Chapter 3
“How do you want to do this?” Lewis asked once they were at the precinct. “It’s doubtful that they know anything other than what they told us.”
“True, but it has to be documented. They were the only witnesses on scene,” Reynolds said. “I’ll take Miss Harris since we already have a rapport.”
“Go for it,” Lewis said. “Guess that leaves me with Kyle. Seems like he has more to say about the night anyway.”
“Good enough. We’ll compare notes later.”
Joanna was escorted to the first interview room and Kyle to the second.
Officer Lewis took a seat across from Kyle. “We need your statement from the minute you and Joanna went out last night until we arrived on scene.”
“Yeah, okay.” Kyle wiped his brow. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting tonight to go quite like this.”
Lewis nodded. “Go ahead from the beginning, then tell me what your plans were too.”
Kyle groaned. “Like I said earlier, yesterday was Joanna’s twenty-fifth birthday. I picked her up at seven o’clock, we went to Mario’s for a nice surf-and-turf dinner, then out on the town after that. We hit a few bars, listened to music, and even danced to a few songs.”
“Sure. Go on.”
“Joanna didn’t know it and still doesn’t.
Our spontaneous trip to the beach was actually something I had planned in advance.
” Kyle reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box.
He opened it and showed Lewis what was inside.
“I was going to propose to Joanna at the same beach I met her on.”
“Shit.”
“Exactly my feelings. I hadn’t planned on walking up to a dismembered human leg instead. That ruined everything. There was no way to recoup the romance after that. Joanna wanted to be as far away from that thing as possible.”
“Understandable. Okay, what I need is for you to state your name, address, and phone number so we have it with your recorded account of the night.”
“Sure.” Kyle recited the information Lewis requested.
“One more thing, Kyle. How did you feel when you saw that leg?”
Kyle shook his head. “Scared, disgusted, and shocked. It makes me wonder where the rest of that woman is and how she ended up that way.”
“Normal responses, Kyle, and as far as finding out how she ended up that way? That’s law enforcement’s job, although a really tough one, but I hope we can solve that mystery.”
Officer Lewis stood, said he would check to see if Reynolds was through interviewing Joanna, and then the couple would be taken to Kyle’s car.
“I imagine you’re ready to call it a night and find a better opportunity to make that proposal.”
“That’s for sure. I’ll give it a week or so then try again. By that time, it’ll be a memory we’d just as soon forget.”
“Hang tight. I’ll be right back.”
Lewis walked out, took several steps, then knocked on the door of the interview room Joanna and Reynolds were in. A second later, Reynolds stepped out.
“I’m done with Kyle. How’s it going in there?”
Reynolds swatted the air. “They’re clean. She said they went out for dinner, hit a few bars, and listened to music before going to the beach. She said it was a spontaneous move on Kyle’s part. She didn’t know they were heading there.”
“Yeah, he was going to propose to her. He showed me the damn ring for Pete’s sake.”
“Wow. What a screwed-up night that turned out to be. Okay, I think we’re done. I’ll drive them back to Kyle’s car.”
“Sounds good, pal.” Lewis pointed over his shoulder at the other room. “I’ll bring Kyle out.”