“No. He isn’t in a relationship. Lives alone and says that at the times the victims were taken, he was either at home or working. He can produce witnesses that he was at work but no one has eyes on him all the time and part of his role is to walk the premises, including the parking lot, at regular intervals. He could have disappeared for hours during a working day and anyone who noticed he’d gone would assume he was working someplace else.”
“I guess the same applies to the manager,” Bryn said. “He must have off-site meetings.”
“He’s a similar character. No family to speak of and not very social. Belongs to a gun club but doesn’t go to the range very often. Members we found who know him didn’t have anything negative to say, though.”
“Neither of them are obvious psychos,” Bryn said.
“They never are.” Bell munched on a spring roll.
A young staffer poked her head around the door. “Agent Bell. Mr. Romano has arrived.”
“Put him in the waiting room while we get the room cleared, Menaz. I’ll come get him myself when we’re ready.”
The remains of the meal were hurriedly cleared away and after a quick comfort break, they were ready.
“How’s your head?” Gunnar asked Bryn.
“Still attached.”
“You need water?”
“I’m good. Let’s get this over with.”
Romano was brought in and Bell gave him the same introduction to proceedings as he’d given the others.
“Got it. And apologies for not being able to get here sooner. I had to find a deputy to cover for me at the store and there’s a flu bug going around. It took a while.”
“Not a problem. You’re here now.”
“Yeah, but I want this all sorted out as much as you do. If this gets you closer to catching Betty-Jo’s killer, I don’t want to delay anything.”
Bryn took Romano’s wrist and nodded that he was ready to begin.
Bell cleared his throat. “Are you aware of the tunnels beneath Boston Common?”
“Yes.” Romano spoke without hesitation.
“Truth.”
“How do you know about them?”
“Dave Frederics told me about them.”
“Truth.”
Gunnar and Bell exchanged looks.
“What exactly did he tell you about them?”
“He said he had found an old entrance to one of the tunnels. He’d done some research on the web and wanted to take a look, so he did. I think he hoped tofind historical stuff that might have been left down there.”
“Truth.”
“Do you know if he got inside?”
“Yes, he did. He showed me pictures.”
“When was this?” Bell didn’t wait for Bryn to confirm the truth of that statement.
