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“Who you think? Kendrik.”
He nodded.
“Can I get you something to eat or drink?” he asked as he removed the cuff.
“Maybe a soda?”
Payne looked to the one-way mirror. He couldn’t see anyone—except, of course, the reflections of himself and Shauna Mays—but he knew that on the other side of the glass they’d see him looking, and that they’d bring the drink from the small refrigerator that was kept stocked in the unit.
A moment later there was a knock on the door, and when Payne unlocked and opened it a crack, a massive black paw of a hand reached in with a screw-top plastic bottle of grape-flavored soda and a snack-size bag of Tastykake.
“Thanks, Jason,” he said, taking them, and then closing and locking the door.
Payne placed both on the table before Shauna Mays. As she reached for them, her bruised hand trembled.
He said, “Would you like me to open them?”
She nodded.
She ate the whole bag of Tastykake in about three mouthfuls, washing it down with half the soda in two swallows. Then she loudly belched.
She looked at Payne but said nothing.
Payne pulled from his pocket a small notepad and pen, then reached over to the recorder and pushed its red button to begin recording.
He glanced at his wristwatch and said, “Today is Sunday, November first. Time is one-twenty P.M. This interview is being held in the Philadelphia Police Department Homicide Unit, and conducted by me, Sergeant M. M. Payne, badge number 471.”
He looked at Shauna Mays, who seemed to be mesmerized by what Payne had just said.
Either that, or all of a sudden the sugar and salt in her system is throwing off her blood sugar balance.
He said, “Would you please state your name?”
“Shauna. Shauna Mays.”
“And where do you live, Ms. Mays?”
“In Philadelphia.”
“Okay. And your address is?”
“Uh, over on Wilder.”
“That would be 2620 Wilder Street, Philadelphia 19147.”
She nodded. “Uh-huh. That right.”
“Have you been read your Miranda rights, Ms. Mays?”
“My what?”
“You have the right to remain silent, the right to have an attorney—”
“Oh, yeah,” she interrupted. “That first cop did that.”
“And you’re freely willing to n
ow answer any questions?”
