“Actually, he wouldn’t be,” Beth corrected as she quickly navigated to Sarah’s Facebook page.“We know that he and Lauren weren’t really married.So maybe Sarah was the real wife.”
“Or maybe neither was,” Jessie noted, finally sharing what she’d been contemplating for several minutes now.
“So, you think he might have had sham marriages with both of these women?”Webb asked, seemingly dumbfounded by the idea.
“It could explain a lot of this confusing behavior: juggling two ‘wives,’ travelling constantly, making rash decisions and outright lying to us.”
“I’ll keep looking,” Jamil told them, “But so far, I’m coming up empty for a marriage certificate.That’s already a red flag.If they were one, it would be easy to find.”
“Another red flag,” Beth said, raising her hand.“I’m already finding photos from what looks like a backyard wedding at what I think is Sarah Winter’s house.She’s in a white dress.He’s in a tux.There look to be about two dozen people there.The photos are dated from about eighteen months ago.”
“So Mannix was fake married to Sarah Winters for a year and a half?”Webb confirmed.“How long was he with Lauren Mitchell?”
“Almost four years,” Jessie told him.
“I can’t wait to get this guy in an interrogation room,” Webb said, rubbing his hands together excitedly.
Something about the way he said it made Jessie nervous.She didn’t know this man or his interview style.But gleeful anticipation was never the right attitude to have when questioning a witness or suspect.It led to overconfidence and often, mistakes.
But this wasn’t officially her case anymore.Webb was allowing her to participate.He could change his mind at any time.
She had a bad feeling about this.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“What was his demeanor like when you picked him up?”Webb demanded.
Jessie sighed in resignation.
When they learned that Officer Devery had returned with Mannix and placed him in interrogation room one, they rushed over to find Devery standing guard at the door.But before Jessie could introduce the two men, Special Agent Webb was aggressively asserting himself.
“I’m sorry,” Devery said, looking questioningly at Jessie.“Who’s your friend?”
She quickly explained Webb's presence to him before making sure to give the officer his due."Special Agent Webb, this is Officer Harper Devery.He's relatively new to the force.But in his short time here at Central Station, he's proven invaluable to multiple HSS cases.We're glad to have him."
Devery beamed at the compliment as his cheeks turned pink.
“That’s great,” Webb said with an indifferent wave of his hand.“Now what was Mannix like when you told him you were bringing him in?”
"Mostly, he seemed confused," Devery said, pointedly directing his answer to Jessie and not Webb."I told him you had more questions and that he needed to come with me.He asked if he was under arrest.I said no.He asked what I knew about the questions you had.I said I didn't know anything.Basically, I tried to adopt the demeanor you instructed: I was professional but cold.I tried to give him the sense that he was in trouble without ever saying that."
“Fantastic,” Jessie told him.“I assume he didn’t volunteer anything incriminating?”
“No,” Devery said.“After he realized he couldn’t get anything out of me, he tried to engage me in more casual conversation about the weather, the Dodgers, that kind of thing.But I kept my answers monosyllabic.By the time we got here, he seemed pretty agitated.”
“Thanks very much, Devery,” she said.“You deserve a break after all that driving.”
“Happy to do it,” the young officer said.“Please let me know if I can help in any other way.”
Before she responded, Webb interjected.“You can help by bringing me a coffee—black, with four sugars.”
For the briefest of moments, anger flashed in Devery’s eyes.He looked like he might like to take a swing at the man.But the moment was gone before Webb even noticed it.He offered a forced smile.
“Sure thing,” he said, giving Jessie a sympathetic frown before heading off.
She turned to Webb.“Special Agent, have you ever heard the phraseYou catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?”
“Why would I want to catch flies?”he asked, either being sarcastic or dense.She didn’t know him well enough to decide which.Either way, Webb didn’t seem interested in catching flies or making friends.
