Will Sands interview

Friday, March 4, 2022 – 5:00 p.m.

Will Sands is a longtime bartender at The Roadhouse Bar & Grill, where Gretchen Doyle and Andrea Stover met the night Andrea died.

Detectives Armstrong and Murphy interviewed him at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department.

Participants:

• Detective T. Armstrong
• Detective S. Murphy
• Will Sands

Detective Armstrong: Good to see you, Will. Thanks for stopping by this afternoon.

Will Sands: You know me. Always happy to help.

Detective Murphy: It's been a while. Do you still know the drill?

Will Sands: Oh yeah. Will Sands, 1002 College Hill.

Detective Armstrong: You heard what happened to Andrea Stover?

Will Sands: Hard not to. Everybody's talking about it. She came in the night it happened, you know. She was a nice lady. Real shame what happened to her.

Detective Murphy: Did she come in alone that night?

Will Sands: Nah, she came in with her friend, Gretchen.

Detective Murphy: You know Gretchen too?

Will Sands: She comes in from time to time, enough for me to know her drink, not enough to be on a last name basis.

Detective Murphy: How often did Andrea come in?

Will Sands: Maybe once a week the last month or so.

Detective Murphy: Did she come in alone or with someone?

Will Sands: She came in with Gretchen a few times. Maybe once by herself, but she didn't stay long.

Detective Murphy: Does Gretchen usually come in on her own or with friends?

Will Sands: She comes in alone a fair amount. She strikes me as the quiet type, you know, not afraid to spend an evening on her own. Otherwise, she came in with Andrea a few times, like I said.

Detective Murphy: Does Gretchen ever come in with anyone else?

Will Sands: Could be. Nobody that stands out.

Detective Murphy: Did she ever mention any of her friends to you?

Will Sands: No, she's never been much for talking about herself that I know of. She always asks about me, how I'm doing, things like that, but she's not one for sharing her woes across the bar.

Detective Murphy: Gretchen has woes?

Will Sands: Everyone has woes, Sam. Besides bartenders, no one knows that better than you folks.

Detective Murphy: Truer words…

Detective Armstrong: Gretchen ever say anything to you about her love life?

Will Sands: Not really.

Detective Armstrong: Not really?

Will Sands: Well, come to think of it, she did mention a few times about her friend Andrea coming back to town. She was real excited about it. The way she talked, I thought maybe there was a little something between them.

Detective Armstrong: But?

Will Sands: But once I saw them together, I didn't think so anymore. Don't get me wrong. There was real affection between those two. Anyone could see that. But I didn't get a relationship vibe off of them. You know what I mean.

Detective Armstrong: You ever run across this woman? Her name is Ursula.

Will Sands: I don't recognize her from the photo. Maybe if I saw her in person. She got something to do with Gretchen and Andrea?

Detective Murphy: Tell us about that night Gretchen and Andrea were at The Roadhouse.

Will Sands: Nothing special I can think of. They came in together and sat at their usual table. I brought them G and Ts. They were there for a couple of hours. I let them stay while I was closing up.

Detective Armstrong: Did you notice anything unusual about them that evening? Did either of them seem upset or emotional?

Will Sands: Not really. Andrea seemed a little tired, a little beat down, if you know what I mean. But they were just talking. Actually, Gretchen was listening a lot, and Andrea was talking. I guess every once in a while, Gretchen would put her hand on Andrea's arm like she was encouraging her or something. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Detective Armstrong: Did you hear what they were talking about?

Will Sands: No.

Detective Armstrong: Nothing?

Will Sands: You know me. I give my customers their space. Unless someone's sitting at the bar in the mood to chat, I pretty much get their orders and leave them alone.

Detective Armstrong: How much did they drink?

Will Sands: Two G and Ts each. Gretchen had some water. Andrea asked me for a bitters and soda.

Detective Armstrong: With a gin and tonic?

Will Sands: Hey, I don't judge. People have different tastes. Some folks like a bitters at the end of the night.

Detective Armstrong: She seem like she was having stomach problems?

Will Sands: You know, you could be right about that. I told you she didn't look 100%.

Detective Murphy: What happened at the end of the night? The three of you leave together?

Will Sands: Actually, no. I was still closing up shop when they left. Gretchen thanked me for letting them stay a little longer. Then they headed to the door.

Detective Murphy: You let them go out alone?

Will Sands: Now, you know ol' Will better than that. I walked them out to their cars.

Detective Murphy: What time was that?

Will Sands: After midnight. Maybe 12:15, 12:20 a.m.

Detective Murphy: Did you happen to see where they were headed?

Will Sands: No. I made sure they got in their cars, and then I went back inside to finish up.

Detective Murphy: Did you see any other cars or people around?

Will Sands: None that I recognized.

Detective Armstrong: What do you mean by that?

Will Sands: There was a green sedan on the far side of the lot that I didn't know.

Detective Armstrong: You get the make and model? Maybe a license plate?

Will Sands: Sorry. I didn't look too close right then. I figured if it was still there when I went to leave, I'd make a note of those details. You all did a good job cleaning up our parking lot back when, but I keep an eye out to make sure no funny business starts up again.

Detective Armstrong: What else did you notice about it? Old or new? Foreign or domestic?

Will Sands: I'd say … not more than ten years old, but whether it was American or not, I couldn't tell you. Cars like that all look pretty much the same these days, it seems like.

Detective Murphy: When you left, was it still there?

Will Sands: Nope. I saw it drive out right after Gretchen and Andrea.

Detective Murphy: Did you see which way they went?

Will Sands: I believe Gretchen went west on Jackson, and Andrea and the green car went east.

Detective Armstrong: Have you seen that car since?

Will Sands: Not that I can recall, but I haven't been looking for it either.

Detective Murphy: Were you the last person to leave for the night?

Will Sands: Yeah. I finished closing up, and I left maybe 20 minutes later out the back.

Detective Armstrong: Have you seen Gretchen since that night?

Will Sands: No, but that's no surprise. I bet Gretchen is real cut up over all this.

Detective Armstrong: Anything else you can think of that might help us out?

Will Sands: Not that I know of. I sure hope you all have some other leads and aren't counting on ol' Will to break the case for you.

Detective Armstrong: You've helped us more than you know, Will. Don't you worry about it.

Detective Murphy: If you think of anything, give us a call.

Will Sands: Will do. You two come on in for lunch this week, and I'll fix you up. It's been too long, and it'd do you good to take a break from all this mess and have a good meal.

Interview ended – 5:27 p.m.