The Devil's Pet

Chapter 17

Saturday June 27, 2008

The feel was entirely different this time, somber and lacking any of the quiet praises he had received before. Channel 2 News had wasted no time making Susan’s demise their top story. Of course they prominently displayed the fact that Susan had been hunting down a story related to Sean Collins, Chicago’s Reluctant Hero.  They went so far as to air an interview with Roger Patten who stated that Susan had told him she personally saw video footage of Sean Collins killing Earl Whitehead in cold blood. She was supposed to call back but was never heard from again and the evidence is now missing. Harvey Pittman was barely mentioned. Even though it happened in the suburbs, Channel Two News specifically requested that the Chicago detectives be involved.

The burly policeman who had protected his back from the reporters last time he visited the station walked behind, herding him toward the interrogation room with a look Sean knew was reserved for people assumed guilty. Fuck a jury trial—that was for determining whether or not you went to jail. The people in this building didn’t rely on a jury to tell them what years of experience did, they knew he was guilty and now it was their job to get the evidence.

Good.

Sean liked it that way—no pretending, no bullshit—let’s lock horns and see who comes out ahead. He had nothing to worry about as long as he didn’t slip up and say something stupid, which was not going to happen. They needed evidence and they didn’t have any. Not for Earl and not for Susan or Harvey.

“Sean we know you did it. The crime scene was obviously contrived, why would Harvey molest Susan and then kill himself? Especially when he stood to make at least twenty five grand for selling his video and putting you in jail? You see it doesn’t make sense. What does make sense is that you’re the only one in this situation who had something to lose.  And your alibi that you were at home alone all day won’t hold for very long. What I want to know is how did you find out what they were up to and where they were meeting?”  Reuben Delgado spoke aggressively pushing for an answer.

They had been in this sparse interrogation room for almost an hour now going over the same questions asked in various different ways. With each new version of the questions, Sean’s irritation level increased but he retained a calm exterior.

When they first arrived Bill and Reuben walked through the door without so much as a glance at each other, both their attentions were focused solely on Sean. Bill pulled a chair from the table and took up residence against the wall behind Sean while Reuben sat opposite him.

They were having drinks together a week ago, but today Bill didn’t even say as much as “hello” to Sean, this was official business and officially they thought he was guilty. He decided he’d gone along nicely with their game plan long enough so now it was time to push back. He drew a deep breath culminating in a long sigh to make the point that he was exasperated and began,

“Look, Detective Delgado, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you the same thing. I was at home Thursday afternoon by myself. Whatever happened to Susan and Harvey has nothing to do with me. When Bill called and asked me to come down here to answer some questions I thought it was strange but, for the sake of cooperation, I came anyway. Now, you’ve asked me the same questions at least three different times and you keep getting the same answers. I’ll say it one more time, I had nothing to do with these murders and I know nothing about it other than what you told me and what I heard on the news. Now that I’m here I don’t understand why you wasted my time and yours asking me all these questions. This loopy story about some video showing I murdered Earl instead of acting in self defense is ridiculous.

I’ve cooperated fully with you and I don’t like the way I’m being treated—as if I’ve done something wrong. Is this how you usually conduct an investigation, with phantom evidence and secondhand stories? You’re just fishing for an easy way out of a difficult situation and I’m not about to be your scapegoat. So, if you don’t have any new questions to ask me then how about you let me go home, because you have no reason to hold me here?”