Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do.
-Voltaire
LISA
"Thanks for meeting with us, Mr. Lee," I say to the man who hands us both a cup of coffee.
"I'm here to help in any way I can." He studies us like he expects us to be on the wrong side of the law, as though he's waiting for us to trick him.
It makes me hate Johnson even more.
"We're hoping you can shed some light on what happened to Robert Park."
He grimaces. "It should all be on record. I'm sure the FBI has access to all that."
"All murder trials are usually taped, but this one wasn't."
"It was," he argues. He stands and goes to his bookcase, and he pulls out a book. When he opens the book and grabs a DVD, Vernon raises his eyebrows at me.
Christopher Lee brings us the DVD, and he hands it to me.
"You can keep that. I have others."
"The file stated it wasn't filmed."
"It was," he states simply.
I blow out a long breath. "I realize the FBI are probably not on your list of people to trust, but I can assure you that the two of us are looking for real answers."
"Because of the Scarlet Slayer," he says simply.
I cock my head, studying him. He has alibies, so he can't be our guy.
"That's part of what led us there, yes. But also because we feel as though the case might have been mishandled."
He snorts derisively, and I arch an eyebrow at him.
"Sorry. I'm just not used to such understatements being made with true sincerity."
Vernon leans back, and I sip my coffee, looking around the house. His walls are mostly bare, other than several achievements from his son and from him.
"We spoke with Felix as well. He wouldn't give us any information," I say, watching his face.
He remains impassive, years of courtroom training teaching him to school his features.
"My son was broken that night. The boy he loved was killed, and the girl he adored as his own sister died as well. And it was reported as a car accident. He completely withdrew from the world after that night. I struggle to even get him to come here for the holidays now. Although he came to visit recently due to a personal matter."
I want to pry, but doubt he'd tell us why Felix came to visit.
"Why didn't you tell us about Chaeyoung and Kai if you knew?" I ask instead.
"Because you would have went after my son, of course. He was the closest to them, other than the Lee boy. But a NFL football star is less likely to be a suspect."
Just telling us his son was paralyzed would have been good enough. But it's like he almost doesn't want to say that.
"You don't even mind giving us that information, do you?" Vernon asks him.
"That I wanted to keep my son safe from corrupt bureaucrats cleaning up a mess they helped make? Not at all. There was no obstruction of justice, considering this story was squashed by one of your own when my son tried to tell it. My silence in no way interfered with your investigation of this Scarlet Slayer."
