Diamonds in the Rough: VOL. I

seven

Bruce rose to his feet as Andre stepped into the interrogation room. They shared a hand shake before both taking the only two seats in the room. Andre had wished he had gotten into the room before the detectives so he could peep where the cameras and shit could be positioned but he didn't worry about it as he sat back in his seat.

"Detectives. I'm Andre Caine." He made sure not to look too comfortable as both detectives looked him over. The one sitting by the table was a woman. She had to be in her early forties. Her rich ebony skin glowed under the lights above them.

She had her hair pulled up into a tight bun full of box braids. Her partner was sitting away from the table. He had pale skin with light blue eyes. Andre could feel him staring a hole in the side of his head as he focused on the woman detective.

"Mr. Caine, I'm detective Wright and this is my partner detective Smith." The woman spoke as she opened her black case in front of her. "As you know we just wanted to ask you a few questions in regards to the death of your cousin, Robert Caine." Andre nodded his head.

"Yeah my family is still shaken up by that. Especially since he told everybody he was coming to the hotel." Andre scoffed.

"Was you at the hotel that night?" Detective Smith spoke making Andre look to him.

"Yeah."

"Around what time would you say that you got there." Andre bit his bottom lip.

"To be honest I had gotten distracted when I first pulled up."

"Distracted by what?" Detective Wright jumped in.

"One of my workers. She seemed to be struggling with something." Andre folded his arms. "I walked her to her car. Then went back to go inside of the hotel."

"And did you go to the hotel alone?"

"No I got a ride from a car service."

"A car service." The detectives shared a look. Andre wondered who was going to speak about the driver coming into the hotel with him.

"I've never heard of a car service offering more services than them driving you to and from. Maybe opening the doors for you. But not them coming into the hotel with you."

Andre smiled. "I'm sure that's true Detective Smith, but I don't treat drivers like they owe me something. It was New Years Eve and I was hosting a party. I offered the driver to come in and grab some food. Have a drink, and chill in the party while I worked the room."

"The cameras showed us you went straight for the kitchen. Both of you."

"To get the man some food. The cameras also show me taking him to the party. It shows us both leaving at the same time as well." Andre shrugged.

"You spent twenty minutes in the kitchen."

"The chef in my establishment is an old time friend. We always kick it when I got some time to chill. He wasn't going to let me get food that was already ready. You gotta talk to him about the times on his food and shit though. I don't even bother to fuck with the timing.That's his art." Andre shrugged.

The detectives nodded their heads. "And the reason you brought a lawyer with you?"

"That's his mother's doing." Bruce spoke up. "She owns the hotel and he just runs the day to day for her since she had gotten sick a few years back."

The detectives nodded. "Okay. Well Andre while you and your chef friend was in the kitchen, did either of you happen to see your cousin Robert."

"No. But there are some emergency rooms my mother keeps available for our family. He could have used one of them. I left them as is, you can check the cameras so that you all can go in and check for whatever you're looking for."