“I’m Lieutenant Holland. You’ve met my partner, Detective Cruz. Detective, please remind Mrs. Bingham of her rights in this matter and record the interview.”
Freddie pressed the button on the recorder, recited the Miranda warning and named the participants, including Malone and Hope in observation.
“Please state your name for the record,” Sam said.
“It’s… Thelma Robinson-Bingham.”
“Do you know why you’re here, ma’am?” Sam asked.
“I… uh… No, I don’t know. You… You came to my office and arrested me.”
“You never asked why. You got up and came with us like you’d been expecting us. Had you? Been expecting us, that is?”
“No! And you didn’t give me a chance to ask anything!”
“Okay, so why did we arrest you then?”
“I don’t know! No one has told me anything.”
“Have you asked anyone what you’re being charged with?”
“I… I … No.”
“Is it because you already know?”
Her expression went completely blank for a second before she blinked. “I don’t know.”
“Are you aware that we’ve also detained your husband?”
“What? No… Why?”
Sam stared her down. “Maybe you could tell me why.”
“I don’t know!”
“Well, Louis has had plenty to say to us.”
Her eyes bugged, and then she seemed to realize the need to school her expression. “He wouldn’t dare.”
Sam tipped her head as she studied the other woman, wondering how it was possible that she’d gone from the loving mother Amara had described in the years before she’d married Louis to a participant in the murder of her own son.
“He wouldn’t dare do what? Rat you out?” Sam leaned in, arms on the table. “Let me tell you what happens when someone realizes they’re in big trouble. They do anything they can to mitigate the risk to themselves. They don’t care who they have to sacrifice to protect their own asses. So let me ask you again… Is there anything you want to tell us before Louis does all the talking for you?”
Thelma looked down for a full minute.
Sam noticed tears dropping onto the table and decided to give her a minute or two to decide how she wished to proceed.
“Let’s go talk to Mr. Bingham,” Sam said to Freddie. “He was much more forthcoming.”
They stood to leave the room.
“Wait.”
Sam and Freddie paused by the door.
“Wh-what did he say?”
“That’s not how this works. You tell us the truth, and then we figure out the next steps.”
