Under Ice

Chapter 4

Brooke rapped her fingers on the hard wood table. The interogation room was hot, and she was getting impatient.
Breifly, she glanced behind her at the tinted glass wondow she knew Bishop was standing behind, and she gave him a short wink, imagining him grinning back.
It was her first proper interview in a while, and they were both excited to get back to the chase.

They had gotten hold of Arthur Stuarts' ex-wife 3 hours ago, and only now had she finally agreed to come in, not knowing why she was needed. If all the precinct agreed on one thing, it was don't notify an ex-wife over airways. All the same, something told Riley this woman did not trust the police, and once Riley broke the news, she doubted it would make the situation any better. According to her job description, she was a big shot investment banker - Riley was bracing herself for a rather icy conversation.

Her train of thought was interrupted as the door opened, and a younger officer leaned in.

"Ms Scarofski is here to see you, detective,"

"Bring her in," Riley nodded.

He stepped back, and a uptight looking blonde woman strode in. She was at least a foot taller than Riley, and a good few years older as well, but Riley, not intimidated, stood offering her hand anyway.

The woman coldly accepted.

"Detective Brooke Riley, Miss Scarofski. Nice to meet you,"

The woman said nothing and curtly took her seat opposite Riley.

"I suppose you are wondering why we brought you in today. I assure you, you aren't in trouble, we just want to discuss Arthur Stuart," Riley began, doing her best not to sound annoyed.

Again, the Ms Scarofski said nothing.

"You divorced just last year correct?" Unsurprising Riley refrained from adding.

Ms Scarofski maybe sniggered, her facial expression turning sour.

"I get the feeling you don't want to talk to me, Ms Scarofski." Riley again tapped her fingers on the table.

Sensing the detective wasn't here to play around, Ms Scarofski decided maybe she should talk.

"What has Arthur got himself into know?" She drawled in a thick Russian accent. "I told him that company of his would fail. I left the marriage before he would drown me debt,"

"Arthur is dead, Ms Scarofski," Riley said bluntly. It seemed this woman wasn't particularly found of her ex-husband, so she didn't bother with sympathetics.

The woman meerly raised an eyebrow.

"Liar," She said.

Riley raised her eyebrows, moderately surprised at this statement. She had been called many things in all her years of being a police officer, but liar had never been one of them.

"You're Persian aren't you?" Ms Scarofski said before Riley could respond. "I've never met an Iranian who could tell the truth. Is this some ploy to try catch me out on something? Good luck," She got up to leave, unaware of the anger that was creeping into Riley's face.

"сядь," Riley said sharply.

Ms Scarofski turned around, surprised. She complied, silently sitting back down.

"This is not some elaborate plan to convict you of something," Brooke continued in perfect Russian. "But I'm sure if I looked I could certainly find something a jury would just love to hear. You run that company... Investing You isn't it?"

The woman nodded, gulping.

"And wasn't it a few weeks ago you have a lot of money to some corrupt air conditioning company in Mexico?" She had read about it in the paper. "They cut corners, and ended up killing 4 employees when they set up an air conditioner, bought with your money," The anger in her voice was still sharp and clear.

Ms Scarofski said nothing.

"I know you paid fines, apoligised and even donated to charity, but I bet if I pushed I could get you locked up for second degree-" The was a sharp tap from the window behind her and she fell silent.
It was a signal she and John had created a long time ago, meaning basically zip it or things are about to get messy. It had become increasingly useful during Riley's interviews.

Take a step back, detective. She thought, and instead opened the file on the desk infront of her and pulled out 3 photos. They were all of the crime scene.

Placing them infront of Ms Scarofski, who's mouth was in a small o shape, Riley, switching back to English, said: "Do you believe me now?"

"Yes,"

"Then can I ask you a few questions?"

"Yes,"

Riley put the photos away and sat back in her chair.

"Where were you 3 days ago, around 9pm, Ms Scarofski?"

"An event at my office. My company was giving checks to multiple charities. There must have been at least 300 people there."

Riley nodded - another thing she remembered seeing in the paper

"When was the last time you saw Mr Stuart?"

"In a meeting about a month ago with our lawyers. We were still sorting out who got the beach house,"

Geez, thought Riley, but what she said was, "Did he seem on edge about anything? Sad? Nervous?"

"No. That man never told me anything in our marriage, let alone our divorce. He never even told me what his parents names were, for heavens sake,"

"I was just coming to that," Brooke said, "Do you know of anyone who might want him dead? Any enemies, anyone from his past?"

"I don't know detective. Arthur never talked about himself - he always managed to divert the conversation away from any questions about his life. I knew him for a year before we foolishly married and maybe 10 of our wedding guests were his, all colleagues. I never knew his school, his friends, his family, " She sighed. "It is all a mystery to me detective,"

Riley sat and pondered this for a minute.
Was Athur hiding something? Was he embarrassed of his past?

"Can I leave now, Detective?" The woman said abruptly, and Riley nodded, letting the officer show her out. Almost as soon as they left, Bishop appeared, the usual smile on his face.

"That was interesting," He said sitting infront of her, and she gave him a tired nod.

"Sorry for snapping,"

"Well I could only understand half of it, but from what I heard she deserved it. If it was up to me, I would have let you carry on, but I reckon the captain would think otherwise," He grinned at his own little joke.

"Thanks. The last thing I need is him on my case again,"

Bishop nodded, knowing what she meant.

"So, what's the deal with Stuart being over-ly private?" He asked.

"I dunno," She stood up, snapping the file closed. "But one things for sure, this guy's hiding something,"

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