Sean and Michelle exchanged a glance.
Sean said, “It’s a little complicated, Kathy.”
Michelle added, “We wanted to get some information from a friend of his, to gauge how he’s doing, what he’s talking about. We know he’s really upset and maybe not thinking too clearly. But what you’ve said so far is consistent with what Tyler has already told us.”
Kathy nodded, apparently satisfied with the explanation. “He did tell me that he doesn’t trust the Army.”
“I can understand that,” said Sean. “How are things with him and his stepmom?”
“Tyler didn’t mention her. He never really talks about her actually. I know they live in the same house, but that’s about it. I don’t think there’s much interaction at all.”
“When did his dad go into the Army reserves?”
“About a year or so ago.”
When Kathy again seemed to be growing suspicious from all the questions, Sean quickly said, “How about your mom? How much longer will she be in?”
“She has two more years to go to get her full pension. Then she gets it right away, so she can enjoy it before she’s, you know, really, really old, like fifty.”
Sean exchanged a glance with Michelle.
“Perish the thought she should have to wait until she’s that old,” said Sean dryly.
“Foot in the grave,” added a smiling Michelle.
“I wonder if Sam Wingo pulled his full twenty?” said Sean.
Kathy said, “I don’t think so. Tyler said his dad went into the Army after he turned twenty-five. The paper said he was forty-five when he was killed. That means he’s not old enough to have served twenty years if he left the Army a year ago.”
Michelle said, “Okay, but then he apparently left the Army only one year short of a full pension. Why do that after busting your hump for nineteen years?”
“Maybe he got a better job that would pay him a lot more money,” said Kathy.
“Could be,” said Sean, who sounded far from convinced.
“Have you seen any sign of more money in the Wingo household?” asked Michelle. “I mean, they haven’t moved, right? But what about a new car, computers, renovation to the house?”
“No, nothing like that. And Tyler never mentioned anything. Their house is nice but it’s, you know, like just a regular house.”
“So if not money, why else would he have left?” wondered Sean. He glanced at Kathy. “Did Tyler ever talk to you about what his dad did at work? DTI?”
“He just said he was in sales. You know, he’d meet with clients and stuff and sell things.”
“DTI specializes in foreign translators for the country of Afghanistan primarily,” said Michelle. “You wouldn’t think you’d need a big sales force to push that product.”
Kathy shrugged. “My mom says it takes forever to sell stuff to the government because of all the rules and red tape. But when you do sell something you can make a lot of money. But you have to know people, she told me.”
“Which would make sense to use an Army vet to sell things to the Army,” said Michelle, looking at Sean.
He nodded slowly. “Kathy, can you think of anything else that might help us?”
She started to shake her head no, but then stopped. “Well, Tyler did say one thing. It might not be important, especially since his dad is dead.”
“What?” asked Michelle.
“He and his dad had this code language they used that only the two of them could understand. They’d use it in emails when his dad was deployed.”
Michelle asked, “Why would they use a code?”