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Celia paused, gathering her composure and fighting off more emotion. I didn’t say anything. I just waited.
She swallowed hard and ran a finger under her eyes. “When I told him I had to catch my train back to Newark, he suggested we stay at a hotel. We were standing in front of the St. James. That’s when everything changed. I told him I had to get home. But he kept insisting we go into the Hotel St. James.
“He grabbed me by the arm. That’s when I jerked it away from him. Then he slapped me in the face with his other hand. I had never been hit in my whole life. Not even as a kid. What a shock.
“If that policeman hadn’t stepped around the corner and taken control so quickly, God knows what would’ve happened. Kyle’s whole face transformed. It was like a horror movie. I was terrified.”
Now Celia looked more determined than scared. She said, “My mistake happened the next day, when a lawyer came to my apartment in Newark. He offered me money not to move forward with the case. I declined. Then he upped his offer to twenty thousand dollars. You have to understand, I have huge student loans. Working places like this isn’t going to help me much. But twenty thousand dollars would. I agreed, then avoided the detective when he came to my building to interview me. I left a message on the detective’s phone that I didn’t want to pursue any charges. I wouldn’t even tell him in a phone call. I left a message. How cowardly is that? I’ve had nightmares about it ever since. I made a mistake.”
“Everyone makes mistakes. You explained your reasoning quite well. I was trying to solve the mystery of why no charges were filed and now you did that for me. There’s nothing you did or said that was wrong. You don’t need to feel bad or guilty about one thing.”
“Will I get in trouble for accepting the money?”
“No.”
“Will I have to testify against Kyle for paying me off?”
“I wouldn’t want to put you in that position. I just needed to know the details.”
We spoke for a few more minutes. I was impressed with her poise and intelligence. As she spoke, she reminded me of how Estella Abreu’s family spoke about her. Smart, articulate, beautiful.
My biggest conclusion from talking with Celia Cartwright was that Kyle Banning’s family must have some serious cash. Paying someone twenty thousand dollars not to file a misdemeanor battery seemed like overkill.
My other takeaway was that if Kyle Banning thought he could get away with anything, there was no telling what he would try to get away with.
Chapter35
I HAVE, OVERthe years, been accused of rushing leads I like. I prefer to think of it as being efficient and not wasting time. I pride myself on being fair and impartial in my investigations. That doesn’t mean I can’t feel sorrow for the loss suffered by a family. It doesn’t mean I don’t feel anger at the way senseless violence can shatter families.
I needed to keep an open mind on this homicide. Just because I had a suspect fall into my lap for one victim, Estella Abreu, didn’t mean he was good for her death, or that of Suzanne Morton or Emma Schrade. There was still a lot of information to gather and evidence to evaluate.
That’s why it was tough to justify calling Terri Hernandez to see if she’d join me in a surveillance of Kyle Banning. This was a delicate situation. If I was too obvious, Banning could try to hide any evidence and come up with alibis. The family would no doubt hire big-time criminal defense attorneys who would tie up every element in court before we found out any information at all.
Terri answered on the first ring.
I used a cheerful voice to say, “How would you feel about doing some surveillance this afternoon and this evening on a suspect?”
“A suspect inourcase?”
“Of course a suspect in our case.” I explained to her everything I had learned so far about Banning.
“You just assumed I didn’t have a date or anything going on tonight?”
“I’m sorry. Do you have plans?”
“No, but it would be nice if you assumed that I did.”
I said, “Really, I can find someone else.”
“Not unless you want your face to look like a Picasso painting.”
An hour later, Terri met me in lower Manhattan. She got right to the point. “What’s our plan of attack?”
“I was thinking we start at his office and see where he goes. The problem is, some of the financial people stay kind of late. This is a tough one. It’s not like a surveillance where we can hide in a crowd. This guy lives at a different altitude than most people.”
“I can see if I can get into the building. Maybe poke around a few places. At least see if he’s definitely inside.”
I thought about Terri’s offer. Perhaps I should’ve figured this out before I’d bothered her. I just wasn’t sure what else to do. We talked about it for a few more minutes. Then I got a text.
