Page 11 of Shifted

“He made some calls, and then we got into the cars.”

Detective Haas frowned. “I was told there was a delay in him getting out onto the pit lane.”

“Right. Like I said, he was making some calls. He came out about ten minutes after everyone else.”

Detective Haas leaned forward in his chair. “And how did he seem before he got into the car?”

“Fine, I guess. Maybe slightly annoyed. I’m not sure. I didn’t speak with him. I was in my car waiting, so I can’t really say.”

“Could he have been angry?” Detective Haas was staring at him intently.

“I…guess…that’s a possibility.” Moore had seemed pissed off all the time, but Dalton didn’t want to paint a negative picture of the guy to the police. Neutral seemed like the best way to go. But he had the distinct impression that Detective Haas wanted him to say Moore was angry and upset. He had no idea why that would matter. What did it mean if Moore was angry? None of this was making sense.

“Did anyone else interact with Moore before he got in the car?”

Dalton wasn’t throwing anyone under the bus until he knew what Detective Haas was after. “I feel like you’re looking for something specific. What’s going on?”

Detective Haas remained silent for a beat and then said, “I’ve already spoken with your coach, Timo Korhonen who brought Mr. Moore here along with the other drivers.”

“When?” Dalton demanded.

“Before we came here. He was coming back from the hospitality tent.” Detective Haas continued, “He mentioned that Mr. Moore seemed angry not only about the mix-up with your brother but about some kind of business deal. There was some disagreement over the phone.”

“I wouldn’t know anything about that,” said Dalton.

“Who else might have been around Mr. Moore during his call in the garage before he got into the car?”

Dalton still wasn’t keen on giving Detective Haas any names.

And the man obviously knew it. “Mr. Hughes, I am going to have to interview your entire crew over the next couple of hours. It would help greatly if I could start with those who would have the most to share.”

“Fine,” he said. He still had misgivings. “Try James Macht. He was working as Dennis’s mechanic. Mario was at the screens but might know something. Also, talk to Kendra. She would have given Moore his water bottle, which means she would’ve been around as well.”

“Thank you.” Detective Haas glanced at Moser, and the uniformed cop gave him a nod. Detective Haas turned back to Dalton. “Please continue.”

“There’s not much more to say. We finally went out and worked on some things during the session.” He was still undecided on whether to share about the wing. No, that wasn’t true. He wanted to tell the police because it was the right thing to do, but he wanted to present it in the best light since it would damage the team’s reputation, which was all they had left at this point, no thanks to his father. The little devil sitting on his shoulder kept telling him to keep his mouth shut. It would be better for the team. But if he did that, a murderer might go free. Shit. He didn’t have time for a moral dilemma.

“And in the final lap?” Detective Haas prodded.

Dalton thought back to Moore saying there was something wrong with the car. It wasn’t recorded. The car was too loud for it to catch anything that was said with a helmet on. Only he and Mario had heard anything, and Mario had been paying attention to the other drivers who were coming into the pits.

“We discussed coming in, but Moore wanted to do the last lap. He accelerated into turn one and then lost control, hitting the curbing on the exit. With the car already unstable, that made it unrecoverable. Moore hit the wall and then bounced off. The tires must have caught oddly because the car rolled over a couple of times and stayed on its roof. Then it burst into flames.”

Dalton had done his best to keep his voice neutral, but it was hard. He was used to seeing accidents. They happened a lot in racing. He was even familiar with fires, but usually, they were put out very quickly and no one was injured, at least not seriously. This was something altogether different.

“Did the medical team say if Moore was conscious when…?” He looked at Detective Haas, who just raised his eyebrows at Dalton. “When the fire started?”

“They did not. I’m not sure we’ll know that until the autopsy is performed.”

“Was he badly burned? I mean, it killed him so I guess that’s a stupid question, but I just meant?—”

Detective Haas shook his head. “The fire did not kill Mr. Moore. He was not burned. The car burned some, and his suit had a very small amount of fire damage, but he was not burned. The marshals got to him quickly and put the fire out.”

Dalton stared. He was dumbfounded. “Then what killed him?” With all the safety features in the car, he just couldn’t fathom what could have killed Moore if it wasn’t fire.

“It appears Mr. Moore had a heart attack.”

CHAPTER SIX

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