“Yes.”
“Even though you asked for one before, now you don’t want an attorney?”
“I just want to talk to you for a few minutes. Then I’ll ask for my lawyer.”
Meaning he wanted to figure out how much the police know. Decker said, “Are you waiving your rights to an attorney even though you asked for one five minutes ago?”
“I already told you yes.”
“So sign the card right here. That says that you’re willing to talk to the police without an attorney present. And you know that anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.”
“Fine, fine.” He signed the card again. “Now can I say my piece?”
“Say anything you want, Mr. Tinsley. I’m all ears.”
“I didn’t murder anyone! That’s bullshit!” He sat back and folded his arms. “And that’s all I wanted to say.”
“Chuck…” Decker started out. “Did you really think that you could go to Garage and flirt with Adrianna for over an hour without someone recognizing you?”
“I didn’t kill her.”
“I didn’t say you did. All I said is, Do you really think you could flirt with Adrianna for over an hour without someone recognizing you?”
Tinsley didn’t answer.
“Chuck, you had buddies there. They called out your name. Chuck, over here, Charley, pick up a cold one for us. People recognized you, Chuck. You’re not a moron, but neither are cops. We’ve all been doing this for a very long time.”
“I didn’t kill her. I was sick to my stomach when I saw her hanging up there.”
“So how’d she get up there?”
“The fuck if I know! I didn’t put her there!” His eyes watered. “Someone’s trying to frame me. Honest to God, she left before I did…way before I did. Someone musta…” He clamped his lips shut. “I didn’t hurt her. I’ve never hurt a woman in my life!”
“So tell me how Adrianna wound up in your construction site?”
“If I knew, I’d tell you!” He wiped his forehead with the hem of his T-shirt. “I shoulda said something in the beginning, but I knew that you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Start from the beginning, Chuck. Tell me everything. It’ll feel good to get it off your chest.”
The man slunk down in the chair. “I never been to Garage before.”
“So what brought you down there?”
“A buddy of mine suggested it. I musta got there around seven-thirty. Adrianna was already there. I noticed her right away.”
“What was she doing?”
“Talking to one of the hostesses. I think her name was Emerald. She was cheap-looking—not Adrianna, the hostess. I got the feeling that I coulda taken her home that night, but she wasn’t my type. Now I wish to God that I did. She coulda been my alibi.”
Decker immediately thought of two reasons why that wouldn’t have worked: (1) Adrianna Blanc was murdered the next day, not on Sunday night, and (2) Crystal Larabee was dead. Tinsley didn’t know how lucky he was, not taking her home. “And this was around seven-thirty?”
“Yeah, around that.”
“Go on.”
“So I was drinking with my buddy Paul. Have you talked to Paul yet?”
“He’s next on my list,” Decker lied. “What’s Paul’s last name again?”
“Goldback.”
“Sorry to interrupt. Keep going.”
“So I was talking to Paul, but looking at Adrianna. And she was talking to the hostess but looking at me. You know that kind of thing. We both knew there was some kinda spark.”
“Okay.”
“So after I finish my beer, I go over to her. I offered to buy her whatever she was drinking.”
“What time was this?”
“Maybe fifteen, twenty minutes later.”
“So around ten to eight.”
“I guess.” Tinsley paused. “I thought she was a recovering alcoholic. She was drinking club soda. But then she told me that she had to go to work, so that’s why she wasn’t hitting anything heavy. She told me she was a nurse and worked with babies and that the one thing she promised was that she’d never drink right before she’d work. I thought that was really honorable, you know.”
Decker nodded. “I agree.”
“Then she said that she knew Emerald from high school, and if there was anything that I wanted, she could probably talk Emerald into giving it up for free.”
“I don’t know anyone working at Garage named Emerald, Chuck. Do you mean Crystal?”
“Yeah, Crystal. Adrianna was talking to me about Crystal and her work as a nurse and so on. I was talking about my work. We musta talked for over an hour. Crystal kept coming over, offering me free refills of my beer. Finally, she said she had to go to work. Adrianna did.”
“What time was that?”
“A little before ten. I asked her where she was working tonight and she said St. Tim’s. I told her I was working at a site right near there. I asked for her phone number and suggested lunch or dinner.”
“What’d she say?”
“She asked me for my phone number instead. I didn’t think twice about that. Lotta women check out guys before they go out with them. So I gave her my business card. It had my cell number and my e-mail address. But I remember very clearly writing down the address of where I was working…to show her I really was working close to St. Tim’s and not giving her a line.”
“You wrote down the address of the Grossmans’ house?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
“We found her purse, Chuck. We didn’t find any of your cards in it.”
Tinsley’s face turned white. Decker waited him out.
“My card was in her coat pocket when I found her. I took it out.”
Decker stared at him. “Do you still have the card?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“You think?”
“It’s in the nightstand of my bedroom. I’ll get it for you.” Tinsley spoke intensely. “Don’t you get it, Lieutenant? Someone found my card in her purse or pocket and hung her up on my construction site to frame me.”
No pun intended, Decker thought to himself. “That’s a possibility.”
“It’s what happened! Do you really think I’d be stupid enough to murder someone, then put her somewhere that was connected to me. I’d have to be a moron.”
The jails were filled with stupid criminals. Decker said, “You know that when you removed the card, you tampered with material evidence.”
“I knew that if the cops found it, it looked bad for me.”
“It does look bad for you right now, Chuck.”
“Look, I admitted to removing the card. Would I be stupid enough to leave a body where I was working? I’ll answer that. The answer is no. Someone left the card in her pocket to make me look bad.”
“Could be. Because right now, the focus is on you.”
“Lieutenant, I swear she left the bar alive and that was the last time I saw her until I found her body at the construction site.”
“Let’s backtrack a little bit. What did you do after Adrianna left?”
“I talked to Em…to Crystal for a little bit. Then I talked to some chick named Lucy. No chemistry there. I left Garage’s at about eleven, and went straight home. I don’t remember what I did. I usually go to bed between twelve and one.”
“You live alone?”
“Unfortunately I do.”
“So tell me about the next day. Monday, the day you found the body. What time did you wake up?”
“Seven-thirty. That’s when I always get up. I went to another one of Keith’s jobs. The Rosen project on Chloe Lane.”
“What time did you arrive at the Rosen project?”
“About eight-thirty. I was there all morning. Mrs. Rosen was there all morning. She brought me out some coffee. She can tell you I was there.”
“When did you leave the Rosen project to go to the Grossman project?”
“Around twelve-thirty, I left the Ros
en project. I stopped off at Ranger’s to eat lunch. That’s a deli. I ate a corned beef sandwich with mustard. That I remember because it’s what I threw up. I can’t eat corned beef anymore and I used to love corned beef. The whole thing is fucked up.”
“How’d you pay for your meal?”
“Like I pay for all of them. In cash.”
“That doesn’t help me.”
“Sorry,” Tinsley mocked. “Didn’t know I would need receipts to get me out of criminal charges.”
“What time did you leave Ranger’s?”
“About one-thirty. I came straight to the Grossman project. It’s about fifteen minutes away. You can clock it yourself.”
“What did you do while you ate your sandwich at Ranger’s?”
“I dunno. I just ate. I mighta caught up on some phone calls. Sometimes I do that.”
“On your cell?”
“How else? I didn’t borrow the landline.”
“Do you have any objections to my going through your cell phone records?”
“Be my guest.”
Decker said, “Better yet, how about handing over your cell?”
Tinsley shrugged. “Fine.” He fished into the pocket of his nylon jacket and gave Decker the cell.
“Give me a couple of minutes with this.” Decker stood up and left, returning to the video room, where Marge and Oliver were still studying Chuck on the monitor. Tinsley had laid his head between his arms on the table and appeared to be going to sleep.
“Check this out, Marge.” Decker handed her the phone. “What do you two think?”
Oliver said, “I’m always suspicious of a guy who tries to nap after being grilled by the police.”
“He said that the card that he gave Adrianna is in his nightstand,” Marge pointed out. “Why don’t we see if we can get him to agree to a search of his place?”
“Good idea.”
“He could be lying. But I don’t think he is. If his story checks out, he wouldn’t have had enough time since he was accounted for from eight-thirty until he called the police.”
“If you believe him,” Oliver said. “Besides, how long does it take for a quick screw?”
“If it was only a quick screw, it wouldn’t take too long,” Marge said. “But if it’s a screw with games that resulted in murder and stringing her up with cable wires on the rafters all the while looking around to make sure that no one’s watching, I’d say it could take a hell of a long time.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
WHILE MARGE WAS checking out Tinsley’s phone, Decker went back into the interview room and sat down at the table. “What did you and Adrianna talk about?”
He sighed. “Just stuff. We had a good rappaport.”
“Rapport?”
“Yeah, rapport. I don’t even know what I’m saying.” Tinsley paused. “We talked about a lot of stuff.”
“Can you be more specific?”
Tinsley blew out air. “I talked about my job…how I liked working with my hands and seeing that I’d actually done something at the end of the day.”
Decker nodded.
“She said she really liked her job for the same reason…that she felt she was doing something important.” He attempted to collect his thoughts. “She said her job was real stressful…taking care of sick babies.” Another pause. “Oh…now I remember. She said something about her job being more stressful ’cause she was in the process of getting out of a bad relationship. But she still had to work with the guy.”
“Did she mention the man by name?”
“No…only that he worked where she worked. They didn’t always bump into each other, but it was enough that when they were fighting, it was awkward.”
“I get that,” Decker said.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s comin’ back.” Tinsley was getting excited. “She said she was about to break free. All she needed was an excuse.”
“What did you say to that?”
“I think I said something dumb like…I hope I’m your excuse. She laughed.” He looked pensive. “She had a nice laugh. She was a pretty girl. I had a good time.” He dropped his forehead in his hands. “Seeing her like that…it still makes me sick to think about it.”
The man’s feelings may have been legit, but that didn’t mean he didn’t kill her. “Chuck, you’ve got a couple of choices right now.”
“I don’t like the sound of this.”
“I can either book you for tampering with material evidence and obstruction of justice. Or I won’t do anything just yet, if you agree to cool your heels here in the police station until we can check out your phone and get a timeline for where you were the day of the murder.”
“That’s a choice? Either way I’m here.”
“You’re here but not in jail.”
Tinsley thought about that. “How long do you think this is going to take?”
“It might take the better part of the evening. I can get you some dinner if you’re hungry.” Tinsley’s response was a shrug. “Where did you find the business card that you gave Adrianna?”
“In her pocket.”
“And now it’s in your nightstand drawer?”
“Last time I checked.”
Decker wondered why he didn’t just throw it away. Maybe he kept it as a trophy. “Would you mind if we go inside your apartment to pick up the card? It could have forensic evidence on it.”
“Like my DNA or my fingerprint?”
“You took it, so both are a possibility.”
“Yeah, go get the card. Maybe it’ll help me.”
Decker said, “While we’re in your apartment, do you mind if we look around?”
“For what?”
“I’ll know it when I see it.”
“I have a couple of ounces in my bottom dresser drawer.” He threw up his hands. “I don’t know why I just told you that. I must be in the mood for confession after all these years of being a lapsed Catholic.”
“If a couple of ounces are the worst of it, you’ll be okay. So is it a yes or a no?”
Tinsley reached in his pocket and gave him the keys. “Help yourself. Maybe you can be a pal and do the dishes while you’re there.”
“Maybe not. Is your apartment alarmed?”
“Nah, don’t have all that much to steal. Just a flat screen. But I get the sports package. The Lakers are playing tonight. When you get back, don’t tell me the score. I’ve got it on DVR. I’ll watch it when I get home…whenever the hell that is.”
LIKE ANYTHING CHOREOGRAPHED, timing was everything. The food arrived ten minutes after Decker went back into the interview room with Tinsley. Everyone pitched in to set things up and all was ready for the Loo just as the interview was drawing to a close. When Decker came out of the room, he was assaulted by a raucous “surprise” by family and coworkers. Totally disoriented, he looked around and saw what everyone had done for his birthday. Rina came up and hugged him. “Happy big one, Lieutenant.”
Decker realized with a gasp that his sons were present. “What are you guys doing here?”
“I’ll go anywhere for the free food.” Jacob hugged him fiercely. “Happy birthday, Dad.”
Sammy was next. “Happy birthday, Dad.” He gave him a bear hug. “Like they say, till a hundred and twenty.”
“So I guess I’m at the halfway mark.” Laughs all around. Decker was still dazed. “Is this all for me?”
“No, it’s for Chuck Tinsley,” Marge said.
“He wants a hamburger, by the way.”
“He’ll have to make do with corned beef on rye.”
“Corned beef makes him sick. Try turkey.”
Another round of laughs. Marge clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Time’s a-ticking and some of us have work to do. Grub is served, so dig in.”
Decker spent the next twenty minutes shaking hands, hugging his family, and accepting congratulations on his upcoming birthday as his coworkers formed a long line to the makeshift buffet. There were platters of roasted chicken,
corned beef, pastrami, smoked turkey, bologna, potato salad, coleslaw, chopped liver, olives and pickles, onions and tomatoes, and baskets of sliced breads—rye and challah.
Decker turned to Rina. “How did you plan this without my knowing?”
“I didn’t plan it. The boys and Cindy did everything. What I can’t understand is how they did it without my knowing.”
“You should have seen the look on the ladies’ faces when they saw us,” Sammy said. “Eema was funny, but Hannah was priceless.”
“I did kinda freak when I saw them.” Hannah rested her head on Sammy’s arm.
Decker said, “How’s Rachel, Sam?”
“Studying for finals. She sends her regards.”
“Ilana sends her regards, too,” Jacob said. “She really wanted to come, but she also has finals.”
“Next time,” Decker said. “You’re staying the weekend? Of course you are.”
Jake said, “We even pulled out the trundle because it appears we’ve been supplanted by a younger model.” When Gabe turned red, he added, “Go eat some corned beef, kid. You need some protein.”
“I’m still full from the pizza.”
“Well, then go make me a sandwich. I’m hungry.”
“Excuse me?” Rina said. “Is that how I taught you to talk to guests?”
“He’s not a guest, he’s an interloper.”
“It’s fine.” Gabe smiled shyly. “What kind of sandwich do you want?”
“Pastrami and smoked turkey on rye, mustard, no mayo, and all the sides.”
“Got it.” Gabe turned to brace himself for the onslaught at the buffet.
When he left, Jacob said, “Nice kid. I understand he’s dealing with a couple of issues.”
“Aren’t we all?” Decker threw his arm around his sons. “Thank you, Yonkel. Thank you, Shmueli. I will never forget this day.”
“I love you, old man,” Jacob told him. “Now can I have the car?”
Cindy came up to her father, munching on a drumstick. She kissed his cheek. “Happy birthday, Daddy. You deserve all this and more.”
“I love you, princess.” He kissed her cheek, peeking at her abdomen that had blossomed into a nice bump. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m always famished around this time.”
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