Alibi check – Gayle

Reed

Dexter Reed
Age 37, HVAC mechanic

Dexter Reed, like Vincent Gayle, is a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) mechanic who works for Voight Brothers Heating and Cooling in Oxford. Dexter has worked for Voight's for the last twelve years, mainly as a service technician, repairing and installing cooling units, working on ventilation systems, and doing related basic plumbing work for people in and around Yokanapatawpha County.

Dexter said that usually, only one man goes out on a service call, but he and Vincent had been on many calls together when the situation required it, like a large installation or a repair job that they could see was going to take extra hands.

Dexter remembered the first week in January to be a pretty slow week. There were calls but no big ones that jump out in his memory. To the best of Dexter's recollection, he said Vincent seemed normal that week, and he was busy around the shop as he always is.

If anything, Vincent seemed to be determined to drown himself in work. Dexter noted that he wasn't cracking jokes much that week. Dexter didn't think much of it since slow weeks are often good times to get some extra things done around the shop.

Dexter could not remember whether he went on any calls with Vincent that first week and said that Reggie Spear, the manager, would be able to check the schedule to be sure.

Spear

Reginald "Reggie" Spear
Age 53, manager

Reggie Spear has worked at Voight Brothers Heating and Cooling for longer than any of the other employees, starting 25 years ago when the company had a total of six employees, more than half of them from the Voight family itself. He was hired as a general repairman and worked his way up to management.

Reggie has always been good with numbers, so he has had the dual duty of repairman and accountant since day one on the job. At this point in his career, he mainly schedules workers and oversees the books.

Reggie is one of few employees at Voight's that is in a position to know Vincent well because Reggie has worked with him since Vincent was hired in 2003, went on calls with him, and is Vincent's current manager. Reggie has also been a mentor to Vincent, helping him through the death of his best friend, Mark Collier, in 2012. Reggie reported that Vincent has been a model employee his entire 18 years at Voight's.

Reggie said that Vincent typically worked 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Though the HVAC mechanics rarely work overtime, they take turns being on call for night and weekend emergency calls. That first week in January, Vincent was not on call.

Reggie said Vincent Gayle clocked in and out normally through the first week in January, save for New Year's Day, when Voight's was closed for the holiday. After checking the schedule, Reggie said that Vincent went on solo service calls on both Friday the 2nd and most of the following week. On Tuesday, Vincent went along with colleague Ollie Weiss to install a number of air handling units for a storage business.

Upton

Tanner Upton
Age 18, mechanic's apprentice

Tanner has been at Voight Brothers for the school year through a work-study program out of Yoknapatawpha High School. Tanner does odd jobs around the mechanics' shop and goes out on many calls to observe the mechanics' work in the field. He was with Ollie and Vincent on Tuesday, January 5th, watching them install air handlers.

Tanner said Vincent had always treated him well, but more like a kid than a colleague. Vincent showed him the ropes in the shop and on the job, but instead of allowing Tanner to practice much repair or installation, Vincent had him run for tools and other "gofer" duties. Vincent told Tanner that Tanner reminded him a lot of his own son, Daniel.

Tanner said he did meet Daniel once in early December. Daniel came over to the shop to ask Vincent for money to buy art supplies at Clay Canvas. Vincent told him at the time that he didn't have much cash, and Daniel would have to wait until he got home. Daniel was in a rush and said, that he'd get the money from a friend then, and that Vincent should just forget it. Tanner didn't push for any explanation because he didn't think it was his business, but he did remember Vincent mumble under his breath something like, "you can't always get what you want."

Weiss

Oliver "Ollie" Weiss
Age 45, HVAC mechanic

Ollie Weiss has worked as a HVAC mechanic for Voight Brothers for the last seven years. Prior to his current employment, he worked maintenance and groundskeeping for Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford. Frequently Ollie and Vincent are paired on larger installations and work well together.

Ollie said he remembered the call that he and Vincent took on January 5th. It was a day-long job that entailed installing several air handling units for Your Extra Closet Self Storage on Mall Drive. Ollie stated that Vincent was with him during the entire job, as was Tanner Upton, the student mechanic; the three men also ate lunch together at Zaxby's nearby.

Ollie said Vince admitted to him at lunch that he was pretty stressed, that his son was thinking about leaving for New York, has since taken off to God-knows-where, and Vince wasn't thrilled about it. Ollie has two grown sons himself, so he told Vince he knew where he was coming from.

Ollie commented to Vincent that they should head over to The Roadhouse for happy hour to blow off some steam, and Vincent agreed. Ollie estimated that they were at The Roadhouse for a couple of hours and went through three or four beers a piece. Ollie said that they mostly talked about work and, as he remembered it, maybe a little politics. No one else, from work or otherwise, joined them at the bar that night. Both of them left the Roadhouse around 7:00 p.m.

Ollie did remember asking Vincent if he wanted to come over to watch some ball games on Saturday, but Vincent declined, saying he had some woodwork to repair on one of his banisters and other housework. To Ollie, the excuse sounded like the 40-year-old man version of "I'm washing my hair." Regardless, Ollie left his offer open, but Vincent never did show up that weekend.