Hailey swallowed hard again.
"You want to tell me why you admitted to something you didn't do?”
She looked incensed. "I'm telling you. I killed my father.”
"No. You didn't. And you're wasting our time.”
She growled at me.
"I understand you’ve got a lot of animosity toward your father. A lot of unresolved feelings. I suggest you work out those feelings with good counseling.”
"I am working those feelings out with good counseling. I worked them out by stabbing him to death. He deserved it.”
“You're interfering with a police investigation.”
I grabbed the scissors, pushed away, and stood up. I walked around the table and commanded her to stand. She complied, and I released the cuffs from her wrists.
A look of disbelief washed over her face.
JD and I strolled towards the door.
"That's it? You're just going to let me go? Just like that?”
"Yes. Just like that.”
I knocked, and a guard buzzed us out.
I held the door for Hailey as she stomped out of the interrogation room. I’d never seen somebody so upset about being let go.
Before walking off, she turned back and said, "You're making a mistake.”
I sighed and shook my head.
Hailey stormed away, and Daniels joined us in the hall a moment later.
"That girl's got some serious issues," he said. “I'll never understand why people make false confessions.”
“I'm no psychologist, but I think it's some attempt to gain control over uncontrollable situations,” I said. “Makes her the center of attention. A last attempt to get back at her father. Imagine the unresolved feelings she has. She's never going to get closure. Maybe this is her way of doing that.”
"I hope she gets the help she needs," Daniels replied. "You got anything solid on the landscaper?”
"A lot of circumstantial evidence. So far, I don't have any proof that he bought those exact shears. I've got my people digging."
"Go to all the hardware stores in the city. Check receipts. Pull up security footage over the last several weeks. Those sheers were new. Maybe we can catch one of our suspects on video buying them.”
"We'll give it a shot.”
I had told him about the kidnapping when we spoke earlier. He wanted a status update.
"We're just waiting for the next contact,” I said. “I've got my people trying to track them down, but that's not proving fruitful at the moment.”
"Do you want to bring in the FBI?"
"Mickey wants us to handle it.”
"Any particular reason?”
I told him about the ransom demand and the money.
