Page 10 of Unhallowed Murder (A Paranormal Halloween #2)

Chapter Nine

“You took the girlfriend at her word without switching directions. I’ve heard good things about your interview techniques, but you seemed to go easy on her.”

Ronnie could see how Graham could get that impression. She needed to go over everything they knew and form a better game plan, but his question needed answering first.

“My guys call me the human lie detector. I have to be sitting right in front of someone — I can’t replicate it over video, so don’t bring me one and ask me to tell you if someone’s lying or not, because I can’t.

But, when I’m face to face with someone, I know if they’re lying or telling the truth.

There are exceptions — when someone’s convinced themselves they’re telling the truth, it doesn’t come off as a lie — but I’m rarely wrong when I know in my gut whether they’re being honest or not. ”

“I used to work with someone like that. It’s a handy skill.”

“Even Flores’ own people thought he killed her.

I can’t wait to ask him face to face and see if he lies or tells the truth when he says he didn’t.

But if he didn’t, we need to figure out who had motive.

” Ronnie considered all the ways she could convince him to admit to the rape again.

They had him talking about it on audio, but a good lawyer might be able to suppress the recording.

They needed a confession after he’d been booked and officially Mirandized.

“I’m going to change into a suit but keep my hair down.

I want Flores to see me as the bitch who broke his nose, and I look different with my hair in a bun.

If I pull it into a ponytail, I want you to come storming into the room demanding you get a turn with him.

I’ll tell you he’s my witness and the Feds will have to get in line. ”

“And when I leave, you’re going to point out he’ll be better off in the Tennessee prison system than the Federal one?”

“No, I’ll talk about how convenient it’d be for him to serve his time in the county jail.”

“Could work. If I take the bribery charge and you get him on rape… two crimes, two trials, but he doesn’t need to know that just yet.”

“I need to talk to our gang unit about Tigre. Detective Carter says a rumor’s floated about him pulling the strings from behind the scenes, but no one could ever verify.”

“Same here. We show Flores as the head, with notes about Tigre in the background and Ramirez rapidly climbing.” He sighed. “Tigre was invited to Jiminy’s Christmas party, to his big Fourth of July party, and was on the boat trip last month. We tried hard to get ears onto that boat, but couldn’t.”

“You want to go with me to talk to our gang unit?”

“Works for me. It never hurts for us to all get in the same room and brainstorm.”

Only if everyone was sharing, but so far, Graham seemed to be.

* * * *

Ronnie started with Tigre, so Flores could stew alone in an interrogation room a little longer. Her cat coiled inside her, ready to spring. A human calling himself a tiger bugged both of them.

She tossed a picture on the table of Tigre and Jiminy on his dock, drinking beer and fishing. Graham was helping in ways she hadn’t expected.

“You seem to be in tight with the local cartel connection.”

“Jiminy? Nah. He’s good people. No one gonna put the cartel in tiny little Chattanooga. Did you break my boy’s nose?”

“He says he’s fine. Seems to be able to breathe okay. We offered him some ice and he turned it down.” Dumbass was trying to be all macho, but in this room, every word was designed to bring Lieutenant Woods’ opponent to a planned outcome — a confession.

“You told Calacas to shut Wendy up? ”

“Who’s Wendy?”

“You knew they’d follow the breadcrumbs back to Spyder, right? You needed her to change her story.” Ronnie sat back. “Or did you mean for him to silence her forever, and he decided to try it his way?”

“I had no idea what the boys were up to. Calacas asked me to help him work out a misunderstanding between him and Spyder. I ain’t know what the boys were up to — I was just there to help them figure things out without killin’ each other.”

Ronnie leaned forward. “So, you’re just an old man who don’t play the game anymore? Offering advice when asked?”

“Yeah.”

She sat back again and looked him over. He’d stayed out of prison his entire life, despite being a very bad man.

They weren’t going to get a confession from him, and she probably wasn’t going to trick him into saying something incriminating.

Still, she’d try to put him at ease and see what happened.

“You didn’t have to worry about texts and email back in the day, did you? Were pay phones a dime or a quarter when you started?”

He considered the question before answering, careful he didn’t say anything she could use against him or his people. “Dimes at first, then quarters. Can’t even find the damned things no more.”

“None of your kids went into the life, but now you have two grandsons in it. That your choice? ”

“Dumb fucks. They think college is too much trouble. Too much work. My kids all went away to college, somewhere I could be sure there wasn’t a gang to join.”

“And how do you feel about the kids in it now? Spyder was eleven when he joined in Nashville, and was suspected of killing at least two people before he was finally put away for possession with intent to distribute.”

He shrugged. “I can’t say how they run things in Nashville.”

“So, you don’t let eleven-year-olds hang out with the big boys here?”

“I told you — I’m retired. I was asked to try to keep Calacas and Spyder from killing each other. That’s the only reason I was there.”

His words smelled sour. Rancid. “ Ahhh . You were doing so good, telling me the truth, and you had to go and blow it. Just a few more questions — do you know who killed Wendy Abrams?”

“I don’t think it was any of the boys.”

“Hmmm. Truth. Let’s try another. Did you intend for Calacas to kill Wendy when you told him to shut her up?”

“I didn’t tell him to do nothing .”

“Another lie. When he entered the bar yesterday, you thought he’d raped her and killed her, and weren’t happy he’d done both. You thought the rape was overkill. That tells me you have some humanity in you. Warped, but still.”

She hadn’t asked a question, and he didn’t give her an answer. Ronnie waited a few heartbeats, and said, “You have no problems ordering someone dead, but raping them goes too far — is that it?”

He rearranged his cuffed hands and glared at her.

“That’s okay. You don’t have to answer. I find your silent response enlightening.” Ronnie stood. “Hang out a while longer, sir. I may have more questions for you once I’ve talked to the other men.”

Next up was Spyder/Ramirez, because she needed to gain as much information as possible before she confronted Calacas/Flores.

“I don’t know if anyone’s told you, but on behalf of the Sheriff’s Department, I’m sorry for your loss.”

Spyder eyed the cuffs attaching his wrists to the center of the table, and looked back up to her. “Yeah. I can see that.”

Ronnie reached in her pocket and pulled a cuff key out. “You’re right. I have questions for you, and you’ll likely be charged in the bribery scheme, but that isn’t my case.” She freed his hands and sat back in her chair. “You were read your rights during booking? You understand them?”

“Yes, and yes.”

“You and your cousin were close as children?”

He glared at her with no intention of answering further questions.

“Here’s the deal — if you want me to find out who killed Wendy, I need your help. It’s a simple question: were you and your cousin close as children?”

He rubbed his wrists. Considering. Finally, he nodded. “Yeah, but then my parents moved to Nashville, and the neighborhood kids were…” He shrugged. “You either joined the gang or you were beaten up. A lot. It was a different world. I guess I grew up one way and she grew up another.”

Asking an easy question first was designed to get him talking. Would he answer a more difficult one? “Tigre assumed Calacas killed her, but he says she was alive when he left her, and I believe him. Who else might’ve wanted Wendy dead?”

He shook his head. “Had to be Calacas. No one else even knew about her.”

“Not even Tigre?”

“He knows everything, but no one else.”

“Her mother says the two of you spent some time together after you moved back to town.”

“My uncle on my dad’s side said I could move in with him when I got out.

Once I got an apartment, my PO said I’d get bonus points if I spent time with family, so I contacted Wendy and her mom, and they had me over for dinner a few times.

Wendy paid me to help her paint her house, and we talked while we worked.

After that, we hung out and watched movies some. She cooked for me — good food.”

His emotions got the better of him and he looked down. Ronnie had a hard time feeling sorry for him. He might not’ve pulled the trigger, but she was dead because of him.

“Did she have a boyfriend?”

“Yeah. Mickey, like the mouse. He works in the passport office at the post office. They hadn’t been dating long, but they’ve been friends a while. She met him at church.”

“Okay, that’s helpful, Kevin. Next, I need to know if you called her with the bribe, or if your buddy Calacas made the call.”

“I ain’t a rat.”

“He raped Wendy in....” Ronnie flicked her tablet on and paged through the files to her notes. “I bent her over her goddamned bed, fucked both her holes, and warned there’d be fuckloads of mothahfuckers workin’ them holes if she gabbed to the smurfs again.”

Ramirez rubbed his wrists, remembering the cuffs. “He made the call. We were worried she’d recognize my voice.” He looked down again. “I never shoulda told ’em I had a cousin who worked for the post office.”

“Is there anything else you know that will help me find her murderer?”

He shook his head. “If it wasn’t Calacas, I don’t think it was us.”

Truth. Damn . But, there was a boyfriend, so at least she had another string to pull.