Page 12 of The Girl and the Lies

We walk down the hallway, and she knocks on a closed door.

“Come in,” a voice calls from inside.

She opens the door partially and sticks her head in.

“Jesse, there’s someone here to speak with you. She’s investigating what happened,” she says.

“Okay.” He sounds slightly hesitant, but the doctor opens the door the rest of the way and gestures for me to go inside.

I smile as I walk into the room, hoping to put Jesse at ease. After what he went through, it’s understandable for him to be on edge, but I need him to be as comfortable as possible so he’s willing to speak to me about what happened.

“Hi, Jesse,” I say. “I’m Agent Emma Griffin. I’m with the FBI. We’re working with Detective Fuller and the rest of the team to investigate what happened last night. I just need to talk to you about it.”

He nods. “All right.”

“Thank you,” I say.

I glance over at the doctor, who seems to realize she’s not needed for the conversation and starts toward the door.

“I’ll be back to check on you later,” she says to Jesse. “Use your Call button to let the nurses know if you need anything.”

He nods, and the door closes behind Dr. Zachary. I step up closer to the bed.

“I want to say first that I’m so sorry for your loss. You and Gideon were close?” I ask.

“Yes,” he says. “He was my best friend.”

“I’m sorry. I know this is a very difficult time for you, and I really appreciate you being willing to talk to me about it. I’m sure this doesn’t seem like the best time, considering,” I say, glancing around the room to indicate him being in the hospital. “But it’s really important to talk to you while everything is as fresh in your mind as possible so we can hopefully get the information we need to find out who is responsible for this.”

“I understand,” he says. “I already gave a statement to the police.”

“I know. But I’d like to hear from you myself. And maybe now that you are a little bit separated from the situation, more will come up. How are you feeling, by the way?” I ask.

“As good as can be expected, I guess,” he tells me. “They have me on pain meds for the cut on my back, so I’m not feeling much of anything.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” I say. “Let’s start with you just telling me what happened last night. Just in your own words, tell me what you did and what you saw.”

I sit down in a chair near the bed and take out my notepad and pen so I can jot down anything significant that Jesse might say.

“I was out late with some friends. We were bowling for one of their birthdays and ended up going to a bar afterward. I figured Gideon would already be in bed by the time I got home because he has to get up earlier for work than I do, but when I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed that the lights in the living room were on. His bedroom has a window that faces out to the parking lot, and I noticed the shadow of someone moving in there, so I thought maybe he couldn’t sleep. But then I got to the door and saw that it had been pried or broken open. The doors on the apartments aren’t great, so it wouldn’t have taken a lot of force. Since I wasn’t home, he hadn’t put the chain lock on.

“I probably should have just called the police when I saw the door like that, but I was worried about Gideon, so I went inside. I went to his bedroom and saw him on the bed first. There was blood, and he wasn’t moving. Then I noticed the person writing on the wall. They were wearing a ski mask and dark clothes. I didn’t get much of a look at them because I went running for my bedroom. They caught up to me, and that’s when they slashed me in the back. But I was able to get to my room and grab my gun. I got a shot off but missed them. It was enough to make them run, and I barricaded myself in the bedroom and called the police. I stayed there until they got there and knocked on my door to tell me they were officers. I really wanted to check on Gideon and see if he was all right, but I didn’t know if the person was going to come back or if there was someone else, so I stayed in my bedroom.”

“You did the right thing,” I assure him.

“But if I had gone to his room,” he says, a note of desperation in his voice, “maybe there’s something I could have done for him.”

I shake my head. “No, there’s nothing you could have done. You can’t let yourself think that way. You did what you needed to do by protecting yourself. That’s why you’re sitting here talking to me. You have to remember that.”

He nods, briefly looking down at his lap to gather himself. “I wish I’d gotten a better look at them,” he says.

“You said they were wearing a ski mask,” I say.

“Yes,” he says. “I couldn’t see their face.”

“The crime scene investigation team found wig fibers in the apartment. Do you own a wig, or did Gideon?” I ask.

He shakes his head, looking vaguely confused. “Wig fibers? I don’t know why they would be in the apartment.”

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