22
Damian Collinson didn’t look like a person who would stab someone.
The prisoner was a small, wiry man in his fifties with a wide, cheerful smile and perfect white teeth. Instead of hair, several uneven tattoos covered his bare skull, and from where Evan sat, he spotted two tattooed cat faces with names and dates.
Evan fought back an urge to stand and examine the rest of the tattoos.
He and Noelle sat across from Collinson in a small interview room. A grumpy guard had brought in the prisoner, attached his cuffs to the bar on the table with a chain, and then left the room after glaring at Evan and Noelle and pointedly stating they had twenty minutes.
But Collinson was definitely happy to be there and looked from Evan to Noelle with an eager smile. “What’s up? After-hours visits are unheard of here. I’m the talk of the block tonight.” Pride filled his voice.
“Sam Durette sends his regards,” said Evan. During the drive to the prison, he’d spoken with the retired detective, who’d originally investigated Collinson. Durette had had two of the cases that had turned up in Rod’s filing cabinet, and he couldn’t think of a reason why Rod McLeod would have copies of either one.
“Durette? That old coot is still alive?” The prisoner’s eyes lit up in a happy way.
Almost sounds like he cares about the guy who put him here.
“Sam is doing well,” said Noelle. “Retired, of course.”
“Usually sends me a Christmas card. I didn’t get one this past year and was concerned.”
“He sends cards?” Evan blurted in surprise.
“Yep. Told me he sends them to everyone he put in prison until they get out. I think it’s more of a big fuck-you than a Season’s Greetings, but I looked forward to them.”
“Huh.” Noelle seemed as dumbfounded as Evan felt.
I can think of a few people I’d like to send fuck-you cards.
“You’re very striking for a cop,” Collinson told Noelle, intently studying her face. “You look like one of those Greek goddess statues. You know ... the tall and elegant but strong ones that look as if they could kick your butt and smile while happily doing it,” he said in a hopeful voice.
“Grow the fuck up,” snapped Noelle. Then she gave a cold imitation of the smile he’d described, making Evan suspect she would kick Collinson’s butt if given the opportunity.
“Wow.” Collinson continued to stare, admiration in his eyes.
“Hey!” Evan waved his hand in front of Collinson’s face, pulling his attention. “Week before last, you had a visit from Rod McLeod,” he said, trying to get the interview on track. The clock was ticking.
“Yep.” Collinson flashed his white teeth.
“What did he want to discuss?” asked Noelle.
“Why do you ask?” The prisoner’s face was open, genuinely curious.
“Did you know McLeod before he visited?” asked Evan, ignoring the question.
“Nope. Never heard of him; never met him. He told me he was retired Deschutes County. Was he lying to me?”
“No,” said Evan. “What’d the two of you talk about?”
A sly smile appeared, and Collinson narrowed his eyes. “What’s in it for me?”
“Nothing,” stated Noelle at the same moment Evan said, “Twenty-five bucks in your prison account.” She glared at Evan.
“Make it fifty.”
“Deal.”
Collinson leaned back in his chair, his chain clanking on the table, his expression open and happy again.
“Fifty bucks is all it takes?” asked Noelle, suspicion in her voice. “I figured you’d want your case reopened or something ridiculous.”
“Nah. I’m guilty. That’d be a waste of time.” The smile returned.
“Well ... that’s refreshing,” said Noelle, sounding a bit stunned.
Collinson shrugged. “I tell it like it is ... like I first did with you,” he said, admiring her again, making her groan. “What was the question?”
“Your talk with McLeod,” said Evan, trying to remember if he had fifty dollars in his wallet.
“He wanted to go over details from the Golden Goose job.”
“Not the other two robberies?” All three cases had been grouped together in Rod’s filing cabinet, but all the case details were present for the Golden Goose, while the other two files were summaries. The Goose had been Collinson’s third robbery.
“Nope. The dude had drawn a detailed floor map of the jewelry store and wanted me to trace our paths and tell him step-by-step everything that had happened inside.”
“Isn’t that all on camera?” asked Noelle.
“There’s a few short periods of time where I stepped out of view, but most of it’s on video. My partner, Doug, was on video the whole time.”
“What did you do during those seconds?” asked Evan.
“Nothing different than was on the rest of the video. I continued to smash and grab while Doug kept the employees out of trouble.”
Translation: Doug held them at gunpoint.
According to the case file, the evidence found at the Golden Goose had confirmed what was visible on video.
“You didn’t ask McLeod why he wanted to know?” asked Noelle.
“Sure I did. Several times. He said he was just trying to get it straight in his head.” The prisoner leaned forward and lowered his voice. “But that was all bullshit. He knew exactly what I was going to say each time before I said it. It was like he was just looking for me to make a mistake or claim something else happened while I was off camera.”
Evan sat still for several heartbeats.
Rod came here to confirm something he already knew?
He thought back to the stills in the file that had been pulled from the robbery video. Both men had worn full face masks and were unrecognizable on video. But Collinson had sliced his arm on one of the glass cases he’d broken, leaving substantial blood behind. Then he had stupidly gone to an urgent care center an hour away because it wouldn’t stop bleeding. An alert nurse had called the police. DNA had connected him to the Golden Goose and then to the other two robberies.
“If you hadn’t cut yourself, you probably wouldn’t have been caught,” Evan stated.
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Collinson shrugged.
Something hovered just outside Evan’s thoughts. He felt as if there was a connection right in front of him, but he couldn’t see it.
But Damian Collinson’s case was clean. He’d been found guilty and hadn’t tried to fight the facts.
Why did Rod keep this case?
Evan met Noelle’s gaze and saw his question reflected there. She didn’t appear to have the answer either.
“We talked about fishing too,” Collinson said. He looked from one to the other, an “I’m trying to be helpful” expression on his face. “And his grandson. Don’t recall the name, but Rod said he’s smart as a whip.”
Evan said nothing, slightly annoyed that a prisoner knew that Zack existed.
“Did McLeod bring up any other past cases he was looking at?” asked Noelle.
Collinson scratched his neck. “No. He asked if I knew Charlie Graham but didn’t say nothin’ about his case. Told him I knew who Graham was but had never spoken to him. I’d heard he’d gotten out.”
“ Never spoken?” asked Evan.
“Nah. Different block. Saw him around a few times. Heard he was an ass.”
Accurate.
Evan wondered if Rod’s goal had been to get information on Graham. “Did McLeod say why he asked about Graham?”
“Didn’t say and don’t know.” Collinson gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Seemed random. Didn’t ask about anyone else.”
Evan raised a brow at Noelle, who shook her head.
No more questions.
A few minutes later they’d collected their weapons and were headed through the cool night air to her SUV. “Think Rod was here to ask questions about Graham?” Noelle asked as she tugged her jacket tighter.
“That crossed my mind. But I don’t see a link as to why Rod quizzed him on those robbery cases and then asked about Graham.”
“Rod only asked about the Golden Goose robbery case,” Noelle stated.
“Another connection I don’t understand. Obviously that robbery broke open the other robbery cases, but other than that, why is the Golden Goose important to Rod?”
“Don’t know. All I can come up with is that it was an excuse to ask about Graham.”
“Then why didn’t he talk to someone from the right cell block? And Rod took the time to draw a detailed map of the jewelry store. If the robbery was a reason to get info on Graham, it would have been easier to simply ask questions. And it sounded like he was specifically curious about the times that Collinson stepped out of camera view. I think he was there looking for information on the robbery. Or a confirmation about something he believed.”
They climbed into Noelle’s SUV as Evan continued to think out loud. “It had to be about the Golden Goose robbery; he kept a copy of the case file. Graham could have been an afterthought. Maybe Rod was hoping for a little prison gossip.”
Noelle started her vehicle. “I hope we didn’t waste a few hours by coming here.”
Evan thought for a long moment, examining how he felt about the conversation with Collinson. “I don’t think we did,” he said slowly. “My gut tells me we’re onto something that leads to why Rod was killed, but I can’t see the full picture yet. I know we’ve identified who Rod has called over the last couple weeks, and none of the names on the phone lines matched the convicted suspects from his files, but maybe he made calls to their families or known associates to get in touch with them.”
“Or he used a burner for some reason to make those particular calls,” said Noelle. “There’s no record of him calling the prison, but clearly he made an appointment to meet with Collinson somehow.”
“Why a burner?” muttered Evan.
“Because he was trying to keep things hidden from someone,” said Noelle. “But that person—or people—caught up with him anyway.”
“Shit. Is it just me or did this trip create more questions?”
“More questions,” agreed Noelle. “But like you said, it feels like we’re onto something with Collinson and the Golden Goose. We just don’t know what it is.”
Evan opened the Golden Goose case file again. “What are we not seeing?”
I better figure it out soon.