Chapter 42
Nova Euclid and Officer Wiley followed Belen Caldas down the hallway of the Eagle County Jail and Detention Facility, where Margie Brooksfield was being held.
The guard accompanying them buzzed them through various grimy doors, his gut swinging ponderously.
He trailed his riot baton across the bars as he walked, the klung--klung--klung setting Euclid’s teeth on edge.
The place smelled like a bathhouse: a mixture of sweat and cleaning solution.
The murmuring of female voices—-heard but never seen—-echoed all around her, as she imagined the inmates were congregating somewhere in the mess hall for lunch.
It had taken a monumental effort to persuade Caldas to allow her to talk to her client, and only after assurances and strict conditions that Caldas had laid down.
The lawyer had to be present, obviously.
All questions had to be fielded through Caldas or prewritten and given to her.
No recording. Finally, Caldas could end the interview at any time.
“Adewale know you’re here?” Caldas asked casually.
Euclid didn’t answer. Adewale did not, in fact, know she was here.
A prosecutor visiting the defendant was highly unusual—-it brought up serious impartiality concerns and safety issues.
Adewale would never have agreed. But this was Euclid’s case, and in light of the new evidence and her own growing unease, she felt it was necessary.
The investigation had tracked the money from Grooms’s account to a Portuguese national.
Other than the amount that went to her daughter’s medical bills, she’d kept none of it.
Plus, there had been another murder. One of CBI’s own, a technician named Reno.
Euclid had to stop this before more people died.
She had to get Brooksfield to tell her what she knew about Khachatryan and his shadowy operation, even if it meant some sort of plea deal.
They halted before a dark jail cell in a sunless part of the building, the guard crossing his arms and standing a distance away.
Officer Wiley stepped forward, brushing his blond hair out of his eyes.
Euclid had asked him along as a witness—-she couldn’t very well call herself to the stand and become a witness to her own case. He smiled at her as he caught her gaze.
Euclid’s eyes strained as she peered inside the jail cell.
She beheld a sight of misery as her eyes adjusted.
A tin toilet squatted in one corner next to a sink with a broken handle and cracked porcelain.
Brooksfield was curled on her side on a threadbare mattress.
As she sat up, Euclid noted she had lost weight—-her orange prison--issued uniform hanging loosely about her frame.
“No interview room?” asked Euclid.
“This will be a short visit,” Caldas said coldly.
Euclid supposed this was the best she was going to get. She approached the bars of the cell, Brooksfield’s wary eyes taking in her measure.
“Good morning, Margie. My name is Nova Euclid. I am the prosecutor assigned to your case. I imagine Ms. Caldas told you I would be visiting today?”
“I am aware.”
“Let’s get right into it, then. Where did you transfer Willy Grooms’s money after it left your account?”
Brooksfield’s eyes flicked to Caldas, who gave her a slight duck of her chin.
“An account of a nonprofit named Paradox.”
“Who runs Paradox?”
“I was never told.”
“Did you know where the money went after you transferred it into the Paradox account?”
“No.”
“You didn’t know a certain Javier Castillo was the custodian of the Paradox bank account?”
“No. His name wasn’t on the account. Just Paradox.” Brooksfield’s fingers played over hanging braids.
“Why did you lie the other day about not knowing Javi Castillo? We have proof that he visited your ranch the day before his murder.”
Brooksfield looked up at Euclid defiantly. “That was Javi Castillo?” She seemed surprised. “I had no idea who that crazy man was. He never told me his name.”
Euclid stepped back in frustration and directed the next statement to Caldas. “I won’t be able to help if your client refuses to answer questions and lies.”
Caldas gave her a simpering smile. “Maybe you should be better at asking questions.” She tapped an invisible watch on her wrist.
“What happened when Castillo came to your ranch the morning before he was murdered?”
Margie Brooksfield stood and approached the bars and gripped them, her voice shaky.
“I--I didn’t know that man was Castillo.
I swear, he never told me his name. It was early in the morning and he was a stranger on our land, so I was nervous.
Thought he might have been one of those protesters. Plus, he sounded nuts.”
“What did he say?”
“First, he claimed he was Willy’s friend. Said he was in Burns to help with the investigation. He began to interrogate me about Willy’s death, as if I had something to do with it. I told him just what I told the police—-I had no idea.”
“What else did he say?” Euclid encouraged gently.
“He then asked me about the missing money from the Paradox transfers. He said he owned Paradox, that I’d stolen from him.
I told him about Lolly and her Turner syndrome.
He said I could pay him back in installments.
… I didn’t believe him. I suddenly thought he must be a scam artist who read some stories about the case and was trying to defraud me or something.
Like one of those pig--butchering scams where they steal your life savings. ”
“Is that why Paul ended up chasing him off your land with a shotgun?” Euclid asked.
“That’s an exaggeration. Paul encouraged him off our land with a shotgun. There was no chasing involved.”
“Why threaten him like that?”
“I’m not comfortable saying it out loud. But Castillo said something terrible. I didn’t want him around my family.”
“What did he say?”
“It was about Willy Grooms. That he’d been sending the money through me to fund a project that goes against everything I believe. But I knew Willy Grooms; he was a good Christian.… He never would have done anything like what that man claims. It was all lies.”
Euclid could tell Brooksfield was getting upset again.
“So what did he say Willy Grooms was doing?”
Brooksfield looked at Officer Wiley, who was standing behind Euclid. “I’m not going to tell you. I’m sure it will sound silly to you, and I don’t want it used against me at the trial.”
“If you just whisper it to me,” Euclid said, “Officer Wiley can’t testify to it. I can’t be a witness to my own case. But I want to know.”
“Hang on,” Caldas said. “Whisper it to me first. I want to make sure this is okay to tell them.”
Brooksfield pressed against the bars, whispering something in Caldas’s ear. Caldas, with a practiced mask of neutrality, nodded.
“You may proceed,” Caldas said. There was an odd look in her eyes.
“Okay.” Brooksfield stood on shaky legs, pulling her uniform around her frame.
Euclid held her ear close, cold bars pressing into her cheek. Brooksfield whispered to her then, repeating to her what she had whispered to Caldas.
Euclid took a step back, feeling dumbfounded, and quickly tried to cover up her reaction. “Okay … Thank you for telling me.” She composed herself. “I have a couple more questions, if you don’t mind.”
“Hurry it up,” Caldas said, irritation playing across her face.
“What is Devotio?”
Brooksfield gave her a blank stare. “I don’t know.”
“Who is Krikor Khachatryan?”
Brooksfield gave a noticeable jolt. “How do you know that name?”
“Answer the question, Mrs. Brooksfield. Isn’t he the true owner of Paradox, and he’s been laundering charitable donations through offshore shell companies?”
Caldas stepped forward, and Euclid could tell by her puzzled expression she had never heard Khachatryan’s name before. Despite everything, Brooksfield was still keeping secrets.
“Hang on.” Caldas held out a hand in front of Euclid. “Are you looking for this Khachatryan fellow?”
“We are.”
“If we can give you information on this man, I want assurances that all charges will be dropped against my client.”
Suddenly, it seemed, they were on the same side: Caldas wanted to get her client off with this potential new defendant.
Euclid wanted to get information about Khachatryan.
And she had very serious doubts about Brooksfield’s guilt.
Yes, she diverted money to pay medical bills, but Euclid was now pretty sure she knew nothing of the murders.
She paused to collect her thoughts. Reluctantly, she replied, “I can’t promise anything like that.
It’s not in my power to assure such an outcome.
Adewale has final say on dropping charges.
I can promise you that I will have our investigators follow any lead that you give me.
I’ll do my best with Adewale to support a plea deal—-but only in proportion to how helpful this information is. ”
“What if Adewale says no to her release? What will you do then?”
Euclid shrugged. “If your client can provide us with crucial information, I’ll do my best with Adewale. Right now, your best bet at reducing these embezzlement charges is to cooperate fully.”
Euclid could feel Caldas’s eyes studying her. Finally, she relented. “Okay. I’m deciding to trust you. Margie, tell her about Khachatryan.”
“But I promised Willy—-”
“Grooms is dead, Margie. As your attorney, I am advising you to talk to Euclid here.”
Brooksfield shook her head, lip trembling.
“Margie.” Euclid leaned toward her. “Margie, look at me. There’s been another murder.”
Brooksfield looked at her, a haunted expression on her face.
“The murders will continue if you don’t help us out. This was one of our own. A forensic tech named Reno. He was well loved at CBI. Tell me about Khachatryan,” Euclid said again, “before more people die.”
Margie’s chin sank to her chest, braids falling around her face. When she spoke, it was quiet.
“Willy told me Paradox was run by a great man named Krikor Khachatryan. I overheard some phone conversations too. It sounded like Khachatryan was looking for the site of the UFO crash somewhere in the Flat Tops. And wanted something of Willy’s, something he found up there.
He made me swear on the Bible that I wouldn’t tell anyone.
He said Khachatryan would be killed if I revealed his name to anyone.
Until just now, I wasn’t even sure how much of what Willy told me about the man was just in his head. ”
“Where can we find this guy?”
“I don’t know.”
“Margie,” Caldas said in warning.
“I really don’t.”
“Time’s up,” Caldas said. “Margie’s cooperated. I certainly hope what she was able to tell you will weigh in her favor in a plea bargain.”
“I’ll do my best,” Euclid said. She wondered if this could all be an act.
It was so crazy … but could this information actually be useful?
She stepped back from the bars, her thoughts whirling.
One thing was certain: Whoever was after Khachatryan and the other Paradox members, they were bad people.
They were cop killers. Nobody on the case was safe.