"We just have a few more questions. I promise we won't keep you long." Amy smiled. "This way."
Franks let Amy and Hillary go first and he followed behind, trying to decide if her anger at them was really about taking up her time or something else. He didn't like how angry she seemed at them. One would think she'd want them questioning everyone they could to find out why her husband died. It made him even more confident that she was hiding something from them.
Amy walked into a small interview room and gestured to the table and chairs. "Please take a seat."
Hillary looked around the small room, taking in the camera in the corner and the one-way glass on one wall. "Why all this?"
"We needed a formal interview. This makes it easy for us. The room is set up to record the interview, so we don't have to do it ourselves." Amy set her file on the table and took a seat.
"But why do you need a formal interview? I've already spoken to you." Hillary slowly sat down.
"It's just part of the process. Everyone close to the case will be formally interviewed." Franks set his own file down and took a seat in the chair beside Amy. "And since this is formal, I'm going to read you your rights." Franks quickly read her Miranda rights.
"Wait, do I need a lawyer?" Hillary asked.
"That is totally up to you. This is no different than when we questioned you at your home except it's being recorded." Franks hoped she wouldn't push for a lawyer. Not only would that waste more time, but he was also sure any good attorney would stop her from talking to them. "This is all just formality."
Hillary took a deep breath and nodded. "Let's just get it over with."
Franks waited for Amy to start the recording and give the date and announce who was in the room. Once she did that, he looked at Hillary. "I know you already went through this, but for the record, can you please tell us when the last time you saw your husband was?"
"I stopped by Desorio's that afternoon. I was hoping he might take the night off and join me and my parents for dinner," Hillary told them.
"Do you recall about what time that was?" Franks asked.
Hillary seemed to think for a moment. "Around four."
"And what did you two discuss?" Amy asked.
"I was upset he'd spent every night of my parent's visit working. I wanted him to take one night off to go out to dinner with us. When he refused, I got upset and left. He'd promised to try and leave early so he could spend some time with them once he got home."
"You said you were upset. Did you fight?" Franks asked.
Hillary shrugged. "No more than usual. We argued, but it wasn't like a huge blowup. He knew I wasn't happy, and I knew he wanted to go back to work so I just left. It wasn't like wehadn't had the same argument a million times. I decided I'd enjoy dinner with my parents and talk to him about things later. Becca was in the car waiting for me and I didn't want to take forever." She sniffed, suddenly showing emotions. "Now I wish I'd made him take the night off. If I had, he wouldn't have been there when…" She let her words trail off and reached for a tissue out of the box kept on the table.
Franks had seen a lot of emotional interviews over the years, and he could tell when someone was truly upset or was faking it. He didn't believe the tears Hillary cried right now were from real grief. This wasn't the same grief he'd seen from her when they'd spoken in her backyard. This was staged. He'd believed the grief he'd seen from her at her home, but this… this was different.
"When you left the restaurant, what did you do?" Amy asked.
"Becca and I returned home to get ready to go out to dinner with my parents," Hillary told them.
Franks exchanged a look with Amy.
"You didn't stop anywhere on the way home?" Amy asked.
"No. We left here and went straight home." Hillary stared at them. "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're trying to get at."
Franks opened his file and stared at the writing. It had nothing to do with their questioning, but he wanted Hillary to think they had more information than they did. "We have a witness who saw you go into Sweet Things after you left Desorio's."
For the briefest of moments surprise filled Hillary's eyes, but she quickly covered it up. She waved her hand and laughed. "Well, yeah, but I thought you meant when we left Desorio's, like left the parking lot. I just ran into the bakery for less than a minute or two. I grabbed a cake and hurried back to the car."
Franks nodded. "What did you need the cake for?"
"Just to enjoy at home. With my parents staying with us, I like to have something around to snack on," Hillary told them.
"So Mrs. Willgrow is okay with you going in when she's not there?" Amy asked.
"Of course. I do it all the time. This is nothing unusual." Hillary sighed. "I just ran in, grabbed the cake from the fridge and left again. Kathy's my best friend. She never minded when I took stuff. She knows I'll pay her later for anything I take."
