“Because you’re too attached,” he said bluntly.
Her eyebrows shot up. “Attached to the case, yes,” she said. “To him, no.”
“Maybe not,” he said, “but let’s get other people on this too.”
She nodded agreeably. “I was planning on taking him to interview room A, unless you have a problem with that, sir.”
He shook his head. “No, Owen and Rodney, you’re on this.”
“Good,” they said. “We’ll want to do some more research before we go in and talk to him.”
Steaming on the inside at Colby’s suggestion, yet understanding his position, and even wondering if there was something to his words, Kate headed out to the front. When she saw Simon standing there in a black power suit, she knew this was extremely difficult for him.
“Simon,” she called out. He turned and looked at her. “Come this way, please.” He didn’t even acknowledge her words with a nod or show that he knew what this was all about in any way. His face was blank, his gaze hard. As she walked him to interview room A, she said, “Two other detectives are to interview you.”
“Why is that?”
She hesitated. “Colby said I’m too involved.”
“Makes sense,” he said in a noncommittal voice. She led him into the interview area, one of the larger rooms they had for this purpose. He looked in, sat down on one of the chairs, and asked, “Any chance of a coffee?”
“Sure, I’ll go get you one,” she said, and she walked out, leaving the door open. He hadn’t been called in for questioning. He’d come in on his own, and she afforded him the respect he deserved for that. With a cup of coffee in hand, she headed back in. He looked up at her, smiled, and said, “I presume I have to wait for a bit.”
“Sorry,” she said. “They’ll be along as soon as they can.”
He nodded and then ignored her.
She appreciated that. This would be hard enough on everybody as it was, but, damn it, she wanted to be in that room. And she doubted she would be allowed in the observation room either. As she walked back to her desk, Owen and Rodney stood. Lilliana looked at her and said, “I’ll go in and observe. What about you?”
“If I’m not crossing some line, that’s what I want to do too. I believe Colby is joining us,” she said. She grabbed a notepad and headed in to the adjoining observation room. She watched as both Owen and Rodney walked in, introduced themselves, closed the door, and sat down.
Simon just sat there and waited, seemingly calm, but then he played poker, and, in some ways, she realized just how unequal this interview was. Rodney and Owen had their hands full, and they weren’t likely to be any match for Simon. She pulled up a chair and sat down, interested to see how this played out.
Owen started off fairly easily. “It’s come to our attention from one of our coworkers that you have a mark that involves you somehow with our cases.”
In response, Simon pulled up his shirt cuff and suit jacket and popped his wrist out. They leaned forward, took a look, and frowned. “It’s likely much fainter in my case,” Simon said easily. “The marks were administered when I was a child.”
That was one for him right there, by showing how old the scars were. It was obvious that these weren’t done recently. She admired the smooth openness that he expressed. He wouldn’t lash out, which she knew, but she was willing to sit here and listen, as much as she could.
“Can you tell us how you got it?” Owen went on.
“My foster father gave it to me,” he said.
“Why?”
“I was supposed to be a founding member of a club I didn’t want to belong to,” Simon said.
“A club for what?” Owen asked.
“Pedophiles,” he said. “Assuming your coworker gave you the case number, you’ve probably already looked it up.”
Owen nodded and tapped a folder in front of him. “We have the notes, but it was many years ago, and unfortunately it’s not as extensive as we would like it to be.”
“Well, if it was more extensive,” Simon said, “surely they would have done something about the case then?”
“What is it you want done?”
“Find my foster father,” he said easily. “And put him in jail where he belongs.”