The second-to-last report within Amanda’s stack was the transcription of Brodie Thomkins’ interview. Mallory’s eyes bugged out with fear. Obviously, Amanda hadn’t meant to give this to her.
Just file it away. Don’t read it. It isn’t right. It isn’t legal.
But Susan and Bruce were preoccupied. Mallory couldn’t drum up any reason not to just read the first few lines.
She knew that if she didn’t read it, she wouldn’t be able to sleep that night.
It began:
SUSAN: Today is July 14, 2022. This is Susan Sheridan Frampton, and I’m seated here in Edgartown, Massachusetts, with Brodie Thomkins. Brodie, thank you for your cooperation through this difficult time.
BRODIE: Thank you for representing me.
A shiver raced along Mallory’s spine. She tried not to remember Brodie’s crooked smile and his laughter.
SUSAN: This morning, we’re here to discuss the events of June 11th. On this night, someone broke in and entered Nancy Remington’s home on the south end of the island of Martha’s Vineyard. Weeks later, you were discovered with one of the stolen items in your possession. Is this correct?
BRODIE: Apparently, I had a ring from there, yeah.
SUSAN: Can you walk me through what you did on the night of the robbery?
BRODIE: I was at my family’s house, the same place where I grew up. I cooked dinner for my siblings and Mom. I passed out early and woke up the next day to take my sister across to the mainland because she had to grab a bus to Boston.
SUSAN: I’m going to need an exact timed schedule of your night if you can manage it, Brodie.
BRODIE: Okay. Wow. Let’s see. I got off work at my shift at Barney’s Seafood Restaurant at around five-thirty.
SUSAN: What do you do at Barney’s?
BRODIE: I’m a line cook.
Mallory’s eyes widened. Brodie hadn’t mentioned his job at the restaurant.Why? Did he think it made him look uncool to work in a restaurant? Had he been intimidated by Mallory’s family’s money?
BRODIE: So, after that, I drove to my parents’ place. I stopped to grab a milkshake on the way for my little sister, who’s obsessed with them.
SUSAN: Do you have that receipt?
BRODIE: (laughter) No. I don’t keep anything like that. It’s not like in those crime movies. I even paid with cash, so there would be no record of me there.
Something about the interview bothered her. Maybe it was the lack of emotion behind Brodie’s words. He seemed almost mechanical, going through the motions of the interview process for the good of the judge and the legal proceedings. He seemed like a man who’d completely given up.
Did that mean he’d done it? He’d come to terms with the fact that he’d been caught?
But if he had, why hadn’t he just admitted that he’d been involved in the robbery, made a plea, and ended the entire process?
The interview continued on. After a dramatic pause, Susan asked Brodie to explain the events of the day he’d been taken into the police station for questioning.
BRODIE: I’d met up with a friend at the bonfire the night beforehand.
SUSAN: Who was this friend?
BRODIE: Mallory Steel.
SUSAN: And isn’t it true that Mallory Steel also lives at the Remington House on the south end of the island, the very house in question?
BRODIE: I guess so. I’ve never been there.
SUSAN: What happened that night at the bonfire?