“That’s not what you said to me, or what you wrote in your statement.”
Officer Simmons was off the phone, and he took up a position behind Scott. This was getting interesting.
Scott, meanwhile, was unraveling fast, and he swallowed, then said in a weak voice, “I…guess I forgot.”
“Even after you saw the lights in his office?”
“Yeah…I mean…I remembered that he said he might be in.”
“Who put those five boxes of books in his office?”
“I did.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
“Why last night?”
“So…Jay Lawrence could sign them…Mr. Parker likes the authors to sign in his office.”
“Jay Lawrence wasn’t coming in until ten a.m.”
“Yeah…but…I don’t know. I do what I’m told.”
“What time did Mr. Parker think that Jay Lawrence would be in?”
“Ten-”
“No. Otis Parker thought that Jay Lawrence was coming in very early. About seven thirty or eight in the morning. That’s why he asked you to bring the books up last night, and that’s why he was here this morning.”
Scott didn’t reply, and I asked him, “Who wrote that note on the bulletin board that said ten a.m.?”
“Me. That’s when he was supposed to come in.”
My turn to lie. I said, “Mrs. Parker just told me that her husband said he had to get to the store early to meet Jay Lawrence.”
“Uh…I didn’t know that.”
“Mr. Parker never told you that when you carried the books upstairs last night?”
“Uh…I don’t-”
“Cut the bullshit, Scott.” I informed him, “Two people are going down for murder. The third person involved is the government witness.” I asked him, “Which one do you want to be?”
He started to hyperventilate or something, and I said to Simmons, “Get him some water.”
Simmons grabbed a bottled water off the counter and put it on the table in front of Scott. I said to him, “Drink.”
He screwed the cap off with a trembling hand and drank, then took a deep breath.
I took a shot and said to him, “Mrs. Parker told me you met her here last night, after Mr. Parker left for the day.”
He took another deep breath and replied, “I…she asked me to stay and meet her here.”
“And she asked you to help her with some furniture in her husband’s office.”
He nodded.
“And you did that.”
He nodded again.
“Did you know why you were doing that?”
“No.”
“Try again. I need a truthful witness for the prosecution.”
He drank more water, then said, “I told her…it wasn’t safe to-”
“One more time.”
“I…didn’t know…she said don’t ask questions…”
“What did she offer you?”
He closed his eyes, then replied, “Ten thousand. But I said no.”
“Yeah? Did you want more?”
He didn’t reply.
I thought a moment and asked, “Did you both have a drink in his office?”
He nodded.
“On the couch?”
“Yeah…”
What a deal. He gets ten thousand bucks, drinks the boss’s liquor, and fucks the boss’s wife on the boss’s couch. And all he has to do in return is push the bookcase back a bit while Mia Parker slides the wedges out. How could you say no to that? Well, Jay Lawrence said no, but he was older and wiser, and he already fucked Mia Parker. Also, he got scared.
I made eye contact with Simmons, who was shaking his head in disbelief.
As I said, I’ve seen it all, but it’s new and shocking every time.