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“Yeah, there was a card.” The guy bounced his knee nervously.
“What did the card say?”
“I told her where to put the money.”
“That’s all it said?”
“Yeah.”
Oliver could tell the guy was getting flustered. “One more question. Who was the man on the beach?”
“Who?” Cyrus avoided eye contact.
“There was a guy in the picture with the dog, but his face wasn’t showing. Who was he?”
“Some random dude walking his dog, I guess.” He shifted in his chair.
“Did you see him around the house while you were there?”
“Just on the beach.”
“That day only?”
“I think so.”
“So, you were there often then.”
“No, not often. Just that night by the house and in the woods taking her picture.”
Oliver stood as if to leave and then paused and bent to look at the guy, resting his hands on the table. “Did you have an accomplice?” he asked point-blank.
“No,” the guy answered a little too quickly. “It was just me.”
Oliver eyed him. “If there’s anything or anyone else you need to tell me about, now would be the time before you go to jail for this.”
He smirked. “We’ll see about that.”
Carmen stepped closer and stared the guy in the eye. “You don’t think you’ll get jail time for stalking, trespassing, and extortion, just to name a few?”
Cyrus’s lips pressed together defiantly, but his eyes gave away his worry.
Frustrated, Oliver marched out.
Carmen followed him into the room next door with a one-way mirror that overlooked the interrogation room.
He shook his head as he entered. “He’s hiding something.”
Carmen nodded. “I agree. There’s something not right about his story.”
“He didn’t seem to know about the plans for the flowers to be delivered to the cleaning crew.”
“And his answers were definitely rehearsed. Someone put him up to this.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking. It was like he was trying to keep the details of a story straight that he’d been told but didn’t actually take part in.” He let out a sigh and shook his head. “Adelia was so happy when I told her we caught the guy. Like maybe she could put all this behind her.”
“I’m sorry. We’ll keep working on him, see what we can dig up, and if we can get him to crack.”
“Thanks, Car.”