Page 25 of The Perfect Illusion

But Jessie and Brady still had a card to play. They anticipated that Moran wouldn’t be cooperative, especially after the way he’d been brought in. So rather than press him for answers about these murders right away, they’d decided to hold off until they could really come at him. Even if he said nothing, they might be able to glean something from his physical reaction to their questions.

“So to be clear,” Brady said as they waited for Moran and his attorney to finish up, “we’re hoping to stun him into cooperating?”

"We're hoping to stun him into something," Jessie said. "We get him riled up with the background material Jamil and Beth got for us. Then, when he's primed, we tell him why he's really here and see how he responds. We can watch his body language—see if he clams up even more. That would certainly raise my suspicions. And if he's not our guy, one would think he'd do his best to convince us of that."

“If he’s smart, he’ll keep his mouth shut no matter what,” Brady noted.

“Oh, I believe he’s smart,” Jessie conceded. “I also think he’s a total narcissist. It’ll just be a matter of which side of him wins out.”

“Well, the lawyer’s knocking on the door, so I guess they’re done,” Brady pointed out. “How about we get this party started?”

***

“As I’ve already told you twice,” Colm Missner said, “I’ve advised my client not to answer any of your questions. We’re happy to litigate the accidental bump of Ms. Hunt in court if need be, but I won’t allow Mr. Moran to be interrogated in this manner.”

Missner, a well-put-together attorney in his fifties with wispy gray hair and wire-rimmed glasses, spoke with clipped precision.

“But we’re not interrogating him,” Jessie reminded him. “We’re just bringing to Mr. Moran’s attention our awareness of the multiple complaints filed against him with the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. One would think he’d want to take this opportunity to address them.”

“Those are not criminal allegations and they have no bearing on the current situation,” Missner said. “You got my client into this room under, at best, dubious pretenses. And you still have yet to share why you harassed him at his club in the first place.”

“You know, harassment is an interesting word to use,” Brady replied, “because that’s the exact term used by the three female attorneys who filed complaints with the county bar association and the two others that did the same with the state bar.”

“That’s right, Detective,” Jessie said collegially as if they were hosting a talk show rather than questioning a suspect. “Specifically, it seems that Mr. Moran has an alleged pattern of harassment against fellow attorneys, always female, and always ones who represent female clients. He’s been accused of getting into their personal space and using inflammatory terms to describe them, including: whore, bitch, skank, and cow. In at least two instances, attorneys claim that he made actual physical contact with them in a way that made them fear for their safety.”

“That was crap,” Moran blurted out. “There was no proof of that.”

“Be quiet, Ben,” Missner hissed.

“So it was crap with two different women?” Jessie goaded, “just like you didn’t make contact with me?”

“They’re liars,” Moran grunted.

“Shut up!” Missner ordered.

Jessie decided now was as good a time as any to address the murders. Moran was agitated and not listening to his lawyer. There might not be a better chance to sandbag him.

“It’s those kinds of allegations and your current lack of self-control that has us wondering what else you’re capable of, Mr. Moran.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Moran protested.

To Jessie’s surprise, Missner didn’t interject. He was clearly intrigued. She kept going.

“You sure about that?” she challenged, “because we’ve got two dead bodies that might say different.”

Both men stared at her silently. Jessie kept her focus on Moran, whose expression had gone from confused belligerence to confused apprehension. It was clear that he was both worried and befuddled. But it wasn’t obvious whether the latter was because he didn’t know what she was referencing or because he was surprised that they’d found out what he’d done.

“What exactly does that mean?” Missner managed to ask.

“It means that two women, both of whom were previously in divorce proceedings with Mr. Moran’s clients have turned up dead. And we have your guy here using derogatory terms to describe each woman both on and off the record. His disdain seems almost personal. And we’re just wondering how personal. Did you kill those women, Mr. Moran?”

“Don’t say a word, Ben,” Missner ordered, putting his hand on Moran’s forearm before fixing Jessie with a hard stare. “Are you seriously alleging that my client killed two women? Is that really why we’re here today?”

“We’re here because of the battery your client inflicted upon me earlier this morning,” Jessie said, “but as long as we’re all hanging out, maybe we can clear up the whole murder thing. One would assume that if Mr. Moran wasn’t involved, he’d be shouting it from the rooftops, rather than letting you keep him quiet.”

"You know that's not how it works, Ms. Hunt, or at least you should,” Missner said condescendingly. “You are making serious allegations, And even if my client was at a children’s hospital at the time of these murders, doling out toys for terminally ill kids, I wouldn’t allow him to discuss it until I’ve had the opportunity to review the matter with him privately.”

“Really?” Brady jumped in, “because we’ve had two women, both involved in legal proceedings with your client, killed in the last two nights. An innocent man would surely want to clear his name, especially if he knew that resources being used to investigate him should be going elsewhere. If another woman dies because your guy kept silent, when he could have given us proof of his innocence and allowed us to move on—well I could see some prosecutor considering that a chargeable offense.”

---