see anyone if he didn’t get deep enough inside it.” She shifted her attention to the other man. “Heather was in the northeast corner. What entrance did you use?”
“Uh . . . the southwest.”
“So you would have passed that World War statue. How far would you say you traveled beyond it before you got her call?”
“Not far. Seventy yards or so.”
She rested her forearms on the table and leaned against them. “Here’s the thing, Sam. That statue is situated nearly in the center of the park. If you were seventy yards past it, you were a helluva lot farther inside the area than you claimed earlier.” She let the moment stretch. Then another. “You want to rethink your story?”
“Jesus.” He shoved back from the table. “Statues, how many feet past . . . What the hell difference does it make? I’m trying to say here that I didn’t see anything.”
“A guy tells one lie, he’s liable to tell a lot more. That makes us think you’re holding out on us. Maybe about seeing the killer.”
He was sweating profusely now. Flicking a glance at Nate, he clearly saw no mercy in his expression. “I didn’t. I swear it.”
“But you saw someone.”
“Jesus. Jesus.” He wiped his face on the sleeve of his shirt. “He’s going to kill me.”
“Who?” Nate pressed relentlessly. “Who did you see? Who did you talk to?”
“He’s got nothing to do with the other. That killing.”
“His name.”
“Juicy.” With the word, all the fight seemed to stream out of him. “I only know him by that name, I swear. I stopped to, uh, talk to him, and the next thing Heather called and I left.”
“You bought drugs from him?”
He didn’t answer. Using drugs was an automatic parole violation and could land him back in prison. But it explained his lies and his reluctance to come clean about his trip into the park.
“Here’s the thing.” Nate hooked an elbow over the back of his chair. “You can tell us now, or we track down Juicy and ask him the same question. He’s not going to be likely to hold back, seeing as how you gave him up to us, told us he’s a dealer. And he will know that.” He paused a moment to let the import of that statement sink in. “I’ll make sure of it. Right now I don’t care whether you’re using or not, but if I have to go to all that work to find him to ask the same question I’m asking you, I’m going to care. And when I do, your parole officer gets a call.”
“A little pot. That’s all, I swear.”
Risa surveyed the man in silence. He was an idiot if he thought he could successfully pass the drug screenings if he was using. But that wasn’t their concern. His supplier just might be.
After several more minutes of questioning, it became apparent that Crowley had nothing more to offer. Nate shoved a legal pad across the table to him. “Write it up. Everything from when you left your place to meet Heather until the time you got back home.”
It was another twenty minutes before Nate was satisfied with the man’s statement. He and Risa left the interview room, and he gave a nod to the officer waiting outside the door. “Kick him loose.”
She easily kept pace with the detective as they headed down the hallway. “Admitting to the drug use explains his unwillingness to talk to us. I doubt he can shed any light on the identity of the killer, though.”
“But the mysterious Juicy might.”
“Exactly.” She slanted him a glance. The stubble of beard lent him a vaguely lethal air that had been missing yesterday. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he has an arrest record and that Vice is very familiar with that name. Shouldn’t be hard to find, if so.”
“You read my mind.”
Chapter 5
Nate felt in his suit pockets. He hated the sight of other people chewing gum and suspected he looked just as ridiculous when he had a piece in his mouth. But swapping cigarettes for gum had helped him kick the nicotine habit when Tucker had come to live with him a couple years ago. Now he just needed to find something to replace the gum habit he’d picked up in its stead.
His search was in vain. Instead his fingers came in contact with the crumpled paper he’d shoved in there earlier. Tatiana. He felt a quick surge of embarrassment. He hadn’t heard from her in over a month. He’d thought—he’d