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She whipped around, her eyes flashing. “How are you so calm?”
“We’re innocent. Nothing to worry about unless Zegas suddenly can only get guilty people off the hook.” I jogged around the car and held her door open.
“He’s a disaster without me.” Patrick Whitley strode toward us. “Happy to hear your brother is free. Actually, both of your brothers. Now let’s see what we can do to keep you that way.”
“Can we please keep the bickering to a minimum?” I asked, rubbing my temples.
“No promises.” Whitley grinned.
In what was only minutes,yet felt like hours, we were in an interrogation room and it felt like the walls were closing in.
“So you’re telling me you don’t know the exact time of death yet, but you’ve matched fingerprints and a handwriting sample?” Zegas asked, looking at Whitley likeget a load of this bozo.
It was a good—no, great—point.
“Did your clients get into an altercation with Davenport at Samuel Hollingsworth’s home? That’s all I’m trying to establish, Kane,” the detective said, clearly running out of patience.
Beau leaned across the table and pointed at the bruise on her head that was no longer covered by makeup. “What does this look like?”
I squeezed her thigh and Zegas moved in front of her. But I didn’t blame my wife for snapping. This whole thing was absurd. I couldn’t say I was sorry Davenport ended up the way he did, but Beau was the one who had suffered.
“My clients have suffered greatly at the hands of this man. They’ve cooperated, but we’re going round and round here.” Whitley twirled his finger.
The detective slammed his notebook shut. “Then we’ll move on to Miss Hollingsworth’s brothers.”
“It’s Calhoun.Mrs.Calhoun,” Beau corrected.
A surge of pride went through me at how protective of her new name she was. When she’d showed me that new identification, it had been terrifying and exhilarating. Now it made me love her all the more.
“Again, you have no time of death. If you want an accurate accounting of their whereabouts, we need that to be able to provide one.” Zegas leaned back in his chair. “I know this is a high-profile case and you need to close it fast to make the department look good. But if you throw slings and arrows at my clients and damage their reputations needlessly . . .”
The man played hardball. And he wasn’t afraid to go for the jugular. Which in this case, if we sued the city for defamation, meant more money for Zegas.
“Mr. Calhoun is a distinguished hero of this city.” Whitley took off his glasses. “He comes from a line of men who have sacrificed their lives for New York. How is that going to look if you’re trying to pin a murder on him and his wife just to close a case?”
I slouched in my seat. I wasn’t a hero, though the rest of my family were.
The detective stood. “As soon as I get that time of death, you better both have an ironclad alibi.” He pointed between Beau and me. “Get out of here.”
“Was there a purpose to this?”Beau fumed once we were out in the lobby. “They don’t have anything.”
“We insulted them a bit.” Zegas seemed happy about that.
“This isn’t the last you’ll see of him, unless by some miracle the killer confesses.” Whitley cut his eyes to me. “Which we know he won’t.”
“Elliott is pulling the time-stamped surveillance footage of his building now. Once we show what time you came back and what time you left the next day, it’ll be a slam dunk.” Zegas made a swish motion with his hand.
“You’re assuming he was killed the night of the altercation,” Whitley pointed out.
“What if he wasn’t? We haven’t been staying at Teague’s every night.” I plowed a hand through my hair.
“Or what if he died before we got home?” Beau asked. She looked away and cursed.
“They’re thinking like lawyers now,” Whitley said, somewhat proud.
“You’re innocent. We’ll prove it. But if the cops want information, they’re going to have to work for it.” Zegas bounced on his feet like he was wired and ready for more action.
“Could you subpoena the detail my father has kept on all of us? They could quite easily prove our innocence.”
