He’d see the genius of my plan once we got what we wanted from the owner. I’d been going about this investigation all wrong. The direct approach would work best in this case. He’d see.
The clock had barely hit 9 a.m. when Dane and I walked into the CEO’s office of Southern Hospitality Tours. Lonny Horwitz sat in a tall leather-backed chair behind a large wooden desk. He had thick black hair that he’d parted and gelled to the side. He was the perfect caricature of a used car salesman, but he greeted us with a warm smile.
“Mr. Horwitz,” I said as we walked into the room.
He stood and shook both our hands upon our introductions. “How can I help you two today? I expected cameras.”
“Oh.” I took a seat in a chair in front of his desk, and Dane chose the other. “This is just a preliminary interview. If we decide to go ahead with the feature on William’s death, we’ll do it again more officially.”
He fixed his tie. “Ain’t no use cryin’ over spilt sweet tea.”
“Um.” What the hell did that mean? “Right. Can you tell us a little about your business? How you started?”
It was always best to get them talking about other things before you got to the hard questions.
“Of course, darlin’,” he said, his Southern accent thick. “Did you meet my wife, Donna Lee, at the front desk?”
He waited until both of us nodded. She’d introduced herself and shown us to the office, but she’d left out the fact that they were married.
“She and I started this business ten years ago. Now, we weren’t married then, but don’t get your britches in a twist. I made an honest woman out of her right after.”
Yeah, this was the right choice. I’d called the tour company late last night as we made our way back to the condos. No one answered, probably because it was after seven o’clock at night. A second call, early this morning, they answered.
Lonny told me to head right on over after I explained we were here to research William’s death for the podcast. People loved to chat about the dead.
“That’s such a sweet story. Have both of you worked together since then?”
He nodded and turned the photo around. Their wedding picture. “Every day.”
Normally, when we investigated a death, we were truthful about our intentions. Once the police solved a murder, we spent our time talking to reporters and family. Since I’d come to Charleston to solve the case, I’d stayed undercover. But all that did was make it harder to get questions answered.
Lonny gave us a full play-by-play of his life with Donna Lee and how they came to own the building we were meeting in.
The man loved to talk. I bet if I asked for interviews from each of his employees, he’d have granted me full permission.
But then I wouldn’t have gotten to go on those cool tours.
I guess both approaches had advantages.
“When did William come to work for you?” Dane cut off Lonny mid-sentence about his wife’s love of the city’s parks. He’d grown more restless with each of Lonny’s stories.
“He was our first official employee,” Lonny answered. His words dripped with respect for William. “Thanks to him we won our first award. Best in Charleston.”
Lonny pointed to a framed certificate on the wall to his side.
Four.
Five.
Six.
“Wow, that’s a lot of awards,” I said when I finished my count at eight. Lonny seemed to love the attention.
He nodded. “Most of those are thanks to William. He could spin a tale.”
“He sounds like a valued employee.” There definitely wasn’t any animosity between Lonny and William unless he was the best actor on the planet.
“Donna Lee and I didn’t view William as an employee. He was a member of the family. We miss him every day.”
