Until Proven Innocent

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

AFTER
Detective Gerard Sullivan
Saturday May 20, 2016

I rush into the house, down the hallway, straight for the bedroom. I swing open the door to see Cordelia and Savannah sitting adjacent from each other, mid-conversation. Their heads turn to me, startled.

"You were here on Thursday morning," I say quickly, out of breath. "Why did you lie?"
They both stare at me for a moment. Savannah doesn't take her eyes off of me. Cordelia turns to her friend, then to me. "What are you talking about?" Cordelia says.
"Savannah was here, twelve o'clock, right before our approximated time of abduction. So why were you here, and why did you lie about being in Chicago?"
"Chicago?" Cordelia turns to Savannah, "What is he talking about?"
Savannah stands, keeping her eyes locked on mine. "Can we speak in private, detective?"
"Great idea. Why don't we head on down to the precinct and I can question you there."
"What is happening?" Cordelia echoes in the background.
Savannah turns to her. "I'll be back, okay? Don't worry. Just stay here." She smiles at her friend, and Cordelia, worry consuming her face, sits back down on the bed.
I leave the room with Savannah, escaping to the sovereignty of the hallway.
"Anything you want to say?"
She turns to me. "I'll wait."

And she does. All the way to the station.

____

Back at the station, Savannah sits quietly in the interrogation room, hands clasped in front of her.

After setting up the recorder, stating the date, time, as well as her name, I begin.
"You lied," I state, matter-of-factly.
She doesn't answer straight away, chewing the inside of her cheek, carefully crafting the next words that will come out of her mouth. "Why do you say that?"
"We have an eyewitness who can place your vehicle at the Waters' home at twelve noon on Thursday. So would you like to stick with your story that you were in Chicago?"
It's quiet for a moment. "You're right," she finally speaks. "I lied. But I did not take Emerald and I have nothing to do with her disappearance. That is the truth."
"So why don't you start off by explaining what exactly you were doing with Cordelia at noon on Thursday?"
She picks at her finger nails. "It's stupid, really. You're going to think I'm an idiot for even lying about something so trivial." She says. I stare at her, waiting for her to continue. She breathes again. "We had a fight, okay? A stupid fight."
"When, Thursday?"
"No, Wednesday night. She called me and we were talking about work and stuff. She brought up her new position. I was jealous – I am jealous – I admit that. But I took it out on her, in the wrong way I guess. We had an argument and left things on bad terms. I knew she wouldn't be in the office on Thursday, so I went over the next morning on my lunch break to clear the air and apologize."
"And you couldn't have just called?"
"I wanted to see her."
"Why is that?"
"Are you honestly questioning me for going to my friend's house? How was I supposed to know that her daughter was going to be abducted only a few hours after that?" She brings her hands to her forehead and closes her eyes. "This is why I didn't say anything earlier. Because now you're accusing me of something I didn't do."
"Can anyone verify your whereabouts during the time of the abduction? A reliable alibi, say, your boss?"
"Yes. Yes, he can. After I left Cordelia's I went back to the office. You can check the log-in. And my boss was there. He saw me. We have security cameras. Go look."
"I will." I stare at her and she stares back. "Until I can confirm your alibi, we'll need to keep you here, do you understand?"
"Do what you must. I have nothing to do with Emerald's abduction. You'll see soon enough."