She strode out. “Peabody! With me. Let’s do this,” she said as Peabody scrambled up from her desk.
“His lawyer’s not here.”
“Then she better hustle.”
Eve pushed open the door of Interview B. “Dallas, Lieutenant Eve, Peabody, Detective Delia, entering interview with Copley, John Jake.”
“I’m not talking to you without my lawyer.”
“Then don’t talk.” Eve tossed down her files, played the nine-one-one call, hit replay, hit it again.
On the third play he broke, just a little. “She was calling for me, calling for my help. Anybody who hears it will know that.”
“Really? I heard it, that’s not what I know. Peabody?”
“Didn’t sound like that to me. Just the opposite.”
“Of course, that’s just the two of us. We could take a poll,” Eve suggested to Peabody. “I’m betting people who hear it—like say a jury—hear what we hear. Just like they’ll hear what we heard when we talked to Natasha this morning.”
“You talked to her? What did she say?”
Eve shook her head. “He wants us to answer his questions, Peabody, but he won’t answer ours. Doesn’t strike me as what you’d call equitable.”
“I want to know what she said! Does she know I’m in here, in this place? Does she know what you’re trying to pull?”
He banged both fists on the table. Working himself up to another tantrum, Eve thought, and turned casually to Peabody.
“So, when does your shuttle leave?”
Peabody smiled. “We’re catching one at six, if we can clear things. But we’ll catch a later one if we have to. How about you and Roarke? Big dinner out? Quiet evening at home?”
“You tell me what she said!”
“Now, JJ, you want to watch that anxiety and blood pressure. My partner and I are just passing the time until your lawyer gets here.”
“Forget the lawyer. I want to know what Natasha said.”
“Are you waiving your right to have your legal representative present during interview?”
“Fine, yes. What did she say to you?”
“Let the record show Mr. Copley has voluntarily waived said right. What did she say?” Eve turned straight around to face him, smiled. “She said the son of a bitch tried to kill me. Lock him up and toss the key.”
“You’re lying. You’re a lying bitch.”
“Now, JJ, you’ve got to expect her to be a little upset when you bash her in the head, when she’s spending her Christmas in the hospital.”
“I never touched her. I never hit her. I was upstairs. I’ve already told you. I was upstairs. I had the game on. I fell asleep.”
“Fell asleep? That’s a new one. Are you going to keep doing these add-ons? Because I can tell you, the story’s not getting better.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Dallas.” Peabody bopped her shoulders. “You’ve got to give him a little credit for trying to add some texture to the overall bullshit.”
“I drifted off.” He set his jaw. “I played eighteen holes, shot a sixty-eight. That’s four under par.”
“Wow. Aren’t you special?” Peabody commented.
“Just shut your mouth, you ignorant twat.”