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“I don’t have any knowledge of his movements before November 14. I know he typically stops at the Coyote Grill the day before deer season. Other than that, he stayed at our camp the whole time from late afternoon on the 14th. The only exception would be when he ran into the party store after the hunt on November 15th.” Stassin jotted down notes as Jeff spoke.
“Do you know if he had the flask with him during that time? I’m trying to zero in on who had access to it.”
“I can’t say for sure, but he always carries it in his hunting jacket pocket. I assume he had it with him in the bar and when he visited the store. Other than that, the only people I know who could have gained access were our hunters and some visitors to the camp.” Jeff shook his head slowly, “I can’t imagine any of them wanting to hurt Grant.”
“Are you 100% sure of that, Jeff? Do you know anyone within your hunting group or outside who had a beef with your brother? Surely he must have had some enemies.”
“We all get along well at our hunting camp, so I refuse to believe any of them would be involved.”
“So there is nobody in your camp who dislikes Grant?”
“Well, maybe Chet. He’s had issues with many of our camp rules and blames Grant for his problems with the school board. Grant is a board member, in case you are unaware of it, and Chet is under investigation by the school. But I still don’t believe Chet would kill Grant.”
“Ok, point taken, but I can’t rule anyone out until I get further into my investigation. How about outside your camp? Is there anyone from Koehler Iron Works that might have a motive to harm your brother?”
“The only person I can think of is a guy Grant recently had to fire for selling weed on the premises. His name is Tim something,…Tim Starks. I heard it got pretty heated when Grant fired him, and he threatened Grant before he left.”
“Ok, good,” said Deputy Stassin as he wrote the name down in his notepad. “Is there anyone else that you know of?”
“I remember one other incident that happened earlier this year involving Grant. He filed a police report, so I’m sure you can get the details. Somebody fired a shot near him back in October while he was bowhunting. I think the police officer that investigated the incident attributed it to a random shot or mistake. It didn't seem like he took it seriously. The shot came from the property owned by the Silver Lake Lodge. We asked them about it and for a list of workers and clients who might have been in the woods that day. They refused to provide it. Nothing further came from the incident, and Grant never heard back from the police. That’s the only other thing I can think of that could be relevant to your investigation.”
“I’ll pay Silver Lake a visit and dig into the police report on the shooting complaint. I’m pretty sure Silver Lake won’t give me the run-around when they realize this is a murder investigation. Before I leave, I need all your camp members’ names, contact information, and any visitors between November 14th and 16th. I may need to talk to them all.”
“Sure, I can do that.” Jeff briefly left the room and returned with a list for Deputy Stassin.
After Stassin exited, Jeff cracked a beer and sat in his living room thinking about who and why somebody would poison his brother. After a couple of hours, he dozed off and retired to his bed for the night.
Chapter twenty-three
To get to the bottom of the case, Stassin determined he needed to focus on Grant’s timeline from November 14th until November 16th. Sarah told him that Grant left his home around noon on the 14th and always headed to the bar for a couple of hours before arriving at Roads End. Therefore, Stassin decided to visit the bar and see if anyone remembered Grant.
Stassin arrived at the bar in the early afternoon. Maggie O’Shea tended bar because the regular bartender hadn’t yet arrived. With only a few customers, things were pretty slow until after work hours. The fact the bar appeared almost empty gave Stassin an excellent opportunity to question Maggie about November 14th. It thrilled Maggie when Deputy Stassin asked to speak to her regarding an important case.
“Maggie, do you remember the people in the bar on November 14th in the afternoon?”
“I sure do, deputy,” she replied. “It is one of our busiest days of the year, and I worked a 12-hour shift. There were a few people I didn’t know, but for the most part, I can say I knew almost everyone.”
“Do you recall seeing Grant Koehler that afternoon?”
“Yes sir, I saw him. I waited on him for a couple of hours that day.”
“How about Eddie Koehler?”
“I saw Eddie too. He sat with some guy I didn’t know. He called him Kirk, or Turk, or something like that. I remember joking around with the guy, calling him Jerk. Eddie came in quite a bit later than Grant. Grant played pool with some of the locals while Eddie sat with that guy and Rhiney Corcoran drinking beer and playing pranks on people.”
“What kind of pranks?”
“He went around the bar messing with everybody. I remember the trick he kept playing on Grant.”
“What trick?”
“Every time Grant got up for his pool shot with his back turned, Eddie sneaked up and chugged his beer down before running back to his table. When Grant returned, he’d spot the empty glass and couldn’t figure out where his beer went. He would order a new draft, and the same thing happened. Poor Grant must have thought he lost his mind. Finally, about the 3rd time Eddie did it, Grant caught him, and they had a good laugh about it.”
“This is a tough question, Maggie, but would you know what Grant wore that afternoon for outerwear? I know this is asking a lot, but you seem to be a very observant person.”
“Hah, yes I do. I remember what he wore because I picked it up off the floor for him twice when I brought his drinks. It kept slipping off his chair, and I would have stepped on it if I hadn’t hung it back up. Grant wore an orange hunting jacket with a camo pattern. The kind about half the guys in this bar wear during rifle season.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know if Grant had a leather flask in the pocket of that jacket, would you?”
