. No, because there was no blood on his muzzle. No blood on him anywhere.”

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