“What evidence do you possibly have?” I asked.
Pierce pulled the knife out of his briefcase, still encased in the evidence bag. “The knife has your prints on it, Basanelli.”
“It’s my knife—or it was years ago. I had no idea what happened to it.”
“Are there any other prints on it?” I asked.
Pierce shook his head. “Nope.”
Great. “I find that odd. Didn’t everybody use that knife?” I asked.
Nick nodded. “Yeah, anybody who wanted it used it. At least one of my brother’s prints should be on there—and my dad’s, too.”
“We just have yours. There are some smatterings and smudges toward the tip of the handle, but nothing we could identify,” Pierce begrudgingly shared.
“We know it’s the murder weapon?” Nick asked.
Pierce turned the bag around. “Yes. This has been identified as the murder weapon. Is there any chance you and your father got into a scuffle or fight?”
“You know we did. Everybody probably knows we did at this point,” Nick said.
“Tell me everything.”
I looked at Nick. We had to explain. Obviously, DNA had been found.
Nick nodded. “My brothers and I came home from football practice and found my dad. He’d smacked my mom around, and we lost it. We beat him up pretty good, packed his bags, and kicked him out. He was very much alive, as you know, since he was seen with Imogen Wilson at the Pig’s Tavern on the way out of town.”
“He wasn’t wearing anything bloody,” Pierce said.
I stiffened. “What was he wearing?”
“From the best of everyone’s recollection, he was wearing a white button-down shirt and jeans. We found him in the same clothing. Plus, the blood was found on Imogen, not your dad.”
“I didn’t go anywhere near Imogen,” Nick said.
Pierce’s green gaze narrowed on Nick. “Your blood was found on her shirt, and unless you can explain that, a special prosecutor will be appointed this coming week to pursue a case against you. Also, the blood of both victims is on the knife bearing your prints, which again, is the murder weapon.”
“I can’t explain it,” Nick said. “But I expect you to do a better job of figuring it out, because I did not kill either of those people.”
“It doesn’t look good,” Pierce said. “There’s going to be an outcry that you were let out without bail, just so you know.”
Wonderful. Just what we needed. More bad press. “I understand,” Nick said.
Pierce pulled the evidence back. “There will also be pressure to bring you in until a pre-trial conference.”
“It’s too late. Can’t do that now that I’ve been let out without bail,” Nick said.
I didn’t know that, but I didn’t practice criminal law like he did, so I was going with him on that.
“We’ll see,” Pierce said. “Don’t leave town.”
“I wasn’t planning on it,” Nick said.
Pierce leaned back. “Okay. I’d like to go into more detail about your relationship with your father. How often did he hit you and what did he do to your mom?”
I stood. “This interview is over.” Anything else Nick could possibly say would only incriminate him further.
“Do you have an alibi for the murders?” Pierce asked.
