I felt my pulse quicken. Beside me, Gus leaned far forward in his chair, almost as if he were trying to push himself through the screen.
“A cousin? Hmmm. Maybe.”
“Have you ever seen this guy around Ellie?” Gus asked on screen. He laid a photograph on the table. I couldn’t make it out, but I could guess who it was.
“Hmm.” Jamie Simmons picked up the photograph. “Maybe,” he said. “Yeah. Maybe. You think Ellie doesn’t like him?”
“Do you think she told you that? She told you she has an issue with her cousin?”
“Christ,” Gus said beside me.
“Maybe,” Jamie said on screen. “Yeah. I think so. He’s some kind of loser, I think. A troublemaker?”
“Dane Fischer,” Gus said. “Did she ever mention him to you?”
“I think so. It sounds familiar. But like … not something she wanted to talk about a lot. Just … I got the impression he was causing her some stress. I didn’t pry. I didn’t think it was any of my business. Did he do something? Do you think this guy hurt her? God. I know Ellie. If this guy was causing trouble, then he has to be a real loser. Ellie doesn’t have issues with anybody. Like I told you. I wish I could remember more. I just don’t.”
“It’s okay. I appreciate what you’ve told me so far. I know you probably have to get to class. We’re done for now.”
“If you think of anything else I can do. Please call me,” Jamie said. “I want to help. Do you … Detective … is she dead? Do you think Ellie’s dead? Do you think this Dane guy hurt her?”
“I can’t say, Jamie. But I will reach out if I have any other questions.”
There was a knock at the door. Gus stood up, obscuring Jamie from the camera. Gus shook Jamie’s hand and excused himself from the room. Jamie Simmons didn’t immediately stand up. He put his hands flat on the table again and hung his head. He took a deep breath and exhaled. Almost as if he were relieved about something. Then the screen froze as the recording stopped.
Gus bolted out of his chair beside me and kicked it halfway across the room.
“Gus!” I said.
“I bungled that interview. Christ. I put Dane Fischer in his damn brain. He fed him right back to me and I didn’t even see it. That was rookie shit.”
“Gus, you can’t beat yourself up,” Sam said. “You had nothing connecting Jamie Simmons to this. Not then, and not now, if it weren’t for what Hayden found.”
“I didn’t ask him where he was the night Ellie went missing,” Gus said. “I didn’t even ask him that!”
“He wasn’t a person of interest,” I said. “You were just trying to get a picture of Ellie’s last days. Sam’s right. There was nothing about Jamie Simmons that would have tripped your radar. Anyone’s radar. Not then.”
“I showed him a goddamn picture of Dane Fischer. It was in my mind. Her parents told me Fischer made threats. There was a restraining order. I had tunnel vision.”
“You were following the leads you had,” Sam said. “If I were in the room with Simmons, I’d have done the same thing. You’re being too hard on yourself. Yeah. You were green. Was it the best interview I’ve ever seen? No. Was it a Gus-Ritter-of-today interview? No. But it wasn’t bad. This isn’t on you.”
“Isn’t it?” Gus said.
Maggie poked her head in again. “Gus, I’m really sorry. I’ve got Agent Willis from BCI on the phone for you. You want to take it in your office?”
“Yeah,” he muttered. He looked back at the laptop. For a moment, I thought he might throw it through the window. But he grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair, stabbed his arms through it and headed down to take his phone call.
Sam stood with his hands on his hips, head down. “Mara,” he said. “How bad was that?”
“If I play it at trial?” I asked. “It’s nothing. It’s like Gus said. He doesn’t have him commit to an alibi or anything. I think it’s neutral at best. Nobody’s going to look at that and think oh, there’s definitely a killer. But they’re not going to think he’s innocent from it either. My bigger worry is Gus.”
“What do you mean?” Sam looked at me.
“I mean … he’s got to get his head straight. Whatever self-flagellation he wants to do … he needs to get it out of his system quick. If he takes the stand like that …”
“He’ll be fine,” Sam said. “Better than fine. He’s solid in that witness box. You’ve seen him.”
“I know,” I said.
