Chapter 11

Sofia turned her head as Sara walked over, waving a file folder happily. "Take a look at this."

"Oh, that's too unlikely to be a coincidence," the blonde said. "With his criminal record he can easily procure a gun."

"My thoughts exactly. Want to go talk with Mr. Reed?"

Sofia looked at her briefly before smiling and slowly shaking her head, "most definitely."

Entering the interrogation room, Sofia noted Jacob Reed sitting at the table, his hands fidgeting nervously.

"Detective, what is the meaning of this? Calling me down here in the middle of the night? This, frankly, is harassment."

"Oh, I don't think its harassment." The detective took a seat opposite Reed. "First off, you aren't under arrest. Yet. You can have an attorney if you think you need one."

"What's going on?" Reed asked, squirming nervously in his chair.

"Oh, I think you know, Jacob. Drugs and guns!"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really? You know, I think you do," Sofia said, fixing him with a humorless smile. "You think we don't know about your criminal record?"

"Then you also know I'm on parole and are not allowed being around those things."

"Yes I do, doesn't necessarily means you didn't violated your parole, though." Sofia replied.

"Whatever," Reed muttered, his eyes darting around the room as he squirmed on his chair.

"So you of course wouldn't know where to purchase… hmm let's say Methcathinone these days, now would you?" Sara asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Met… um …cat… what?" Reed asked, his brows furrowed.

"Methcathinone" Sara repeated, "also known as 'CAT'" she added.

"What the fuck is that?" Jacob answered, blinking his eyes in confusion, "must be something new I'd never heard about it."

"You might know it as meth," Sara explained somewhat impatiently. "It's a type of methamphetamine that acts both a stimulant and hallucinogen. Mostly it is used in therapy but according to NU it's pretty easy buying on the street."

Sara watched the anger flood into his irises as his eyes darkened. "Look lady, I'm not in therapy nor am I a drug addict, the only drugs I'd ever used is smoking some weed."

"Very well" Sara exhaled looking down on the papers in front of her. "Do you know a Debra Costner?" She asked.

"Uh no!" Reed replied succinctly.

"No?" Sara snorted. "Then how come several persons all have testified they have seen you talk with Ms. Costner more than once when she came by the hotel?"

"So? It's a hotel we talked to visitors all the time" Reed evaded. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that Ms. Costner is your parents' neighbors' daughter" Sara responded, starting to grow impatient with the young man. "So you want to tell us you don't know her even though you have lived right beside her your entire childhood?" Sara interrogated. "Why don't you start telling the truth?"

"Okay so I know her" he spat out defensively. "It's not a crime not telling who you know."

"No it isn't" Sofia said curtly, "but why lie about it unless you have something to hide?"

"Well I have seen Debra outside of work and I didn't want you to get the wrong idea."

"We don't have any ideas… right or wrong, we are only interested in the truth" Sara replied fixing Jacob with a pointed look. "What do mean by seeing her? Were you two dating?"

"See I knew you would misunderstand it" Reed snapped. "You've got it all wrong we're not dating never have we're just friends" he added in a near-growl.

Sara shook her head, giving him a half-hearted smile. "If that's the case... then, why keep it a secret?"

Reed swallowed audibly, but remained silent, his eyes crinkling uneasily.

"Where and why have you two been seeing each other?"

Reed let out a sigh as he leaned back in his chair. "Being on parole means shitty jobs, I work as a dishwasher at the hotel and that doesn't pay very much, so I live with my parents. My dad rebuilt the garage so I could have some privacy even if I live at home." After a beat, he let out a small sigh and forced a smile. "Even though Debra has her own place she visits her parents a lot, so much she still has her old room there. Often when she comes by she stays for a sleepover, so we sometimes meet in the evening and just hang out as friends does."

"And what about Sam? Was he there with you?"

"No" Reed answered with a nervous swallow. "She mainly came by when he was either working or on one of his rafting trips."

"Uh-huh… did Sam know about your meetings?"

"How the hell should I know? I didn't tell him. I don't know if Debra did" Jacob said angrily.

Are you hiding something? Is there a reason you're so hostile to this?" Sara asked, an eyebrow rising slowly.

"I'm hiding nothing," Reed snapped harshly. "And I think I have every reason to be hostile. It's bad enough being dragged down here in the middle of the night without having to listening to this bullshit."

Sofia leaned back in her chair and gave him a sharp look. "Where were you the night Sam was killed?"

"At home. Watching TV, drinking beer."

"Did anyone see you?" Sofia asked.

Reed took a deep breath and shook his head. "No not that I know of."

"No alibi? That's too bad, for you."

"Oh, you're so scary," Reed sneered. "I didn't do shit, and you don't have nothing on me. If you did, I would already be arrested. Just 'cause I have a record doesn't make me guilty of anything. I don't know what happened to Sam."

Sofia smiled at Sara, her eyes holding a touch of mischief. "Maybe he wanted to date her? But Debra said no because she was engaged. That for sure gives him a motive to kill Mr. White."

"Definitely! And someone with his rep sheet could easily get his hands on a gun" Sara said, leaning forward and resting her arms on the table.

"And Mr. White had a reputation for being helpful, so it wouldn't be hard luring him some place deserted and shoot him" Sofia went on.

"You guys are freaking nuts, you know that?" Reed exclaimed, shaking his head.

"You'd be surprised" Sara commented dryly. "You wouldn't be the first guy to kill another guy over a girl."

"This is crazy. I didn't kill anyone!" The young man answered. He was nervously biting and picking at his ragged fingernails, while both his legs bounced with endless repetition, though apparently in independent rhythms.

Behind the one-way mirror, Brass stood with his arms crossed watching the interview. Like the two women in the room he was sure Mr. Reed knew something about Sam White's death. He let out a long breath in the observation room trying to come up with a way to help them getting the young man to speak. Rubbing his temple, Brass moved into the interrogation room, giving Mr. Reed a sharp look as he entered.

"Sidle, Curtis, can I talk with you outside, please" Brass interrupted.

Jacob Reed watched as the detective walked out of the room exchanging shrugs with the scientist.

"What's up, Brass?" Sara asked after closing the door.

"Not much really" Brass confessed, "I just want to give him the impression that there is. See if we can't shake him a little."

"He knows something," Sara said.

"Is there any chance that Jacob Reed killed White?" Brass asked.

Sofia shook her head vaguely. "I don't think so. He doesn't strike me to be clever enough to cover it up this good. But I agree with Sara he definitely knows something."

"There's only one problem," Sara said. "There is absolutely no physical evidence we can use to press that knowledge out of him."

Brass placed a hand on Sara's shoulder. "I hate to tell ya, but science isn't the answer to everything. Shocking, I know, but expand your horizons. Let's go."

"Where?"

"I think Reed is the weakest link, let's see if we can't crack him."

"Brass?" Sara queried.

He grinned. "We mere, humble police types were solving crimes a long time before you got all your fancy toys. Let's get back inside. And bring your kit."

The young man rested his chin on his palm, keeping his face impassive. "Nice of you to show up. Can I leave now?"

Sara took her seat quietly. Despite his indignant airs, Reed was clearly nervous. His eyes were trained on the kit Sara had set on the table.

"No not yet, we still have some unanswered questions" Brass retorted.

"Whatever," Reed muttered.

"You see at first we liked Ms. Costner for this murder since Sam cheated on her," Brass said. "That is until your name turned up."

"Nonsense. It's my word against yours, and I'll never confess to a crime I didn't do."

"Don't expect you to. But we found these at the murder location," Bras said, tossing a bag of shell casings on the table. "Surprised?"

Now I see what he's doing. Those shell casings have nothing to do with our case, but Reed doesn't know that. And it's not illegal for the police to trick a confession out of someone.

"I, I, I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know, DNA is a wonderful thing, it's found in almost anything on the human body," Sofia said.

"True. For example hair straw like the ones we found in Costner's car" Sara supplemented.

"And guess what we found on the bullets? Fresh DNA. It's male, and it doesn't belong to Sam," Brass lied smoothly.

"No. You, you can't test for DNA that quickly," the young man said, his agitation making his voice crack.

"We can't get a match that quickly," Sara injected. "It takes much less time to rule out a sample. As soon as one locus doesn't match, you know the samples came from different sources."

"This is crazy. I didn't kill anyone!"

"Well, we do have a warrant for your DNA and hair," Brass said. "So if you never touched the bullets, or never have been in Costner's car, then you have nothing to worry about."

"What? No!" Reed said, nervously, the syncopated rhythm of his legs increasing.

"Here it is," Brass said, pulling a folded paper from his jacket pocket.

"Stop!" Jacob called out when Sara approached with a swab. "I didn't kill anyone!"

"You know, that's what they all say," Brass said with a heavy sigh.

"I want an attorney, I want a deal. Debra came to me, said she wanted me to help her get a gun. Said some woman in her building was attacked and now she was afraid being there all by herself. All she said was that she couldn't buy it legally because Sam was against guns."

"Nonsense. It'll be your word against hers, unless someone can verify your story" Brass said mockingly.

Reed wiped the sweat from her face and sighed heavily. "Josh Norris. He was the one I took her to. He was the one who sold her the gun." Hesitating only a second he continued. "I touched the bullets when I showed her how to load the gun. That's all. I haven't killed anyone."

Brass stopped his pacing and stared at him. "Would you care to elaborate what gun she bought? Just so we know you aren't lying to us."

"A small frame semi-automatic Taurus pistol with gold accents and pink-mother of pearl grips," he breathed out with resignation.

As the three investigators left the room, Brass's smile turned into a full-fledged grin.

They made their way back to the parking lot of the Las Vegas Police Department.

Brass looked at the two and smiled. "Why don't you two go home and get some sleep." He glanced at his watch. "I'll call you as soon as I get a search warrant."

Sofia shook her head slowly and got into the car as she watched Jim walk off. She turned to Sara, only partly surprised to see her trying to suppress a yawn. She moved her hand to her knee and gently squeezed. "Hey..."

Sara placed her hand over hers and turned to meet her gaze. "Hey..."

"What do you say we go back to your place and go to bed?" Sara grinned brightly at her. Sofia felt her face redden quickly. "I mean... to sleep."

Sara squeezed her hand tightly. "I'm not tired, Sof."

Sofia laughed lightly. "Yeah, that's why you're yawning."

Sara rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "Sof..."

"Sara... let's just go home, sleep for a few hours..." Sara grinned and nodded. Sofia raised her hand to her lips and placed a gentle kiss on her palm. "And... I promise... later..."

"I'm going to hold you to that promise."

Her bright smile made Sofia's heart race. "I know... I definitely know... and I will…"

Tbc…