Page 18 of Pied Sniper

“I definitely want a lawyer,” I said. “Garrett, can you get me one please? Or call Solomon and ask him for his.”

“Who’s Solomon?” asked Detective Hertford.

“My husband. John Solomon from the Solomon Detective Agency, the firm I work for as a PI,” I explained. If that meant anything to him, he didn’t show it.

“I want one too,” said Lily. She leaned in. “You know, I hate being left out. I also want my husband informed. Detective Jordan Graves.”

“Let’s take them both to interview rooms and get started off the record,” suggested Detective Hertford. “I think we can all agree we’d like to find out as much information as we can while it’s still fresh in our minds; then we can work together to locate the missing woman. Time really is a priority.” Saying that, he looked directly at me, like he was imploring me to agree with him. Much as I wanted to insist on waiting for my lawyer to arrive, he had a point. Tiffany was out there, either hurt or possibly dying, or already dead, and needed to be found.

“He’s right,” I admitted. “Garrett, we might be able to help and we should. Lily and I were first on scene.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Graves-Solomon. We appreciate your assistance. Would you please come this way,” said Detective Hertford, his tone so conciliatory, he might as well have been showing me to a fancy hotel room.

“And the dog?” I asked.

“He seems comfortable with you. If you don’t mind looking after him for now, I’ll get someone from animal control to come and check him over before they take him until we can place him with a foster.” The partner stepped back and signaled for me to proceed. I glanced at Garrett.

“Go with him and don’t say a word until your lawyer gets here. I’ll stay with Lily,” said Garrett.

“Sweet,” said Lily.

“Okay,” I agreed with a supportive smile to Lily, that I was sure appeared more feeble than I intended, I followed Detective Hertford. I didn’t think Garrett was at all sweet for staying with her, he was just being smart. Getting covered in a victim’s blood had to raise the detectives’ suspicion even if they were dead wrong. Even though Detective Hertford was suddenly appearing helpful, it didn’t mean he actually was. He just recognized the issue of arguing his point with a higher-ranking officer.

“Take a seat and I’ll bring you a cup of water,” said Detective Hertford when he showed me into a familiar room.

“Is that so you can get my DNA?” I asked.

“No, it’s so you don’t get dehydrated. You’ve been watching too much TV. I’ll ask your lawyer for DNA when they get here to exclude you from the crime scene.”

“Okay. Thanks.” I sat on the hard chair, expecting the tension to seep from my shoulders. Instead, it felt like a bunch of muscular knots. “Not long until someone can look after you properly,” I told Elf as I extracted him from under my sweater. His nose wriggled and he butted his head against my arm. As he settled down again, resting his head on my shoulder, I took the time to look around the room. A hardy wood table with chipped corners and a bar in the center for attaching cuffs. Four chairs, two on each side. A camera blinking unobtrusively high in one corner and a large, mirrored pane opposite me. The walls were as bare as the floor. Of course it was familiar; I’d seen it before, but on all the other occasions, I was on the other side of the glass. Being on this side was disconcerting. Although I was glad Garrett stayed by Lily’s side, I wondered who, if anyone, was observing me. It would be just my luck if word got out and every uncle, aunt, and cousin suddenly dropped in to observe me under interrogation. Jord was already attending a crime scene but I was sure as soon as he heard the news, he would hurry back to Lily. Was our other detective brother, Daniel, around? I hoped so. He would be a calm and comforting presence.

Long minutes ticked by and I amused myself by stroking the dog and saying sweet things to him. It kept us both calm. Realistically, I knew I had nothing to be worried about. Yes, we were at the crime scene but neither Lily or I had any motive to hurt Tiffany. And sure, I held a knife but it was easy to prove that it came from Tiffany’s own kitchen and hadn’t been used to stab anyone. Cellphone data would place our phones far from the scene when Tiffany was accosted, which should be enough to clear both Lily and me. Plus, if we had done something to Tiffany, she would have been found with us or somewhere nearby. For a brief moment, I was grateful we didn’t find her body and she was still missing. Then I felt guilty. A missing woman was nothing to feel pleased about.

The door opened and I looked up. The redheaded detective returned with a small bottle of water that he placed in front of me. “This is Officer Wolff,” he said as a woman joined him. “She’s with our canine unit and she’ll look after this little guy while we get him checked by a vet and find someone in animal control to take care of him.”

“His name is Elf and he’s very nervous,” I told them, as I tried to wrangle him from under my arm, leaving only his butt sticking out at the newcomer. “I think he saw everything that happened and that’s why he’s so frightened.”

“We’ll take good care of him,” said Officer Wolff, easing him from my arms and tucking him into her own before wrapping a blanket around him. “He’s going to come into my office until the vet gets here. If no one claims him, I’ll take him home for the night.”

“Thanks. This is probably the one and only time I’ll surrender a dog to a wolf.”

“Hah,” said Officer Wolff without laughing. “You’d be surprised how many times I hear variations of that joke.”

“Sorry,” I said, grimacing. I waggled my fingers at the big, brown eyes that blinked at me, then were gone, the door brushing shut behind them as they left me alone. Not only did I feel colder, but more unsettled too. I could only imagine how much worse the poor, little dog felt. Hopefully, he was in good hands and someone would care enough to clean the blood from his muzzle. Blood, which I was sure could now be found on my t-shirt and the inside of my sweater.

Without Elf to cuddle, all I could do was wait and check my watch. Despite the detective’s assurance, I didn’t take a sip of water and by the time the door opened again, I was parched and confused about why I’d been kept waiting for so long.

“Mrs. Graves-Solomon? Diana Casey,” said the suited woman. “Your husband instructed me to represent you. Here’s my card.” She handed me a thick card and I brushed my thumb over her embossed name. I knew the law firm: they were professional and expensive. Flipping it over, I blinked at the handwriting. Solomon had writtenhang in there.

“I’m glad you’re here,” I told her.

“We don’t have much time. Walk me through everything that happened and then we’ll start the interview with Detective Hertford present. Let’s get this cleared up as fast as we can so you can get out of here,” she said, every bit as efficient as I could ask for.

“Is Lily okay?”

“My colleague is with her. She’s fine. Let’s just worry about you.” She set a legal pad on the table and pulled out a pen. “Whenever you’re ready...”

“It all began when we were at home watching Tiffany Rose’s video live online…” I started, launching into the story. A few minutes later, I came to an end, throwing my hands in the air in frustration. “The detectives shot at us, cuffed us, and brought us here.”

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