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“He’s off today. I wouldn’t know.”
She replied too quickly. I read it on her face. She was trying to get rid of me. I glanced at her name tag, then steeled my voice so there would be no ambiguity.
“Officer Kilpatrick, this is for an investigation. I need you to pick up that phone and call him.” I looked pointedly at the phone next to her arm.
She held my eyes. “I don’t have to do that.”
I smiled and leaned on her desk. “Oh, you definitely have to do that. Because if you don’t, I will get a judge to hold you in contempt and fine you. If you need another reason, I’ll tell you that I just won’t leave this desk until you do. So, you decide which reason works best for you to pick up that phone and call Officer Brennon right now.”
She narrowed her eyes. I assumed she was usually the one intimidating people and didn’t enjoy having the roles reversed.
“Fine. I’ll call him. But I need you to take a seat over there.” She nodded at a couple of black plastic chairs at the front.
I nodded and walked over to the chairs, but didn’t sit, waiting for her to call Brennon.
She picked up the phone and turned her body away. Maybe she thought I was a lip reader or something.
“He’ll be here shortly,” she said and walked away.
I sat down with my legs crossed and waited.
And waited.
I hadn’t checked my watch, but I estimated about an hour had gone by.
Finally, the front doors opened and a middle-aged man with a shaved head but a visibly balding hairline walked in.
He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his beige jacket and turned to me. “I hear you’re looking for me,” he said.
“I am.”
“What do you want?” he asked, crossing his arms.
“I need to talk to you about last night.”
“I already gave my statement. You can read it in the file.”
I smiled. “You know how this works, officer. So, stop fighting me on this and take a seat.”
He sat next to me with a huff and stared straight ahead. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything. Let’s start with why you were at Giancarlo Rossi’s house in the first place.”
“My pay is shit. So, I do some security detail on the side. Mr. Rossi is one of my clients.”
“So, you were working for him that night.”
He rubbed his hands along his thighs. “Yeah, you could say that.”
“Why would Rossi need security at his own home last night?”
He turned to look away. “He’s a successful business owner, but he’s got a lot of enemies. He likes to have someone near him most nights to ensure nothing happens.”
“Do you work for him every night?”
“Me and my partner trade-off.”
Brennon was on Rossi’s payroll, so he had a good reason to lie for him. But would it be enough to perjure himself in court?
