CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT #2
"Interesting. A man in a happy marriage doesn't remove his wife from his life insurance. I wonder if Hillary is aware of this?" Franks made notes to the list of questions he was going to ask Hillary when she came in.
"Depends if she's called to collect on the policy. She'd have gotten the death certificate when they released his body. But with everything going on, I'm not sure she's had time to deal with that yet." Amy started typing again. "I'm curious if Becca knows."
"I'm betting neither of them know he made the change. Seems like something Becca might have mentioned, but then again, she's grieving and might not have even thought about it. We'll know soon enough."
Franks started to gather everything he'd need for the interview into a folder.
"Looks like insurance on the restaurant will go to Tyler Chris.
No other names listed. I'm not up on how it all works, and if they'll still pay out if it's found to be a criminal act that caused the damage.
That's for someone with a lot more knowledge to figure out.
I'm lucky to understand my car insurance policy.
" Amy shut down her computer and sat back. "How are we doing this?"
Franks grinned. "I'm feeling like bad cop today."
"Works for me. I'll be the understanding woman who recognizes her grief and pain." Amy arranged her own folder then stood. "Let's go meet her out front."
Franks nodded and followed Amy down the hall to the main entrance.
He eyed the beautiful day out the window and wished he was out there instead of stuck inside.
Maybe if he had time this week, he'd find the time to grill steaks for dinner again.
He enjoyed sitting out back with Gretta as they watched the sunset and talked about their day.
Having Gretta around was the only thing helping him keep it together while he waited for Angus to wake up.
If she hadn't been there to keep him distracted, he knew for sure he'd spend his nights worrying about his partner and obsessing about the case.
She had a way of drawing him away from the dark places his mind sometimes went.
She reminded him that he didn't always have to be focused on work and that time at home was when he should step away from his job and focus on his life for a change.
"There she is." Amy straightened beside him as she nodded to Mrs. Hilton walking toward them.
Franks took in the angry look on Hillary Hilton's face as she saw them waiting for her.
She wore a black business suit and heels that had Franks wondering how she could walk so quickly in them because they were so high.
"Mrs. Hilton, thank you for taking time to talk to us.
" Franks offered his hand once she was near.
She ignored his hand. "Can we make this quick? I have a lot to get done today. I have Tom's family flying in this afternoon and I still need to get to the cemetery to arrange interment. I don't have time for questions I've already answered."
"We just have a few more questions. I promise we won't keep you long." Amy smiled. "This way."
Franks let Amy and Hillary go first and he followed behind, trying to decide if her anger at them was really about taking up her time or something else.
He didn't like how angry she seemed at them.
One would think she'd want them questioning everyone they could to find out why her husband died.
It made him even more confident that she was hiding something from them.
Amy walked into a small interview room and gestured to the table and chairs. "Please take a seat."
Hillary looked around the small room, taking in the camera in the corner and the one-way glass on one wall. "Why all this?"
"We needed a formal interview. This makes it easy for us. The room is set up to record the interview, so we don't have to do it ourselves." Amy set her file on the table and took a seat.
"But why do you need a formal interview? I've already spoken to you." Hillary slowly sat down.
"It's just part of the process. Everyone close to the case will be formally interviewed." Franks set his own file down and took a seat in the chair beside Amy. "And since this is formal, I'm going to read you your rights." Franks quickly read her Miranda rights.
"Wait, do I need a lawyer?" Hillary asked.
"That is totally up to you. This is no different than when we questioned you at your home except it's being recorded.
" Franks hoped she wouldn't push for a lawyer.
Not only would that waste more time, but he was also sure any good attorney would stop her from talking to them. "This is all just formality."
Hillary took a deep breath and nodded. "Let's just get it over with."
Franks waited for Amy to start the recording and give the date and announce who was in the room. Once she did that, he looked at Hillary. "I know you already went through this, but for the record, can you please tell us when the last time you saw your husband was?"
"I stopped by Desorio's that afternoon. I was hoping he might take the night off and join me and my parents for dinner," Hillary told them.
"Do you recall about what time that was?" Franks asked.
Hillary seemed to think for a moment. "Around four."
"And what did you two discuss?" Amy asked.
"I was upset he'd spent every night of my parent's visit working. I wanted him to take one night off to go out to dinner with us. When he refused, I got upset and left. He'd promised to try and leave early so he could spend some time with them once he got home."
"You said you were upset. Did you fight?" Franks asked.
Hillary shrugged. "No more than usual. We argued, but it wasn't like a huge blowup.
He knew I wasn't happy, and I knew he wanted to go back to work so I just left.
It wasn't like we hadn't had the same argument a million times.
I decided I'd enjoy dinner with my parents and talk to him about things later.
Becca was in the car waiting for me and I didn't want to take forever.
" She sniffed, suddenly showing emotions.
"Now I wish I'd made him take the night off.
If I had, he wouldn't have been there when…
" She let her words trail off and reached for a tissue out of the box kept on the table.
Franks had seen a lot of emotional interviews over the years, and he could tell when someone was truly upset or was faking it.
He didn't believe the tears Hillary cried right now were from real grief.
This wasn't the same grief he'd seen from her when they'd spoken in her backyard.
This was staged. He'd believed the grief he'd seen from her at her home, but this… this was different.
"When you left the restaurant, what did you do?" Amy asked.
"Becca and I returned home to get ready to go out to dinner with my parents," Hillary told them.
Franks exchanged a look with Amy.
"You didn't stop anywhere on the way home?" Amy asked.
"No. We left here and went straight home." Hillary stared at them. "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're trying to get at."
Franks opened his file and stared at the writing. It had nothing to do with their questioning, but he wanted Hillary to think they had more information than they did. "We have a witness who saw you go into Sweet Things after you left Desorio's."
For the briefest of moments surprise filled Hillary's eyes, but she quickly covered it up.
She waved her hand and laughed. "Well, yeah, but I thought you meant when we left Desorio's, like left the parking lot.
I just ran into the bakery for less than a minute or two.
I grabbed a cake and hurried back to the car. "
Franks nodded. "What did you need the cake for?"
"Just to enjoy at home. With my parents staying with us, I like to have something around to snack on," Hillary told them.
"So Mrs. Willgrow is okay with you going in when she's not there?" Amy asked.
"Of course. I do it all the time. This is nothing unusual." Hillary sighed. "I just ran in, grabbed the cake from the fridge and left again. Kathy's my best friend. She never minded when I took stuff. She knows I'll pay her later for anything I take."
"You have your own key?" Franks asked.
"Well, no. Tom had one in his office. Sometimes he'd run out of stuff and Kathy would let one of his chefs go in and get what they needed.
I just grabbed the key while I was in Tom's office that afternoon.
In fact, I still have the key at home. I guess that won't matter now with the whole building gone.
" Hillary closed her eyes. "I hadn't even thought about the cake with everything else going on. "
"Can you explain what you did in detail once you entered the bakery?" Franks asked.
"Why?" Hillary narrowed her eyes. "Why would that matter?"
"It's just a question. We're trying to cover all our bases." Amy smiled, her voice calm and friendly. "Did you know where the cake was when you went into the building?"
Hillary looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"Did you have to look for the cake, or did you know where it would be kept when the store was closed?" Amy asked.
"Oh, well, I knew kind of where to look. She keeps cakes either in the first fridge or in the walk-in. I found it in the first fridge. I pulled it out, put it in a box, then left the building." Hillary's hand seemed to tighten on the tissue she was holding.
"So, you didn't look for anything else or touch anything else in the bakery that day? You didn't sneak a cookie or two, or look at cupcakes?" Franks asked.
"No, I wanted a cake. I had no reason to look at the other products."
"What about the ovens or things like that? Did you touch them?" Franks leaned forward, his arms folded on the table as he gave Hillary a hard stare, daring her to lie to him.
"No, of course not. Why would I bother with the ovens?"
This was where Franks was glad, he didn't have to be honest with her. He could let her think they had more evidence than they did. "So, your fingerprints wouldn't be on any of the ovens. Maybe on the knobs that turn the gas on?"
Hillary shook her head. "I don't know why they would."
"Funny thing is that Kathy Willgrow swears her ovens were turned off when she left for the day, but somehow, they got turned back on after she left.
You were the only person that was seen going into the bakery after hours.
In fact, your own daughter saw you go in there.
Let me ask you again, Mrs. Hilton, will we find your fingerprints on any of the equipment other than that first fridge you mentioned? "
Hillary didn't answer.
"Truth is, you knew that Sweet Things was once part of the main building where Desorio's is and a wall was put up between them to make room for the bakery, right?
You know that there is a shared space above both businesses.
Want to tell us why you messed with the gas in Sweet Things that afternoon?
We already know you were in there around four, and I'm sure they are pulling fingerprints from the knobs and gas lines as we speak.
" Franks had no clue if fingerprints would even survive an explosion or if any of the parts still existed to get prints from, but Hillary probably knew less than he did.
He was counting on her fear and guilt to push her to admit what he was pretty sure she'd done.
Hillary wiped tears from her eyes. These tears appeared real.
Not fake like earlier. These tears weren't from grief, but fear.
"I begged him to take a night off. Do you know how many times I'd ask him to take time off for his family?
All the damn time. He never would. The only thing that mattered to him was that stupid restaurant.
" She looked at Amy as if she might understand.
"I didn't mean to blow everything up. I just thought someone would smell the gas, think there was a leak, and they'd have to close down for the night.
I just wanted Tom to go to dinner with us.
I never thought…" She ducked her head and cried harder.
"I think I need a lawyer." Hillary's voice was barely a whisper now.
Amy stood and pulled her cuffs from her back pocket. "Hillary Hilton, you are under arrest for arson, attempted murder, and murder. Please stand and put your hands behind your back."
Hillary's head snapped up. "Murder?"
"Eight people died because of what you did, and others are still fighting for their lives as we speak. I'm sure there will be several charges added as the investigation goes on. Now please stand." Amy went to stand behind Hillary.
"I didn't mean to hurt anyone." Hillary cried as she stood, her legs shaking as she moved to stand beside her chair.
"You got her?" Franks asked Amy.
"I'll arrange transport to the jail and meet you back in the office," Amy told him.
"Jail? Wait, what about my lawyer?" Hillary voice trembled as Amy locked the cuffs on her.
"You'll get your phone call once you're at the jail." Amy met Franks' gaze across the room.
Neither of them were happy. They got answers, but that didn't make up for the deaths or injuries that this woman's actions had brought on.
Franks grabbed his folder, then Amy's from the table.
He didn't dare speak. The woman had nearly cost Angus his life.
She had killed others. And for what? To spend time with a husband who she would never be able to spend time with again thanks to her actions.
Nodding to Amy as she walked Hillary out the door, Franks took a deep breath and tried to figure out how to write his report and tell the public people were dead because a woman was jealous of her husband's job.