Who is Robert Ore?

Gains remembered Robert Ore from many years ago. He lived two houses down on windy Otterbein Road with his wife, Julie, and his son Johnny. Robert Ore was just about as stupid as Gains when it came to making money. Ore tried to raise chinchillas for their fur one year. He kept all of their cages and food in the basement and when winter came, Ore forgot about the little rats and they all froze solid.
There was no doubt that the police would soon research Robert Ore, find the connection between him and Gains, and be on his porch again. In order to stop Graham from finding some bogus reason to take Gains away from his house and Rita, he had to figure out what happened to Tina Stark. He dialed the number and waited for the answering machine. He didn’t have one himself, but he recognized how valuable they were for his situation at present.
“Hello Mr. Ore, this is Jim Lemmon with the Columbus Times. I am doing a story on Ms. Tina Stark and her presence in the community, but couldn’t reach her for an interview. I was hoping I could speak to you about your play and Ms. Stark’s position in it,” Gains left his phone number and hung up the old yellowed receiver. He didn’t worry about Robert Ore recognizing his voice or his number, only that the area code might seem suspicious.
Ore called later, thrilled that his name could be in the paper. From his excitement, Gains could tell that Robert did not think about the strange phone number, and didn’t know about Tina Stark’s death. He gave a synopsis of the new play, which Gains fitfully endured, and then mentioned that he had worked with Tina before now.
“She was in one of your earlier plays?” Gains asked.
“Oh yes, Mr. Lemmon, she was in “Knights at Sea,” “Babes in Brass,” and—”
“—How long as Ms. Stark been working with you?” Gains interrupted.
“Oh she has been back and forth between LA and Columbus ever since her television show was cancelled. She was here for some funeral of some obscure relative of some kind, who I had also known, and I recognized her from her show! Then I approached her and…” Robert Ore continued for another few minutes of the whole enchanting story. Gains was picking at the tiny pieces of lint on his shirt, occasionally adding an empty remark. This guy had changed since he moved away from Rushville.
“Well that’s a really great story, Mr. Ore. I was not aware of Ms. Stark’s other roles,” Gains said dully. “I heard a rumor that she was coming for an audition tomorrow. You know Tina, do you think she would be fine if I came for an interview?”
“Oh! She would be thrilled! She is very feisty, though. I should know!”
“Oh?”
“Well, uh,” Robert struggled for words. “Since her show was cancelled, she has gotten a little…well, desperate for work. I am sure she can get back on her feet, though, and Midwest Productions is going to do it for her!” He had regained his confidence again.
Gains said thank you as stupidly as he imagined some newspaper reporter would, and hung up the phone. If he went to Columbus tomorrow, Robert Ore will probably already have been informed of Stark’s death. Also, Ore wasn’t so stupid as to not recognize Darren Gains. Even though these two things would complicate things, Gains was sure that Ore had something to do with Tina ending up on his farm. From the way Ore talked about her, it sounded as if he knew her pretty well.
The next day, Gains packed his Columbus phone book, a sandwich, and his shotgun into his Rav-4 and started north. The radio signals cut in and out until he reached some highway that had official road signs. The drive is about an hour long, and there is no such word as traffic in the area—even in Columbus. When he was very close to Columbus, he began having second thoughts. I’m too old for any of this. I should just go back home to Rita and watch TV until I die. It wouldn’t take too long, he thought. Gains pushed these thoughts away; he was already in the city already. He figured he might as well give it a shot.