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“No, no,” Antonio said shaking his head. But his tone told me something more.
“No one?”
He looked above my head, thinking. “I would say the staff respected him, but there were a few over the years who thought he was too diligent, too nitpicky.”
“Example?”
“Being late, that was a big one for Sergio. He visited his brother and sister twice a week, expected staff to be on time because otherwise he would be late.”
Bells went off in my head. Of course Antonio would know about Sergio’s family. “He’s close to his siblings?”
“Yes, Henry and Sophia. They’re very close, but the kids are in foster care. I think Henry is fourteen and Sophia is twelve—no, thirteen. Just turned thirteen a couple weeks ago, right after the new year. Sergio took a vacation day so he could take her out to a nice dinner. He bought her this pretty little necklace, a tiny garnet for her birthstone. She’s a sweet girl, even with everything that’s happened in their family.”
“Are Henry and Sophia in the same foster home?”
He shook his head. “They were, for a while, but Sophia was moved to another home, I don’t know why. Sergio tried so hard for custody when his mom went to prison, but he was only sixteen. Then, when he was eighteen, he petitioned, but there are so many hoops. He did everything the court said, but still he has no answers. He even spends more for a two-bedroom apartment so that Sophia can have her own room. He has a good job here—and he even has a small savings account I helped him set up.” Antonio frowned. “I don’t know why he would rob anyone. Kill a man! He knew he could come to me if he needed help. Except...” His voice trailed off.
“Except what?”
“Pride. Sergio is prideful. It’s one of the deadly sins, isn’t it? Pride gets in the way of asking for help, causes us to make bad decisions.”
Antonio leaned back. “Why are you asking all these questions? Are you helping Sergio?”
“I’ve been asked to look at the details of the crime and see if they fit Sergio’s statement to the police.”
“He confessed, correct?”
“Would he confess if he was innocent?”
“Why would anyone?” Antonio asked.
I could think of many reasons. Attention, guilt about another crime, to screw with the case, bribery, to protect someone.
Like his brother and sister.
“Antonio,” I said, “if Sergio is guilty, there’s nothing I can do. But if he’s innocent, I might be able to help him. I’m going to talk to him, and I’d like to drop your name since you have a good relationship.” I didn’t know if I could convince Sergio to trust me, but Antonio was my best option.
“You think he might have lied to the police? That he confessed when he did nothing wrong? Did they coerce him? I’ve heard of it, where the police push and push until you’re so tired you’ll say anything for peace.”
“In this case, it seems to be a valid confession.”
Antonio leaned back and stared at me, then he nodded. “I don’t want to believe the confession, but I know good people sometimes make mistakes. But murder... I never saw it in Sergio. If you can help him, if you believe he might be innocent and lied for a reason, yes, please, if telling him I trust you helps, say so.”
“Is there anyone Sergio is close to? Maybe a co-worker, a friend who comes by, someone he might confide in?”
He nodded. “Faith.”
“Employee? Girlfriend?”
“She’s the assistant manager at my Dunlap location, the one near Homer and Millie. Faith Jones. She worked here for a year, then I promoted her to the other location about four months ago. She and Sergio were always friendly.”
“Dating?”
He frowned, shrugged. “I never saw anything to suggest a romance. Sergio is focused on reuniting his family, and Faith is going to college and working. Very driven young lady.”
His phone rang and he glanced at it. “I hate these things,” he said as he picked it up.
I got up, nodded my thanks, and said, “I’ll let you know if I find anything that helps Sergio.”
