Perfect Night (Mason Creek)

When the bastard arrived, I had Bess escort the person of interest and their lawyer to the interrogation room. I left them there long enough to make the killer sweat.

I walked in and dropped my folder on the table between us. The sound broke the silence for a second. The lawyer and his client turned in my direction. They’d been quietly conversing.

“First, I’m going to let you know this is being recorded.” I gestured toward the camera before walking over and turning it on. “Now, I’ll read you your rights.” I recited the Miranda warning remembering the look on Emma’s face when it had been said to her because of this asshole.

I finally sat, placing the Miranda warning statement on the table. “Please sign.” I slid the page halfway over and the lawyer took it. He scanned the page before giving his client the okay to sign.

“Mr. Evan Daily. That is your name, isn’t it?” I asked.

“You know it is, asshole,” he said before his lawyer could stop him.

I leaned back because I had this one in the bag. “Why don’t you tell me where you were the night of Doug Hawkins’ death.” I gave him the exact date. “Let’s say anytime from midnight onward. Oh, and in case you don’t know, Doug Hawkins is Emma Hawkins, your former fiancée’s father.”

He glared at me.

“Would you like me to help you with that?”

The lawyer cut in. “Why is my client here?”

“He’s a person of interest.” The next I said while tapping the table with my index finger. “He’s the person of interest.” When he didn’t answer, I pulled out a picture of a rental car and slid it around so they could see. “Does this car look familiar?”

The image had been blown up from a surveillance video shot. The quality wasn’t great. Though the timestamp and license plate were clearly read.

“It could be any sedan.”

I nodded. “It could be. But do you recall renting a vehicle?”

The reason I hadn’t initially come to this conclusion was because I’d assumed Evan had driven his own vehicle to Mason Creek. He had gone to college in Montana. As he and his lawyer decided what to say, I pulled out another document.

“Does this refresh your memory?” I let them see a copy of the rental agreement.

His lawyer gave him the go ahead to speak. “Yeah, I guess I rented the vehicle. I don’t remember if it’s this specific one.”

“The license plate listed on the rental agreement matches the one in the picture, correct?”

He took the time to check both before saying, “Yes.”

“As you can see from the timestamp, you were out that early morning on the day Doug died.”

“There’s no law against that,” he said.

“And where were you going? And don’t lie. I have video footage in town.” During an interrogation, I could lie all I wanted to. He couldn’t.

“I was out for a drive.”

“Are you familiar with Darcy Williams?”

His lawyer once again gave him the go ahead. “Yeah, I knew her. I wasn’t married.”

“So you admit you went to see Darcy a little after midnight?” I asked.

“Yeah, so what? I screwed her.”

“Yet, you concealed that fact from Emma. So much so, you parked in the town square and walked the rest of the way to Darcy’s apartment.”

“And?”

“Why did you drive so slowly past the bar?”

He shrugged. “I was going to park there.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“There was a car in the lot.”

“Whose car?” I asked.

“Doug’s,” he spit out.

“Let’s move forward. You went to Darcy’s, had sex, then what?”

“I left.”

“Did you encounter anyone after you left Darcy’s? And let me caution you, you’re under oath. Lying to me is a criminal offense.”

He whispered something to his lawyer who nodded.

“I plead the fifth,” he said with a sardonic smile on his face.

“Okay. I have video footage of Doug picking you up. Can you tell me why?” I didn’t have the pickup portion, but he didn’t know that. Sam was canvasing town for more external surveillance videos on buildings around town.

The dumbass was so smug, he blurted, “The sanctimonious bastard was probably going to see Darcy or some other chick but had so much to say about what I was up to,” while the lawyer tried to stop him. But Evan only had eyes for me. “I guess that makes us even. We’ve slept with the same women. Do you have a preference? I know I do.”

“For the record, I hadn’t been back to town in quite some time. I arrived the day of Doug’s funeral.”

“Yeah, and you couldn’t wait to get my fiancée.”

I clamped my lips shut because he wouldn’t dictate this interrogation. “So Doug took you back to the bar. Why?”

“Don’t answer,” the lawyer pleaded, but it was as if he hadn’t heard him.

“Because he didn’t want to shame me in front of Emma.”

“This interview is over!” the lawyer demanded. “We’re leaving.”