Defenders of the Night

25. The Usual Suspects

Baltimore, Maryland

POLICE STATION

There was background chatter as a man was led down a dimly lit hallway in cuffs. In the bustling office, Peter Sheridan was on his cell, a mug of coffee in hand. "Under what names? Oh, yeah, those are my favorites so far. Possible IDs in three states that we know of."

He pulled a paper from the fax machine and stared at it. "I gotta call you back."

EXT. MOTEL

A SWAT team approached a motel room from the outside.

POLICE STATION

Sheridan entered an interrogation room and sat down. "Well, first I thought you were just stepping up your game. Credit card fraud, breaking and entering, and this one... puzzled me. Grave desecration. But still these are a long way from murder. Then we get fax from St. Louis. Where you're suspected of torturing and murdering a young woman. However, no one could probe anything, of course, because supposedly you died there."

EXT. MOTEL

The SWAT team broke open a second floor door with a battering ram. Inside, Sam stopped, holding his hands up.

POLICE STATION - FIRST INTERROGATION ROOM

"But I gotta tell you something. You look pretty healthy to me."

MOTEL

Diana Ballard advanced on Sam, her gun drawn.

POLICE STATION - FIRST INTERROGATION ROOM

"So now we know Karen Giles wasn't the first person you murdered."

MOTEL

"Going somewhere, Sam?" Ballard asked.

POLICE STATION - FIRST INTERROGATION ROOM

"But I guarantee you she's the last." He stood and walked out of Dean's room.

POLICE STATION - SECOND INTERROGATION ROOM

The policewoman entered another interrogation room, where Sam was pacing by the window. She placed a coffee cup on the table. "Thought you might be thirsty."

"Okay, so you're the good cop," Sam said. "Where's the bad cop?"

"Oh, he's with your brother."

"Okay. And you're holding us why?"

"Well, he's being held on suspicion of murder. And you, we'll see. Any idea where your sister-in-law and niece are?"

Sam leaned forward, shocked. "Murder?! No idea."

"You sound genuinely surprised. Or are you that good of an actor?"

"Who was he supposed to have murdered?!"

"We'll get around to that."

"Well, you can't just hold us here without formal charges!"

"Well actually, we can, for 48 hours, but you being a pre-law student, would know that. I know all about you, Sam." She read from a file. "You're 23 years old, no job, no home address. Your mother died when you were a baby, your father's whereabouts are unknown. And then there's the case of your brother Dean. Whose demise was, well, just a little bit exaggerated. Feel free to jump in whenever you like." Sam leaned against the wall, folding his arms. "Shy? No problem. I'll keep going. Your family moved around a lot when you were kids. Despite that, you were a straight-A student. Got into Stanford with a full ride."

"I needed some time off. To deal. So I'm taking a road trip with my brother, sister-in-law and niece."

"How's that going for you?"