ANDI WASstill seething when they reached the interrogation room that held Jake Castain. His already low opinion of Chief Norris had taken a nosedive into outright detestation. To him, anybody who was willing to protect possible criminals, no matter the reason, was criminal themselves. And when the case involved the most vulnerable members of society? Andi had zero tolerance. The chief was lucky George had been there; otherwise he would have given her a detailed piece of his mind. Andi was the first to admit his diplomacy skills were next to nonexistent, mostly because they required a mixture of empathy and willful blindness he had never cared to develop. That was one of the few good things about the world of arthropods—deceit, hatred, lies, and other very human notions didn’t exist there. It was eat or get eaten, but in a straightforward way Andi could appreciate. George stopped, his hand at the door handle. “How do you want to play this? Do you want to take the lead?”
The slight hesitancy in George’s voice told Andi his partner wasn’t convinced he had enough of a handle on his emotions to do a successful interview. As much as it galled Andi to admit it, George did have a point.
“No, probably not a good idea. Castain moves in circles I rarely enter. This is more your field of expertise.” He shrugged. “You know the lingo, the secret handshake. Let him think you’re the lead detective and I’m just an observer. If I find anything, I can still chime in.”
George nodded. “Fine with me.” He took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”
They entered the room to find Castain at the table with a cup of coffee, judging from the smell, and a small plate with cheap chocolate cookies he hadn’t touched. The man didn’t look like the asshole Andi thought him to be. From the info they’d gotten, he knew Castain was thirty-six, but he definitely looked younger, which might have something to do with his slender built and the shaggy brown hair that was artfully tousled on top of his head. He was also pale, with dark shadows under his eyes, though if it was from lack of sleep or something else, Andi couldn’t tell. The few silverfish living in the interrogation room weren’t very helpful, since for them humans were blobs of uncontrollably moving mass who generated disturbing vibrations on the floor. It seemed they would have to do this the hard way, also known as old-fashioned questioning.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Castain. I’m Detective George Donovan, and this is my partner, Detective Andrew Hayes. Thank you for coming in so quickly to help us with our investigation.” George’s tone was respectful in a way Andi would have never managed, considering the terrible suspicion they had regarding Jake Castain. It managed to put the man at ease, as his shoulders visibly relaxed and the grim line of his mouth broadened into what would have been a charming smile if Andi hadn’t seen a gaping black void where other people carried their soul. He knew he was being dramatic and was glad George was taking the lead, easily slipping into the amiable persona of a well-meaning officer of the law who didn’t pose the slightest threat. Andi would have never been able to do that; instead he would have antagonized Castain to the point where the man shut completely down.
“Yes, dreadful business. You can imagine my shock when I was told about what had been going on in my family home.” Somehow Castain managed to sound equal parts shocked and annoyed, with just enough dismay thrown in to fool a casual onlooker. Andi was anything but.
“I gather from your words you weren’t aware what was going on?” George made it sound dismissive, as if this was just a formality, which had Castain relaxing even further. Andi had to admit, his partner was damn good. It was obvious Castain had recognized and acknowledged him as an equal of sorts from his mannerisms alone, the secret handshake Andi would never know how to do. As annoying as that was, in this case it worked in their favor. A relaxed suspect was a suspect prone to being reckless, and a reckless suspect was easy prey, the simple math of cops and culprits.
“Surely not or I would have reported it immediately. I haven’t been to the family home in months, actually. Too much work in the city, what with the election next year and everything. You know how it is.” Castain didn’t look once at Andi, his entire focus on George, which was just fine for Andi. It gave him more time to read Castain’s body language, which told him the man was very carefully upholding an image to distract from something. Though if he was just his normal evasive political self, trying to dodge a potentially damaging situation, or if he was hiding what Andi was almost certain he was doing, he couldn’t tell.
“So the family home was sitting empty? Not even somebody there to do maintenance?” George still sounded almost bored, like he was just going through the motions, when in reality this was an important question. Depending on Castain’s answer, they would know if he was lying to them.
“It was empty, yes, but of course there were people looking after it. A home so big needs constant care or else the market value plummets.” Castain paused a moment. “Especially since I’m planning to sell.” He leaned down and lifted a leather man purse onto the table which probably cost more than Andi made in a month. Didn’t prevent the thing from being ugly as all hell. “I’ve brought the emails I exchanged with my realtor. I thought they might be of help.” His satisfied tone indicated he thought this was enough to clear him. Andi was sure if Castain could, he would have clapped himself on the back for preempting the police’s questions.
George took the binder and quickly leafed through it before handing it to Andi. At first glance, everything seemed in order, the emails dating back as far as December the previous year, talking about formalities such as maintenance, when to set up dates for viewing, and the pricing, which the realtor thought was too high. As alibis went, this wasn’t too bad, but certainly not a clean bill either.
“If it’s okay with you, Mr. Castain, we’ll keep those emails for reference.” George still sounded overly polite, with just a hint of thankfulness which made Andi want to gag. Castain, on the other hand, was eating it up.
“Of course. Do keep them, Detective Donovan. And if you need anything else, feel free to call me anytime. I want this solved as quickly as possible.”
“Now that you mention it, Mr. Castain, would it be possible for you to give us a list of the people who had access to your house? As you said, it had to be maintained, and of course you didn’t have the time to oversee it all the time, I fully understand that. Unfortunately, this is a golden opportunity for criminals to have utilized your home without your knowledge.”
Castain nodded gravely. “Sure, Detective Donovan. You’re absolutely right. I’ll contact the companies who have worked at the house and ask them to send you a list of their employees. I’m sure they do wish to clear their names as quickly as possible.”
Andi wanted to make a face but caught himself at the last moment. Castain was in a good mood, no need to antagonize him—yet. George went on with his careful questioning.
“There’s one last thing I have to ask of you, Mr. Castain, just to cross all myTs, you understand? Being thorough is the heart of every investigation.”
Castain’s left eyelid started to twitch, but he kept his cool, maintaining his amiable façade. “Whatever I can do to help.” His enthusiasm was drying up more quickly than spittle on a hot stove, but Andi couldn’t care less. Perhaps, if they were really lucky, Castain would make a mistake out of sheer annoyance.
“I have the pictures and names of the men we arrested at your home, and I’d like to ask you to take a look at them, see if you recognize any of them.” George lined the pictures up in front of Castain. The man leaned closer to take a look before he glanced away again, clearly not interested. “I’m afraid I can’t help you here, Detective Donovan. I do know two of these men by sight, as I’m sure many people do because they are public figures.” He made a dismissing gesture with his right hand. “I can’t believe they were involved in something unlawful. I’ve always perceived them as model citizens.”
Just like yourself, Andi thought but kept the sarcastic comment to himself. This interrogation was going nowhere fast, and judging from the tense line of George’s shoulders and the smug expression on Castain’s face, they both knew it too. George gathered the pictures, his voice still calm and composed as if this were nothing but a friendly chat between like-minded people.
“If you remember anything or perhaps have an idea why your house was used by those criminals, please contact us immediately.”
Castain nodded gracefully, a king dismissing his servants. “Anything to help the police.”
No mention of the victims, no question how they were doing. The man was ice-cold when it came to the suffering of others, especially those he deemed beneath him. All the more reason for Andi to keep him on top of his suspect list.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Castain. You’ve been a real help, and we do apologize for the inconvenience. My partner is going to show you out, since the precinct can be a maze for people who aren’t used to it. We appreciate your cooperation.”
“It’s my pleasure.” Castain got up, grabbing his ugly man purse tightly with his left hand while offering his right to George. They shook, and then Andi led the man outside. He kept up a brisk walk to avoid talking to Castain. Apparently, he needn’t have worried, since the man didn’t even try to make conversation. When they stepped outside, Andi nodded at Castain, while at the same time opening his senses wide. Out here were enough insects who could tell him a lot of interesting things about Castain. The man nodded back, not offering his hand as he’d done with George, which showed Andi clearly that he’d been classified as some kind of errand boy, nobody of importance.
He stayed in the shade of the entrance while Castain went to his car, a Tesla, by the looks of it, though Andi didn’t know which model. And while Castain walked with the gait of a man convinced he’d gotten away, Andi listened to the mosquitoes dismissing Castain as a source of food because his blood was sick and he carried residues of drugs Andi immediately recognized as the same as on Taylor Vance and the other men they had arrested during their first bust. Andi smiled. Castain was their man. All they had to do was prove it.
BACK INSIDEthe precinct, George was already waiting for Andi at their desks, the angry line between his eyebrows telling Andi everything he needed to know about George’s true feelings toward Castain. George had the binder open in front of him, though his gaze was trained on Andi. “Is Mr. Douchebag gone?”
“Yep. Entered his expensive ride without so much as a ‘Have a nice day’ and rode off into traffic. May he be stuck in a jam for at least an hour.”
George chuckled. “I’m glad to see our estimation of Castain is the same.” His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “Did you get anything else on him?”
