Page 142 of State of Grace (First Family 2)

“Nope.”

The Crime Scene Unit commander, Lieutenant Haggerty, approached them, carrying a plastic evidence bag. “Honda keys found in Grace Ouellette’s bedroom. We checked it in the ignition of the car, and it’s a match.”

“And with that, we have enough to charge her,” Sam said. “Great work, Lieutenant. Thank you.”

“No problem.”

A scream from the lobby had them all rushing in that direction to find Josie Ouellette locked in a battle with two Patrol officers who were trying to stop her from progressing any farther into the building.

“Where is my daughter?” she screamed at the top of her lungs as she flailed against the tight hold the officers had on her.

Sam approached her. “Mrs. Ouellette, if you’ll please calm down, I’ll be happy to talk to you.”

“What have you done with my child?” she asked in a low, sinister-sounding tone that completely changed her countenance.

“Your ‘child’ is actually an adult, and we’ve detained her on suspicion of murder in the Pam Tappen case.”

“You fucking cunt!” Josie’s eyes flashed with rage as she lifted a leg to kick Sam.

The Patrol officers pulled her back before she could follow through. One of them had cuffs on her in a matter of seconds.

“My daughter didn’t kill that whore!”

“How do you know that?” Sam asked.

“I know that because I’m the one who killed her. Grace didn’t do it.”

Huh. Sam hadn’t seen that coming. She also didn’t believe her, but she would prove that in the interrogation room. To the Patrol officers, she said, “Take her to Central Booking and let me know when she’s in a room.”

As Sam began to walk away, Josie screamed after her. “I just confessed. Now let my daughter go.”

Sam turned back to face her. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way.”

“What does that mean?”

“You can confess all you want. But until we prove you did it and Grace didn’t, your confession is just words.” She continued on her way back to the pit as Josie screamed at her to let Grace go.

“What do you think?” Freddie asked.

“She’s lying to protect her kid,” Sam said.

“That was my thought, too.”

“But we’ll let her tell us her tall tale and see what we get from it.”

“What was that about?” Captain Malone asked when he joined them in the pit.

“Grace Ouellette’s mother claiming she’s the one who killed Pam, not Grace,” Sam said.

“And she tried to kick the LT and called her a see-you-next-Tuesday,” Freddie added.

Sam gave him a disdainful look. “You can say the word.”

“I choose not to,” Freddie replied indignantly.

She rolled her eyes. “We’re bringing her in through Central Booking and seeing what she has to say, but we like Grace Ouellette for the murder of Pam Tappen.”

“Carry on, then.”