Beyond the City Lights

Chapter 8

"A man who believes he's backed by God is a scary man, capable of many things," Ghost said, pointing to Benson's necklace with a cross that sat close to his chest tattoo of another cross. "People have murdered in the name of God for centuries. Is that why you did it? For God?"

"I didn't murder anyone," Benson said, avoiding eye contact.

The detectives let silence fill the room, in hopes that Benson would start talking. But Benson never caved. He just sat and stared at the wall to the side of the detectives.

The silence was broken when a young officer stepped in with three cups of coffee. One was darker than the others. A petty thing the detectives did, giving black coffee to the suspects that requested cream and sugar.

Benson sipped at the dark coffee and did his best to hide a face that showed distaste. Meanwhile, Ghost and Carter savored their's, that did contain cream and two sugars, with much delight. Both needed the caffeine fix once they realized this "layup" of a case wasn't much of a layup.

"Tell us about the night of the gas station murders. From the time your boss gave you your assignment until the morning. And when you're finished with that go ahead and tell us about last night, from six at night until the next morning. We're dying to hear what you were up to. Try not to leave out any details either because so far you're our only connection between the gas station murders and the one that occurred last night," said Carter.

Benson turned and for the first time since sitting down he looked directly at both detectives with wide eyes, then he cleared his throat and began speaking quickly, "Listen, I don't know anything about a murder last night. I have no idea what you're talking about. As I mentioned before, I typically drive my taxi during regular business hours. Driving people all over the city. Tourists, business people, you name it. It's a good gig and pays well, but I have bills. I have past debts I'm trying to catch up on. I'm trying to live a clean life and survive, just like everyone else." Benson had to use some serious effort to focus and get his story straight. The detectives sat back with open ears and let him talk. "Last night I was driving Uber--" That was until they found inconsistencies in his story.

"So you drive taxi during the day, Uber at night? Is that correct?" Ghost asked.

"Ye-yes, yeah, that's correct," Benson stammered.

"That's funny," Ghost said playfully, "Because your boss just told us back at the garage that you were working the night of the gas station murders, driving taxi. Not Uber. Are you lying to us Benny Boy? Are you a liar?"

Benson massaged his temples, trying to organize his thoughts before speaking. So far, he hadn't asked for a lawyer and the detectives didn't want to push him to that point so again they let the room carry on in silence. Giving Benson the time necessary to collect himself and try again.

Benson looked up after a minute or so of the silence and said, "Most days I do drive taxi during the day and Uber at night. However, some nights Johnny pays me extra if I take the night shift. I make more driving at night with the overtime than I do driving Uber, so when Johnny offers such nights I usually take them and put my Uber driving on hold. That's what happened the night of those murders. There was a big concert, some pop star in town and Johnny thought it was going to be busy so he moved day shift drivers hours around and had some of us working the night shift as well."

"When do you sleep, Benson?" Carter asked, genuinely curious.

Benson forced down another gulp of the bitter coffee and lifted the cup, "Between the coffee and the Adderall pills, I don't need much sleep. Plus, I've always been able to run off a few hours."

"Let's dial in on your story here," Ghost interjected, not wanting to get Benson off topic. "What time did you pick the gas station attendant up and what time did you drop him off?"

"I picked him up around nine thirty at night and dropped him off about fifteen minutes later so around nine forty-five," Benson resumed looking at the wall as he finished talking.

"Then what?" Carter asked.

"Then I left. I filled up my car, went through a McDonald's drive thru for some nuggets that I ate in my car," then Johnny called me and told me it was time to head over to the concert to find some business. I went to the concert and was able to pick up an additional three customers. After dropping off the third, I took my taxi back to the garage, hopped in my personal car, and went home to catch some Z's before my shift the next morning."

Carter nodded, "And last night?"

Benson seemed to gain some confidence after explaining his first alibi, "Like I said, last night I drove Uber."

"All night?" Ghost asked.

"Not all night. Until about two in the morning."

"And who'd you drive?" asked Carter.

Benson asked for permission to pull out his phone, which the detectives allowed. He pulled up his Uber app and went through six different profiles, showing that five of the six even left positive reviews.

"Tell us about Teagan Sorenson," Ghost said as he finished the dregs of his coffee, crushed the thin foam cup, and tossed it artfully into a garage bin in the corner.

"That was all just a misunderstanding, not to mention it happened years ago," Benson said as his recently acquired confidence began waning.

"Really?" Ghost chuckled, "Because we heard you encountered her just the other night at a bar, and that she had a restraining order against you."

"Wait," Benson said and began standing up. "Is, is she, the... the other murder you were talking about? Was she killed last night?!"

Ghost squinted his eyes at Benson, analyzing him, "Indeed she was."