010

DETECTIVE GOMEZ

"Please ma'am, just take a seat" I said ushering the motel receptionist towards the interrogation room.

The slim middle aged Nigerian woman looked around the room nervously as she took a seat. "I don't understand, I got your voicemail but I don't know why you still need to talk to me. I already told that young officer everything". She said in her thick accent.

I gave her a sarcastic smile in return "Right. Don't worry yourself Miss Maria, I only have one question for you today and I need you to tell me the truth". I said staring directly at her to catch her reaction and I could see her shift slightly.

"Yes of course please go ahead"

"Okay, Miss Maria. On November 15th between the hours of 11 and 12, did Miss Solange leave the motel and if she did,were you bribed by her to lie about it?"

She turned bright red "Of course not, this is horrible. Just because you're a detective doesn't mean you can go around just accusing people-"

I put a hand up "Let me just stop you there; you see Miss Maria Chukwu, I really don't have time for this.Besides it's not you I'm after, so I'm going to request that you think about my question again and give me the truth".

She glared at me and folded her arms " No and if that's all I'd like to be on my way now"

I gave her a warm smile "I apologise Miss Gonzalez, just one more. That is your name right Miss Chukwu? and you're Nigerian."

She looked at me like I was starting to irritate her "Okay and?"

"So how did you get into the US, me myself I was born here. But you are a conundrum, I mean according to my research; the only records of you date back to 2002 and its your driver's license, some receipts, a small apartment you obtained; no record of a green card or any I-485 application form filed…and I mean the only reason I could think of is you being an illegal immigrant, so I'm going to ask again how did you get into the US?" I asked cocking my head to the side.

She started shaking and jittering, just stuttering "I….I"

I put my hand up in a "Please stop" motion before replying "Just as I thought,now I assume you know the consequences. You know I'm not a federal agent but I do have friends in strategic positions and I happen to be very close with someone who works for ICE, I could simply just tip-"

She grabbed at my arms nearly falling out of her seat and I truly felt horrible.

I wouldn't want to do that to her, especially since she has a son but withholding information was actually obstruction of justice and I needed to get to the bottom of this case.

"Sir please no..I have a son, I just wanted a better life for him, please don't-" She was in tears now.

God I'm going straight to hell for this

"I don't want to, but in any case withholding information that could help this case is a crime and it is called obstruction of justice. I have no direct evidence but I know you know something and I will be forced to take such actions if you refuse to tell me the truth"

She nodded and shifted back into her seat "Please know that I meant no harm; I just really needed that money, she told me that nothing would go wrong, she assured me mother to mother. It started that night when that poor man was murdered, when they all checked into the motel around 9. They all seemed very exhausted and eager to get into their rooms, none of them came back out until the sister at 11. She asked me not to tell anyone that she was out, especially her sister. She didn't want her to be worried, she was just going for a drive"

She paused as she'd started stumbling over her words.

That bitch

"And?" I really can't believe she was just going to let her sister take the fall.

She swallowed "Well apart from the fact that we're easier to find, and have cheaper rates than the other hotels; one major thing our influential clientele can rely on is our discretion; no cameras and the staff are always to respect our clients privacy especially if they request for it specially"

People would really do anything to make more money, I remember how appalled I was when Josh told me about the no cameras situation.

"So of course you didn't talk". I replied edging her on.

She shook her head "No I didn't need to, like I said they were pretty exhausted".

I nodded "When she left, did she have anything with her? Like a bag? And when did she get back in?"

"Yes she did have a bag, but I thought maybe she just wanted to eat on her drive. She looked like she'd been working all day, so I didn't question her actions and she got back in around 1, I was still around. I didn't think anything of it until I heard about the death of that man and he was connected to the woman and her sister but I just wanted to keep my head down, stay out of it. I would say what I saw if the police asked and that would be that".

I leaned into the table "So why didn't you?"

She dropped her head down but I could still see how ashamed she was of her actions "You're right, she did bribe me but at first I said no, I was a mother and I didn't want to get involved in any of this but she said she was asking me as an expecting mother herself, she didn't want to get in trouble either, she said she didn't do anything but if this got out it would look very bad. She told me that this would help both of us; and I did need the money, there was a really good university in New York that my son worked hard to get into but I couldn't afford it, he said he'd be fine in community college but I could see the disappointment…I let myself be swayed by assurances. She told me all I had to do was say no".

I had been so focused on Hallé, it gave Solange free room to operate.

"How did she get in contact with you? How did she give you the money"

"She called me, I found out later that she'd already been to the motel and she "talked" to the manager; that's how she got my home number and she's smart, I got it through the mail, she delivered it."

Money really does make the world go round; Solange had been bribing herself into a clean slate

"And how much did she give you?"

Miss Maria sighed before replying

"300,000 dollars".

.........…..................

I walked past my desk towards Shadow's, where she had her head laid down on it and was fast asleep.

I felt a pang in my chest; she had become like a younger one to me and this case obviously had her stressing just as much as me.

"Hey Shadow" I boomed out snapping my fingers at her ear. She jumped at the sound of my voice looking extremely startled "What, what's wrong. She didn't talk?"

I chuckled "Nah she did, we're going to pay our neighbor friend a visit now, you've got the pictures right?"

She nodded, grabbing the brown envelope from her desk drawer.

"I can't believe we're really about to close this case, you know I could have told you Hallé was innocent but it's really only thanks to Pastor Brown that all of this could come out. I wonder why he chose to help us now, given all that might still happen to him".

I paused at the front of my door considering her question "I really think he's just tired of hiding, what Solange did to him and what he had to do because of it must have made him feel terribly guilty. He loves Hallé like his own; he definitely doesn't want to see her end up in prison because of it".

She nodded in agreement to my words, "Well let's go close this case so we can all get some peace"

.........…..................

I watched Lane direct us into the living room noticeably half awake."Its nine in the morning, what the hell do you want. I've already given my statement twice"

Note that he forgot to mention that it was a Monday morning.

I glared at him as I took a seat while Shadow just looked eager to make an arrest already.

"Right, your statement; well some recent evidence has come to light which indicate your statement was full of nothing but lies".

That seemed to wake him up as he shook like he'd just been dumped into a tub filled with ice.

"W-hat..what are you on about" He stuttered out.

I huffed "I have recently come in contact with some images that lead me to believe you have been working with a suspect namely Miss Solange to cover up the murder I have been investigating

This would usually take longer because a smarter person would have lawyered up by now but he was just a stupid entitled kid, looking to make a quick buck and that's how she got to him.

"Prove it", He scoffed with some added bravado but I could see the fear radiating off him; He had already taken the bait.

I smirked internally but just nodded my head at Shadow and she walked over to the coffee table in front of lane and poured out the contents of the envelope.

His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he stared at the incriminating images of him and Solange. "L-look, I-I"

I shook my head "Yes I know, you didn't want any trouble,but nevertheless lying to a law enforcement officer and falsifying a statement is a crime so spare me all of that, tell me what really happened and we can turn you into a witness"

He grabbed at his head before replying "Okay alright, so yeah you know that night I also went for the concert. And I paid enough to be a VIP and attend the after party just like I told ya'll before, I also left immediately it ended with a lady friend. So I drove up to a fancy hotel ready to enjoy my night but I didn't have any condoms with me, so I drove back into town"

Shadow raised an eyebrow at his words "You drove back here for condoms"

He went pink at her jab, "Well yeah, there's a lot of talk about these rubbers just popping open and I'd experienced a few of the scares myself; but the condoms I got from this particular store in town were always quality. Anyways I got the condoms, like ya'll checked. But then the truth is I went back home"

"Why?" I inquired pushing him on

"Well when I emptied my pockets to pay for the condoms, I noticed my house keys weren't weren't there and this was around 11. When I drove in I noticed she was parked along the roadside and she looked like she was about get out of the car but she saw me and got back in; I guess I made her nervous. She was still there around 11:15 when I locked up and left. My date was pretty mad too but I still had a good time".

I fought the urge to roll my eyes "So when did you get back in"

He sighed "Around 2, 3 ish; I don't like to stay the night by then she was gone. I really didn't think much of it but when I saw the body, I knew she'd come around looking for me"

I never wanted to hit a kid so badly until this moment "So why did you take the money, you obviously don't need it"

He scoffed "Because my aunt is a raging bitch who doesn't trust me with money. She's a fucking millionaire and she only gives me like 300 dollars monthly; Solange offered me 500k and a trip to the Caribbean; no way I was turning that down".

This entitled son of a-

I smiled tightly in response "Thank you, for all of that. An officer will be in touch with you soon".

He jumped up wide eyed as if he could tell he'd lost me "Wait a minute, you said you could help turn me into a witness. What if I have something more that could sweeten the deal?"

I squinted my eyes at him "Go on"

He laughed nervously "I was actually going to offer it to her to get more money, but that doesn't really matter in this situation".He continued on when he saw the blank expression I wore.

"Well, you know my aunt is a business woman so she's naturally paranoid and she really doesn't trust me on top of it all. So she had a camera installed and hidden in my treehouse outside because of the no cameras rule of the estate. You can't see if Solange walked into the house but I'm pretty sure she'd be caught on tape driving and parking on the roadway, leaving her car and driving out. Now I'm not all that smart but I'm sure that's definitely a form of concrete evidence".

.........…..................

I had never been so nervous, it had been ten minutes since I'd texted Hallé to meet me at this diner and I honestly wouldn't be shocked if she blew me off; but I needed to apologise.

I felt myself grow calm as I saw her walk through the restaurant doors. She looked around for a while before her eyes landed on where I was seated and acknowledged me with an uneasy smile.

She walked to the table I had reserved for us and took a seat opposite me. I could tell from the moment she sat down, she was trying to get a sense of my mood; She was obviously very confused and I needed to explain myself.

I cleared my throat "Hi Hallé, I would ask how you're doing but I don't think I deserve to after everything. That's why I just needed you here, so I can apologise".

She quirked an eyebrow at me "An apology, wow if I knew that picture would have this effect I would have mailed it to you the day I received it".

I chuckled "No it's not that, I mean I am grateful that despite everything I've done you still sent me a copy of it, that was an amazing day but I really just want to say that I had no right to treat you the way I have".

Her eyes softened at my words and she reached across the booth table to grab my hand "Luiz its okay, I know how much he meant to you. You're just doing your job and I hope you find whoever is responsible and who has been trying to set up my family and I".

I swallowed, the ending of this case was definitely going to be bittersweet. "Exactly. So this is off the record but I need to know during the weeks before Michael's death did you ever loan out any clothing or accessories and do you remember to who?"

She paused frowning and creasing her eyebrows "You mean like the belt? It's a brown Gucci belt, I have a collection of those. I mean I may be relatively thicker than my mum and sister but we usually have no boundaries regarding clothes or accessories. I mean, I think one of them asked to borrow one a while ago but why does it matter, I thought we were here because you no longer suspected me or my family".

I smiled at her sadly "No, you're right; It's just something that had been bothering me and I haven't asked, anyways I better get going"

She stood up wide eyed "Is something-"

I smiled at her warmly "No no, its already dinner time and I still have quite a lot to do".

Then I reached over and gave her shoulder a friendly squeeze "Hallé I promise that before this week is over, I am going to have the person behind all this in handcuffs".

I walked out immediately after; Lord I was so close to turning back and just telling her how Solange had screwed us both over.

I shook myself out of it and got into my car and let out a deep breath;

This isn't as fulfilling as I assumed it would be.

.........…...................

UNKNOWN

I looked around twice, making sure I wasn't followed and there was no one watching me from the bustling crowd before pulling my beanie lower on my head and walking into the phone booth.

I huffed out a breath before punching in his number and grabbing the phone. I listened to the ringing start over the third time and I got nervous instantly what if something went wrong.

I was about to slam the line down and get the hell out of dodge when he finally picked up.

I almost screamed before remembering I was in public trying to hide in plain sight; so I quietly hissed out my frustrations at his late timing "Where the hell were you?".

I could hear the disapproval in his tone as he replied "Now, is that any way to speak to your elder Shadow?"

I rolled my eyes "Sorry, I'm just really on edge and don't call me that"

He laughed "Okay alright. So did your new boss buy it?".

I smirked "Of course, that gay sob story worked like a charm; he's your number one fan now"

He snorted "Watch your tone, that's the actual truth you know. Anyways if you're sure we're completely in the clear its time to phase 3"

I nodded though I knew he obviously couldn't see my excitement to be done with this "Yes let's pull her in and end this"