“On what charges? Do you happen to know that?” George’s voice had a hint of steel, and Randy clearly picked up on it because he answered quickly and with a slight tremble.
“The suspected murder of Jagger Thomasin.”
Andi closed his eyes. This was exactly what they had wanted to avoid. With his senses, he went in search of the agent and Rosalie and found them both in a room, stuffy, sweat, delicious, electric fields firing like crazy, one blob aggressive, the pheromones acrid on his feelers, the other subdued, silent. He grabbed his partner’s hand. “We better go.”
“Hmpf.” George followed then seemed to remember his manners and looked back at Randy. “You did well, Randy. I’m sorry for being so impolite.”
Randy’s entire body seemed to relax. He waved his hand. “It’s fine, George. This was bad news on a Wednesday that hadn’t even seen lunch yet. Though it would be more fitting for a Monday.” He trailed off, clearly realizing how far off topic he was veering. It didn’t matter because they had bigger fish to fry, so to speak.
They went through the lobby of the precinct and along the hall at the back until they reached interrogation room four. Luckily, everything was signposted, or they would have lost even more time asking for directions because following the arthropods’ senses in a building was always trickier than out in the open. For one, walls didn’t pose the same insurmountable obstacle to them than it did for blobs. When they entered the outer room, they found Chief Savalle listening in on the interrogation. Andi had sensed another person in the vicinity of the room but had paid him no mind because he’d been focused on the two women.
Chief Savalle looked up. “Ah, detectives, good day.” He sounded more cheerful than the situation called for.
George looked at him, not wasting time on niceties. “You sanctioned this?”
Savalle lifted his hands. “No. The agent did this on her own. And now I have the great pleasure of witnessing her running against a wall. It’s as you’ve predicted. Rosalie has clammed up faster than I could say oyster.” A gleeful shine entered his blue eyes. “Please tell her ‘I told you so’ while I’m there.”
“You’re enjoying this a bit too much.” George had his eyes on the one-way mirror.
“Well, this woman has been a thorn in my side for weeks now. I’m not going to apologize for enjoying her putting her foot in.”
They watched and listened as Agent DeCapristo tried first to cajole and then threaten Rosalie to talk to her. The woman pressed her lips tightly together and didn’t say a single word.
“I think we should end this before someone gets hurt.” Andi turned toward the door leading into the room. He wasn’t too happy to face off with the agent, but Rosalie didn’t deserve to be subjected to her wrath.
George stepped next to him, warming his lower back with the palm of his hand. Andi enjoyed the contact for a brief moment and then opened the door without knocking. When they stepped through, George now slightly in front of him, Agent DeCapristo whirled around like a snarling tiger.
“Why are you interrupting my interrogation?”
Andi glanced at Rosalie, who seemed to huddle in on herself even more. George took on the raging agent. “It doesn’t look like much of an interrogation to me. You’re yelling, and Miss Byrnes is silent. Usually there should be some verbal interaction, don’t you agree?”
DeCapristo narrowed her eyes. “Actually, I do agree. And I’m sure Miss Byrnes will be a lot more amenable once she’s spent some time in a cell to think about her choices.”
George heaved a sigh. “You know as well as we do that you have no grounds for holding her. Not a single speck of evidence, not even a justified suspicion. We’ve told you Miss Byrnes can’t be our killer, and yet you drag her here, not caring in the slightest that she has to look after a daughter with special needs. Did Tammy have to watch when you took her mother in?”
“What? No! I went to Miss Byrne’s place of employment.” DeCapristo had the gall to look offended.
“And you have seen to it that Tammy Byrnes is taken care of while you’re holding her mother?”
“I allowed Miss Byrnes to call somebody who is going to look after Tammy. A woman named Celeste Higgins. It’s fine.”
“How gracious of you. And it will continue to be fine because you will let Miss Byrnes go immediately.”
“The hell I will!” DeCapristo straightened in front of George, reminding Andi of a spider lifting its front legs to appear more threatening to an opponent. “You have taken the lead in this investigation for too long and have nothing to show for it. Now it’s my turn.”
Andi could see his partner’s electric fields lighting up in response to the agent’s vitriol.
“Nothing to show for it?” George’s voice was deceptively calm. He turned slightly. “Chief Savalle, I trust you can show Miss Byrnes out of the precinct?” Without waiting for an affirmative, he looked directly at Rosalie. “Miss Byrnes, on behalf of the Spartanburg PD, I offer you my sincerest apologies. You are not a suspect in the death of Jagger Thomasin and dragging you here was a mistake that won’t be without repercussions. Please follow Chief Savalle, who will escort you outside.”
Rosalie lifted her head long enough to throw George a quick glance. There was a mixture of emotions dancing over her face, heightened by the fluctuation in her electric fields and the spikes in her pheromones. Anger, mixed with intrigue and a hefty dose of fear. This was a woman who had been repeatedly beaten by life and who was on the verge of giving up, though not without a fight. Her mother’s genes might not be dominant, but they were there.
She got up from her chair and stepped around the table, careful to give the fuming agent a wide berth. DeCapristo was barely holding it together. The only reason she didn’t explode in front of a witness was probably a last shred of professional decorum, though Andi couldn’t be sure. After all, he didn’t know the woman except for her electric fields and hormonal status, which to some might seem the height of intimacy when in reality it was kind of the opposite. He knew everybody he came across on a level not even most physicians could ever reach, and yet the persons themselves—what made them tick and act the way they did—remained a mystery until he decided to get to know them—or not. People were tiresome.
As soon as Rosalie was through the door, escorted by Chief Savalle, who was oscillating between glee about Agent DeCapristo’s failed interrogation and irritation at being bossed around by George, DeCapristo exploded.
“How dare you? My boss is going to hear about this. This investigation is supposed to be a joint effort, and you’re blocking me at every turn. I won’t stand for it any longer.”
George skewered her with his stare. His partner was nearing the end of his patience, rightfully so in Andi’s opinion. “May I remind you, Agent DeCapristo, that the only reason there is an investigation is because my partner and I determined it. If not for us, you’d be back in Quantico or wherever your agency would have sent you next.”
