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“Yes. I wasn’t that keen myself, but I went along with it. He said it was better to have both of us take it. Something about the timing of doses. I didn’t really understand, but….”
“Something else that was mentioned in the statements we got from Axel Washington, Drew Gorton, and Mike Miller….” Riley pulled them from the folders. “We asked them specifically about the use of GHB during sex. What do you think they told us? Or are you going to deny meeting them for sex?” He glanced at the sheet. “Mike Miller states you and he met up on several occasions, and that you were the one who suggested using GHB. Drew Gorton confirmed the same thing but added that it wasn’t the only substance used. He said you used ketamine to… relax certain muscles.”
Gary had to admire Riley’s tact. Dalmont’s flush deepened, and his breathing grew a little erratic.
“So on the one hand we haveyoustating Robin liked to use substances during sex, but you didn’t, and then we have his ex telling us Robin had a horror of drugs. Yet the only fingerprints on the bottle of GHB were his.
“Which brings us to the most puzzling part of your statement.” Gary opened the folder in front of him and removed a photo. “This was recorded by street cameras on the night of Monday, May twenty-eighth. It shows an Uber pulling up on Seaport Boulevard, one block from the apartment.” Gary placed the photo on the table and pointed to the figure getting out of the car. “Thatisyou, isn’t it?”
Dalmont leaned forward. “He looks a little like me, I suppose. But no, it’s not me.”
“Well, now you see why we’re confused,” Riley chimed in. He opened another file and withdrew a sheet. “This is your Uber account. It shows a car picking you up from Six Corners in Springfield at eight o’clock that night and dropping you at Seaport Boulevard.”
“That’s a trip of around ninety minutes, give or take,” Gary added. When Dalmont stared at him, he smiled. “I make that trip once a month, so I know it well. That ties in with the time on the camera footage. The Uber dropped you off at nine forty. ThenanotherUber picked you up at eleven at the same drop-off point and took you back to Springfield.”
Riley whistled. “That was some expensive trip, I’ll bet.” He cocked his head to one side. “Where did you tell your parents you’d gone, for, what… several hours?”
“I’m sure this can be cleared up,” Gary said in a pleasant tone. “We can contact them. All we’d need is a statement that you didn’t leave until the twenty-ninth.” He sat back again and waited for the first cracks to appear.
Dalmont gaped at them, his lips parted.
“You didn’t plan this, did you?” Riley said. “You saw the murders and thought we’d simply accept that Robin was the next victim.”
“You learned about the new will, and you thought, ‘Why wait for him to die naturally?’” Gary said. “The murders were a godsend. It was too good an opportunity to miss.” He leaned forward. “If youhadplanned it better, you’d have covered your tracks more carefully. If cameras picked you up on Seaport Boulevard, they could’ve picked you up in other locations. Butyouonly thought about the CCTV in the building, hence the hoodie to hide your face. You forgot to wear the hood up when you got out of the Uber.”
“Did you think the ketamine would be missed during the autopsy? Or did you just think the medical examiner would pronounce his death due to cardiac failure?” Riley narrowed his gaze. “We’ve seen Robin’s medical records. We know he had problems with his heart. Which you probably knew all about.”
“So how did it go down?” Gary demanded. “Did you come back that night to surprise him with an early return? Did you slip something into his drink? When he was incapacitated, did you undress him and tie him to the bed?”
“Did he wake up and struggle?” Riley’s face was hard. “He must have been so scared. Maybe he saw you without your mask on. Maybe he saw therealQuinn Dalmont that night. The lethal dose of ketamine would have finished what you started.” He locked gazes with Dalmont. “You broke his heart in more ways than one.”
“You had plenty of time to clean up after yourself,” Gary noted. “Prints didn’t matter, though, not when you lived there. But the GHB… that was a different story. You had to clean yours off and then press Robin’s dead fingers against it. I’m only guessing he was dead by then, of course. I don’t think he’d have even touched it if he’d been alive.”
Dalmont’s face was like milk. “I want my attorney. I’m not saying another word until he gets here.”
Gary nodded to Riley, who intoned, “Quinn Dalmont, you are under arrest for the murder of Robin Fields. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot….”
Gary watched Dalmont’s face crumple as Riley Mirandized him.
Dan saw through your mask. He saw your greed.
Now all they had to do was find the killer who was hidden from sight.
Chapter 23
CHRIST, I WASa mess.
Some son of a bitch out there went and murdered some rich guy, and suddenly the newspaper headlines were screaming Seventh Victim. Robin Fields? Who in the hell was Robin Fields? Certainly no oneI’dencountered. Except when I had a moment to calm myself, I saw it in a different light.I should be flattered. I’ve got a copycat.
Don’t they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?
There was always the possibility that this event could create both a diversionandconfusion. I was all for anything that hampered the police. I wasn’t going to waste any more time on the unknown murderer.
I had bigger problems, in the shape of one Dan Porter.
My first thought when I saw the headlines? I dismissed them as invention. Fake news. Click bait. There was no way of telling what was real and what was fabrication anymore.
Except….
