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TWENTY-ONE
As much as Oliver wanted to stay right where he was, there was no time for talking after his call with Carmen. The guy they’d brought in was in the interrogation room, waiting to be questioned, and he had to go.
He hated to leave Adelia home alone, but he felt better about it now that they had the guy in custody. Still, he made sure she locked the door when he left and told her not to answer the door for anyone.
Oliver’s hands were shaking as he entered the station and headed down the hallway. Carmen was waiting there and handed him a folder, which he perused as they walked into the interrogation room.
A young man with a dark curly ponytail sat at the table. He was dressed in an oversized grey plaid flannel, layered over a black T-shirt.
They introduced themselves and turned on the voice recorder.
“Are you a professional photographer?” Oliver asked as he sat in the chair across the table from the man.
“Nah. I dabble.”
“And you decided to dabble the day you took pictures of Adelia Allen without her knowledge?” Carmen asked.
“That’s right.”
Oliver flipped through the file to get the man’s information. Cyrus Mason. “How did you know Miss Allen was staying at the lake house, Mr. Mason?”
Cyrus was slouched back in the chair, looking very uninterested in Oliver’s questions and more interested in checking out Carmen.
“Mr. Mason,” Oliver snapped.
“I heard she left California to hide out from the reporters because her mom cheated on her pops.”
“You heard? From who?”
“I saw it. Online.”
“But it wasn’t public knowledge where she was staying. How did you know?”
“Oh, she came into the convenience store where I work. I saw her leave on a scooter, so I followed her.”
“You left work and followed her in the middle of the day?”
“No, it was at night. I locked up early and went.”
“What were your intentions that night?”
He shrugged. “To see where she was going.”
“Did you plan to harm her?”
“No.”
“But you got close to the house that night, didn’t you?”
“So, I looked in the window. So what.”
“That’s trespassing.”
“I didn’t hurt her. I just wanted to see if she was there.”
“And was she?”
“Yeah.”