Chapter 4: Unexpected Visitors

It was well past midnight on Thursday when the Major League Baseball team in Anaheim pulled off the most unlikely of victories over the Yankees. They scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings, then when the Yankees scored two in the top of the eleventh, the home team matched with two of their own in the bottom half of the frame, finally winning the game in the fifteenth on a walk off, three run home run.

Ty rubbed his eyes and wished he had gone to bed hours ago. Tomorrow was Friday, but he knew he would be dragging all day, and with the presentation he needed to give he couldn’t afford to be off his game. He contemplated flopping back onto the couch and going to sleep. There was no one to tell him otherwise, when he reconsidered and struggled to his feet to get a few hours of sleep in the bedroom. Just as he stood the front doorbell rang.

Carefully peering around the corner of the hallway Ty yells out, “Who is it? What do you want?” knowing that nothing good ever comes from visitors in the wee hours of the morning.

In response Ty hears, “Mr. Bugler? I am Sgt. Morrison. I’m sorry to bother you at this time of night but it is important that I speak to you. Can you please open the door?”

Ty warily approaches the door and peers through the side window. Sure enough, two men that appear to be policemen, but in plain clothes, are standing on his front porch. Ty cracks the door and says, “Can I see your badges?” Both men produce their shields and give Ty as much time as he wants to feel comfortable they are legit.

“OK, c’mon inside,” Ty says as he opens the door and waves for the men to enter. He leads them to the living room and indicates where they should sit.

“Mr. Bugler, I am Sgt. Anderson,” says the second man as he takes a seat. Ty nods.

Morrison takes over, “Mr. Bugler, I am very sorry to have to tell you this, but your wife,” he looks at the notebook he had recently flipped open, “Jennifer Bugler, was killed earlier this evening.”

There is a long pause as Ty digests the information and the officers closely watch his reaction. Ty finally nods and asks, “When? Where? What happened?”

“There was a home invasion and she was killed.”

Ty interrupts, “Home invasion? What home?”

“I don’t know the details, but from what I’ve been told, your wife and a man were attacked while squatting in a home while the owners were on an extended vacation in Africa.”

Ty’s mind was spinning. “What? What man? Who was she with?”

“Do you know a Seth Trepplin?” asks Anderson.

Ty slumps back against his chair and exhales deeply. “No, yeah, well, I know who he is but I don’t personally know him. My wife, however, knows him both personally and biblically. He’s who she’s been fucking for the past year. I just learned of it last weekend.”

The officers exchange glances, then look back to Ty to continue.

“Last Friday I got home from an out of town conference to find a naked man running out the back door. Said man was Trepplin. My wife literally did not say a word as she grabbed her robe and keys and walked to the garage and left. I have called her cell dozens of times but she has yet to pick up or return my calls. I had no idea where she’s been or who she’s been with, and definitely did not expect to hear that she had hooked up with him this week.”

The officers thought he sounded credible, but obviously had to ask their standard litany of questions.

“Can you explain your whereabouts from lunchtime today?” asks Morrison.

Without preamble Ty begins, “Yeah, had lunch in the office. A company was invited to come in and pitch their new software. They catered lunch. Lasted until about 2:30. Then I was heads down with the CEO and two of the guys on my team finishing a paper we need to present tomorrow. It’s a follow-up to the out of town conference I mentioned earlier. At 8:30 we printed the latest copy of the talk and went to The Bubbly Bear for drinks and to make one last review of our presentation. After we finished reviewing the paper the others left, but I moved to a bar stool to watch the game. I was at the bar until almost 10:00. I left when I saw the Angels give up six runs in the seventh. Came straight home, then as a masochist turned on the game to watch it to the bitter end, but instead saw them tie the game in the ninth and then win in extras. Game just ended a few minutes ago and I was ready to call it a night.”

“They pulled it out?” questioned Anderson, clearly having followed the majority of the game. “After the Yanks got two in extras I thought for sure it was over.”

“Yeah, the Angels scored two to re-tie the game, then won it in fifteen.”

“Mr. Bugler,” interjects Morrison, “how was your relationship with your wife?”

For the first time that evening his resolve showed a slight crack. “Uh,” he stammered as he realized he was going to have verbalize thoughts he only shared with Dana and Dr. Gomez. He took a deep breath and then continued.

“I thought we were good. We both work long hours and are doing well at our jobs. Money was not a problem. We were not fighting. I had to occasionally travel, but when I would get home there was usually a good reunion in the bedroom. Other times the sex was regular. So, no, I didn’t think there were any problems.”

Ty paused, then added, “And I certainly didn’t think she was having an affair.”

Anderson asked, “Any idea why she just walked out?”

Ty’s eyes hardened as he heard the question being asked. “No fucking idea whatsoever. And now that she’s dead I guess I’ll never know.”

Morrison quickly switched topics. “Do you know Mr. Trepplin’s wife, Dana?”

“Yeah, we met the night her husband ran from the house bare ass naked. She couldn’t sleep and was out walking. I couldn’t sleep either and was sitting out back. As she passed she saw me in the yard through the fence and called out. We chatted for a few minutes. A few nights later she came over and dropped off a thumb drive from a neighbor’s security system that showed her husband running across their yard naked. Figured I may want to use it in a divorce case.”

“Have you and Mrs. Trepplin been intimate in your late night conversations?”

Ty evenly replied, “No. Her husband had a record of stepping out. For her it was the final straw of a known behavior. For me, it was the first time I experienced it. She talked to me and helped with the video, but no, we were not ‘intimate’.”

The officers asked a few more questions but wrapped up quickly and excused themselves. Though exhausted, Ty couldn’t sleep because his mind was racing. He got a small cigar from his humidor and then a glass and bottle from the kitchen and started to head outside when he paused. He turned back to the cabinet and reached for a second glass.