by Jack Parker
The man continued looking at him in a confused way; his look seemed to be asking, "Is this kid all right?"
"There's no paper in one of the stalls," the man said.
"Er…right. I'm on it."
Chapter 9
Another Questioning
It was right around lunch time and the staff members of Arbur Winslow were taking their daily hour off just to get some quick energy that they would need to last through the rest of the day. All of them, that is, except for Collin, who was instead standing at the door to the main office. Something very heavy was weighing on his mind.
He took a deep breath and seemed to be asking himself, "Do I really want to do this?". After ultimately deciding the answer to that question was a "yes", he knocked on the door.
"Hello?" came a voice from behind the door. It was Lisa's.
"It's me."
"Come on in."
Inhaling once again, Collin slowly opened the door and peeked in rather slowly.
"Hi, Collin," Lisa said, sounding decidedly neutral.
"Hi. I, uh…wanted to ask you about something."
"Go ahead," Lisa allowed, despite the fact she was feeling very suspicious about what it was that he wanted to talk about.
"Uh…about last summer with Scott…"
"No!"
"What?"
"Collin, we are not talking about this anymore, all right?! It's over and done with. Let the police do whatever they can now if they want. I'm not doing anything that'll either help'em or hurt'em."
"Yeah, but…"
"Look at you! You're an eighteen year old kid paying off his gas money by picking up napkins people drop. You've got the least amount of right of any of us to be sticking their nose into this!"
"That's not true!" he insisted. "I've worked at the station and I know what goes on there. And trust me, those guys need all the help they can get."
Upon hearing this, Lisa covered her eyes with her left hand and acted as if her head was beginning to throb.
"What do you want?"
Collin was stunned to hear that. "…what?!"
"What do you want?!"
"But you just said…"
"I know what I just said! If it'll get you to just shut up, I'll play along with your little game!"
He wanted nothing more than to lash out at her for that remark, but he held himself back and didn't want to waste that one opportunity when he might have been able to find out something interesting or important.
"Okay, thanks. Actually, I just wanted to ask if you know what happened the night Scott got killed."
Lisa sighed. Her annoyance was far too obvious, even after this first question. "I don't know," she moaned. "I wasn't there. Scott could've had a heart attack for all I know."
"So…you don't remember anything from the night of the murder?"
"Just stop it," Lisa softly scolded. "Quit trying to sound like you're some detective or police chief."
"Uh…sorry. But that's it? You don't know anything?"
"No."
Oh, man! I'm running out of suspects! Hmmm… "What about the next morning?"
"Huh?"
"The morning Scott's body was found? What happened then?"
"I don't know. I wasn't the first one there."
"Who was?"
"Randy."
Riiiight…I forgot about him. "So how'd Randy handle the police when they first showed up?"
"I don't know. By the time I got there and had learned what happened, Randy had pretty much taken care off everything and the police weren't really too suspicious of anyone. They spent most of the time after that just looking for clues."
"That's it? Nothing weird?"
"Nope. See? Maybe that'll teach you not to pretend you're an expert crime solver."
"Trust me. By the time this is over, I won't have to pretend."
"Talkin' a pretty big game for a kid your age. Look, just let the police do their job, all right? I'm sure if they wanted your help, they would've asked for it."
Ouch! Coooold… "Yeah? Well, I guess I'll work unofficially."
"Whatever. Are you done?"
"Actually, there was one more thing I wanted to ask you."
Lisa groaned yet again. "What is it?"
"Would Randy have any reason to want Scott dead?"
"…"
As Collin suddenly became aware of the silence, he tensed up and almost felt like he was suddenly onto something.
"Well…did he?"
"…no."
"…what?"
"No. Randy wouldn't have anything to gain if Scott died. Nothing."
"Are you…sure?"
"Yes. I'm sure."
"…all right."
There was a long and very painful silence that followed. The entire room became uncomfortable, and, not knowing what else to do, Collin walked back to the door and slowly started opening it. He began creeping his way out back into the main room before he stuck his head back in one more time and said, "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Lisa said very insincerely.
Collin strolled out of the office, trying to recover from the stabbing feeling he now had inside himself. Why did Lisa seem so hesitant about Randy not having a motive? Either way, he realized he didn't have much to worry about there. Randy was long gone from Arbur Winslow, and Collin was sure he'd never get the opportunity to talk to him and hear his side of the story. For now, he had to talk to the one person who felt could make something out of what just happened.
* * *
"Are you serious?" Teneire moaned.
"Sorry, sir, but,...well, Lisa's the head honcho now."
"What's your point?"
"Well, she sounded like she was hiding something, and…hey, let's face it. She runs Arbur Winslow now. She might know something that she was told not to tell anyone."
"That's absurd."
"I know, I know. But I really think we can get something useful from her if we just try to bring her in here to answer some questions."
"That's what you said about your other friends, and look how far we got with them."
"Come on! This is different! We're talking about the lady who's at the top of the food chain here! And besides, you wanted me to try to find someone to bring in, right?"
Teneire sighed and covered his face. "Fine. You're right. You're right. You know what? You're right. Ugh…"
* * *
"Is this some kind of a joke?" Lisa arrogantly demanded as she sat in the chair that the other workers had sat in before her. She was staring right across from her at Teneire, who was staring at her almost in a sympathetic way from behind her desk.
"No, I'm afraid this is really happening. You're really being questioned now."
"No, not that! That!"
She furiously pointed to Collin, who seemed to take offense at that remark.
"He's just a trainee…is everything all right?"
"Why's he in here?!"
"Sorry, Lees, but as long as you're in here, you're technically not my boss."
"Aw, give Attorney Mode a rest, Mr. Bansen," Teneire coldly shunned, causing Collin to shut his mouth in an instant. "I'm sorry. You've probably realized by now he can get a little excited."
Lisa rolled her eyes. "I know. Tell me about it."
Hey! Since when did this turn into a "Diss Collin" contest?!
"Well, as much as I'd love to continue and chit-chat, we got some questions we need to ask you."
"…you're kidding."
"What is it?"
"Collin's really gonna be helping you out?"
"You got it, boss. I am," Collin proudly remarked as he pressed his thumb into his chest.
"He'll try to, anyway."
"Hey!"
Teneire closed his eyes. "I'm trying to be professional about this, Collin. Don't go making my job any tougher than it already is, got it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Now…Ms. McNorr, I know it might be hard at times, but I want you to take this questioning
session seriously, all right? This is a murder we're talking about."
"Yes, sir."
"All right. Just to remind you, you're being recorded and we reserve the right to use this tape for court should this matter end up there."
"I understand."
"Good."
She's hiding something, Collin thought to himself as he remembered how awkward Lisa was acting in her office. And I'm going to find out what it is.
"I wasn't working the night Scott died," Lisa started. "I just want to get that out of the way."
"Yes, we're aware of that."
"Good."
"And did you and Scott have any sort of negative feelings about each other, or did you have an argument or something along those lines?"
"No, we were good friends. I mean, sure, we had our arguments, but…yeah, we were really good friends."
"Really good friends?" Collin asked in a taunting way.
"Collin!" snapped Teneire.
"Sorry, but I was only trying to lighten the mood a little."
Teneire looked like he wanted to unleash a flurry of criticisms on Collin, but he tried to stay professional and remain devoted to trying to ask questions.
"Yes, really good friends," Lisa confirmed.
"So you wouldn't have had any reason to kill him?"
"Not that I can think of."
Grrr…forty seconds in and already Teneire is sounding like he's convinced she's just going to be a waste of time. I've gotta find SOMETHING to ask her about. Uh…wait!
"Wait!" Collin yelled abruptly, making the entire room go silent.
"What is it?" Teneire groaned.
"Sir, you remember Randy, right?"
"Randy? You mean the guy Lisa took over for?"
"Yeah. Him. Lisa, would you mind telling us if Randy would've wanted Scott dead?"
"Collin, this is supposed to be about Lisa, not Randy. If we wanted to question Randy, we would've brought him in."
"Could you please just answer?" Collin asked as if he was completely ignoring what Teneire just told him. "Would Teneire have wanted Scott dead for any reason?"
"Uh…I really don't think Randy would've had much to gain from killing Scott, either."
"Why's that?"
"What do you mean, 'why's that'? I mean exactly what I said! There probably wouldn't have been anything Randy would want to kill Scott over."
" 'Probably'? Lisa, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Never mind. He wouldn't have wanted to kill Scott. I was just thinking about something, but it's not worth talking about."
"…I want to hear about it."
"Collin, it's…"
"Does it have anything to do with that picture I saw when you were interviewing me for the job?"
"What?"
Collin started thinking back to the moment he just mentioned.
-Next to Lisa's computer was a framed picture that showed Lisa smiling at the camera and having her arm around the shoulder of a man who looked about her age and had heavy blonde hair. His was a face Collin knew all too well, but he wasn't expecting to see a picture of him right there.-
"That picture I saw next to your computer when we first started talking…unless I'm wrong, that was a picture of Scott."
"…yeah, so?"
"Well, that's just kind of funny," Collin began. Now he was talking off the top of his head instead of planning what he was going to say to ensure he wouldn't make any mistakes. "I mean, Scott's been dead for over a year now."
"So? I keep pictures of my mother in my house all the time, and she's been dead for almost a decade."
"That's not the point," Collin quickly insisted. "The point is that there was a picture of Scott…with her…sitting right at her computer."
"Ever think maybe I just wanted to keep reminding myself of Scott? I just put a picture of him on my desk because I thought he should stay in our thoughts, even if he's six feet under right now."
"Yeah, I have to agree with her," Teneire said. "It's just a picture."
"That's what you think, sir. But that's an odd place for a picture, isn't it?"
"What do you mean?"
Collin's blood was beginning to rush now and he suddenly felt as if the amount of energy he had just doubled. Now he would be unstoppable as he let his thoughts poor out.
"If Lisa wanted everyone to remember Scott, she probably would have just put a picture of him on the wall or something like that. But she didn't! She's keeping one of Scott and herself on her computer desk!"
"Uh…" Teneire stammered.
"Seriously, I don't see the logic in that. When one of your fellow officers dies, don't you put up a picture of him all by himself on the wall or someplace like that?"
"I get what you're saying, Collin. Yeah, it may be a little different from what normal people would do, but just because she wanted a picture of them both on her computer desk doesn't mean…"
"And I get what you're saying, sir. Which is actually why I asked something a little while ago."
Lisa looked confused, as did Teneire.
"What are you talking about?" Teneire asked.
"Remember how I asked Lisa if she was REALLY good friends with Scott?...and you got mad at me 'cause you thought I was acting like a little kid?"
"Yeah. And you're still not making any sense."
"Just watch. Lisa, I'm pretty sure I've heard this from some of my co-workers, and I just want to make sure: were you really 'just friends' with Scott?"
Lisa looked like she was suddenly getting a little nervous and that Collin was digging into territory she wasn't all that comfortable with talking about. She stammered as she continued getting stared down.
"Collin, I don't see where you're going with thi…" Teneire started.
"Just you wait, sir. You will. Well, Lisa? Were you just friends, or not?"
"Uh…well…fine. Okay, so Scott and I were dating when he died."
"You were in a relationship?" Teneire asked, obviously surprised. "You didn't tell us that during the investigation we conducted last summer!" he furiously yelled as he banged his hand on the table.
"Yeah, we were seeing each other. Big deal," Lisa aggressively stated. "Fine! That's why I had a picture of me and Scott at my computer. Big deal."
Collin started smirking very menacingly and began glaring at Lisa like he was a tiger about to launch on prey. "Actually, Lisa, it IS a big deal. How long have you been in that relationship?"
"Uh…I guess probably about…fiiiive or six months, before Scott died?"
"And that picture was taken during that five or six month period?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Collin, where are you going with this? I still don't see it!"
"You still don't?!" Collin yelled, now sounding surprised in Teneire. "How can you NOT see where I'm headed with this?"
Lisa was still looking very uneasy in her chair. She couldn't seem to be able to believe how Collin was coming up with all this.
"Lisa, I'm not gonna pretend I didn't know," Collin said in a fashion where he was almost hissing. "You were previously in a relationship with Randy, weren't you?!"
Not expecting this at all, Lisa was reduced to simply gasping; Teneire looked equally astonished.
"Collin, how did you?..." he started.
"Lisa, you were going out with Randy before you went out with Scott, right?"
"Y…yes…look, I know what it sounds like, but…"
"And you were the one who broke up with Randy and then got tight with Scott, right?!"
"Collin, did you get ALL of this from your co-workers at Arbur Winslow?!" Teneire yelled.
"Yeah. More or less. Anyway…I'm right, aren't I, Lisa?!"
Lisa looked more like a time bomb preparing itself to detonate in an especially violent manner.
"From what I've heard, Randy wasn't too happy about this, was he! He was probably furious with you and even madder at Scott for hooking up with you."
"Urg…urgh…well…"
"So, am I r
ight or am I wrong?! Because if I'm wrong, now would be the smart time to say so!"
"…you're right," she heavily sighed, instantly giving in.
"What?!" Teneire yelled, unable to believe what Collin had just revealed.
"Ya hear that, Mr. Teneire?! Randy's in love with Lisa. They break up. Lisa hooks up with Scott. Scott dies a few months later. Randy leaves a few weeks after that. I don't know about you, but I think that'd be enough to make Randy a person of interest now!"
"It wasn't!..."
"Ms. McNorr, please hold on a moment!" Teneire ordered as he held his palm in her face and stopped her mid-sentence. "Collin, are you sure about all this?"
"One hundred percent positive, sir!"
Lisa was struggling to keep her composure now that the truth about her relationships with her other co-workers was exposed.
"Collin, if you're right, then that would mean…"
"Yeah…Randy could've been the killer!"
Lisa tried to talk. "But…"
"If you think about it, he would've had a motive and an alibi. All he had to do was say he wasn't working that night and he'd have all his coworkers back him up."
"You're saying he just walked into work at night and killed Scott then?!" Lisa shouted. "If Randy wanted to kill Scott, he wouldn't have done it right on his own turf!"
"How do you know?!"
"Collin, calm down. Ms. McNorr, I'm very sorry, but it looks like you showed up the first time Collin actually realized something important."
"What's THAT supposed to mean?!"
Lisa merely sat back in her chair and nervously waited for the questioning session to be over. It was obvious from her face that it went much worse than she hoped it would. She didn't seem to think the truth about her past relationships would ever come out into the open with the police like that, and she wasn't prepared on how to deal with it now.
Collin, on the other hand, was more excited now than he had been in his entire life. Despite his harsh words, Teneire made it sound like he had truly done something remarkable that could help the case.
Just gotta keep my hot streak going, he reminded himself. It was easy for him to see he would need to utilize his skills to the best of his abilities if he was going to bring this case to an end.