“Like from animals?”Jessica added.
Anthony’s flush deepened, and he didn’t reply.He stood in front of them, pointedly blocking their access to his living room.“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Come on, you know better than that,” Jessica cajoled.“You invited us into your house because you didn’t want your neighbors to hear something.What was it?”
Anthony didn’t fall for the obvious bait.“You tell me.You said it was scene-worthy.What is it?”
Faith showed him the social media post.“Recognize that.”
All the color drained from Anthony’s face.He swallowed and said hoarsely, “I didn’t kill them.”
“No?Then why post this?Why say that judgment was coming for them?”
Anthony swallowed again.“I want a lawyer.”
Faith kept her composure but inwardly she kicked herself.They had played their hand too strong.A man as wealthy as Anthony could afford a very good lawyer, and that very good lawyer would lock things up for a long time.They had no physical evidence linking him to the crime, and unless they found some, he was likely to get off.
“Let’s back up a bit,” she said.“I think you can understand that we have a good reason to be here.”
Anthony said nothing.
“Can you tell us why you had conflict with the victims?”
Anthony swallowed.“I didn’t kill them.”
“Okay,” Faith said, lifting her hands.“Let’s say for sake of argument that you didn’t kill them.You clearly didn’t get along with them.Why not?”
Anthony took a deep breath and dropped his head before rolling his eyes.“I’m sure you guys think I’m a hypocrite, but I reallydocare about the environment, okay?People like me aren’t the reason the environment is in trouble.It’s big businesses behaving irresponsibly and getting away with raping our world of its natural resources and killing entire populations of native animals in the process.I drive my car four thousand miles a year, and yes, this is real leather, but it’s cow leather.There are a billion domestic cows alive.It’s not like I’m contributing to the extinction of an endangered animal.”
That argument did absolutely nothing to make Faith think Anthony wasn’t a hypocrite, but that wasn’t what they were here for.“What does that have to do with a few animal shelter employees?”
“Nothing.I’m just… Forget it.The point is that Idocare about the environment and animals.Have you seen those shelters?They’re basically prisons.It’s inhumane what happens to dogs there.”
Faith saw an opportunity to build rapport with their suspect.“Actually… I agree.Those places are far from ideal.”
Anthony bit down hard on the offer of sympathy.“Exactly!They keep dogs in cages, they euthanize animals that don’t meet their standards, they let complete assholes adopt dogs that end up abusing them, and a lot of times if a dog shows up with health problems, or even if it’s a little ugly, they just kill it without even giving it a chance.”
Faith wasn’t sure about that part, but she was building rapport, not trying to reason with a madman.“Yeah, it kind of pisses me off, to be honest.”
“Me too!”Anthony said.He blinked and seemed to remember who he was talking to and why.“Anyway, that’s why I had beef with them.They act like they’re there to help dogs, but they’re just torturing them.”
“These aren’t really big corporations, though, are they?”Jessica asked.“A couple of county shelters and a non-profit.”
Anthony scoffed.“Oh yeah, thegovernmentis better than corporations.And that non-profit?Look into their financial records.I’ll bet you anything they get kickbacks from Dallas for handling some of the crap they don’t want to handle.”
“So, they’re just as bad as the big corporations?”
“Oh yeah.They’re all shitty.”
“How far would you go to protect animals from places like that?”Faith asked.
A wall came down over Anthony’s face.“Not that far.”
Faith had expected that wall, though.“I ask because we have records of you assaulting a police officer, throwing sewage and paint at people, slashing tires, and on one occasion cutting brake lines.”
Anthony flinched.“What?That’s not on record.”His eyes flicked to the left, and he corrected that to, “I never cut anyone’s brake lines.”
“You did,” Faith replied mildly.“That’s attempted murder.So, what’s the dividing line?I guess what I’m trying to ask is what judgment did you intend for the three victims?”
