The Meistermann Family

Chapter V Friday, June 10, 2005 Matt sneered as he read the obituary. He knew Aimee would be over the top when it came to the family’s public image. She made Papa sound like a saint, for Heaven’s sake! She was playing the situation like a finely-tuned violin. Aimee knew the factory employees would have so many unanswered questions. Would the factory be sold? Would it be abandoned like so many other mills sitting empty and derelict around the Waterbury neighborhoods? What would happen to their jobs? Would Matt take over? Aimee? Bill Howe or one of the other department supervisors? Aimee was striking the chords of their most basic fears because she wanted a good turnout for the viewing. It was all for show. Maybe she hoped an unprecedented turnout would reestablish Papa’s reputation from an arbitrary dictator with a streak of sadism to the philanthropic hero who swooped into Waterbury and saved the brass industry, thousands of jobs and allowed employees to buy factory-owned homes. She wanted the viewing line going out the front door of the funeral home, around the wrap-around porch and out the back gate – as if to show how loved Papa was. “Shit.” The worried workers would not miss the inference tucked into the obit. They had to come to the viewing and sign the guest book. There was no other way to show their respect. The poor bastards would have to try really hard to find something nice to say. Matt mused about some nice things they could possibly write in the book. Alas, he could not think of anything. Matt toyed with the idea of driving to Waterbury to attend the viewing. He was getting restless in his hotel room. Developing a unique disguise and fooling everyone appealed to his sense of adventure. But, he did not want to get caught. He was still undecided about what he wanted to do. For now, he stayed in the Newton Marriott and wondered what Aimee was up to. *** Sitting in his home office with his feet propped up on his old wooden teacher’s desk, Buddy Burke read the obituary. He was not amused. Aimee was challenging all 4,000 employees to create a mob scene outside the funeral home. It would be a TV news spectacle and a traffic nightmare. His thoughts were interrupted by the telephone ringing. He brought his feet to the floor and turned to look at his Caller ID. It was his brother Shay. Buddy picked up but before he could utter his usual one-syllable grunt greeting, Shay said with urgency, “Buddy, get down here right away. I’ve got something to show you.” Buddy hung up the phone, rifled through his pockets until he found his car keys, and headed to police headquarters. What had Shay so excited? Chapter VIII Friday, June 10, 2005 “Hey,” Buddy mumbled his greeting as he walked past the front desk sergeant and was buzzed into the office section of the police station late Friday afternoon. Everyone knew Buddy was a man of few words. He seldom said anything more than was necessary, and he never, or almost never, made small talk. His exceptions to this were weddings, funerals, and meeting women. Even at those times, he felt he wasn’t good at making chit-chat. He was far better at listening. When Shay came out to greet him, Buddy took one look at Shay’s face and knew at once something was wrong. What now? He waited for Shay to speak. Shay didn’t quite know how to say it so he began by beating around the bush. “Buddy, we’ve got something for you have to see.” He paused for a minute. Shay knew that in his own way Buddy cared about the Masters family. “I need you to look at the factory’s security video from the night Mr. Masters died. There’s something we can’t figure out.” He carefully did not use the word “murder.” Buddy remained silent as he followed Shay into an interrogation room. Shay knew Buddy’s style and made no inferences on his silence. He also knew that Buddy might turn down working on this investigation. As a marshal, he worked as an independent contractor. Shay also knew that a “cause of death” investigation was not part of his job description. Buddy had no experience with murder cases. He was here because the Masters family would be comfortable with Buddy, and Buddy would not make waves in the community, especially now. Shay left out a few details hoping Buddy would view the tapes without further ado. “Ok,” Buddy finally asked, “Is this a murder?”