“That’s not what you told the judge this morning. You said the opposite of that. Did your lawyer tell you to say that?”
“He said I shouldn’t talk about any of this with anybody.”
Decker stared curiously at the man.
A glimmer of lucidity, of self-preservation amid a sea of insanity? Is it the meds talking?
“Well, then I guess you shouldn’t, unless you want to. But I don’t see a problem for you. Cops have zip. You were in jail at the time. The judge dismissed the case without prejudice, but they can’t re-charge you unless they have some evidence tying you to the crime. Now, they may go out and get some. Find an accomplice who did the killings for you for some reason. They may even make something up.”
“Can they do that?” asked Leopold in childlike wonder.
“Sure. They do it all the time. If they think you’re a bad guy they’ll do anything to nail you, get you off the streets. They’re sworn to protect and defend. You can see that, right?”
Leopold bent down and took another sip of his drink without lifting up the glass, like a dog lapping from its bowl.
“So are you, Sebastian?”
“Am I what?”
“A bad guy they need to get off the streets?”
“I don’t know.”
Decker felt his irritation start to rise. What had happened to his head might have rerouted his brain functions and caused other features to mentally intersect, but it had also robbed him of his ability to deal with bullshit, deceit, and generally squirrelly behavior. He liked straight lines, A to B, 1 to 2. He did not like back-and-forth that got one nowhere except riled up. This had been both a blessing and a curse as a cop.
“You said you killed those people. You told me you did. Told the cops you did. And this morning you said you didn’t. But sitting here at this bar you said you probably did even though you were in jail two towns over and couldn’t have even been at that house. So you can understand my confusion, can’t you? And the cops’? Where does the truth lie? That’s what we need to determine.”
Leopold turned to him and seemed to really see Decker for the first time.
“Why do you care?”
If Decker had dissed this guy at the 7-Eleven seventeen months ago, Decker hadn’t changed so much that Leopold wouldn’t recognize him. He was just fatter and uglier now. So either the guy was innocent or the asshole was lying. And Decker had no clear indication of which answer was correct.
“I took an interest in the case. Never thought they’d arrest somebody after all this time.”
“It was a cold case.”
The phrase caught Decker’s attention. “You know about cold cases?”
“I like the TV show. I watch it at the shelter sometimes.”
“Homeless shelter?”
Leopold nodded. “I’m homeless, so I got to go somewhere. Sometimes I sleep outside. Most times I sleep outside,” he added in a tired voice.
“Why’s that?”
“’Cause it’s safer. There are guys in the shelter who aren’t…nice.”
“Is that what got you interested in the murders here? Because it was a cold case?”
“I think so, yeah.”
“Why that case in particular, though? It’s not the only cold case. Somebody talk to you about it?”
Leopold was nodding. He looked down at his drink, took another sip without using his hands.
“What’d you order?” asked Decker, glancing at the glass, concealing his disgust with how the other man was drinking his liquor.
Leopold smiled. “Kamikaze. I like them.”
“You said you didn’t really drink.”
“I don’t because I never have any money. But I found a five-dollar bill I didn’t know I had. When I do drink I order Kamikazes because I like them.”
“The drink I take it, and not the Japanese suicide pilots?”
Leopold shrugged noncommittally. “I wanted to be a pilot when I was a kid.”
“But not one who crashes the plane on purpose?”
“No, not one like that.”
“So you talked to somebody? They told you about this case? Maybe got you excited. So you decided to use it to get a warm bed and three squares? Is that what somebody told you that you could get with a confession? Food and a bed?”
“Who would tell me that?”
More guns! No guns! Second Amendment! Guns kill! No, people kill! Where does the slaughter end! Go to hell!
Decker bypassed all this and used his new credentials to get past the security perimeter. He met up with Lancaster at the command center in the library.
When he told her what had happened at the arraignment she appeared dumbfounded.
“He just walked?”
Decker nodded.