I didn’t see anything about that in the reports from the marshals. They both seem scared shitless.”
“Good. Come in with me, Dominguez.”
Her entire demeanor brightened. “Really?”
“Really. Let’s do it.”
Sam went into her office to grab her notebook and pen, put her hair up in her favorite clip and headed for interview one with Detective Dominguez. When they burst into the room, Mandi startled and then seemed to shrink into the orange jumpsuit. Her hands were shackled.
“Detective Dominguez, you can remove the cuffs from Ms. McLeod.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
While Dominguez took care of that, Sam stared at Mandi, taking pleasure in the way she wilted. Fluorescent lighting tended to make even the prettiest people look wan and sickly. “So, Mandi. We meet again.”
“I told you everything I know the first time.”
“Did you, though?”
“What does that mean?”
Sam took her time withdrawing the report on Mandi’s financials from one of the file folders and placed it on the table in front of Mandi. “See the item we highlighted? That’s your card being used at a hardware store half a mile from your parents’ home on Sunday, when you told us you were…” Even though she knew the list by heart, Sam opened her notebook, scrolled back a few pages and glanced at Mandi. “At study group, napping and writing a paper all day. You said you never left campus. So which is it? Did you never leave campus, or did you make a trip to the hardware store near your parents’ home around the time your mother was killed?”
“I… Um, I’d like to speak to a lawyer, please.”
Sam pushed the notebook and pen across the table to her. “Write down your lawyer’s name and number.”
“I, uh, I don’t know who to call. Our family’s lawyer was one of the people my mother scammed.”
“We’ll call the public defender’s office for you.”
Sam and Gigi got up and turned to leave the room.
“Wait. Where’re you going?”
“Once you make that request, we can’t talk to you until your lawyer arrives.”
“You need to let me out of here.”
“Sorry, but that’s not happening anytime soon.”
Mandi broke down into gut-wrenching sobs. “I didn’t do anything!”
“Then you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”
“Don’t go. I don’t want to be here.”
“I’m not allowed to talk to you until your lawyer gets here, and I’ve got other stuff to do until then.”
“Please. I’ve never been in any trouble. I didn’t do this.”
“We’ll talk about it when your lawyer gets here. It’s apt to be tomorrow, though. The public defenders are always backed up.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want a lawyer.”
“Are you officially rescinding your request for an attorney?”
Mandi nodded and used the sleeve of her jumpsuit to wipe her eyes and nose.
“Are you sure? Because that might not be the smartest idea.”
“I’m sure. I want to get out of here.”
Sam and Gigi returned to their seats.
“Detective Dominguez, please record this interview and add that Ms. McLeod has declined her right to an attorney.”
Dominguez did as requested.
When she was done, Sam said to Mandi, “We’re listening.”
“I… I wasn’t entirely truthful about Sunday.”
“We already know that. Why did you go to your parents’ house?”
“Because my brother asked me to meet him there. He wanted to talk to my mom about where the money was and what could be done to make restitution to the people she stole from.”
“But you knew where the money was, because you made the deposits in the Cayman Islands, right?”
Mandi hadn’t been expecting that. Her mouth fell open and then snapped shut. “I… I don’t know anything about that.”
“Save it, Mandi. We can put you in Georgetown, Grand Cayman, four times in the last two years.” Sam put the printouts from her social media in which she’d posted about being there.
“How did you… That account is private.”
“Funny thing about social media. Nothing is really private if you know how to dig deep.” Which Sam had no idea how to do, but thankfully, she had detectives who did.
“That doesn’t prove anything other than I took some vacations.”
“In one of the most notorious tax havens in the world? Try selling that to someone who’s buying that BS. You know exactly where the money is. Does your brother know that you know? And you might want to start being truthful, because we’re talking to him next.”
“He knows I went on vacation. That’s all it was.”
“And your mom never asked you to deposit cash or a bank check in a Cayman account while you were there?”