Presumption of Innocence: David Brunelle Legal Thriller #1 (2 page)

Chapter 2

In the event, the call to the fetching young medical examiner had to wait. When Brunelle got into the office the next morning, the message light on his phone was already blinking. It was Chen.

"Dave, forensics got a usable print off the front door note. Ran it through the computer and came back with a possible match. I had the fingerprint people confirm it first thing this morning. Name's Holly Sandholm. Fifteen years old, but a bunch a history out at juvenile hall. We're gonna go out this morning and try to put the habeas grabus on her."

Brunelle deleted the message only to hear Chen's voice again on the next one.

"Got her, Dave. Grabbed her when she showed up for school. Heading to the precinct now. It's, uh, let's see, eight twenty-one right now. Come by if you can."

Brunelle looked at his watch. Eighty twenty-three. He turned on his heel and headed back to the elevator, pulling his cell phone out and pulling Chen's cell number up even as he pulled his overcoat back on.

***

"They're in interview room one," the officer at the reception desk said. She pressed a button behind her bulletproof glass and Brunelle heard the access door buzz and unlock. "Detective Chen said you might be stopping by."

Brunelle walked back into the offices protected behind the security door. He said hello to a couple other detectives he knew, then stepped into the observation room for interview room one. He pulled up a chair and sat down. They were just getting started.

Chen had finished reading Holly her rights and was having the girl sign the form. She looked scared. And dirty. But she wasn't as rough as some of the kids they saw. She wasn't a drug addict. Not yet anyway. All her history was property crimes and low level assaults. Typical running with the wrong crowd stuff. It was a big jump from that to murder. Especially that murder.

"Now, Holly," Chen started. "You need to understand something right from the beginning. Just because I ask you a question doesn't mean I don't already know the answer. In fact, it's just the opposite. We already know what happened and how you're involved. When I ask you something, I know the answer, but I want to see if you're going to tell me the truth or not. Does that make sense?"

Holly glanced up at Chen seated across the metal table, then to his partner, a junior detective named Jeff McCall. She looked like she was considering acting tough, but she just shrugged, and lowered her eyes back down to the tabletop. "Yeah, sure."

The girl seemed tired more than anything. She had dark bags under her eyes and her body language was someone trying to lie down even as she sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair. Brunelle figured Chen and McCall would make short work of her.

"Why don't you start at the beginning," Chen encouraged. "What brought you to Emily's house?"

Holly looked up at Chen, a strange grin on her face. She stared at him for a moment, then laughed. "You don't know shit, do you?"

Brunelle smiled and crossed his arms. Maybe this would be a good show after all.

"We know more than you think we do," Chen managed to answer. "For starters, your fingerprint is on that note."

"What note?"

"The one on the front door," McCall said. "The one you wrote."

"I didn't write it."

"We'll see what the handwriting expert says," McCall countered. "But the fingerprint is iron clad."

Holly frowned. Obviously she was weighing her choices. Brunelle just hoped she didn't ask for a lawyer. That would terminate the interview. Anything short of that they could—and would—brow beat her for however long it took.

"Your fingerprints are going to be inside too," Chen said.

Holly shook her head. "No, you won't. I'm sure about that."

"Because you wiped everything down?" McCall asked.

Holly didn't answer, which was an answer. If it was because she hadn't gone inside, she would have said as much. Silence meant that's exactly what she did. Brunelle frowned.
How would she know to do that?

"I'm sure you did the doorknobs and the stair handrail," Chen said. "What about the toilet handle?"

Holly's brow creased.

"One thing we know, Holly, is Emily let you in," explained Chen. "There are no signs of forced entry. The other thing we know is that you were there for a while. It takes time to kill somebody like that. So I bet you took a piss while you were there. And I bet, when you went around wiping everything down, you forgot about the shitter."

Chen's use of profanity wasn't accidental, Brunelle knew. It was designed to shake the girl just a bit. Professional cop man isn't supposed to swear. But every time he does, it distracts her a little, shoots just a little bit of adrenaline into her bloodstream, makes her a little bit more tired. Holly frowned and looked around.

Next came the bit where they drew information from the scene—like the obvious conclusion that Holly Sandholm didn't overcome Emily Montgomery by herself, or if she did, she sure as heck didn't get her tied upside down like that alone—with the ubiquitous distrust criminals have for each other. Add in a guess that a man was involved, justified by both the strength necessary and the statistical fact that most violent crime was committed by men, and the next question was ready to feed the doubt creeping into her mind.

"He told you he wiped everything down, didn't he?" asked Chen. "But I bet he forgot the toilet."

Holly's eyes shot back and forth between the detectives. "I..." But she stopped herself.

"I bet he made sure to wipe down everything
he
touched," added McCall. "They always do."

"Who always do?" Holly furled her brow.

"Well, see," Chen answered. "In something like this, there's usually the guy whose idea the whole thing was, and then there's the other person. The one who has access to the target. The one who can get him in the front door. But once the shit's gone down, the idea guy makes sure to cover up his tracks, but isn't so concerned about helping out the other person."

"That's not true," she asserted.

"We found your fingerprint on the note," McCall shrugged. "So that's already one place he forgot."

Holly's frown deepened. She looked down with wide eyes, clearly trying to decide whether to talk. So Chen hit her again.

"Whose DNA are we going to find under her fingernails, Holly?"

She looked up. "What?"

"DNA," Chen repeated. "Under her fingernails. They always take fingernail clippings and send them to the crime lab."

"And there's always DNA under the fingernails from their attacker," McCall added. "People always resist. They push and pull, and skin cells get under the fingernails. If she touched you, your DNA is on its way to the crime lab."

Holly looked at the junior detective.

He made sure she understood. "You're fucked."

"There's a way out, though," offered Chen.

Holly glared at him, her suspicion clear in her eyes.

"Look, Holly," Chen leaned onto the table, "we know this wasn't your idea. We know you never would have done this on your own."

  "It's called duress," McCall explained. "And it's a complete defense. If somebody else makes you do something, you can't be held responsible for it."

Holly frowned and her eyebrows knit together. She looked down for a few moments. Then she looked up again. "What if he didn't exactly make me, but he kinda made me feel like I had to?"

"Well, uh, it's kind of a sliding scale," Chen stammered.

"Yeah, kinda depends," McCall added.

Holly's eyes widened. Her mouth shrank into a tight line.

Oh, for God's sake
, thought Brunelle. He tapped on the mirror.

Chen and McCall turned around. Brunelle tapped again.

"Uh, hold on a sec, Holly." Chen stood up. "I'll be right back."

  Chen stepped into the attached observation room. "Oh, Dave. You made it."

"Yeah, for all the good it's doing," Brunelle said. "Sliding scale?"

Chen rubbed the back of neck and grimaced. "Yeah, sorry. Wasn't ready for her question."

Brunelle tapped his chin for a moment. "Tell her Washington is a death penalty state."

Chen frowned. "She's a juvenile. She can't get the death penalty."

"I bet she doesn't know that," Brunelle replied. "And anyway, it's true. It is a death penalty state. But, Christ, Chen. If somebody got her to do that, he must have threatened her with a lot worse than a sliding scale. As long as she thinks what he'll do to her is worse than what you'll do to her, she'll never talk."

Chen rubbed his chin and frowned. After a moment, he nodded. "Okay, you're right. Whoever did this to her must be pretty bad news. It's worth a shot."

  He slapped Brunelle on the shoulder and headed back into the interview room. He pulled out the small chair and slammed himself down onto the table.

"Holly," he started in his most sincere voice, "that was the prosecutor who's gonna handle your case. He wanted me to make sure you know Washington is a death penalty state."

Her jaw dropped almost as far as Brunelle's. He couldn't believe he told her the prosecutor was watching.

"We've been playing nice up 'til now," Chen went on. "But this is kind of it. We have other stuff to do on this case so we can't sit here all day while you try to decide what to do. I think this other guy forced you into helping him. If that's right, then you should tell us now, because no one's going to believe you later if you didn't take this opportunity to tell us now."

Holly looked from Chen to McCall. "Is this really a death penalty state?"

"I'm afraid so, Holly," McCall answered solemnly. He got what Chen was doing. "This may be your last chance."

  Holly set her jaw. Her eyes narrowed. For the first time, she placed her hands on the table and folded them. She was making her decision. Brunelle hoped it was the right one. For them.

She dropped her head into her hands. "It was Arpad."

"Our pad?" asked Chen. "Whose pad? Where is—?"

"No. Arpad." Holly looked up again. This time her eyes were red rimmed. She wasn't crying yet, but almost. "A-R-P-A-D. That's his name. It's Hungarian or something. He said he was Hungarian royalty, descended from counts or something."

Brunelle winced. This wasn't good.

Chen nodded. "Okay, got it. Arpad. What's Arpad's last name?"

Holly hesitated.

"Come on, Holly," said McCall. "You've come this far."

She nodded. "All right. Karpati. Arpad Karpati." She spelled it for them.

"Do you know his birthday?" McCall asked as he scribbled the name down on his notepad. "Or at least how old he is."

"Twenty," answered Holly. "He's twenty."

Brunelle grinned. Now it
was
a death penalty case.

McCall hurried out of the room to get the suspect information out to the detectives working the case.

"Tell me what Arpad did," Chen said.

"What he did to her?" Holly asked, as her eyes finally released a tear. "Or what he did to me?"