he said. Get here now.”
“To do what?”
“He wanted to know where he could hide something in the desert. Where no one would find it. I said I knew a place on Scratchgravel Road. I didn’t know I was picking up a body until it was too late.”
“You couldn’t walk away?” she asked. “Call the police and report a crime like any other person with a conscience would do?”
He looked confused for a moment. “No! He told me he’d kill me if I didn’t follow through. He’d already killed once. I figured he’d do it again.”
Josie didn’t believe that but let it go. “Did he tell you he killed the man?”
Leo averted his eyes. “No. He didn’t say anything, other than he wanted it dumped that night. I didn’t ask questions. He paid me to do a job. That’s it.”
“How much?” she asked.
He looked confused. “How much what?”
“How much did he pay you?”
He stared at her, thinking.
“He didn’t pay you,” she said. “He gave you a key to Santiago’s apartment. Told you to go inside, collect the money box with the dead man’s cash in it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Josie smiled. “Yes, you do. So does your girlfriend. She found the house keys in your desk drawer.” His expression changed from shock to anger in a matter of seconds. Josie preferred the anger. An angry suspect mouthed off information instead of trying to hide it.
“Brent just told me the money was in this apartment, in the bottom of a closet. He gave me the keys and said I needed to dump the body and get the money the same night. That’s the honest to god’s truth. That’s all there was to it.”
“What about the dead man’s wallet in Cassidy’s car?” she asked.
Leo tipped his head back and groaned as if the questions would never end. Josie wanted to reach over the table and grab him by the throat but she remained still.
“I ran errands in town before I left for the library. I had breakfast, got gas, that kind of stuff. As I was leaving town that afternoon I saw Cassidy’s car headed out of town on Scratchgravel. She wasn’t supposed to go anywhere that day, so I followed her. She parked on the side of the road where I had parked.” He put his hands in the air. “I have no idea how she knew the body was there. She never would tell me. She played dumb.”
“You haven’t answered my question.”
“I just wanted to scare her. Get her to keep her mouth shut. I had the guy’s wallet in my car, so I stopped, unlocked her car, threw the wallet in the backseat.”
“Where’s Santiago’s license?”
“I took the license out so she wouldn’t know who he was. I figured that would freak her out. Let her know that somebody saw her snooping around. Then she gets picked up by the police.” He shook his head like he couldn’t believe her stupidity.
“So, you left Cassidy to die in the desert too? Just like the body you dumped?”
“No! I had no idea Cassidy was sick. I couldn’t see her from the road. That’s why I left the body there. It looked like a place no one would ever find.”
* * *
Josie collected the rest of the details and left Leo. His information tied up the last major hurdle in the investigation. She thanked Marta for excellent work, and asked Maria to let her back into the interrogation room.
When she entered, Greene was turned in his seat, his forearms resting on his thighs, leaning toward Brent. Greene had the frustrated look of a father trying to talk sense to an obstinate teenager and having no luck.
Josie sat down at the table and said nothing for a moment, waiting to see if Brent wanted to talk.
Greene continued staring at Brent, his lips compressed into a thin line, obviously waiting on a response from his client. The defense attorney had been through enough interviews to know that his bad day was about to get worse.
“When I left the room, I had just explained that I’ve seen the tape that shows you slamming a stool into Juan Santiago’s head when he tried to leave the laboratory.”
Greene objected but Josie waved it off. “After knocking him unconscious, Brent found chemicals in the laboratory cabinet. He poured them down Santiago’s throat.” Josie watched him closely, but he refused to make eye contact. “The chemicals that disintegrated his friend’s insides.”
“Friend? He took advantage of me for three years!