"Give us the number and the address of Pato’s, and we’ll speak with him," Moore said.
Alison placed her hand on the young woman’s shoulder."It’s going to be fine."
Alison believed that as much as she believed the same words when other people said them to her.Nothing in her life was fine.Not yet.Maybe not ever.
***
"Justin Brown," Alison said as she read the notes on her phone."Derek sent a residential address, also, if we don't find him here."
Alison looked up at the large sign hanging on the front of the diner.It had seen better days, and the bottom of the ‘P’ was broken.The letters all had bulbs inside them, and the lights were on, even though the sun had already risen.At least four of the bulbs were out.
"Derek traced a call to the Judge’s chambers last night around seven from a cell phone matching the number Rebecca gave us," Alison continued."That could mean he wasn’t in the office last night, or he called from his cell from somewhere outside the building to be let in?"
"Perhaps he thought it would give him an alibi," Moore suggested."Or, he spoke to the judge on the phone and then went down to the courthouse to continue the conversation in person."
"There’s only one way to find out," Alison said.
They went up the four steps to the front door and entered.
"Hey!"a chipper voice called from the counter.The voice belonged to a young woman who was pouring coffee into a customer's cup at the counter, while having a conversation with another customer to her right and greeting people as they came through the door."Sit wherever you like."
Moore and Alison didn't sit; instead, they approached the counter, circling to the end, where there was a gap for the servers to exit into the main dining area.Moore didn't say anything, but took out her badge and held it so the server behind the counter could see it when she looked over.She finished pouring coffee for the five people seated at the counter, then walked over to them and glanced at the badge.
Her tone became far less chipper and more professional."What can I do for you, hun?"
"Justin Brown?"Moore asked."Is he in this morning?"
"He’s in the kitchen," the server said without questioning why they wanted to speak with him."You can go on through."
They did so, and Moore showed her badge when they reached the kitchen, where they were met by their line cooks and a dishwasher.They asked for Justin, and he led them out back, where he rolled himself a cigarette and looked happy to have a break.
Are you confident we have nothing on you, or are you innocent?
All they knew so far was that he had called the judge the previous evening and then accosted Rebecca on the street that morning, telling her about the call.If it were one single murderer, that would look suspicious, but could he have killed all three?
"You grabbed your ex-girlfriend on the street this morning," Moore stated."Do you want to tell me about that, Justin?"
Juston took a drag of his cigarette before chuckling."She called the cops on me?That’s low, even for her.I bet she even made it out like she was scared for her life or something."He held up both hands, the smoke from the cigarette creating a small cloud by his hand before it disappeared."I did her a favor.She would have screamed out and embarrassed herself on the street, and I knew that would happen, so I grabbed her to make her feel safe."
"What a gentleman," Alison commented.
"So, you knew she would scream out on the street when she saw you, and you still went down there to…what?Talk to her?"
"She wasn’t answering my calls, and besides, we’re not broken up."He took another drag of the cigarette before tossing it away."She talked about breaking up, but we never agreed to anything.I don't accept it.There’s still some talking to be done, and then we’ll be back together again.It’s happened before, and it’ll happen again."
"So, you went down to her place of work to talk with her, and grabbed her on the street at what?Six am?"Moore asked."What did you do before that?Did you go into her workplace to look for her?"
"I didn't have to," Justin said."She’s as regular as clockwork.Every other morning, she goes in at six-thirty; on a Monday, she starts at six.That’s far too early, and she works far too hard, but what are you going to do about it?"
"What are you going to do about it?"Alison asked.
Justin furrowed his brows and stared at Alison.
"You did something about it, didn't you, Justin?"Moore asked."You called Rebecca’s boss last night, didn't you?"
Justin’s nostrils flared quickly, and he showed a tight smile."What?"
"You called Judge Greene last night, didn't you?"Moore asked."We know you did because we have access to Judge Greene’s phone records, and he was called from your number at seven last night."
