Page 146 of Take Your Breath Away

Isabel: Not that I wouldn’t have been happy to do it. He did it, you know. I mean, not with his bare hands. But he did it. He had Brie killed.

Detective Hardy: We know.

Isabel: I was wrong about Andrew. I feel terrible about what I put him through. I just … I was so sure for so long.

Detective Hardy: I know. I thought so for a long time, too. But we’ve pretty much nailed down what happened and why. Your statement from our earlier interview corroborates what Mr. Carville told us. About how Mr. Raymus was sabotaging his own company. The bikers, the whole thing. And this hit man that he’d hired, we’ve connected him to some other homicides, including one as recent as last week. That all pans out.

Isabel: It’s over, isn’t it?

Detective Hardy: Pretty much. But there’s one part of what happened at TrumbullGate that I want to go over with you again.

Isabel: Okay.

Detective Hardy: Starting with the moment that you fired the gun and Mr. Raymus started to run.

Isabel: He was going at Andrew with this crazy-looking saw and Andrew tried to get the gun out but it fell and I grabbed it. I think I’d fired twice and then Mr. Raymus dropped the saw and ran. He bumped into this homeless man and reached for the railing and it gave way and he went over the edge.

Detective Hardy: And Mr. Carville went after him?

Isabel: That’s right. He ran down the escalator. It wasn’t working, you know, because the mall’s being torn apart. He got to the bottom and ran over to where Mr. Raymus fell.

Detective Hardy: You witnessed this?

Isabel: Yes. I went partway down the escalator to get a better look.

Detective Hardy: What did you see?

Isabel: Andrew was kneeling over Mr. Raymus and asking him questions.

Detective Hardy: Were you able to hear this conversation?

Isabel: Some of it.

Detective Hardy: What did you hear?

Isabel: Andrew asked about Candace DiCarlo. He said, “What about Candace? Did you kill her, too? Were you following her?”

Detective Hardy: And what did Mr. Raymus say?

Isabel: He was mumbling. He was hurt pretty bad. Andrew had to bend over to hear him.

Detective Hardy: So what did you hear?

Isabel: First I heard Andrew ask him if he’d done it. And when he heard the answer, he asked why. Like, did you spot her by chance? Did you think she was Brie when you killed her? Something like that.

Detective Hardy: And then what?

Isabel: Andrew said something like, you son of a bitch. Like that. I didn’t hear anything else because I went down the escalator to join Andrew, and by the time I got there Mr. Raymus had died.

Detective Hardy: What did Andrew say?

Isabel: He didn’t say anything. When he realized Mr. Raymus was dead, he just sat on the floor, put his head in his hands, and started to cry. He was shaking, like he was having a panic attack or something. I got down and put my arm around him and tried to calm him down. He was a wreck, you know?

Detective Hardy: He’d been through a lot. It was a hell of a day for him.

Isabel: It really was her, wasn’t it?

Detective Hardy: Sorry?