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“Alright. So you tied Paul to his bed.” I sit back in my chair, relaxed and unimposing, while Gage shuffles across from me. He’s not as brave as his friend. Not as flashy in sharing the gory details of his crime. “Two wrists. Two ankles. Who ties him up?”
“I tied him up.” He sits forward in his chair, his elbows on the table, his hands wrapped around a styrofoam cup of water, and his shoulders hunched. He keeps his head down and his attention on the water. “Garret went straight for Paul’s head and held him down so I could tie him up.”
“How did Garret keep him still? What did he do?”
“He put the axe to Paul’s throat and pushed really hard. He didn’t cut deep, but if Paul bucked, he would have decapitated himself.”
“How’d he stop Paul from screaming out and calling for help?”
“Underwear in his mouth.” He answers so easily. So matter-of-factly. “Shoved them in, placed the axe right, and that kept the guy pretty still.”
“Alright.” I show no reaction but for mild interest in the things he says. Neutrality will keep him talking. “So you start tying. Where do you start?”
“Legs.” Picking up the cup of water, he uses both hands and brings it to his lips. “I started with his legs, because they’re longer and stronger, so it was important we get them secured.”
“Left leg or right leg first?”
“Uh…” Finally, he looks up at me. “Right leg first. But that was just because that was the side I was on.”
“What did you use to tie him up?”
“Rope. Black and white rope that burns if you move it over your skin.”
“Where’d you get it from?”
“Luke’s Hardware on Eleventh. We went there the day before we killed Paul to get everything we needed.”
“Is that where the axe came from? Luke’s?” I make a note in my book to subpoena the security footage from the hardware store, to make sure it was Gage and Garret who went in there that day to buy those things.
Because if it was someone else, then we have a third killer on our hands.
“No,” he quietly answers. “The axe already belonged to Garret. And the tire wrench came from his trunk.”
“So, whatdidyou buy from Luke’s? The two primary weapons mentioned so far came from Garret. What supplies did you buy?”
“The rope.” He brings the cup to his lips and takes a small sip. “We also bought tarps, masking tape, and wire, but we didn’t use those things.”
“If you didn’t use them, why’d you buy them?”
“The tarp was to catch his blood and not stain the carpet.” He allows his eyes to scan the room. To study the plastic water dispenser in the corner, then the wall-to-wall mirror to his right.
Since the guys are so peculiarly helpful, and neither of them are screaming for release, Fletch and I are yet to formally charge either of them. Their presence inside this police precinct is purely voluntary, which means when they sleep on steel benches at night, and walk around in scratchy orange jumpsuits during the day, it’s… well… because they choose to.
“We decided we didn’t care about the carpet,” Gage adds after a moment. “So we left the tarp in the trunk.”
“Cops’ve already seized Garret’s car. Will we find the tarp in the trunk when we look?”
“Yes.” He drops his gaze and goes back to staring at his water. “And the tape and wire, too.”
“What was the tape for?”
“To cover his mouth. We knew he’d scream, so we were gonna tape it shut.”
“Why didn’t you?”
He draws a deep breath until his chest expands. “We decided the underwear would do the same job, but be more demoralizing for him.”
