Chapter 44
Forty-Four
Jenna, Kane, and Jo stepped into the interview room, set up the video, and introduced themselves before restarting the interview.
Carter would watch the interview from Jenna’s office as Daphne had been arrested for trying to run him down and being in the interview would be a conflict of interest. Jenna didn’t want to waste any time and cut straight to the chase.
“When we arrived at Maya’s house we discovered her unconscious in her truck, with hoses from the tailpipe being fed inside the cab.
We witnessed you running from the scene.
You attempted to run down Special Agent Carter.
This was witnessed by the three law enforcement officers in this room.
What I’d like to know is why you tried to kill Maya? ”
“I didn’t try to kill her.” Daphne moved her mouth as if chewing on her gums. “I was teaching her a lesson, is all. That woman is always whining. Have you seen the way she clings to Raven? She’s weak and someone needed to put her in her place.”
“By drugging her and placing her inside her truck and then setting it up so she would die of carbon monoxide poisoning?” Jo leaned forward and gave her a long look. “If we hadn’t arrived, she’d have died. That’s not teaching someone a lesson—that’s murder.”
Jenna tapped a pen on the legal pad in front of her on the desk.
“We have your truck. Do you figure it’s usual to carry hose pipes and gaffer tape in your vehicle?
I can see that you bought extra just in case you didn’t have enough.
Couldn’t you just have spoken to her about your concerns?
She obviously liked your company if she invited you in the house for a cup of coffee. ”
“You are so young and na?ve for a sheriff.” Daphne’s eyes flashed with anger. “Words don’t work on women like her. She was a frightened little mouse, so I used what worked best—fear. You came along and spoiled everything. I wasn’t going to kill her, just scare her enough to make her back off.”
It was an admission of guilt, and Jenna exchanged a meaningful look with Jo. It was time for her friend to dig deeper into the psyche of this woman and see what they could find.
“I know you were in contact with all the women who died.” Jo’s gaze didn’t move from Daphne’s face. “Jan apparently fell from a mountain trail. Sierra drowned in a bathtub and Roxanne ran off the road into floodwater. All these women were on the list to get a dog from Raven. Did you kill them?”
“Accidents happen.” Daphne barked out a sarcastic laugh. “This is Black Rock Falls. Things happen to people here all the time. You can’t pin every murder on me.”
“We can track your phone and the GPS in your vehicle to put you at the scene of these murders. Plus, we’re conducting a facial recognition search of all the CCTV footage around town.
” Kane straightened from his position by the door.
“With the technology we have these days, you can’t blink and we won’t know about it. ”
“The victims attended Raven’s classes, didn’t they?” Jo raised one eyebrow. “You used to go along and watch. Raven recalls you being there and even speaking to him about some of the other members of the class.”
“So what? Anyone is allowed to go to those classes.” Daphne yanked at the chain connecting her to the table and anger rippled through her body.
“I was just reminding him that Jolene deserves his time, not those pathetic women flaunting themselves at him.” She glared at them.
“Jolene is na?ve and I just wanted to protect her from them.”
Unable to believe her ears, Jenna leaned forward. “You claim you only want to protect Jolene and yet you sabotaged Roxanne’s brakes to take her out of the equation, didn’t you? That wasn’t protection—that was murder.”
“How dare you call me a murderer.” Daphne slammed her fists on the table, making the chain clank against the metal ring.
She leaned forward, her chin stuck out with menace.
“Roxanne believed she could outshine Jolene. She was always showing off in front of Raven. Wearing those short shorts and leaning into him all the time. We had a name for those types of women when I was a girl. I just made sure she couldn’t corrupt him any longer. ”
“I don’t think someone like Raven could be corrupted by a woman wearing short shorts.” Jo blew out a sigh. “Did you believe killing Jan, Sierra, and Roxanne would make Jolene more favorable in Raven’s eyes?”
“I told her to be nice to him.” Daphne shook her head but her eyes were flashing in anger. “Raven just ignored her and wasted his time on women who didn’t deserve it. I’d cleared the path, is all. I knew once they were gone, he would see that Jolene is the only one worthy of his attention.”
Jenna couldn’t believe her ears. How could someone be so twisted?
“You tried to kill Maya tonight, and if you’d succeeded, that would have been four women.
How many more would it have taken? You do understand Raven would never have considered Jolene.
He is already involved with another woman and they are very happy together. ”
“You don’t understand.” Daphne’s hands shook as she lost control. “I couldn’t stand seeing Raven smiling at them. Each time he praised them it was like he was spitting on my Jolene—on me. When he told me their need was greater than ours, I wanted to slap his face.”
“So, you killed them and you would have killed them all, wouldn’t you?” Jo shook her head slowly.
“Yeah. I’d stomp on them like cockroaches.” Daphne laughed and stared at Jenna. “Maybe you too. Your husband is quite a catch and widowers are usually well-trained.”
It was a full confession, and everything else could be handled by the DA.
Jenna stood. “That’s all we need for now.
I’ll be sending you to County. The DA will be adding more charges.
I suggest you get yourself a good lawyer.
” She gave the time, stopped the video, and left the room.
Outside, she turned to Jo and Kane. “I’ll call Rio.
He can handle it from here. I’ll get this interview over to the DA and the files up to date and then we’re going home. ”
“You worked it out, Jenna.” Kane slid an arm around her shoulders. “It was a crazy case.”
Jenna leaned into him. “I couldn’t have done it without Jo.” She smiled at her friend. “Your insights into behavior were pivotal. Although, I didn’t pick the mother. I just figured it was a woman.”
“One crazy puppet master.” Jo shuddered. “I hope we don’t get another one like her anytime soon.”
Jenna headed for the stairs. “You can say that again.”