May saw Cody kick him under the table, as if warning him not to start talking.
She had the sense this was going to be a difficult interview. Again, she wished she'd had the chance to test her own skills out in it.
"There have been a series of murders in the area related to bombs. You were brought in as a person of interest when the first one occurred, at the diner where you had worked. This was because you were recently fired from there. Now, we find you also have a common thread with the second murder. The victim is a teacher at the school you attended. You were recently suspended from there."
"We had nothing to do with those murders," Cody said.
"And we've never had anything to do with bombs," Elmer said anxiously. "We were doing a scientific experiment. We were trying to transmit matter."
"And so you did. You transmitted a large portion of the cottage's interior into the yard beyond. But let's stick to the facts," Kerry stated firmly. "Unfortunately, I see from this evidence log that your phone was destroyed in the blast, which means crucial evidence is already missing. So we're going to need your full cooperation now."
Elmer said nothing. Cody gave her a hostile glance. Kerry watched them as if she expected them to react, but neither said a word.
"You've been suspended from the school?" Kerry demanded to know.
"Yes," Cody admitted reluctantly.
"Care to tell me why?"
"I just made a mistake," Cody said, kicking Elmer again.
Kerry turned to Elmer.
"Withholding information in a criminal investigation is a federal offense. Why was your friend suspended?"
"It - it really wasn't serious," Elmer stammered.
"You're going to get in a lot of trouble yourself if you don't tell me everything," Kerry warned him. "You're under no obligation to protect your friend. That's a dangerous attitude and one which could cause you to go to prison."
"He - he did the wrong thing in a science experiment and ended up causing a small blast in the school laboratory." Elmer was brick red and now, so was Cody.
"So you were experimenting with bombs again?" Kerry said, this time directing the question at Cody.
"No! We were experimenting with an inter-dimensional transceiver," Cody said. "But we got the formula wrong."
May had to admit that was an interesting choice of words. It sounded like he was making it up as he went along.
"And you ended up blowing it up," Kerry said.
"Yes. I know we shouldn't have. We shouldn't have done the experiment at all and it was all my fault." Cody's voice cracked a little.
"Cody, how well did you know the victim, the art teacher Mrs. Flannery?"
"I was in her class," he mumbled.
"And were you doing well at art?"
"I was flunking it," he mumbled again. “It’s not really my forte.”
“What about the diner? Why were you fired?”
“I arrived late for two consecutive shifts. There were reasons. My car wouldn’t start for one of them, and then the next morning, my mother told me I had to help round up the horses after they broke out of the field. They were heading for the main road. It was an emergency. But they have a no tolerance policy at the diner, so they let me go.”
"I'm seeing a pattern here. You're flunking subjects. You're getting fired from your job. And you are creating explosive devices as a form of revenge?"
"No!" Cody almost jumped to his feet as he stared at Kerry in outrage.
"Down!" Adams barked out.