Ryder did a Google search on Jeff Maddox in Los Angeles and there were more than two dozen people with that name or a variation of it. He narrowed it to the Westwood address, but quickly realized that this was a person Reid knew in college who likely no longer lived there. Digging into social media, he found the correct Jeff Maddox. He’d graduated from UCLA the year after Reid, now lived in Austin, Texas, and workedfor a computer software company. His social media showed that he was married with two kids and attended church regularly.
Ryder itched to call Maddox, but sent all the information first to the team. Catherine immediately responded and asked Michael if he could contact Maddox for an interview ASAP.
Michael responded that he would, then he stepped inside the conference room and said to Ryder, “Bridget Thomas saw a woman watching Matt and Kara at the pool, but there are no security cameras in the area, and the woman wore sunglasses, a hat, and red bikini. Brian is looking through security footage from outside the pool deck to see if he can spot her. What’s this Maddox thing?”
Ryder told him about the reference and that he may have background on Garrett that would be helpful.
Michael said, “Sit in on the call, you know more than I do about Garrett’s background.”
Michael closed the door to give them privacy, and Ryder dialed Maddox’s number, putting the phone on speaker.
Maddox gave them a bit of the runaround, and then said he’d talk if Michael would text him a photo of his badge and ID. After they got that out of the way, he said, “What do you want to know? Is this like a background check or something?”
“Or something,” Michael said vaguely. “You’re talking to myself and analyst Ryder Kim, both of us with the FBI Mobile Response Team.”
Maddox said, “Is Garrett in trouble?”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know what to think. You called me.”
“Mr. Reid has been arrested,” Michael said. “We’re pulling together information about his background, so if you can help we would appreciate it.”
“Wow,” Maddox said. “Well, I haven’t spoken to him in years. Maybe saw him once or twice after he graduated. I wasn’t really into his scene, you know?”
Ryder slid a note over to Michael giving him the basics of what he knew about Maddox and that they had likely lived together in college, based on a shared address in Westwood during that time.
“Let’s start at the beginning. You know Garrett from college, correct?”
“We were roommates. I was a freshman, he was a sophomore, and I swear, I would have flunked out if Garrett hadn’t helped me. The guy is a genius.”
“How so?”
“Just super smart. He explains things well. He was an engineering major. He changed after his sophomore year, I don’t remember to what, but he was still smart. I told him he should like get a master’s or something and teach college. I was a computer science major. It’s what I do now, programming. But I had to take these advanced math classes, and I just didn’t get it. Until Garrett tutored me. And he didn’t even ask for money or anything, just helped me because we were roommates. So even when... Well, no matter what, he was a friend.”
Ryder caught Michael’s eye and saw that Michael had the same thought.
“Even whenwhat?” Michael asked.
“What was he arrested for?” Maddox answered the question with a question.
“Felony kidnapping, and he’s a suspect in multiple homicides.”
“Murder?Oh my God. That’s—wow.”
“What did you remember, Mr. Maddox?” Michael pressed.
“You’re not going to tell him I talked to you or anything, are you?”
He sounded wary. Was he scared of Garrett?
“No,” Michael assured him. “This is just for our records. We’re building a case, and I need to know everything about his past.”
“Well. Like I said, we were roommates,” Maddox said, at first talking slow, then seeming happy to share what he knew.“Garrett doesn’t really care about people. Okay, that’s not quite right. He’s friendly and will help people out and seems all genuine about it, right? But then when you look at him, you realize he just doesn’t care aboutyou. He helps... but that’s easy. It’s easy for him to give you answers or explain a problem because he knows it. And he likes people to think he’s smart and all that. I mean, he is smart. But if you like, um, tell him your mom died? He shrugs.”
“Did that happen to you?” Ryder asked. “Did your mom pass away?”
“Yeah. She died my junior year. Garrett, me, two other guys were renting an apartment off campus. I was really broken up. My mom—well, she was the greatest. When she died—it was a stupid accident—I was destroyed. My oldest sister was pregnant and losing mom was super hard for her, too. I mean, I know guys are supposed to keep all this inside and just be a rock? And I was, for my sisters, because they needed me to be. I took over all the arrangements and sometimes, I wanted to just talk about things, and Garrett... he didn’t understand, he didn’twantto understand. And then... he said my mom had been hot. That wassowrong. My mom was mymom. You know?”
