Kiss of the She-Devil by M. William Phelps

crime, the work of a professional hit man. In that respect this murder was far too sloppy. Hit men like to sneak up on their targets (maybe pop a cap into the back of the head just below the ear), or kill from a distance (vis-à-vis a sniper shot). This murder was more or less in the lines of something quite a bit more personal. Gail was shot in the breast and head. This, any armchair profiler could determine, suggested an intimate connection to the victim: anger, hatred, payback. Gail’s murderer knew her or had been told things about her that would, for investigators, place her death under a heading of personal and incidental.
    It looked like George Fulton had some explaining to do.

12
    T URNED OUT THAT George Fulton wasn’t running off to meet Donna Trapani, toss his weapons in the lake, or go pay a tab on a murder he had contracted. At least not at this stage. As George was being followed that morning, the undercover behind him watched as Gail’s hubby pulled into Sparks-Griffin Funeral Home. George was on his way to make arrangements for Gail’s body to be transported to Texas for burial.
    No sooner had he parked, run in and out of the funeral home, and then taken back off, did a second car, with four people inside, which George, alone in his car, had met at the funeral home, beckoned to follow him. They drove in a small caravan directly to the library, the employees’ parking area, to be exact, where Gail had been gunned down the previous night. As George parked near the spot where Gail had been killed, “two males and two females” walked out of the building, but did not approach or say anything.
    It was 2:00 P.M. when George got out of his car and hugged the others. They chatted for a few minutes. Then, before walking away, all of them bent down and placed the palms of their hands on the tar where Gail had died, as if reaching out to her spirit.
    Gail’s cousin, Pricilla Salanas, had left a message with dispatch for someone at the OCSD to call her as soon as possible. She wanted to know what was happening with the release of Gail’s body back to the family.
    The sergeant on duty called Gail’s cousin and explained that Gail was being examined by the medical examiner. “Tell the funeral home to contact the ME’s office and they can work it out.”
    “George had called Dora Garza and told her what happened,” Pricilla explained to police.
    “Listen, we’re so sorry for your loss. We know this is a difficult time. But we will be calling on you and Gail’s mom later today. We need to ask you some questions.”
    They hung up.
    A few moments later, Pricilla Salanas called back. “Gail’s mother has some information that she wants you to know about.”
    She handed the phone to Dora Garza. “Hello,” Dora said.
    “Yes, ma’am?”
    “I wanted to tell you about an affair between George and a woman named Donna from Florida,” Dora explained. “But that Gail and George, I was told, were working things out.”
    “Thank you for that information, ma’am.”
    “Oh, there’s more,” Dora Garza said. “When George finally told Donna it was over, Donna called me several times to tell me that my daughter needed help. She called so often, Officer, that I stopped answering my telephone. When I told George about these phone calls, he didn’t believe me! He said, ‘Oh, Donna would never do something like that.’ Melissa (George and Gail’s oldest daughter, who was living in Texas with Dora at the time, but was now in the navy and living in Virginia Beach) was here and can verify the calls. We even recorded them.”
    Dora stopped and took a breath.
    Then she said, “Gail once told me that Donna had called and left some horrible—just horrible—messages on the phone machine. My daughter could not believe the mouth on that woman. George should have those tapes.”
    Another important point George had failed to mention.
    “Do you think George could have been involved?”
    “Oh, no.... I don’t think