THIRTY-ONE
After allowing the new evidence to percolate through her mind, Jenna turned to Kane. “I’m trying to decide which of the Bright cousins we should interview first. Who do you think?”
“Derek seems to be the more volatile of the pair and is subordinate to his cousin. He might be the weak link, so I suggest we see what he has to say first.”
“I agree.” Jo collected the coffee cups from the desk and put them in the sink. “If we go into the interview as if we know they’re guilty, he might roll over on Sam.”
“I’m not so sure.” Kane stood and collected a statement pad from a pile on the desk. “If Sam is dominant over him, he might be too intimidated by him to risk it. He’d be thinking ahead of time. If they ended up in the same jail, Sam would be gunning for him.”
Jenna gathered her things from the desk, pushed the evidence bag of underwear into a brown paper sack, and stood. “Okay, let’s get this over with.” She led the way through the office and down to the interview rooms.
After swiping her card at the door, Jenna moved inside. The stink of unwashed male crawled up her nostrils as she stared at Derek Bright. He sat on the floor with his back to the wall his head in his hands and looked up at her with a belligerent expression on his face. “Mr. Bright we’d like to ask you a few questions. Would you mind joining us at the table?”
“I’ve been sitting here for hours.” Derek climbed slowly to his feet and took a seat at the table.
She read him his rights and sat down opposite with Kane and Jo on either side. “Do you agree to answer a few questions?”
“Let’s get on with it. I have things to do.” Derek leaned on the table and picked at his fingernails. “What do you want to know?”
Jenna switched on the recording device, introduced all parties, and then leaned forward in her chair and looked at Derek. “As you are aware, we executed a search warrant on your premises this afternoon. We have confiscated boxes of clothing and a bag of underwear from the cellar. We have reason to believe that these objects may be related to three murder victims found in Black Rock Falls over the last few days. Is there anything you’d like to say about the clothes you were burning when we dropped by this afternoon?”
“They’re just old clothes.” Derek gave an irritated shrug. “Are you saying my grandma was a murderer? We buried her over three months ago, so how do you figure the bodies are showing up now?”
“We don’t think that your grandma is a murderer.” Kane rolled his eyes. “I guess you had a big job cleaning out the house after she passed?”
“Not so much the house. She kept that clean enough, but the cellar was filled with useless junk.” Derek linked his hands behind his neck and leaned back in the chair. “I gave a box of trinkets to Goodwill. The other stuff had a strange smell about it, so we decided to burn it.”
Needing more information about the trinkets, Jenna leaned forward. “What kind of trinkets?”
“Aw, you know, the things women wear but aren’t worth much.” Derek dropped his arms and shrugged. “Bracelets, beads, and earrings but nothing precious. I dropped them by this morning.”
Jenna exchanged a meaningful glance with Kane, and he stood and left the room. She didn’t need to tell him to hightail it down to Goodwill and ask them for the box of trinkets that Derek had given them. She turned her attention back to Derek. “What do you use formaldehyde for at home?”
“Formald… what?” Derek snorted and glared at her. “What are you talking about? I don’t know what that is.”
“Our tracker dog picked up the scent of formaldehyde at your house this morning. In fact, it was close to where you were burning the clothes. It’s a chemical used for preservation and disinfecting.”
“Sam said something leaked all over them, maybe that was what he was talking about. I don’t know. He wasn’t specific.” Derek eyed her curiously. “You’ll have to ask him.”
“Do you think Sam stored these things at his grandma’s while he was in jail?” Jo flicked him a glance. “Do you think some of these items could have come from the women he raped? Some men keep trophies.”
“Nah, not Sam. He didn’t rape anyone; he was set up.” He shook his head. “I know he removed all my grandma’s clothes from her bedroom and took them to Goodwill. He didn’t want to keep anything of hers and told me to burn everything in the cellar. Wouldn’t he want to keep them if they were his trophies?”
This man was acting very calm and cooperative. Wanting to see a reaction, Jenna picked up the brown paper sack from the floor beside the chair and spilled the evidence bag onto the desk. Watching Derek’s face closely she pointed to the skimpy women’s underwear visible through the plastic. “What do you know about these?”
“Absolutely nothing.” Derek gave the evidence bag a casual glance and stared back at her. “I’ve never seen them before in my life.”
“So, it’s okay if we burn these?” Jo pulled the plastic bag toward her.
“That’s fine by me.” Derek shrugged and leaned back in the chair. “Are we done yet?”
“Soon. Do you know Poppy Anderson?” Jo lifted her gaze to him, pen raised above her notebook.
“Never heard of her.” Derek shook his head. “Can I leave now?”
With absolutely no reaction from him whatsoever, Jenna had nowhere else to go with the questioning and pushed to her feet. “Yeah, we’re done here.” She switched off the recording device and collected her things. “I’ll send someone down to take you back to your ranch. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Outside in the hallway Jenna turned to Jo. “I didn’t get anything from that did you?”
“Not a thing. He has no attachment to those items of clothing.” Jo let out a long sigh. “There’s no charges to answer. Like he said, there’s no law against burning rubbish in a fire pit on your own property.”
Jenna leaned against the wall, hugging the statement books to her chest. “We’ll likely get the same story from Sam Bright, although I will be interested to know why he told Kane that he was living alone.”
“One thing that puzzles me is where the clothes came from.” Jo scratched her head with a pen. “If they don’t belong to her grandsons, who else in the family should we be looking at?”
“I guess we’ll have to ask Sam Bright.” Jenna pushed off the wall and headed to the next interview room. She flashed her card and walked inside.
Sam Bright was sitting at the table with his head resting on his arms. Wasting no time, Jenna read him his rights and turned on the recorder. “You know the deal, Sam. We have a few questions about the clothes Derek was burning. You can either answer them and get out of here fast or we can call your lawyer.”
“I’ve already answered Deputy Kane’s questions at the house earlier.” Sam gave them both an appraising stare. “What else do you need to know?”
Brushing off the skin-crawling feeling of disgust his penetratingly slow up-and-down gaze gave her, Jenna dropped her things onto the table and sat down. “You informed my deputy that you lived alone. I spoke to your cousin Derek and he told me he was living with you. Why did you lie about that?”
“Because it’s none of your business who I live with, and Derek owns half of the property.” Sam leaned back in his chair casually. “The rules of my parole say I’m not allowed to mix with criminals and my cousin doesn’t have as much as a parking violation.” He gave Jenna a slow smile. “What else can I help you with, Sheriff?”