The River With a Crimson Current-The Mentalist

Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Two

Kimball Cho

I carry the file to Interrogation Room 2 with Van Pelt hot on my heels, she's clearly a woman on a mission... When we reach interrogation she enters the viewing room with a force even I wouldn't want to mess with, whilst I calmly, in comparison, walk in to meet the suspect face to face. He stands up when I get to the table in an almost rebellious manner.

"Sit," I order, after a moment's deliberation he does so. "Why were you on the run Peter?"

"I needed to get away."

"In the police force, that's code for, guilty conscience."

"How about that? You do learn something new everyday."

I decide to ignore that sarcastic comment and cut to the chase. "You killed an innocent man."

"Daniel wasn't innocent!!!" He says. It's almost funny how easy it was to get him to confess to the murder of Daniel Carr, also known as Daniel Benito.

"Is that a confession?"

"I want a lawyer."

"To my ears, that's a yes. I'm sure the judge will agree with me."

"Daniel was planning on killing Menna!" He tells me as if it's going to make his actions okay.

"How do you know that?"

"I heard him! But him being the son of a bitch that he was, wasn't going to do his dirty work himself. Oh no... He was hiring hit men or something petty like that."

"Did you see these hit men?"

"No. He phoned them."

I turn to face the one way glass as if asking whoever's watching to check Daniel's phone records, a task I thought had already been done.

"Did he use a cell?"

"The pay phone outside Sacramento's Doctor's Surgery."

"What was your relationship with Menna?"

"We had something special, her and I."

"Right... What about Daniel?"

"I didn't even know he existed until I overheard him and Menna arguing."

"What were they arguing about?"

"He was telling Menna that he would do the same thing to her that he did to some guy. And then they started arguing about her having to keep his affair a secret."

"Daniel was having an affair?"

"He was begging her not to tell his mother about an affair..."

"Are you sure it wasn't Menna and another man having an affair?"

"... No... She wouldn't..."

"We believe she was having an affair with another man-"

"No! She wasn't!"

"We have sources that have said otherwise."

"No... No... That can't be true. I did it to protect her..." His voice is quiet and he's clearly regretting what he'd done. The anger will come in a few seconds though... "I was doing it to protect her." Three... "I felt bad because I was too late!" Two... "I risked everything for her!" One... "And this is the thanks I get?!!!"

Great. Now I have to sit through a self-pitying speech. Seriously, I would never have signed onto the job if I'd known it would entail such a task...

After a minute of his endless rambling I cut in.

"Did you arrange to meet Menna that night?"

"Yes... And when she didn't show I knew it was too late..."

"Peter Brinston, I'm arresting you for the murder-"

Suddenly Van Pelt comes storming through the door.

"You're a sick man!" She hisses. "You made an innocent child..." She pauses and looks towards the ceiling whilst taking a deep breath. "I hope you die alone in a prison cell regretting your decisions..."'

At this point Jane comes in and carefully takes Van Pelt out into the corridor with a hand on her shoulder.