“Let’s get one thing straight, Counselor.” Decker pulled up a chair and McAdams followed suit. “No talk of deals yet. I haven’t talked to the D.A., and I don’t know what he or she is willing to do, if anything.” He looked at Snowe. “What you need to do is tell me the truth from start to end. Get it all out there so the D.A. knows you’re not trying to con him or her. If you do that, you’re much more likely to catch a break. Do you understand what I’m saying, Cameron?”
Snowe nodded. He turned to his lawyer. “Please leave.”
Felicia looked bewildered. “Excuse me?”
“I spoke to my dad when I was in the head a few minutes ago. I explained that I needed a real defense lawyer. He’s getting a top-notch attorney for me, not someone from a mediocre law school who earns her living defending people who can’t speak English against DUIs. This case is way over your pay grade. I don’t need you to tell me not to talk. I know what I’m doing. Please leave.”
The woman’s skin tone had deepened to an unnatural color. “Why didn’t—”
“You’re fired. Leave now!”
Felicia gathered up her papers. “Off the record, you’re a little shit.” She bolted from the interview room.
Decker said, “A little harsh.”
“She doesn’t know what’s flying.” Snowe drummed the table. “So what happens now?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, if I say I want my attorney present, what do you do with me?”
“Oh, you mean procedure. We begin to process you. We take you down to booking, print you, take a mug shot, take your clothes and valuables, and dress you in oranges. Then we put you in a cell until the time of your arraignment where we hope to set your bail at a very high number so it’ll take your parents some time to raise it.”
“And I stay in jail the whole time?”
“Yes.”
“Unacceptable.”
“No matter what you tell me or don’t tell me, you’re going to jail. How long you go to prison is another question. You’ve got to show a reason why the D.A. would want to plea-bargain. So far, you’ve said nothing, which of course is your right. I’m just letting you know what’s likely to happen.”
“So you really don’t have much to do in this process.”
“The police do all the procedures. We also present the evidence to the D.A. and make recommendations. The D.A. listens to our input. Our experience—and I’ve been at this for a very long time—counts. But our recommendations are not binding.”
“So you don’t make the ultimate deal.”
“No.”
“So even if I told you something good, you couldn’t help me.”
“Yes.” Decker shrugged. “You are facing jail time, Snowe. It’s up to you to determine how long.”
“I didn’t kill Dana.”
“I know that. She’s alive.”
“I mean I didn’t even try to kill her.”
Decker paused a long time. “Do you want to talk to me without your lawyer?”
“I’m just saying.”
“Yes or no, Snowe. Do you want to talk or wait for your lawyer?”
“I certainly don’t want you to start the ‘process.’” He made quotes with his fingers. “So yes, I’m talking to you without a lawyer. And I’m telling you I wasn’t there when the car went over the cliff or whatever you call it.”
“Embankment.”
“Yeah, that.”
“I need a time frame from you.” Decker pulled out his notepad. “When did you and Dana leave to go up north together?”
“Friday around four in the afternoon.”
“So you two came up from the colleges to the Boston area.”
“Yeah.”
“You came up to buy drugs—”
“Correction. She came up to buy drugs.”
“I can totally believe that. She has a history. But drugs were found in her car, Cameron. And so were your prints. Plus, we’ll get phone records—”
“Burner phones don’t have records.”
“They do have records.”
“They have numbers but not who called.”
“That is correct,” Decker said.
McAdams said, “Tracing them isn’t as impossible as you think it is.”
“Bullshit.”
Decker said, “Burner phones are hard to track, even harder to trace. You’re right about that, Cameron. But nothing is impossible.”
Cameron went silent. “I wasn’t there.”
“You were there when the car got into an accident.”
“I’m pleading the Fifth on that one. I have no idea how the car flipped over.”
Decker said, “You were at the wheel of Dana Berinson’s Honda, driving Dana and yourself back to the colleges on Saturday night. We have CCTV.”
“Can I talk to you off the record?”
“No. I’ve already arrested you and read you your rights.”
“Not even if I have something to say that really might be of interest to you?”
“Everything is on the record, Cameron. But if you want to talk to me, you can talk theoretically.”
“Like in the third person?”
“Yeah, like in the third person.”
“And you won’t record that?”
“We are recording everything you’re saying.” Decker folded his hands and put them on the table. He leaned toward Snowe. “You’re an intelligent boy, Cameron. I know you’re constantly thinking about what’s best for you. If you want my advice, the first step to a plea bargain is cooperation.”
“It’s really stupid for me to talk to you before my new lawyer gets here.”
“It’s up to you. I’m just here to listen.”
The room was silent for thirty seconds. The Snowe said, “I wasn’t there when the car went over the embankment.”
“I believe you.”
Cameron leaned back in his chair. “It was a stupid accident.”
“When Dana’s car crashed, it was an accident?”
“Yeah, of course. What else would I be talking about?”
“I’m just clarifying.” Decker filled the kid’s water glass. “So you were there when the car got into an accident. And I’m sure it was an accident. You’re off to a good start.”
“I didn’t even want to leave Saturday night, but the bitch was in such a hurry to play big shot with her stash.” He hung his head in his hands, and then he looked up. “She was supposed to drive home. That was the deal. I’d drive there, she’d drive home. Ten, fifteen minutes into the ride home, she said she was tired. We’re out of the Boston area in the middle of nowhere. We could either go back or go forward and like an idiot, I took the wheel and decided to drive back. It’s stupid to deny that I wasn’t driving because I did go through a tollbooth—two actually.”
He emitted something that sounded like a growl.
“About ten minutes later, the dumb bitch decides to take off her seat belt. Doesn’t want to wear it because it was riding up on her face, bothering her while she was trying to sleep. So she clicks it behind her butt and proceeds to fall asleep.”
“That was a dumb move.”
“She’s an idiot,” Cameron said. “I shouldn’t have even gone with her.”
“Why did you?” McAdams asked.
“Because I’m an idiot!”
Decker said, “What time did you leave from the Boston area?”
“After dark but not too late. Maybe nine or ten.” He rubbed his neck and blew out air. “I was tired, too. The road was dark and it was hard to stay awake. I must have dozed off for a moment. Next thing I knew I was headed for the railing. I swerved and braked very hard. I didn’t hit the railing head-on. I hit it on the passenger-side front bumper, enough to break through the metal so that the airbags deployed.” He shook his head again and pinched off a fraction of space between his thumb and forefinger. “I was this close to going off the edge. The front wheels were almost dangling.”
“Scary,” Decker said.
“Uh, yeah!”
“Airbags deploy?”
“Yep. But I hit my forehead on something. Could have been the airbag hitting me. In any case, I was wearing my seat belt so I was okay.”
A long sigh.
“Dana knocked her head on the side window. I guess since she wasn’t wearing her seat belt, the airbag knocked her sideways. The glass broke . . . not shattered, but it broke like in that concentric circle pattern. There was blood everywhere.” A long pause. “She never uttered a sound—not a groan, not a moan, nothing. I thought for sure she was dead.”
“Did you check?”
“I don’t remember. I was in shock at that point. And she wasn’t moving.”
Decker nodded. “What did you do next?”
“I eased myself out of the car. It was pitch-black. I was scared and completely panicked. I didn’t know what to do.”
The young man suddenly shut down. Softly, Decker said, “You called someone for help.”
“I don’t think I should say anything else. This is the deal part.”
“The part when you called up a person to help you out.”
“Like I said, I use burner phones.”
“You might have used a burner phone. But you probably called a standard cell where we can access phone logs and texts.” Decker sat back and spoke calmly. “There are only so many people you would have called in that situation. How long do you think it’s going to take us to figure it out?”
“You can’t randomly go around checking people’s cell-phone records.”
“There is nothing random about our investigation, Cameron. We do everything properly and we’ll get our warrants. If you help us out now and save us work, you can go a long way toward making yourself look good. So who’d you call?”
“If I give you information that may have to do with some other crime, what can you do for me?”
“What will I recommend to the D.A., you mean?”
“Yes.”
“Depends on the information. What ideally are you looking for in a plea bargain?”
“Ideally? All charges dropped.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“I’ve got good information.”
“Is it about Delilah Occum?”
“I had nothing to do with her death. Nothing!”
“I believe you. You had nothing to do with her death. Tell me what you think happened to her. Have you heard rumors?”
“Maybe yes, maybe no.” Snowe sat back in his seat. “I’m not saying anything more. Even when I get my lawyer, I’m not talking to you.”
“That’s your right, son. So stand up. Let’s start the process.”
“Can’t I just wait here for my lawyer?”
“No, Cameron, you cannot wait in an interview room. We have to book you now.”
Snowe didn’t move. “How about no jail time?”
“You’re controlling this interview, you know. You’re a force to be reckoned with.” Decker watched pride sweep across the kid’s face. “Do you want to continue talking to me without a lawyer present? I need a yes or no answer to the question.”
“Okay. Yes, I’ll talk to you without my lawyer for a few more minutes. I’ll tell you everything I know if you can recommend no jail time.”
“Tell me what you have and I’ll take it to the D.A.”
“I need assurances that you’ll take that recommendation to the D.A.”
“I can’t give you that,” Decker said. “But I can tell you what will happen if you don’t tell us the name of the third party who was involved in helping you out. The attempted murder falls on you. If you name a third party and we’re able to prove it was him or her who pushed the car over the embankment, maybe a D.A. would plead down that charge to something lesser.”
“To what?”
“I don’t know,” Decker said. “I’m not a lawyer.” McAdams broke out in a coughing fit. “You really need to go to the doctor with that cough.”
“Sorry.” McAdams took a swig of water.
Snowe, also taking a drink of water, said, “I’m not going to prison.”
“That’s exactly where you’re going unless you have something to bargain with.” Decker waited for Snowe to finish his water. Then he refilled the cup.
Snowe said, “I’ve got to take a wicked piss.”
“There’s a bathroom down in booking,” Decker said.
The kid made a face. McAdams said, “Right now . . . right at this moment . . . this is your best chance to save your neck, Snowe.”
Snowe blew out air. “I called a friend.”
“Who?” Decker said. “Casey Halpern? Marcus Craven? One of your other buddies who alibied you on the night that Delilah Occum died? We’ll try them all, Cameron. It’s going to take a while. And in the meantime, you’re languishing in jail.”
“I’ll be out on bond. They have to grant me bail for a car accident.”
“Not if you’re a suspected murderer—for Dana Berinson as well as Delilah Occum—”
“I had nothing to do with Delilah’s murder. Or Dana’s attempted murder.”
“But you might know something about both of them.” Decker stood. “Look, Snowe. I can’t keep questioning you if you have to go to the bathroom. Your lawyer will say I questioned you under duress. Let’s go down to booking.”
The kid remained seated. “I had nothing to do with Delilah Occum’s murder.”
“Fine. Do you want to take a piss or do you want to talk?”
“Give me a sec, okay. I’m thinking.”
“Take your time. And if you want to help yourself, give me the name of the person you called the night of the accident.”
A few moments passed. Then Snowe said, “I called someone who gave me the number of someone who had helped him out in the past.”
“Who did you first call for help?”
Snowe’s jaw was bulging. “What the hell? No honor among thieves, right?”
“Who’d you call, Cameron?”
“Casey Halpern.”
“Good. Thank you. And who did you call after you called Casey Halpern?”
“I didn’t call anyone. Casey called someone for me.”
“So who came down to help you out, Cameron?”
“Dr. Pallek.”
“Michael Pallek?”
“Do you know another Dr. Pallek?”
“Clarification, Cameron.”
“Yes, it was Michael Pallek. Three hours later, he rode up in some dinky car without plates.”
“So this was about two in the morning?” McAdams asked.
“About.”
“Then what happened?”
“He gave me the keys to his car and a map of how to get back to the colleges without going through tollbooths.”
“Okay,” Decker said. “That’s great. Do you still have the map by any chance?”
“It might be somewhere in my dorm room. I’d have to check.”
“We’ll check for you. Don’t worry about it.”
“It wasn’t a very clear map. I got lost and had to use my GPS to make it home.”
“Then if you used your GPS, you probably went through several tollbooths.”
Snowe made a face. “Sometimes I’m not only a dick, I’m real stupid.”
A rare moment of insight. Decker said, “Let’s get back to what happened, Cameron. Michael Pallek gave you the keys to the car he was driving.”
“Yes.”
“And he gave you a map to avoid going through tollbooths.”
“Yes.”
“What did he say to you after he gave you the map and keys?”
“He told me where to leave the car and said he’d pick it up later.”
“Where did he tell you to leave the car?”
“At Harvard and Fourth.”
“A block away from campus then.”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell you anything else?”
“He told me that he’d take care of everything. He told
me to go back to the colleges and not to stop for anything.”
“Then what happened?”
“He told me to leave and I did. He didn’t have to tell me twice. I really have to piss.”
“Let’s go,” McAdams said.
“Are you taking me to booking?”
McAdams looked at Decker, who said, “Bring him back here. We’re far from done.”
Chapter 38
As Decker regarded Snowe through the one-way mirror, he said, “Could someone go in and ask him if he wants something to eat or drink?”
“I’ll do it.” Kevin got up from the chair.
Radar said, “Do you personally want to pick up Pallek?”
“Send Kevin and Karen to do it when the time comes,” Decker said.
“You want to wait on it?”
“I’d like to have something other than Snowe’s word that Pallek was there. First thing I want to do is search Snowe’s room and find the map that Pallek allegedly gave him.”
“It’ll take a while to get the warrant,” Radar said. “Might be easier to ask Snowe for permission. He seems to be in a cooperative mood.”
“Okay,” Decker said. “The car that Snowe described Pallek as driving—it doesn’t sound like his regular car.”
“You think it was a rental,” McAdams said. “I’ll call up the local companies.”
“Before we do it, let’s check the DMV and find out what car is registered in his name.”
“I’ll do that as well,” McAdams said.
Radar said, “What do you want to do about Casey Halpern?”
“We have to make sure that Snowe is telling the truth about Halpern. He’s been lying from day one.”
“So pick up Halpern and ask him.”
“He’s not local anymore. He graduated and I don’t know where he lives. But I’m betting that Snowe does. Halpern is probably out of our jurisdiction. We’ll be depending on another police department. I don’t know if they’ll be willing to pick him up just based on what Snowe says.”
McAdams said, “If what Snowe says is true, we can get Pallek on attempted murder.”
Decker said, “But we need something to tie Pallek to Snowe other than Snowe’s confession. If Pallek avoided tollbooths, he probably avoided populated areas and CCTV. It’s unlikely we’ll pick him up on the road. We need the map.”
McAdams said, “Do you want me to ask him for permission to search his dorm room and for his burner phone to corroborate what he just told us?”
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