"He does," Hartley said."He annoys a lot of people around here, but if he helps bring in criminals, no one really cares."
"All right, let’s see what he has to say for himself," Alison said.
They left the viewing room and went down the hallway to the interview room door.Hartley knocked on the door and opened it, leading Alison inside.
Dalton turned to them and smiled."Oh, good, some service finally.I’ll have a coffee with three sugars and just a splash of cream."
"You certainly know how to make a good first impression," Hartley said as she made her way to one of the chairs facing Dalton.
"Aah, you’re the agents that’ll be interviewing me," Dalton said, making a show of hitting his forehead with the heel of his hand."And here, I thought you were the maids.That makes far more sense.Well, let’s get to it.Ask your questions."
Hartley sat down and didn't say a word.Alison followed suit, sitting beside her and pretending to be interested in the tabletop.Dalton was obviously a man full of bluster who liked to antagonize, and by remaining quiet, they didn't give him the pleasure of that sort of interaction.
After about a minute had passed, Dalton spoke again."It’s interesting being on this side of the table.I can't wait to see how you get the truth out of me."
Hartley still didn't respond and took the folder they had prepared for her and tilted it toward herself so Dalton couldn’t see inside when she opened it.She remained silent as she looked through the file, and when she pointed to a black spot, Alison leaned in to take a look, then sat back and nodded.
"Mmm-hmm," Alison told her.
Dalton began to shift from side to side in his seat when they reached the two-minute mark, and he couldn’t keep silent once again.
"I know why you brought me in today," he said.
Hartley looked up at him but still didn’t say a word.
"You’re looking into the recent murders, and you think I have something to do with them.I don't believe I’ve heard anything as dumb as that, but there you go.So, are you going to ask your questions?"
"The agent who brought you in told you why you were being brought in," Hartley commented.
Dalton shrugged."What does that have to do with anything?"
Hartley slowly picked up her pen and pointed it at Dalton."You told us why you were brought in as if you had put it all together yourself, but you were told explicitly when the agent came to your door, and you were more than happy to come down here."
"I—" Dalton began.
"Why would you be so happy to come down here knowing you were a suspect in a multiple homicide?"Alison asked."I wouldn’t be happy about that if I were you."
"Oh, you wouldn’t, would you?Does anything about me suggest that I’m happy?"
"Except for the fact that you were happy to come down here?"Hartley asked."That’s a big giveaway for me.How about you, Dr.Payne?"
"Very big," Alison agreed.
"Ah, so you’re the great Alison Payne," Dalton commented, leaning forward in his chair."Your picture was left at one of the crime scenes, wasn’t it?"He smiled.
"You tell me," Alison said.
"Why?Don't you know?"Dalton asked.
"I only want to know what you know, Dr.Dalton," Alison said.
Dalton folded his arms across his chest and sat back in his chair."I couldn’t possibly go over everything I know; that would take far too long."
"That’s really funny," Hartley said to Alison dryly.
"Extremely," Alison replied."We could do with lightening the mood after multiple murders."
Hartley turned back to Dalton."Do you have any more of those?"she asked."It’s nice to talk with someone who doesn’t get bogged down in the serious nature of the case."
