Page 52 of Confession
“We’re here to talk about you.”
I just wait. It’s better not to play these games.
Cohen regards me steadily, waiting for me to fidget or say something. After a while, he inhales deeply. His head tilts to the side.
“Nothing to offer?”
“You’re the one with the questions. You asked for my help, and here I am, like a good citizen.”
“Do you think someone can become a good citizen after killing their own father?”
I don’t let that touch me. It goes straight past. “It was self defense.”
Cohen just keeps looking at me. His tactic is obvious. He wants to get under my skin, upset me before we even start talking about Pedano.
But my walls are up. Nothing can get in.
“Quite a messy scene,” Cohen muses, “in that kitchen. And living room.”
It flashes up from my memory. The blood. The piss. The hot pan. The smell of burning flesh.
Him.
Her.
See, that’s the problem with the walls. There’s shit inside them too.
I force my mind to go blank. It goes so blank that I don’t hear Cohen’s next question.
“Mr. Richmond?” he prompts.
I blink. “Don’t call me that.”
“Let’s talk about Leo Pedano. You know him?”
“I knowofhim.”
“What do you know of him?”
“Only that he works for the DiMaggio family.”
“Workedfor the DiMaggio family. Since he’s dead.”
“How did he die?” I ask.
“There was some blunt force trauma”—that would be the crowbar—“but the multiple stab wounds are what killed him.”
I nod.
“You don’t seem concerned, Mr. Richmond.”
This time, I ignore my father’s name. I shouldn’t have let myself react to it in the first place. I’m so sensitized right now. “Why should I be?”
“A man died,” Cohen reminds me, as though my sensibilities should be offended at the very idea.
“I’m sure Mr. DiMaggio is quite concerned. Is that why the FBI is involved in what should surely be a case for the Boston PD?”
Agent Cohen smiles like he’s enjoying himself, but it’s fake as hell. His right eye twitches. Maybe he’s not as dumb as some ofthem if he knows how dangerous it is for him to have me in here with other agents present. He has no idea what I might know. Or might be able to prove.
