Chapter Ninety-Nine
Ninety-Nine
Another half an hour went by before another officer opened the door to Mary’s holding cell once again.
‘Let’s go,’ he said, gesturing for her to stand up and follow him.
‘Where am I going this time?’
‘Back to the interrogation room,’ the officer told her. ‘A couple of detectives want to speak to you again.’
‘Fucking finally.’
This time, Detective Kendall was already in the interrogation room, waiting for Mary. Sitting to his left was a much shorter man – Korean descendancy – with a number four crew cut and an ill-fitting dark suit. They both looked tired, their eyes bloodshot, as if they’d been up all night.
‘Mrs. Buckner,’ Kendall said, as soon as the officer guided Mary into the room. He didn’t stand up. ‘Please have a seat.’ He indicated the chair across the table from him. ‘This is my partner, Detective Derek Choi.’
Choi also didn’t stand.
‘Did you find the basement?’ Mary asked, even before taking her seat.
‘Oh, we found it, alright,’ Choi replied, and the way his eyes pinged to Kendall for a millisecond made Mary frown at them.
‘So, you found the photos and the computer?’ She sat down and allowed her gaze to skip between the two detectives for an instant.
‘We did,’ Kendall confirmed, his stare moving to the large manila envelope on the table, sitting between him and Choi. ‘I’m sorry it took us so long to get back to you – there was a lot that needed checking out first.’
Mary let go of the biggest relief breath she’d ever held, before slumping back on her chair. ‘Oh, thank God.’ She locked Kendall in a ‘I told you so’ stare. ‘And you’re welcome.’
‘Are you on any medication?’ Choi asked.
Mary looked back at him completely confused. ‘Excuse me… what?’
‘Medication,’ Choi repeated it. ‘Are you on any? Something that you should’ve been taking, but you’ve been skipping it for a while?’
‘What? No.’ Mary addressed Kendall. ‘What the hell is he talking about?’
Kendall sat forward, placing his arms on the table. ‘The man you stabbed,’ he began. ‘You said that he is your husband, right?’
‘I didn’t just say it.’ Irritation was clearly grabbing hold of Mary. ‘He is my husband… for now.’
Kendall nodded. ‘And you said his name is Quaddra Buckner, is that correct?’
‘What is this bullshit?’ Mary’s eyes were still bouncing between the two detectives.
‘Hey!’ Kendall’s voice was almost a shout, and it startled Mary. ‘You asked us to go to the house and check the basement. We did. We did what you asked, so now, the least you can do is return the favor and answer our questions, because we’ve got plenty of them.’
Mary was starting to feel scared again.
‘Are you on any medication?’ Choi asked again.
‘No… none.’
‘And the man who you stabbed in the kitchen,’ Kendall jumped in. ‘That’s your husband?’
‘Yes… and his name is Quaddra – Quaddra Buckner.’
‘So, if he’s your husband,’ Kendall carried on, ‘then you must know what he does for a living, right?’
Mary sat still, staring at the detectives.
Kendall’s eyebrows lifted at her as if asking “Well?”
‘Yes, of course I know what he does for a living.’
‘And what does he do?’ Choi again.
‘He’s an entrepreneur…an investor. He’s got businesses everywhere.’
‘In Los Angeles?’ Kendall asked.
‘Yes.’ Mary nodded. ‘He’s got a couple of movie production companies down in Los Angeles.’
Choi threw his hands up in the air, in a victory gesture. ‘Finally, we seem to be getting somewhere.’
‘What the hell does that mean?’ Right then, Mary seemed to be made of confusion.
Kendall reached for the manila envelope on the table. ‘What that means, Mary, is that we seem to have a big problem.’