Chapter 8
Eames stood in front of the glass with Ross watching Goren and Harris in the interrogation room with Vega. Both men had insisted on being present during the interrogation, but both also only wanted Eames in the room with them.
After a two minute debate, Eames threw her hands in the air and declared, "Leave me out this. You both go in…I'll work on getting the lab results from Rogers."
She left the observation room before either could protest, only to slip back in after they disappeared into the interrogation room.
"Detective, is there anything I need to know about you and Harris?" Ross asked.
Eames turned, startled, and quickly tried to regroup in order to answer.
"Uh…no, sir. We were partners...very briefly."
"Do you trust his judgment?" Ross asked.
Eames sighed, relieved that he seemed to be letting go of whatever speculations he might have had. She looked back at Goren through the glass, noticing the familiar tick of his neck as he spoke to Vega.
"Not as much as my partner's," Eames said.
Ross nodded, closely watching her, and pressed the intercom so they could hear the rest of the interview.
"It's only a matter of time before we match the blood," Harris threatened.
"What blood?" Vega asked with a snort.
"The blood we found in your basement," Goren said as he pulled a photo of the blood spots from his binder. "Y-you missed a spot."
Vega looked down at the photo with pursed lips and shoved it back toward Goren.
"I don't know how this got there," Vega said.
"You don't know how blood got into your basement?" Harris asked, his voice dripping with condescension.
"You have quiet a rap sheet," Goren said.
"Then you know I don't do murder."
"No. You just work them over…you torture them until they give you whatever your…employer…wants," Goren said and placed a picture of Maggie Colter on the table. "Anyone ask you to take her?"
Vega shook his head. "I don't mess with women."
"Right, except that rape charge—"
"Hey, I was cleared on that!"
Goren nodded as he watched him. "I see that—"
"Why have you been visiting Simon Mattish?" Harris asked.
"Who?"
"Mattish…you've visited him five times over the course of the last two months at Rikers," Harris said.
Vega rolled his eyes. "You don't listen very well, do you? I don't know anyone named Mattish. I went there to visit my cousin…maybe some one screwed up the paperwork."
"Okay, let's try for a simpler question: where were you Wednesday night?" Harris asked.
"Wednesday night?" Vega repeated with a triumphant snort. "Forget my rap sheet…check my passport. I've been in Argentina for the past two weeks. Didn't get back till Thursday morning."
Goren glanced at Harris, whose face was twisted with frustration.
"Don't play with us, Vega," Harris growled.
"Does anyone else have access to your house?" Goren asked.
Vega shrugged. "I guess it's possible."
"You're not buying this are you?" Harris asked.
"Look, asshole," Vega said. "Go check out my alibi…I'll wait. And while you're at get me a lawyer."
"I'm surprised you don't have one on retainer," Harris said, rising from the table.
Harris had his hand on the door knob before he realized Goren was still seated at the table, studying Vega.
"You know something…" Goren said, simply as he cocked his head to catch Vega's eyes. "Did you come home to something that you weren't expecting? Someone left a mess for you to clean up?"
Vega leaned across the table and mouth the word, "lawyer."
Goren nodded and rose from the table as he gathered his notebook.
Eames watched through the glass as Goren followed Harris back into the observation room to rejoin her and Ross, jotting down and checking his notes as he went.
"Well, any other ideas, people?" Ross asked.
"We're still not sure he's telling the truth," Harris said.
"Oh come on," Goren exclaimed. "Look how calm he is. The only time he even blinked was when I mentioned him finding something in his basement."
"Well, I'm not cutting him loose until we confirm his alibi…and even then I'm sure we can find something to hold him on."
Eames sighed as she watched Goren rub the back of his neck and return his eyes back to the files in his binder. She could see something click in his head as his brow furrowed at a particular spot on the page.
"Uh…Vega's lawyer on the rape allegation was Shane McAlister," Goren said. "As in…Raines and McAlister."
"Rick's business partner," Eames said.
"I'm sure it's pure coincidence," Harris said.
"He could be the Shane from Maggie's journal," Goren said.
Eames nodded and then saw a uniformed officer come in, who passed off a file to her.
"Go talk to him. See what he might know," Ross said.
"One of us needs to stay here to check Vega's alibi," Harris said.
Ross nodded. "He was your collar…you should stay with him."
Eames only half heard the exchange as she read over the report from Rogers and then looked over at Goren.
"The blood we found," Eames said. "It didn't match Maggie Colter's."
Eames wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or even more concerned, and saw the same sentiment reflected in Goren's eyes.
"Could she match it to any of the databases?" Ross asked.
"Looks like she's still working on it," Eames said.
Ross nodded and Goren and Eames didn't miss the annoyance floating in his eyes.
"Well, Agent Harris, it looks like this might not even be related to the Colter case, which means we have wasted time for Maggie," Ross said.
"With all due respect, captain, but we still don't know anything for sure," Harris said. "And I know McAlister…"
"Which is exactly why you should leave Goren and Eames to go and talk to him," Ross said. "Detectives, I'll call to let him know you're on your way."
Eames and Goren smirked at Ross's reaction to Harris as they quietly left the room.
