“When you interviewed Todd this morning, you asked for some documents. They got delivered to your office. We emailed you a digital file too. Those documents are ours, property of OpenSpace. We want them back tonight.”
“The office is closed. Send a messenger in the morning.” Bennie turned away. It was an odd thing to bring up, and her thoughts started to churn. She pushed open the exit door, covered her head with her purse, and sprinted to the car, reenergized. She couldn’t explain why Ray would care about a bunch of personnel files and emails.
But she was going to find out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Mary moved her chair over closer to Simon so he felt supported, as Detective Lindenhurst entered the room. He was a beefy blond and came off as older than he probably was, which was probably fortysomething. His face was so fleshy that his cheeks pressed against the bottom rims of his oversized aviator glasses, making little red marks on his face. The lines that traveled from his large, flat nose to the sides of his mouth were deep, as if he frowned a lot, which Mary suspected was an occupational hazard for a homicide detective.
“We’re ready to get started if you are, Detective,” Mary said, putting her legal pad and pen in her lap.
“I appreciate that. Can we hold on a sec for my partner, Detective Chang?”
“Sure.”
“Thank you.” Detective Lindenhurst smiled in a friendly way as he eased his large frame into the chair opposite her, looking from her to Simon. “Simon, you look like you could use a coffee or a bottled water. Are you sure I can’t get you anything?”
“No thanks,” Simon answered, his tone subdued.
“By the way, I didn’t get to say this at the hospital, but I know what it’s like to have a sick child. My five-year-old niece had bone cancer. She was at CHOP, too. It’s hard to see a child go through that kind of treatment. My wife used to say it was harder on us than it was on my niece, but I didn’t agree. At least we understood what was happening and why. She didn’t.”
“How is your niece?” Simon asked, interested.
“Happily, she recovered. They’re terrific at CHOP.”
“Good to know,” Mary interjected, breaking up Detective Lindenhurst’s attempt to connect with Simon. Being a person of interest placed him in a legal purgatory, in that he wasn’t under arrest but he was nevertheless in custody. It wasn’t completely to his benefit, since not all the constitutional protections applied, and the police would try to make him feel relaxed, as if nothing he could say would hurt him, when in fact the opposite was true.
Suddenly the door opened, and Detective Chang came in with a smile. He was younger, of compact build, and reserved. His dark hair shone with gel, and his build looked slight in a dark jacket. He sat down against the wall, ceding the floor to Detective Lindenhurst. “Folks, sorry I’m late. Hope you didn’t wait for me.”
Mary didn’t bother to reply. “Detective Lindenhurst, can we first clarify my client’s status? I understand that he’s a person of interest, but why?”
“We’re in possession of facts that lead us to believe he may know something about the death of Todd Eddington. We’d like to explore that with him. That’s all.” Detective Lindenhurst shrugged his heavy shoulders, and Mary knew that he didn’t want to start the interview on this basis, which was why she wanted to, to remind Simon that in this case, the policeman was not his friend.
“But you’re not arresting him. That means those facts must fall short of probable cause to believe that he committed the crime.”
“Yes, exactly.” Detective Lindenhurst pursed his lips, which were thick. “This is just an investigatory interview. You both are free to come and go at any time.”
“But it is custodial interrogation.”
“That’s a harsh way to put it.”
“But is it accurate? Will you Mirandize him, for example?”
“Yes, but only out of an abundance of caution. You understand.”
“I do,” Mary said, hearing that she had good reason to be concerned.
“And we will ask Simon to provide some samples before he leaves today.”
“What sort of samples?” Mary asked, though she knew. She wanted it spelled out for Simon.
“A hair sample, blood, saliva, fingerprints, and a DNA sample. Only a mouth swab.” Detective Lindenhurst turned to Simon. “This is standard operating procedure, as a point of information.”
Mary interjected again, “You’re not asking for his consent, are you? Because we’re not consenting to a search for bodily evidence.”
Detective Lindenhurst looked back at Mary. “We’re not asking for consent. We have a warrant.”
Mary masked her dismay. That meant the police had enough facts to raise probable cause to get a search warrant, but not yet an arrest warrant. “I’d like to see that before we produce the samples.”
“Of course, after we speak.” Detective Lindenhurst hesitated. “I suppose it makes sense to get these preliminaries out of the way first. In that vein, we would also appreciate him leaving his shirt and pants with us and we will provide him with a sweat suit to wear home.”
“Fine,” Mary said, having no choice but to agree. She had warned Simon that the police might make the request, so he knew not to overreact, and he didn’t. The police lab would look for fibers from Simon’s clothes in Todd’s car and, given that there had been a fight, they would find some. For the same reason, they would probably find fibers and DNA from Todd’s clothes and body in Simon’s car. It would be strong physical evidence against Simon.
“We also have a search warrant for his home, office, and car. Just to verify, you reside at 2938 Holly Lane, Horsham, PA, correct?”
“Yes.”
Mary let it go. The police were entitled to ask for basic information and there was no point in fighting when it didn’t matter.
“And you are employed by OpenSpace, correct?”
“Until recently.”
Detective Lindenhurst nodded. “The home and office are currently being searched, but we assume the car’s in the parking lot at CHOP, correct?”
“Yes,” Simon answered.
“And you drive a 2013 Ford Explorer, with the license plate TRAIN1.”
“Yes.” Simon smiled uncomfortably. “I collect trains.”
Mary knew Simon collected trains, but she hadn’t known about the vanity plate.
“And we have a warrant to search your phone, so I’d like to have that before you go.”
“Fine,” Mary nodded, and Simon didn’t react, having been made aware.
“Bear with me a moment.” Detective Lindenhurst turned to the rickety table, picked up some blank forms, and recited the Miranda rights to Simon, then took him through the standard form, acknowledging that he’d been read his rights. The detective had Simon sign it, then set the forms aside.
Mary went first. “Detective Lindenhurst, I don’t want to waste your time. My client is not going to answer any questions in this interview today.”
“I haven’t even asked one. Why don’t you give it a chance?”