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Simon’s demeanor and weak defense told Amanda he remembered Greg Elliott’s name and likely his Elantra and the plates along with it. “If you have nothing to do with this, you shouldn’t have a problem continuing this conversation down at the station.”
TWENTY-ONE
“What do you want from me?” Simon was seated in an interrogation room at Central, his arms flailing.
Amanda wasn’t in the mood to play nice with this guy. On one level or another, he was involved with what happened that morning. It was on her to determine the extent. Was it criminal incompetence or did he have an actual hand in the shooting and Katherine’s abduction? “What we want from you is the truth,” she put out firmly.
“Which is what I’ve been saying the whole time.” Simon chuckled as if this was some joke and threw an arm over the back of his chair.
“I’m not sure where you’ve lost the thread, Mr.Wheable, but this is no laughing matter,” she said. “If you were caught up in this morning’s events, you will be going to prison.”
“Yeah, well, I had nothing to do with murder or abduction.”
“A teenage girl was shot dead. It was a police officer who was abducted.” She wanted to put faces to the tragedy. It was also the first time she revealed the identity of the kidnap victim.
All signs of amusement disappeared. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Amanda pointed at him. “That attitude will keep us here for hours. Instead, I suggest you start talking. Tell us where Katherine Graves was taken.”
“What? Who is Katherine Graves?” He pulled his arm down from the chair, and his brow furrowed. Physical tells indicated he was being truthful, but when a person was a weasel and con artist like Simon, it made it difficult to believe anything they said whether it be verbal, body, or facial language.
Amanda gestured toward Trent, but he had already taken a photograph of Katherine from the folder. He pushed it across the table.
Simon barely looked at the picture. “Ain’t ever seen her in my life.”
“Take a long, hard look,” Trent pressed.
“I could stare at her all day. It’s not going to bring up a memory of someone I’ve never met.”
Trent withdrew a photo captured from the marina video of the woman in a balaclava. “What about her?”
“Is this a joke?”
“No, it’s not a freaking joke,” Amanda seethed. Her level of frustration and overwhelm was nearly crippling her sanity. A straightforward murder investigation was taxing and required a dosage of patience but when a possibility existed to prevent harm, it ramped up the stakes and urgency. It wasn’t often with her job in Homicide she had a chance to save someone, and she intended to do just that.
Trent laid out numerous photos of the woman, each showing a slightly different pose. “Look at her stature. Do you know her?”
“No, I swear, I don’t.”
Trent added an up-close shot of the license plate to the pile.
Simon took a deep breath but said nothing.
“You’re going to claim ignorance? Really? The plates you had clearly ended up in her possession. You must have an idea as to how.” She couldn’t hide the skepticism from her voice.
“Maybe I should get a lawyer.”
“That’s up to you,” she tossed out with a shoulder shrug, as if this wouldn’t affect them either way, though inside she was quaking. They needed Simon to start talking, not clam up at the prompting of a defense attorney.
Simon didn’t say anything, and Amanda leaned back in her chair further, striving for an air of indifference. Coming across desperate would have Simon shutting down this interview. He’d call for a lawyer before fingers could snap. It was surprising one wasn’t already here. “You need to give us something, Simon, beyond claims you don’t know her.” She tapped a finger to the photo of the plates. “Those plates were registered to Greg Elliott. They made their way to you when Mr.Elliott’s car was totaled and sent to your company to be destroyed.”
“It’s not like I can remember every wreck that comes my way,” Simon said. “Helen told you too. There’s no record we got those plates.”
“But she didn’t deny the car, and they were on there,” she countered. There was a chance they went missing between the accident scene and Eco-Friendly, but it was highly improbable. “Helen admitted to shoddy work. What else isn’t hitting the books? There may be some things the Internal Revenue Service would be interested in knowing.”
Simon narrowed his eyes and tightened his jaw. “A baseless threat. I have nothing to hide.”
Amanda smirked. “You know fair well you do.”
