CHAPTER NINETEEN
When Alison and Claire entered the police station, there was a sense of jubilation in the air. Tommy Castanello had been brought in without any problems. Alison knew that Claire would feel it more than Dale, but she was not looking forward to the veiled gloating when he spotted them.
Which he did almost immediately.
He walked toward them with his arms out and a wide smile on his face.
"Hey, this was a team effort," he said. "We wouldn’t have done this without all of our departments working together. I want to thank you for your help in this case, Special Agent Martinez."
Dale held out his hand, and to Claire’s credit, she took it and shook it. Alison could feel the resentment radiating from Claire, but she kept her outer self under control, and Alison had to admire that.
And she wasn't the only one who was keeping their emotions in check. Dale still had his anger, but he covered it with the smugness of a man who took over and got the win.
Alison wondered what he would have really done if he had gotten a chance to be alone with the killer. Had there been that chance when Tommy was brought in? Could he have orchestrated that but chose not to for the greater good?
"Where was he?" Alison asked, breaking some of the tension.
"He was spotted out in a remote diner near the state border," Kent said.
"Can you believe that he just stopped in there for a late-night meal, sitting in a booth all by himself as bold as brass? A couple of state troopers went in to get some coffee, spotted him, and arrested him on the spot. I went out there to pick him up, and now, he’s safely behind bars.
Maybe we got lucky in the end, but three people saved feels like a lot more than luck. "
"Has he said anything yet?" Alison asked.
"Only that he wants his lawyer," Kent said. "I sent an officer down to pick the lawyer up. I don't want this to drag out any more than it has to. He would have wasted our time and had us wait until morning. Now, he’ll be ready to talk tonight."
"I want to talk with him," Claire said.
"Easy there," Kent said. "I’ll be the one to talk with him first, but Dr. Payne, I would like you in there with me. He was silent the entire ride back here, and I don't think he’s about to spill his guts to us, so I want you to do what you did back at the apartment, and let me know that we have our guy. I mean, we have him, but I want you to confirm it. See what he’s hiding and help me get into his head.
We know he did it, he knows we know, and if we get him to admit it in the interview room, then we have a slam dunk.
This will go to trial, and I want him put away for the rest of his life. Can you help with that?"
"Yeah, I can."
"Good," Kent said. "When I’m done with him, the FBI can take a shot if they want, but not tonight. Maybe you should just go home and come back in the morning."
"I’m not going anywhere," Claire said.
"You can do whatever you want," Kent said. "Just don't try to swoop in and steal this from under me. As I said, this was some good teamwork."
Claire didn’t say a word until Captain Kent had walked away. "Is that him trying to get under my skin, or is he just an arrogant son-of-a-gun?"
"It might just be both," Alison admitted.
"Listen, I'm on your team. We started this together, and we will end this together.
I'm in with Tommy. This is now not only about putting away the guy who killed three people, but about finding the connection to Arturo and what happened to him.
I can lay the groundwork tonight, suss him out, and then tomorrow, when you interview him, I'll be in there with you.
If someone from inside the force was going after Arturo, then the FBI needs to find out.
Two interviews for two different things.
We play this right, and we get both. That means playing nice with Kent for now so you get access once he gets what he needs. "
"I guess we have our killer," Claire said. "That’s all that matters. Do you think you’ll get a confession out of him?"
"I don't know. There’s enough to put him away. A confession would make things go a lot smoother, but a jury will likely convict him no matter what."
"Maybe I should go and come back tomorrow," Claire said. "There’s only so much gloating I can take from Captain Kent."
"See if you can find out anything from the files that Internal Affairs sealed. Whoever had Lizzy drop the case was worried about someone finding something. Maybe there’s a clue there. If they started down a path, then that might have triggered someone or a group of people to threaten her."
"That may make up for me losing out on this one. I know I’m not technically losing out, but it sure feels like it. Although if I help to expose any corruption within the department, that’s not going to make me popular around here."
"It might do some damage initially, but no good cop wants a corrupt cop. Just be careful. Tommy needs to go to jail, but we still need to protect him. See what you can get, but make sure no one knows you’re looking into it."
"Got it," Claire replied.
"And there’s something else you can look into. I’ll send you the address of a construction site where the soil might have come from. See if you can get any CCTV from the area. If you get Tommy on camera, we don't need the confession, and you become the hero."
"I like the sound of that," Claire admitted. "Text me what you have."
"I will," Alison said. "I’ll talk to you as soon as we’re done interviewing him, and I’ll let you know how it goes."
"Yeah, okay."
Alison watched Claire go, and then she went in search of coffee.
She hadn't slept much on her first night in town, and she hadn't slept at all last night after spending the night at Dr. Laurent’s house.
The barman had confirmed an exact time that Dr. Laurent was in the bar, making it impossible for him to get to Missoula to kill Dr. Gates.
If he was ruled out of one murder, he was ruled out of all three.
The arrest of Tommy ruled him out completely.
Alison found the small canteen and poured herself some coffee.
She usually took it black, but added some cream this time to cool it and drink it faster.
She didn't feel sleepy, even though it was getting late, but she wanted to be on the top of her game for the interview with their killer.
She took two large swallows before adding more coffee.
She saw Dale walking through the main bullpen and went out to meet him.
"Soon, I think," he answered without waiting for the question.
"What happened with Marcus Webb?" Alison asked. "Is he still in custody?"
"Yeah, he is for now, but I'm not sure how much longer we can keep him. I have a judge I’m on good terms with, and he agreed to an extension to his arrest, given the case, but we don't have anything except for the possibility that he was planning something, or he might plan something.
He may have targeted the same victims, but he won't go after any of the others now with the hype surrounding the case.
Is it worth pushing for conspiracy to harm? "
"Probably not," Alison said. "If it ever goes to trial, I don't see a judge convicting him based on that. I don't like letting him loose, but maybe you keep tabs on him."
"Yeah, all right," Kent said. "Hey, I hope your special agent is not too upset with how this went down."
"She’ll be fine," Alison said. "She’s a lot tougher than he looks. The city is in good hands with her around."
"Yeah, I don't know about that," Kent scoffed. "It was a good thing I was around to clean up her mess."
"What was your plan?" Alison asked. "If we hadn't called with Castellano’s name, what would you have done next?"
Kent’s jaw tightened. He didn't like the questioning of his authority. "It would have all come to light eventually."
"I’m sure it would have," Alison said. "I’m just thankful Special Agent Martinez’s great work saved someone else from being killed before any of this came to light.
It’s a good thing we’re all working on the same team.
You brought Tommy in, and Martinez told you exactly who to bring in. Great work all around."
Kent didn't like hearing that. Alison knew she was pushing him, but she couldn’t help herself. It was a team effort, whether he liked it or not. He might have gone days without knowing anything about Castellano without Claire’s help.
"Sir," Officer Carlton said, approaching. "They’re ready to talk with you."
Captain Kent smiled, his anger bubbling just below the surface. He turned to Alison, his expression similar to that of a parent allowing a child to have a treat.
"Are you ready to do this?" he asked.
"I’m ready," she said