CHAPTER ELEVEN #2
Boyd moved his chair closer and placed one hand over hers. “It’s all right. That happened years ago.”
“I bought you a suit.”
“I remember, Mom.”
“You said blue.”
“That’s right.”
The woman began to cry. Confusion tightened her features as she searched the room. “Where’s your father?”
Boyd swallowed. “He’s not here, Mom.”
“He’ll be angry.”
“No, he won’t.”
Kelly lowered her notebook.
The record had prepared her for volatility. It had not prepared her for the way Boyd folded around his mother’s fear, or for the old pain exposed by one damaged memory. Sympathy did not erase what he had done to Karen and Gillian. It did complicate the shape of him.
Selena leaned forward.
“Mrs. Cutler,” she said gently. “Your husband isn’t coming home tonight. Boyd’s here with you, and you’re safe.”
The woman turned toward her.
Selena kept her voice warm. “You’re in your own living room. Your program’s still on. Nothing bad is happening.”
Mrs. Cutler studied her for several seconds. “You’re Robert Raven’s girl.”
A smile reached Selena. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I know you.” The older woman relaxed against the chair. “You were always a good one.”
“Thank you.”
“I wish my Boyd had married a girl like you.”
Boyd closed his eyes briefly. “Mom.”
Mrs. Cutler patted his arm. “You need somebody sensible.”
The distress faded as quickly as it had arrived. Her attention returned to the television. Within a minute, her breathing deepened, and her head settled against the chair.
Kelly watched Selena ease back without disturbing her.
At the station, Selena’s impatience could fill a room. Here, she had lowered the temperature of the interview without surrendering control. Boyd had responded to it, too. His shoulders no longer crowded his neck, and the hand covering his mother’s remained still.
Selena waited until the older woman appeared asleep.
“Boyd,” she said, “where were you on the night Karen was killed?”
His expression closed again. “Home.”
“All night?”
“Most of it.”
“Who can confirm that?”
“Nobody.”
Kelly studied him. The answer did not match the hesitation that came before it.
Selena heard the same thing. “Your truck was here?”
“Yeah.”
“Did anyone visit?”
“No.”
“What time did you go to bed?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Did you leave the property at any point?”
Boyd glanced toward his mother. “No.”
His attention returned to Kelly.
“If you won’t account for your time,” Kelly continued, “we’ll have to ask you to come into the station for a formal interview while we seek your phone and vehicle records. We’ll also need to arrange care for your mother while you’re with us.”
The mention of his mother changed the calculation.
Boyd rubbed both palms over his trousers. “I was with somebody.”
“Who?” Selena asked.
“A woman.”
“Name?”
He shook his head.
Kelly said, “Boyd, protecting her identity won’t help either of you if we have to find her ourselves.”
“She won’t want police calling.”
“We’re federal agents,” Selena said. “The question remains the same.”
Boyd bent forward, keeping his voice low. “Her name’s Trina Vale. She sees men for money.”
“What time were you with her?” Kelly asked.
“About three-thirty until after two.”
“Where?”
“Motel outside Harlan. The Pine Ridge.”
“Room number?”
“Fourteen.”
“Who paid for it?” Selena asked.
“Me. Cash.”
“Did you use your phone while you were there?”
“Probably. Trina used hers, too.”
Selena held out her notebook. “Give me her number, please.”
Boyd recited it slowly. Kelly copied the digits as a backup.
“Did you see Trina last night?” Selena asked.
“No. I was here with Mom.”
“Can anyone confirm that?”
“The home-health aide left at six. I didn’t go out after.”
“We’ll need the aide’s details,” Kelly said.
Boyd provided them without argument.
Selena stood. “We may need to speak with you again.”
“Am I cleared?”
“We haven’t verified your account yet.”
Boyd glanced toward his sleeping mother. “Don’t tell people about Trina.”
“We won’t discuss it outside the investigation,” Selena said.
At the door, Mrs. Cutler stirred.
“Oh,” she called. “Tell Robert I was asking for him. A real looker he is.”
Selena paused with one hand near the frame. “I will.”
Outside, the light had begun to fade behind the ridge. The yard lay in cool shadow while the treetops still caught the sun.
Selena stopped beside the sedan and dialed Trina’s number from the case phone. Kelly stood close enough to hear when a woman answered.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Vale, my name is Special Agent Selena Raven with the FBI. I need to verify some information concerning Boyd Cutler.”
A wary silence followed. “What’s he done?”
“At this stage, we’re confirming his whereabouts on the night a woman by the name of Karen Sloane was killed. Boyd says he was with you at the Pine Ridge Motel from around three-thirty until after two.”
Trina sighed. “Is this about that woman who got killed?”
“We can’t discuss the investigation. Can you confirm the times?”
“Yeah. He was there. Got there a little after three-thirty and didn’t leave till two-fifteen, maybe two-thirty.”
“Was he with you continuously?”
“Yes.”
“Did either of you leave the room?”
“I went to the vending machine once. He stayed.”
“Did Boyd have access to another vehicle?”
“Not unless he hid it under the bed.”
Selena ignored the remark. “Do you have anything that supports the timing? Calls, messages, a receipt?”
“I texted him when I got there. Took a picture in the room, too. The clock’s in the background.”
“Keep the original files. Don’t alter or delete anything. An agent will contact you to arrange copies.”
Trina’s voice hardened. “My name doesn’t go in the newspaper.”
“It won’t be released by us unless legal proceedings require it.”
“All right.”
Selena ended the call and entered a note into the case phone.
Boyd now had a witness covering Karen’s likely time of death. The digital evidence still needed checking, and the call did not clear him of Ruth’s death or explain why Karen had been targeted.
Kelly opened the passenger door but did not climb in immediately.
Selena had handled Boyd’s anger, his mother’s confusion, and Trina’s reluctance without losing the thread of the interview. Selena was better at the work than Kelly had allowed herself to expect, perhaps better than the stories following her from Washington had suggested.
Kelly only wished Selena would ease her grip on the past.
With trust between them, they might finally get their teeth into the case.