Chapter Twenty-Nine #2
The detective wrote down Hoffman’s name as well as his address and phone number when I provided them.
I told him about the speakeasy, and the fact that some bottles appeared to have been removed from behind the bar recently.
I didn’t mention the label I’d seen in Hoffman’s apartment, but I gathered up my courage and told Detective Callahan about the fact that my ex had logged into my online banking account when we were still dating and had transferred out the bulk of my savings without my consent.
“Did you report it at the time?” Callahan’s ice-blue eyes bore into me as if he could see straight into my thoughts.
I tried not to shrink back in my chair. The detective’s gaze intimidated me, and the way Hoffman had taken me for a fool still filled me with shame. Between the two things, it took great effort to maintain a confident air about me.
“Yes,” I replied, “but I was told there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him.”
The detective stared at me, and I thought I detected a hint of suspicion in his otherwise impassive expression. Did he think I was making up stories?
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “Even though he wasn’t charged, I thought you should know that he can be unscrupulous.”
Callahan glanced down at his notebook. “What can you tell me about your relationship with Frederick Hanover?”
“What?” The question took me by surprise. Weren’t we supposed to be talking about Hoffman?
“Frederick Hanover, the murder victim.”
“I know who he is,” I said, unable to help sounding a tad grumpy. “I didn’t have a relationship with him. He was the building’s super. That’s it.”
“But he wasn’t a stranger to you.”
A distinct feeling of unease slithered over my skin. “No. I saw him around the building.”
“But you weren’t friends?”
His line of questioning had me puzzled and increasingly nervous. I tried to slow my accelerating heart rate without letting on that I was anything but calm.
“Not friends,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “But not enemies either. Just acquaintances, really.”
“You never had any disputes with him?”
“Nothing serious.”
“Did you ever argue with him?”
My relatively unruffled exterior cracked. “Why are you asking me these questions?”
His relentless blue gaze never strayed from my face. “Please answer.”
I stifled a huff of annoyance. “No disputes and no arguments. I barely knew the guy.”
“Then perhaps you can explain to me why a witness recently came forward to tell us that they overheard you arguing with Mr. Hanover. In fact, you were overheard telling him”—the detective flipped back a few pages in his notebook as if to consult an earlier entry—“to ‘drop dead, sleazebag.’ ”
A frosty chill crept through my body, freezing every organ one by one. I was turning into an ice statue. The cops would need a forklift to move me to the jail cell. If I didn’t shatter first, because that felt like a distinct possibility.
“Who told you about that?” The question came out hushed with shock and fear.
I wrapped my arms around myself and clenched my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering.
I’d thought Freddie and I were the only ones who knew about that conversation.
I hadn’t even told Jemma, because I was afraid that she’d push me to report Freddie to the landlord, and I suspected that wouldn’t have helped.
“I’m not at liberty to disclose the identity of the witness.” Callahan’s cool demeanor lowered the room’s temperature another two degrees.
I stared at Detective Callahan.
He stared back. “Did you say those words to Mr. Hanover?”
“Yes,” I confessed. Then I sat up straighter, not ready to be completely cowed by the detective.
“He really was a sleazebag. I approached him about fixing a leaky pipe in my unit. He cornered me in his office and threatened to have me and my niece evicted if I didn’t do some favors for him, and not of the building-maintenance variety. ”
“Did you report the incident?”
“No.”
“Why’s that?”
“What would have been the point? If he’d found out that I’d ratted on him to the landlord, it would have made the situation worse.
” My increasing frustration had the benefit of raising my body temperature to a more comfortable level.
“Do you really think I might have killed Freddie over that incident?”
He remained as cool and impassive as ever. “Did you?”
“No!”
“It must have made you angry,” Callahan said. “A lowlife like him threatening to toss you and your niece out on the street.”
I rested my forearms on the table and leaned forward. “Detective, if I killed every male who’s ever sexually harassed me in any way, I’d have a whole trail of bodies behind me, starting with Troy Nestor in sixth grade.”
The detective seemed unmoved by that statement.
But of course he was unmoved. He was a man, after all, and therefore had no clue what it was like to be a girl or woman in this world.
“Ms. Gray, can you please tell me where you were at the time of Freddie Hanover’s death?”
The question made my stomach churn in a worrisome way.
“Out buying groceries.”
“Where?”
I rattled off the name and location of the store. Surely, they’d have surveillance footage that would back up my claim. Although I’d stopped at the park for a while to enjoy the sunshine. Callahan might think there was plenty of time unaccounted for before I arrived at the grocery store.
“Do I need a lawyer?” I asked with an edge to my voice.
“That’s entirely up to you.”
“Am I free to leave?”
The detective leaned back in his chair and set his pen next to his notebook. “Any time you like.”
I stood up so abruptly that my chair almost toppled over backward. “You know, if you want innocent citizens to feel comfortable enough to come forward with potentially relevant information, treating them like criminals isn’t a great strategy.”
With those parting words, I stormed out of the interview room and down the hallway to the right.
I stopped short after a few paces. I didn’t know if I was going the right way. Had I turned right or left to get into the interview room?
I couldn’t bear the thought of turning back and having Detective Callahan see me pass by him, so I continued onward.
Maybe it should have come as a relief when I realized I’d gone the correct way, but all I felt was queasiness in my stomach and a lightheaded sensation that had me worried I might faint.