The Last Thing I Saw by Richard Stevenson Read Free Book Online Page A

everything you could.”
    “I didn’t really know Bryan all that well. We were just neighbors, but he was really a nice guy and I just feel so terrible for him. Why would anybody do that to Bryan? Maybe it had something to do with his reporter’s job—I don’t know. The police asked me who his enemies were, and I said I had no idea.”
    “Detective Davis told me you and Bryan were into exchanging recipes. So if you were friendly enough to be doing that, I can see why you’re upset.”
    He gave me a look. “You sound suspicious or something.”
    “No.”
    “Bryan saw me on the stairs one time carrying a cheesecake box. He said he had the best ginger cheesecake recipe in the world, and when he made one sometime he’d give me a piece. He never got around to it—he was so busy being on the news and all—but then when I wanted to make a cheesecake for a friend’s birthday on Saturday, I ran into Bryan and thought I’d ask him for that recipe. He said he’d make a copy, and I was supposed to pick up the recipe at four.”
    “What do you do, Elvis?”
    “I’m a sales rep for Old Plymouth Bay Candles.”
    This helped explain the profusion of tall fat multi-colored candles around the otherwise simply furnished apartment, as well as the fruity aroma.
    “When did you make your four o’clock date with Bryan? Earlier in the day?”
    “I saw him in the morning when I was doing my laundry. He said he had somebody coming over at six, and they were meeting somebody else for dinner at seven, and could I come by at four o’clock? TV people are used to tight schedules and all that.”
    “Right.”
    “I said thanks, sounds good, and I did some stuff, and then I came home and showered and went upstairs right at four. Bryan didn’t answer, and I figured he went out for something or he was in the shower, so I went down and got my key and then went on in. And there he was on the floor by the coffee table in this incredible pool of blood. Oh God, I never saw anything like it. I mean, it’s not like in the movies. It’s like…I was in a butcher shop in Mexico one time, and it was like that. Gory and horrible and putrid, and right in the middle of it was Bryan , that nice, sweet, sexy guy.”
    “You said he was expecting somebody to come by at six. Did he say who?”
    “No. Just somebody he was going to dinner with.”
    “And they were meeting somebody else at seven?”
    “At the Westin, I think he said.”
    So who was this that Kim was bringing along on our dinner date? He hadn’t said anything to me about a third party.
    “Elvis, may I ask why you had a key to Bryan’s apartment? That’s pretty friendly in itself—I mean what with your relationship pretty much limited to cheesecake recipe exchanges.”
    “I had a key because I used to look after Bryan’s cat when he was away overnight. The cat got cancer and died, but Bryan said to hang on to the key, since he might get another cat. He just never got around to it.”
    “Did you know Bryan’s boyfriend Eddie Wenske?”
    “Oh, sure. Eddie was a hunk. I even read his book about coming out in middle school. Bryan said he was…what? He disappeared or something?”
    “He did. A couple of months ago.”
    “Bryan was really upset. There was some bad stuff between them for a while, and they weren’t even seeing each other. Sometimes they’d stay at Eddie’s place and sometimes they’d stay here at Bryan’s, but for a long time Bryan never went over there at all.”
    “You know a lot about Bryan’s life.”
    “Well, we chatted about the men in our lives in the laundry room, and like that. Sure, we’d dish and commiserate.”
    “And exchange recipes.”
    Gummer gave me a look. “Can I just say something, Donald?”
    “Sure.”
    “I know you’re gay.”
    “What makes you think so?”
    “Because you are being very careful not to look at me below the neck. The strain is showing.”
    “What if I told you that you are mistaken, Elvis? That back in Albany I