“Hell, why not?”
Colcord dialed the number and put the phone on speaker and to record, and set it in the center of the table.
A man answered after a couple of rings. He had a light, educated voice: different from the picture Cash had painted in her head.
“Javi Castillo. How may I be of service?”
“Mr. Castillo—this is Sheriff James Colcord of Eagle County, Colorado, and Agent Cash, Colorado Bureau of Investigation. We’re investigating a murder, and I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
After a pause, “Murder of whom?”
“Willy Grooms.”
“What?Willy Grooms is dead?” There was a pause, and then he began to speak in a stream of breathless, broken sentences. “Oh my God—I can’t believe this. Who killed him? Do you have any leads? Is anyone in custody yet? How?”
“He was killed in his cabin up in the Flat Tops Wilderness. I’ll start with asking a general question: Is there anything you can tell us that might assist with the investigation?”
They could hear Castillo breathing hard on the line.
“How do I know you’re who you say you are?” He spoke in a hoarse, frightened whisper. Suddenly, aclick, and the line went dead.
Cash shot Colcord a glance, eyebrows raised. “That went well,” she said.
“Absolute loony. He and Grooms were birds of a feather, I bet—two conspiracy theorists.”
“He sounded terrified. Might be worth pulling him in for questioning.”
“From California? Good luck getting the warrant.”
“One of us could fly out there to interview him. I mean, the last phone calls Grooms made were to him—and they were long.”
“Yeah, yakking about all the UFOs they’ve seen.” Colcord rolled his pointer finger in a circular gesture near his temple.
“Still…” Cash trailed off. “It’s a valid lead.” She didn’t have to believe in UFOs to see the value in interviewing a possible witness. Colcord could sometimes be unimaginative.
Colcord drummed large fingers on the table and scowled. “I agree we need to talk to the guy. But if you want my two cents, I bet Castillo’s a red herring. We need to stay focused. We’ve got a whole bunch of local leads to follow up with. The media is all over us as it is, and if they catch wind we’re talking to a UFO crackpot, they might paint us to look like idiots. Did you see that piece in theEagle County News? Front page and everything. Grooms believing he could fly and talking to animals—all sorts of nonsense. It’s not a good look for our investigation.”
Cash had seen it. She had expected media coverage, but it was getting a little out of hand for it being so early in the case. Colcord was right, this could turn into a shitstorm. Another Erebus. Every reason to follow the leads they had. However… “We need to interview him now, Colcord. The last five phone calls Grooms made on Margie’s satellite phone were to him.”
“All I’m saying is, we’ve got a ton of local leads to follow up on before chasing down someone in San Francisco.”
“It’s my call. I’m going.”
Colcord leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. “Okay then. But bring me back a tinfoil hat or two—will ya?” He shot her a grin.
Cash, annoyed, stood up and began to clear the table of crumpled serviettes and coffee cups and shove them into the empty pastry box. She rammed the box into the garbage in the corner, grabbed her coat from the back of the chair, and left.
