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"And how about four days before that, which would make it Friday? Friday evening?"
That must have been when Caroline was killed. Mario shook his head again. "Friday I was home. I was alone."
That was interesting, Cami thought. So, Friday he'd said that he was home. He'd specifically not said that about the other two days. Those days, he hadn't said where he was at all. She thought they were finally getting to the core of this matter. They were homing in on the killer, and although he'd tried very hard to escape them, he hadn't made the same effort to come up with a coherent explanation for where he was. Maybe that was because he couldn’t.
"Did you have a grudge against Tracy? Did you feel angry about other people like her, other people in the community?"
Mario shrugged. "I don't carry grudges. I try to forgive. I did something wrong. I acted out of passion. I was caught doing it and accepted my punishment."
Cami felt interested. This was the first time that Mario had actually provided a reason with his answer. And she felt he'd done it through a passionate defense of his own character.
She looked at him more closely, now feeling conflicted about her own judgment. And he looked back at her, a quick flit from those dark eyes. It was a surprisingly personal glance, and Cami immediately looked away. She wasn't going to let him get to her. He might think because she was young and female that he could.
"You have no alibis for any of the times of the murders." Connor’s voice was condemning.
"No, I don't," he said.
"You have a criminal record."
"I accept that."
"You have a reason for wanting to harm other women in that suburb. Interacting with one of them basically derailed your life. Your actions resulted in criminal charges, and the lawsuit forced you to you sell your house."
"I don't carry grudges," Mario said, more passionately now.
"You have no alibis, and your record makes you a strong suspect."
"I didn't do it," Mario repeated, this time sounding slightly surer of himself. "I didn't do it."
"It's up to the jury to decide your innocence or guilt, Mr. Donde," Connor said. “What do you think they will think of that flimsy excuse?”
"I have no reason to have killed any of the women, and I didn't kill them. That's my alibi."
"I have one more question for you. Why did you run when we found you if you had nothing to run from?" Connor scowled at him.
"I thought you were going to kill me."
Cami's eyes flew wide in surprise.
"You've lived in that area for a long time. You know how the law works, how questioning and arrests work. You shouldn’t have any reason to think that.”
"I figured that you wouldn't listen to what I had to say because of my record." Mario inclined his head in appeal. “I thought you might shoot first and ask questions later.”
"I don't buy that. I think you were scared that we would find evidence incriminating you, plus no alibi, and you wanted to get the hell out before it all landed."
Mario shook his head violently. "No. No, I wasn't thinking that."
“You have cuts and scratches on your hands and arms.”
“There was a hole in my welding glove. That’s how I got the burn on my wrist. Then the other cuts, I got when an engine slipped out of the bracket. I tried to save it, but I got grazed.”
“Did you see a doctor?”
“No, I just dressed the cuts myself.”
Cami felt like a spectator at a tennis match. She knew that Connor was the player on the court who was the most likely to win this game. She hoped that he'd hit an ace over the net and that Mario would suddenly confess to his misdoings.
Connor sighed.
