“Don’t get drawn into a conversation about Aggie with him, now is not the time,” Miller warned.
“I won't,” Nick assured his partner. “Let’s just go and get this over with.” He stalked off toward an interview room where Sebastian was waiting for them. They didn’t have enough to charge him with Selene or Claudia's murders, or Emily’s kidnapping. All they had was a big load of coincidence. But they could talk to him, feel him out, hope he tripped up and gave them something they could use to prove his guilt.
Pure shock flared in Sebastian's blue eyes when they entered the room. “What … I don’t … you …” he stuttered.
“I'm Detective Chau, and this is my partner, Detective Sleigh.” Miller took a seat at the table.
“Detective?” Sebastian repeated incredulously. “I thought you were an accountant. Does my daughter know you lied to her?”
“Yes, she does,” he replied, joining them at the table. “Unfortunately, she does.”
“I don’t understand?”
“I didn’t want her to know what I do.”
“I thought I was asked to come here because Emily was missing, and you wanted to see if I knew anything that could help you find her.” His bafflement changed to panic. “Did something happen to Aggie? Is that why you brought me here? Is she in some sort of trouble? Is that why you lied to her?”
“This isn’t about Aggie,” Nick said with a calm he didn’t feel. “This is about Emily. Did you know she was missing?”
“No. Why would I? We’re divorced.”
Thinking of the pictures of Emily he had in his home, if they could catch him in a lie it could be helpful later on. “Are you saying you and Emily haven’t had any contact since your divorce?”
“That’s right.”
Nick caught the hesitation but didn’t push it. Yet. “So, you wouldn’t have any idea where she might have gone?”
“I'd love to help you, but I don’t really know much about the comings and goings of Emily’s life these days.” He shot them a fake apologetic smile.
“Do you think she would have reason to disappear of her own free will?”
“Hmm,” he tapped a finger to his lip as though giving the question grave consideration, “I don’t think so.”
“Which means someone must have taken her against her will.”
“I guess.”
“Can you think of anyone who might want to hurt her?”
“No, not really.”
“May I ask why you broke up?”
“You mean did I cheat on her?” Sebastian snarled. “I'm sure Aggie told you that I cheated on her mother, that I have two other daughters from those affairs.”
“Did you cheat on Emily?”
“No.”
“Do you keep in contact with either of your other ex-wives?” Miller interjected.
Wariness passed briefly across his face, but Sebastian covered it quickly. “That’s a trick question, right? Selene has been dead for twelve years, Claudia for three.”
“You don’t think it’s odd that both of your ex-wives were murdered by their partners who then committed suicide so we could never question them about the murders?”
“I suppose. But what does that have to do with me?”
“I just think it’s odd. They’re both dead, both murdered, both in similar sets of circumstances. And the only connection between them is you.”