"We have evidence that implicates Mrs. Scott in the death of her stepdaughter, Eden Saint.”
His eyes flared with recognition for an instant, then he covered. "That's hard to believe."
"It was hard for her to believe, too. She never thought she'd get caught. I'm sure you know Lisa better than I do, but she's not the type that's cut out for prison.”
Eddie took a deep breath and tried to stifle a cringe.
"I want you to think carefully about how you answer this next series of questions. It will affect the rest of your life."
"Maybe I should have an attorney.”
"I can tell you right now, if you play hardball with me, it's not gonna work out in your favor.” I showed him a picture of Lisa's mug shot, so there’d be no doubt she was in jail.
Another momentary flash of panic filled his eyes. He knew where this was going.
"Lisa has made a sworn affidavit that you were with her at the time of Eden’s death.”
His whole body stiffened.
“She claims you pulled the trigger.”
Anger filled his eyes, and the muscles in his jaw flexed.
50
“That’s bullshit!” Eddie snapped.
There were perks to rousting people out of bed and riling them up before they’d had their morning brew.
“Tell me what happened,” I said. “Work with me, and maybe you don’t do life in prison.”
His mouth tensed. “I didn’t know what she was going out there to do. She told me she just wanted to talk to Eden and see if she could get her to settle. The whole suit was just to put pressure on her and get her to recant.”
“Go on.”
“We got to her boat. They had a long talk.”
“Lisa and Eden.”
“Yeah. Lisa said she would drop the suit if Eden would go on stream and take back everything she said. From what I understood, Eden was in dire straits financially. Lisa gave herthe drugs as a token of her appreciation. I had no idea it was fentanyl. Eden said she had quit. Said she was clean. Next thing I knew, Lisa pulled a gun from her purse. She shot Eden in the head, point-blank.” He still looked a little traumatized. “I couldn’t believe it. She wiped the gun down, put it in Eden’s hand, and staged the scene.”
I wasn’t sure if I was getting the whole truth, but it was the closest thing I’d gotten yet. “Where did the gun come from?”
Eddie’s lips tightened. “I got it for her. But I swear, I didn’t know what she was going to do with it. She just said she wanted a clean, untraceable gun for protection.”
“Where did you get it from?”
“I know a guy.”
“I need his name?”
Eddie’s face tensed.
“You want to spend time in prison? I need a name.”
“Look, I need a deal. In writing. I want immunity. I’ll tell you everything and testify.”
“I’ll talk to the state’s attorney. I’m sure we can work something out. But I need evidence to corroborate your story. ‘Cause right now, you’ll both say whatever it takes to save your ass.”
