129 Volatile Relationship (1/2)

”I don't remember the hospital. I don't even remember the railroad.”

”They are near the residential area you spoke about, though,” I said softly as I went through the map application on my phone and pulled it out. I knew where it was. And I had a clue as to who lived in the residential area.

Collins. I might have abused my power to access records and found that one out.

What a wonderful image this was coming out to be.

”Okay, so she was freaking out about something you said. What happened then? How did she kick you out?” Nash changed the topic immediately.

This man didn't do smooth transitions. He used my interjections as punctuation and flitted between conversations.

”Yeah. So, she tried to open the door but it was locked. I didn't want to be in her house when she clearly wanted me to get out. So, I exited through the backyard.”

”And that's it?” Nash asked in a controlled voice.

”Yup,” McCain confirmed shortly.

I pulled out my cellphone and pushed it towards him. He watched the screen carefully. It was a map.

”Can you tell us where you went from there? Anything that can give us an alibi as to where you were and the timestamps on that so that we can exclude you from the suspect list.”

McCain quickly tapped around it to get rid of Nash's invasive questions. He tucked his head and scrutinized while Nash gave him a stare.

His eyes asked me if we would apply more pressure or if we should keep feeding him new stories to trap him.

I didn't respond. The current technique was doing fine. Maybe a combination of both? Not pinning it on him was better as he wouldn't clam up and give us all the information.

”Did you go here?” Nash pointed towards a particular road.

”No, I don't remember going here at all.” He pressed his finger to his lip to think.

”Mm. We caught you on camera at a store in this area. The clerk remembers talking to you explicitly. You even circled around the store a couple of times. Why did you go there?”

McCain gritted his teeth before he answered. ”I needed to buy something I presume.”

”You were definitely there, then. That means you weren't all by yourself composing music all day. So why would you tell us, tell the police that comes to your house—”

McCain interjected, trying to exonerate himself. ”I told you. I thought it was another day. I told you that I don't know which day it was.” He was making animated gestures, trying to get his point across.

”So when did you think you went to her house and the store?” Nash asked, his voice low and firm. He had leaned into McCain, and even though his posture was aggressive, his tone was still calm and somewhat comforting.

”I don't know.” He shrugged.

McCain grew silent. ”Yesterday,” he was quiet.

”Ah, and when we asked you where you were and the last time you had gone over to Maya's house, you said you weren't in contact with her for more than a week. You didn't feel the need to tell us that such an interaction had happened and you had lost track of time as to when it was?” Nash pressed, now unkind.

I tapped on the map on my phone. ”Did you get far enough to see the elementary school to the right?” I asked, immediately when he wouldn't answer.

”I don't know.”

”Where did you go after? Straight home?”

”Yeah. I just… I needed to get some air and then go back.”

Nash took up the questioning again. ”When you last saw Maya, what was she doing? How did she look when you walked out of the house?”

Of course, we didn't expect McCain to tell us that she was lying in a pool of her own blood. That would have been wishful thinking.

”Uh… she was looking at her phone.”

”Did she walk towards your direction to close the door or something?” he inquired, leading him on.

”No… I don't think so.”

Yes, because the back door had not been closed. Someone from outside would think it was, but you could twist the knob and get in without a hitch.

There was silence. I bit my lip as I looked up at him abashedly. I knew to pretend like I was reluctant to ask something so personal. ”Can I ask you something personal?” I said softly. ”It's—uh—you mentioned that you had a strained relationship with Maya. You mentioned that she was talking to another guy. You also mentioned that you were talking to another girl. Did you guys have an open relationship while you were together?” I asked.

”Uh… not really.” He was unsure of how to answer.