CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Standing outside the interview room, May felt ready for Humphrey Andrews, and determined to get to the truth.
After a struggle with her conscience, she’d called Kerry to tell her what was happening, in case her sister wanted to do this interview as well. But Kerry’s phone had rung through to voicemail this time, which let May off the hook.
She promised herself that she was going to be as forceful as Kerry, and do just as thorough a job. No detail was going to be left out or skipped over.
She was most definitely going to find out whether, after getting out of jail, this man had made good on his threats, embarking on a killing spree using what was clearly his chosen method of criminal activity - explosives.
Owen hurried over to join her.
"May, I've found another connection we can use. I have just been reading up on the case that sent Humphrey to jail. And do you know, one of his arresting officers, Lester Biggs, was one of the two policemen killed in the recent raid?"
"What?" May paused at the interview room, her hand on the door.
This was huge!
Or maybe, as doubts rushed in, she realized it wasn't so huge. How could this man, dressed in a blue and yellow blimp suit, possibly have known who would go after him on a police raid? That would indicate an ESP-level of prediction, surely?
But maybe he’d targeted that police department, because he’d had a grudge against the entire department, not caring who he killed, but hoping for the big prize of his arresting officer.
“Let’s see what we can find out,” she said, opening the door and stepping inside.
There, Humphrey was waiting, seated behind the table. He was still dressed in his deflated blimp suit, although he'd taken off the headgear. Now, his flattened red hair was visible, shining in the overhead light. He glanced up at them mutinously.
"Mr. Andrews, you deliberately attempted to avoid police questioning. You fled as soon as you realized we were officers of the law, following up on a case. I want to know why you did that. Why did you do such a thing?" May asked sternly, sitting opposite him.
"Oh, yeah? I don't have to answer any questions," Humphrey said.
"Failing to cooperate with us won’t help you here. You are in a lot of trouble," May pointed out.
"You committed a crime by running away from us and not stopping when we asked you to. Are you aware of that? Plus, you jaywalked, and endangered drivers on the road,” Owen explained seriously. “That alone is going to get you jail time unless you can explain yourself.”
Finally, that threat seemed to prod Humphrey into cooperation.
"I ran because I saw how bad it looked for me," he spluttered. "Do you think I wasn't aware of those bombing incidents? I knew what people would think when they saw you talking to me! Even my bosses have been looking at me strangely the last couple of days. Explosives. I mean, not everyone uses them, and nobody will believe that the destruction of my business was due to nothing more than an unfortunate gas leak.”
“Really?” May asked.
“It was from a pipe that had been accidentally rerouted, and was followed by a minor fire due to an electrical fault that nobody could have foreseen. That ignited a quantity of plastic explosive that happened to have been stored on the premises overnight." He spread his hands innocently. "It was something that could have happened to anyone. I did the time, I took the blame. But now, I don't want to go back inside."
May stared at him suspiciously. It was not a good sign that he was already resorting to lies. She had to get the truth out of him. This was a matter of life and death.
"You knew where Sheila, your criminal lawyer, lived. You could easily have taken her. You knew about the warehouses in the area."
"Yes, I knew where she lived. Of course I did. I mean, it's no secret. It's in the public domain. And I admit, if someone blew her up, I don't blame them. She did the most pathetic job of defending me!"
He glared at May angrily.
"It's all so obvious. I'm the fall guy. I’m not a killer. I never went to jail for killing anyone, did I? And besides, I’ve reformed. I'm a blimp, not a criminal mastermind."
Ignoring his ranting, May stepped forward, and spoke in a forceful tone.
"You had access to the area. You could have set the explosives and you clearly had the knowledge and contacts to do so. You had the motive to make people pay for your losses. You had means and opportunity, and you tried to evade the police when we approached you. What about alibis? Where were you when the other disasters took place?"
She paused for breath and for effect.
Humphrey looked her up and down.