Part 6 (1/2)
He worked up the energy to pull off a listless shrug. ”What can I say? Mexicans fight like girls.” He tossed a look at Harper. ”It's nothing. Hydros make sure of that.”
Next to her, Jess felt her detective stiffen. Harper's Hispanic heritage was obvious, and Jess knew for a fact there was nothing girlish about the way he handled himself in a physical altercation. She'd take Harper as her backup any time, any place.
”I a.s.sume you have a prescription for those,” the detective tossed at the arrogant man. Hydrocodone was one of the most abused pain relievers on the market.
”Wouldn't've mentioned 'em if I didn't.” Slater snorted a laugh. ”I'm not that stupid.”
Jess wouldn't touch that one with a ten-foot pole. ”Did you have a physical altercation with your girlfriend, Mr. Slater? Remember, we're recording this interview. You need to be very careful how you answer.”
”Don't have a girlfriend.”
”Is that right?” Harper countered. ”Several witnesses saw you coming and going from Lisa Templeton's home on numerous occasions. She wasn't your girlfriend?”
Slater made a face then winced. ”She managed a shop in one of my buildings. Your witnesses must've seen me dropping by her place when she rented the apartment over the shop. She was just a tenant. Not my type at all.”
Harper made one of those male sounds that were more grunt than anything else. In Jess's experience, it meant he'd had enough of this guy. She was right there with him.
Jess opened the folder in front of her and removed a series of photos that had been printed from the ones saved on the victim's cell phone. ”If this is what you do with the women who aren't your type, I'm confident there are laws against what you save for those who are.”
She fanned the photos in front of him. Most of them showed Slater and Templeton in various forms of s.e.xual activity. His face wasn't visible in all the photos, but the tattoos on his chest and shoulders were and that was sufficient to identify him. With Slater this close and his partially unb.u.t.toned s.h.i.+rt revealing a good portion of the Phoenix inked on his chest, denial would be just a little difficult.
He lifted one shoulder in another of those uncaring shrugs. ”We had s.e.x. Often. Big deal. She needed lots of favors and this is how we settled things.”
Outrage started a resolute climb up Jess's spine. ”But Lisa didn't wors.h.i.+p you the way you prefer your women to.” The statements made by the victims of his prior arrests had one allegation in common: He wanted me to wors.h.i.+p him. ”In fact,” Jess went on, ”Lisa Templeton was in love with another woman. I imagine that was quite a blow to your manhood.”
He snorted. ”She was a dumb b.i.t.c.h. Couldn't make up her mind what she wanted. I was done with her anyway.”
”Is that why you kicked her out of the apartment over the shop two weeks ago?” Jess folded her arms over her chest and eyed him with blatant suspicion. ”You found out you weren't the love of her life and that made you angry.”
”That was business,” he argued. ”She didn't pay her rent on time.”
”Had she always paid it on time in the past?” Jess countered. Templeton had lived over the shop she managed for two years. Had one failure to pay on time justified her eviction?
”Doesn't matter. I wanted her out and she got out.”
”There are laws that protect tenants, Mr. Slater.” Jess leaned forward so he'd know she really wanted to hear his answer to the next question. ”Did you break those laws?”
He had the guts to smile even with his split lip. ”Didn't have to. She understood what I wanted.”
”So the two of you settled that situation too,” Jess surmised.
He leaned back in his chair. ”That's right.”
Jess gathered another stack of photos from the file and spread them on top of the first ones. ”Is this how you settled things, Mr. Slater?”
”What the-?” He shoved back from the table, his chair sc.r.a.ping across the tile.
”Did you murder her?” Jess demanded. ”Did you crack open her chest and dig out her heart just to feel its warmth in your hands? Or was it a symbolic gesture about the loss of her love?”
Slater shot to his feet. ”I had nothing to do with that! I didn't kill n.o.body!”
Jess stood but Harper was already on the other side of the table with a warning hand on Slater's arm. ”You need to sit down, sir.” Though spoken quietly, Harper's words carried a distinct promise of what Slater should expect if he did not comply.
”Is this,” Jess s.n.a.t.c.hed up one of the photos and shoved it toward Slater, ”how you settle the issues in your s.e.x life?”
Whatever Rod Slater had done or not done, he went still as stone and glared at Jess with his one good eye. ”That's all I got to say without a lawyer present.”
”You waived your right to an attorney, Mr. Slater,” Jess reminded him, not that it mattered if he'd now decided otherwise.
”I changed my mind.” He looked around the room, found the camera high on the wall in one corner and stared directly at it. ”I want a lawyer! Now!”
Jess shuffled the photos back into her folder and tucked it into her bag. ”You calm down, Mr. Slater.” She gave him a sugary smile. ”Sergeant Harper will make sure your attorney is notified.”
”Take your seat, sir.” Harper ushered Slater back into the chair. ”Write down your attorney's name and number and I'll get him on the phone for you.”
Jess gave Harper a nod and left the room. Lori and Hayes waited for her in the corridor. Both had observed the interview.
”We'll be holding Mr. Slater for a few hours as a person of interest. If he's smart he'll agree to let forensics take a few samples.” Jess drew in a big breath. ”Meanwhile, Detective Wells, I'd like you and Sergeant Harper to continue questioning the friends and coworkers of both victims. If we can put Slater anywhere near those women on Sunday night, we can push harder for him to agree to submit the samples necessary to eliminate him as a suspect.”
”On it, Chief,” Lori said.
Before the detective could ask the question Jess knew would be next, she went on, ”Officer Cook and I are going to the ME's office to see what Dr. Baron has for us.” Probably not very much but anything would be better than nothing. And that was what they had right now, a little speculation and a whole lot of nothing.
”I'd like to accompany you, Chief,” Hayes piped up.
He was standing right there and still she'd forgotten to include him. Where was her mind? ”That's a good idea, Lieutenant. Go back to the office and let Cook know we're heading out. I'll be right there.”
When Hayes was on his way, Lori said, ”I did some follow up on Ellis's background and found some interesting facts from his past.”
”In this country or another?” Something about the man bothered Jess. Whatever it was, he'd camouflaged it too well for her to get a handle on it, but it was there. The way he balanced his rough edges with all that elegance didn't ring true. Twenty years in Europe certainly would have influenced his speech, and possibly his overall manner. Maybe that was what she was picking up on.
”This one,” Lori clarified. ”He had a friend whose older sister was murdered by her father who then turned the gun on himself. Ellis was visiting the friend and apparently saw the whole thing. The mother of the murdered girl insisted she had no idea why her husband would have done such a thing. But one reporter maintained throughout the investigation that there was a cover up.”
”Is the reporter still alive?” If so, Jess wanted to speak to him.
”He died a few years ago.”
”What about the mother?”
”She still lives in the family home in Boston with her son.”
A trip to Boston might be in order. The image of Spears elbowed its way into her thoughts. Not that she was going anywhere, but she could send Harper. The outrage that had camped at the base of her skull started to tighten her muscles, making her want to scream. Spears had her right where he wanted her. She was virtually his prisoner. She couldn't go to her apartment. She couldn't go anywhere alone.
Take a breath. Focus on the case.
”Keep digging. The tragedy in Ellis's past might not be connected-he may have nothing to do with these murders, but at least one of our victims was close to him. We need to know all we can about him if for no other reason than to eliminate him as a suspect. Find out what he did with these Old Masters in Europe.”
”Will do.” Lori glanced down the corridor and then grinned. ”I guess you like Clint.”
”He's motivated,” Jess said, ”I'll give him that much. As long as he works hard and fits in with our team, I'm happy.” A frown creased her brow. ”I was surprised he just showed up at the office. I guess he wanted a transfer badly enough to keep tabs on the comings and goings of department personnel.”