“Receipt’s in one of the bags, I think with the jeans. And you’re welcome.” George didn’t specify to what Andi was welcome. The thing with the throw-up bucket was definitely gross, the only saving grace being that Andi usually didn’t eat much when he knew he would be connecting with his crawling spies in a more active way, and wasn’t that a sad thought? When Andi started searching the bags, George interrupted him. “You can look for it tonight, when you try everything on. You can pay me once you’ve decided what you’re going to keep.”
“Are you kidding? If those clothes fit, I’m going to keep them all. If things go well, I won’t have to go shopping foryearswith this stash.”
Well, George thought,nobody can accuse Andi of being wasteful. His partner put the bags on the floor of his hallway, closed the door to his house, and went to George’s car. He seemed to be more chipper than usual at this time of the day, and George wanted to believe it had something to do with his offering of clothes.
At the precinct they had one hour to kill before the three sons of their victims would arrive, which they used to plot the whole interview. A lot of it would hinge on the reactions of the men, though there were some things they could control. Like the interrogation room they were going to use. In room four, a healthy colony of silverfish had established their home behind the plastic molding on the ground, and several cracks in the ceiling had allowed for spiders to claim the place. As far as lie detectors went, they weren’t as ideal as moths or ticks or mosquitoes because they were neither relying heavily on pheromones nor were they fixated on blood, but they still picked up a hell of a lot more nuances than two simple human detectives ever could. George was proud of himself that by now he could think along those lines without feeling the urge to contact a shrink.
The room was prepared with three chairs on one side of the bolted-down table and two on the other side. The camera was ready to roll, and the receptionist had instructions to inform them as soon as the first man arrived. When they had been called the other day, the officer had given the men different times, asking Lester Miller to come at nine sharp, Dominic McHill to come at ten past nine, and David Hector Portius III to arrive at twenty past nine. The plan was to bring Miller directly into the interrogation room, storing McHill in another room until Portius arrived and then bringing them together. For a moment they had contemplated just watching them for a while, but with Portius being a lawyer, even if he wasn’t top-notch, the chances that they would clam up the moment he got his wits about him and advised them accordingly were too high. Better to have them all rattled with no chance to come to an agreement.
It all went down without a hitch, Miller stewing in the interrogation room while they waited for McHill and Portius. Asking the lawyer to come in last had also been on purpose. An angry lawyer who had time to contemplate his next move was more difficult to deal with than one who was immediately thrown into action upon his arrival. Once Portius had arrived, George escorted him downstairs, meeting Andi, who had gotten Dominic McHill at the door to the room. He could see both David Hector Portius III and Dominic McHill tensing the moment they saw the other, a tension that rose a few notches when they were ushered into the room by Andi and George, seeing that Lester Miller was already there.
“Please, gentlemen, take a seat. Do you need something to drink?” George was acting all polite, as if the men had nothing to fear. Which was technically true since they probably wouldn’t be able to nail them down for the rape they had committed some twenty years ago. While the statute of limitation for rape was twenty years, with the count starting when the victim turned thirty, they would still be well within the time frame, but sadly, once a crime like that had been dormant for so long, it didn’t have high chances of making it into court. Even with a full confession it would be difficult, and more so when the victims of the crime had taken their statements back. Not to mention that Tabitha Clemént and Josephine Garr probably didn’t want to dredge up such a traumatic event in their lives. They had made it more than clear that they wanted to be excluded from the investigation as soon as possible. It didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to get the men to confess, though.
George’s soothing tone didn’t seem to work, because the three men were telegraphing worry and fear that was slowly morphing into anger, a typical reaction for people who knew they had done something very wrong.
“I’m sure you know each other, since your fathers were such close friends and you went to Harvard together.” George kept playing the jovial detective while Andi was watching the men like a hawk, at the same time dipping into the consciousness of the insects in the room. George made sure to seat himself at a slight angle next to his partner to be able to pick up on his clues and reactions. They had done this many times by now, and George still marveled how much easier interrogations went when you had somebody with you who could so easily stir the pot, or suspects. He did feel a little worried after Andi’s meltdown during their argument, but his partner had assured him he had everything under control, which George hadn’t wanted to argue, though he had his doubts. He decided to be extra vigilant and keep an eye on Andi in case things got out of control.
“We do know each other, though I have no idea why you would want to talk to us all at once.” Ah, so Portius was taking the lead, something he wasn’t necessarily used to, as the slight tremor in his voice showed. He was already sweating, small beads slowly running down his neck into the hem of his pristine white shirt. McHill seemed to be shell-shocked, while Miller had narrowed his eyes and folded his arms in front of his chest. George wanted to bet his next monthly check on him being the leader of this small group—or at least he used to be. He didn’t seem happy to leave the talking to Portius but wasn’t stupid enough to not let the lawyer be in charge. Interesting already. George glanced at Andi, who gave a slight nod.
“Well, as we’ve told you, gentlemen, we’re investigating in all directions concerning the deaths of your fathers. As you can imagine and have already hinted at when we talked to each of you, we found out some alarming things about the ways your fathers conducted their businesses and private lives.”
All three men nodded automatically, confirming George’s assumption that they knew quite a lot about the things their fathers had been up to.
“That’s no surprise. What I’d like to know is what it has to do with us. It’s highly unusual to put witnesses into an interrogation room.” Portius was suspicious, and rightfully so. George smiled at him before dropping the bomb that would hopefully get them some new insights and perhaps even a hot lead in the case.
“Tabitha Clemént and Josephine Garr.”
It was a small satisfaction to see the expressions of the three men freeze for a moment before their eyes widened in horror. Served them right.
“As it turned out, your fathers weren’t the only ones with dirty secrets.” George leaned slightly forward, which caused the three men to instinctively lean backward before they seemed to realize what they were doing. Miller instantly moved his upper body forward again, the motion subtle enough to not be seen as a threat but still clear. This man was used to manipulating people, it seemed, and skilled in the art of body language.
Portius just froze where he was, trying for a stern look and ending up giving the impression of a deer caught in the headlights instead. A leader he was not. McHill just kept sagging against the backrest of his chair, as if his spine had decided it was time to give up its service.
George let a sharpness bleed into his voice he usually reserved for hardened criminals. It worked like a charm on these fuckers, who had thought it was okay to roofie two women and rape them. “Tell us what happened after the rape. We know your fathers tried to sweep it under the rug, and we want to know how they went about doing that.”
McHill was staring at the table, probably hoping it could somehow save him from George’s ire or imagining what it would feel like to be chained to it once he was officially arrested. George found it hard to say, because the man’s face was turning more into a mask by the second. Miller was looking at Portius, who tried to sit up straight and project confidence. He wasn’t overly successful.
“There was no rape.” He didn’t elaborate, didn’t protest with fancy words. He was saying it like a man who hoped the words he spoke would become true simply because he wished for it. The other two just sat there, shaking their heads as if to give the words more weight.
“Oh, then why did your fathers see the need to interfere? Or more precisely, why did they think they had to send in the lawyers?”
“They didn’t want a scandal, and the situation back then was quickly becoming volatile.” Portius sounded a bit more secure. George saw Andi shifting in his seat, silently telling him to poke a bit more.
“How was the situation becoming volatile?” George loved throwing their own words back at suspects. It was a reliable method to get them riled up. It worked on Portius as well. Having to explain himself clearly rattled him. McHill and Miller remained suspiciously quiet. They both had beads of sweat forming on their foreheads. McHill’s silence didn’t surprise George, he seemed like the type who always followed, and with his alcoholism, he probably didn’t have too many functioning brain cells to rub together. For him, silence was the safest option. Miller clearly had to restrain himself from saying anything. George had to give him some points for self-control. Portius cleared his throat.
“It was the early nineties, everybody was big on women’s rights, our fraternity already had eyes on it for some minor transgressions, and our fathers decided to nip it in the bud. End of story.”
George smiled. When people tried to shut him up like that, his hunting instincts roared to life. Andi slightly leaned his upper body forward, like a bloodhound straining against its leash. A clear sign for George to go for the throat.
“You mean your fathers decided to make the accusation of rape go away. Must have been difficult, with the situation already beingvolatile.”
“I told you, there was no rape! They took their statements back!” Portius snapped, revealing why he wasn’t reeling in the big bucks as a lawyer, slipping up not ten minutes into the interrogation. George allowed a small, unpleasant smile to form on his lips.
“And we all know once a statement is taken back, it’s as if the accusation never existed, don’t we?” He put his hands on the table between him and Andi and the three men who were now visibly squirming. “Tell me, what did your fathers do to intimidate the two women?” George already knew from Tabitha and Josephine, but he wanted to hear what the sons had to say.
Miller kept staring at Portius, while McHill kept his gaze firmly fixed on the table in front of him, very pointedly not looking at George and Andi. Portius stuck out his chin defiantly, not saying a word. George sighed dramatically.
“You know we’re going to find out anyway. This is related to the murder of your fathers, and we do have the means to get our hands on whatever file Portius, Dyson & Partners has about the victims. Granted, it will take us some time, but we’re going to read it. If you talk to us now, we won’t have to charge you with obstruction of justice. Not that we’d feel bad about doing it. It’s just such a waste of time, don’t you think?” Actually, George wasn’t entirely sure if they would be able to construe this as obstruction of justice, but it was worth a shot. Portius didn’t give the impression of being well-versed enough in the law to contradict George’s statement. He let his words sink in for a moment before he pressed on. “Now tell us what’s in the file and what exactly happened. We know all three of you had your fallout with your fathers shortly after.”
