CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Jessie watched as Jason Mannix’s jaw dropped open in shock.
“I don’t—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said unconvincingly.
Jessie shook her head empathetically.
“Mr.Mannix, I think this might be a good time to reconsider your prior statement.”
There was a pregnant pause that she was happy to let linger as long as possible, but of course, Webb wouldn’t let it breathe.
“You should know that lying to a state investigative agent is a violation of law,” he said officiously.
Jessie doubted that Mannix needed the reminder as extra incentive to re-evaluate his position.His lips were twisting themselves in knots, making him look borderline unattractive for the first time since she’d met him.
“I’m not sure what to say,” he said quietly, and it was clear that he really wasn’t.
“I’m going to lay our cards on the table here,” Jessie said, trying to stay one step ahead of Webb’s cheap theatrics.“We believe you lied about where you stayed on Wednesday night.Your GPS data showed that you were at the home of Sarah Winters.Does that name ring a bell?”
Mannix had a dazed expression.When he didn’t respond, she continued, careful not to mention Winters’s murder yet.She wanted to wait for the right moment so she could gauge his reaction and determine whether the news was a surprise to him.
“A review of Ms.Winters’s social media posts suggests that the two of you were an item.In fact, there are photos of you together that look a heck of a lot like they were taken at a wedding.But there’s no record of a marriage certificate involving either her or Lauren Mitchell.Do you deny that you engaged in sham marriages with both of them?”
“I’m really starting to wonder if I should consider getting a lawyer,” he said weakly.
“Why?”Webb demanded.“This is a murder investigation, not a bigamy one.Lawyering up makes it look like you’ve got a lot more to hide than two wives.Do you?”
Jessie didn’t love Webb’s tactics.He was skirting dangerously close to ignoring Mannix’s right to an attorney.But since the man hadn’t technically requested one yet, she thought they might still be able to navigate their way out of this before they crossed a legal line.
“Mr.Mannix—Jason,” she said, hoping a personal touch might pull the guy back from the brink.“You are, of course, entitled to request a lawyer.We’ll stop talking to you right now if you want.But I’d like to lay out what happens next if we go that route.Is that okay?”
He nodded hesitantly.
“Our conversation ends and we go from viewing you as a witness or person of interest to seriously considering you as a suspect,” she said gently, not mentioning that they most definitely already viewed him as the latter.“Now maybe your personal relationships had nothing to do with what happened to Lauren.But by the time we could get to the bottom of that, you’d already be in the legal system.You’d be paying substantial criminal attorney fees.Your professional reputation—even your job—would be put at risk.It’s your call as to whether retaining an attorney is worth all that.But maybe there’s another way.”
“What way?”he asked.
Sensing that he was open to the idea, she jumped at the chance.
“If you can prove to us that you weren’t involved, we can pour our resources into going after Lauren’srealkiller, rather than wasting them on you,” she said earnestly.“I would hope that, if you really loved Lauren as much as you say you do, you wouldn’t want her killer walking the street for one minute longer than necessary.This is a chance to put your personal discomfort aside and help catch a murderer.Is that what you want?”
“Of course I do,” he insisted.
She looked him in the eye and replied.“Then tell us the truth.”
He sighed and sank into his seat.Even before he said a word, Jessie knew he was in.
“I know it looks bad,” he said plaintively.“And you have to understand that I didn’t start out with a plan.I wanted to be with Lauren, but I wasn’t comfortable getting married.So, I came up with this idea to give her what she wanted without making it official.It seemed harmless.For all practical purposes, we were legitimately married.And then I met Sarah.”
“And you thought the next logical choice was to fake marry her too?”Webb asked disdainfully.
“I loved both women with all my heart,” Mannix explained.“And I figured that if I could do it once, then what was the big deal?With my work schedule, I could spend time with each of them.And technically, I wasn’t a bigamist.I know it sounds crazy, but in my head, it made sense.”
“So, is that why you lied about where you were on Wednesday night?”Jessie pressed. Because you didn’t want to answer questions about having two illegitimate marriages?”
“Yes.”
“But you had to know that we’d eventually learn that your Hank Cronin alibi didn’t hold up.”
