30. Ozzie
CHAPTER 30
Ozzie
“ Y ou ready to do this?”
I glanced up at Riggs as he poked his head in my door. “Uh, yeah.” Blinking to put the moisture back in my eyes, I logged out of my computer, leaving the search for the elusive sweatshirt logo up on my screen.
Pushing away from the desk, I grabbed a notepad and a pen and followed the chief down the hall to the room we used for interrogation.
“Are you sure you don’t want to do the interviewing?” I asked him, stopping in front of the door.
“I’m sure. You already have a rapport. But remember what we talked about. Watch the light and excuse yourself if it comes on.” He backed toward the door a few feet away. It led to the observation room.
I nodded. It was our signal that he had a question he wanted me to ask or information for me to use during questioning. It could also mean we’d strayed into territory where my feelings for Claire and our relationship could become a concern for the prosecution. I had to tread carefully.
Once Riggs entered the other room, I entered the code to unlock the door and walked in.
“When you called and asked me to come down to talk, I didn’t think you’d lock me in an interrogation room.”
Grace Alonso glared at me from her seat at the small table in the middle of the room.
I offered her my most disarming smile. “My apologies. It’s the only room with recording equipment.”
Her dark expression turned confused. “Recording equipment? For what?”
The metal chair legs grated across the floor as I pulled it out and sat down. “I just have a few more questions for you.”
“That you need on the record? I don’t know anything about Marie’s murder, Detective.”
Twirling the pen through my fingers, I paused, clicking it, then resumed the twirl as I studied her. “I think you know more than you say.” I put up a hand as she opened her mouth to protest. “You may not know you do.”
Her lips slammed shut.
“Tell me about Marie’s boyfriend.”
For the briefest of moments, her eyes widened.
Bingo.
“What boyfriend? She was married.” Schooling her expression, she folded her hands in her lap and sat back.
I cocked my head slightly. “She was, but we both know she wasn’t happy. And I have it on good authority she was having an affair. Tell me what you know about him.”
“Nothing. She never talked about a boyfriend.”
I arched a single eyebrow. “Never? You two were friends. Good friends. She never mentioned seeing anyone outside of her marriage?”
Grace shook her head. “No.” Her gaze shifted away.
She was lying, but why? Marie was dead. Why would she protect her friend now?
Unless she wasn’t protecting only Marie, but Marie’s lover as well.
“This isn’t the first time she cheated.”
With a quick glimpse, she looked at me, then away again. “Oh?”
“Don’t play coy, Ms. Alonso. I know you know.”
Fire flashed in her eyes as she turned to me. “I don’t know anything. Are you charging me with something? If not, I’d like to leave.” Her chair scraped the floor with a rough screech as she stood. Purse in hand, she whipped it over her shoulder.
Looking past me, she glared at the two-way window behind me. “I know you’re back there, Chief. I can’t believe you’d haul me in here like this.” She stormed toward the door.
I draped an arm over the back of my chair as I turned to watch her.
“Do you have no decency or give any consideration to your officers?” With a hand wrapped around the doorknob, she gave it a twist, but the door didn’t budge.
What was she talking about? She wasn’t on the police force.
“Would you mind unlocking the door?” She shot me a glare over her shoulder.
Not playing into her tantrum or her haste, I gathered my notepad and pen, rising from my chair without any hurry. At her side, I keyed in the code.
The lock clicked, and she yanked open the door.
“Think about our conversation, Ms. Alonso. You know how to find me if you remember anything.”
Nose in the air, she huffed and flounced out.
Crossing my arms, still clutching my notepad and pen, I leaned against the door and watched her leave.
The door behind me opened, and I heard Riggs’s footfalls as he came closer.
“What was she talking about? The officer thing?” I glanced at him.
Riggs’s forehead wrinkled with a confused frown. “What? Wait, you didn’t know?”
“Know what?”
“Her brother is one of us. Turner. Alonso is her married name.”
Taken aback, I blinked, staring at him for a moment. “No one mentioned that, no.” I guess no one could ever accuse Riggs of bias. He’d treated Grace no differently than any other person in her situation.
But I planned to exploit the connection. Perhaps her brother could shed light on what she knew or convince her to tell me.
I pushed away from the doorframe. “Is he here?”
“He’s on patrol.”
Damn. I didn’t have long before Kaya Strand showed up for her interview, but I could have asked him a couple of questions. I also really didn’t want to give Grace the chance to tell her brother what happened.
Riggs’s hand landed on my shoulder, and I looked over.
“Don’t let her connection to Turner hold you back. She knows something. Make sure they both know she could be charged as an accessory if we discover she’s protecting the killer.”
“Oh, I will.” There were few things that bothered me more than favoritism. I was glad Riggs didn’t cotton to it, either.