CHAPTER 12: Notes from Second Interview with Brutus the Bartender

(Detective's Notes: I did not manage to get Brutus' last name. I got very little, actually. Apparently mystery writers keep a bartender very busy. I did manage to discover several pertinent facts, however, during our second brief conversation).

1. Mr. Brutus the Bartender was working the shift when Reavis Wortham met his untimely demise at 9:55 PM in the evening.

2. Nobody else ordered Old Jack Pappy Bourbon except for Reavis Wortham, and there was only one bottle of it in the entire bar. The bourbon was contained in a clear crystal decanter (see EVIDENCE photo). The bottle itself was doctored with the Dargon nut powder, not Reavis' glass.

3. Brutus made the drink himself. He did not notice anything unusual about the bottle when he picked it up before or after making the drink, although Reavis did exclaim upon drinking it, "What kind of [expletive] is this? I did not order one of those [expletive] chocolate and pecan [expletive] things! Because I don't care what you call it, it's not---ACK!"

And then . . . death.

The crystal decanter was turned over to Crime Scene Techs for fingerprint processing -- fingerprints were found, which meant that bottle had NOT been wiped clean, probably because the killer didn't have time to slip the Dargon nut powder inside and then also wipe it down without being noticed.

However, the CST won't have results on fingerprint matches and DNA collection until tomorrow at the earliest. Like Brutus, I noticed nothing out of the ordinary about it either. It looked clean as a whistle.

4. He used a new bottle that he unwrapped himself. Therefore the bottle couldn't have been tampered with until after that time. Immediately after opening the bottle, Brutus left the bar at 9:45 PM for ten minutes to deal with a commotion out front, and then returned behind the bar (note to self: check security footage to discover what this "commotion" at 9:45 PM could have been about).

5. Brutus was my prime suspect until Junebug pointed out that he didn't have club level access and therefore couldn't have stolen Chef Blarnee's Dargon Nut Powder from her hotel room safe.

6. Brutus remembered seeing all four of the suspects in the bar, but as it was very busy, he doesn't remember who was actually in the bar during the ten-minute window of opportunity between his opening the bourbon at 9:35 PM, leaving the bottle on the bar to check out the commotion in the lobby at 9:45, returning to make Reavis' drink, then watching in helpless horror as Reavis SHUFFLES OFF HIS MORTAL COIL at 9:55! (note to self: explore writing a mystery novel myself, as I obviously have a flair for the dramatic).

But first . . . figure out what the commotion was about.

Go to CHAPTER 13!