Schafer sat up straighter immediately, eyeing them with an icy stare. “About time,” he said. “I haven’t done anything wrong, you know. You can’t just keep me sitting here like this. I have rights.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Schafer, we have plenty of questions for you now,” Laura told him cheerfully, sitting down.
“Captain.”
“What?”
“It’s Captain Schafer.”
“Do you have a military rank?” Nate asked, staring right back at him with that same intensity.
“I’m the Captain of a ship,” Schafer told him indignantly.
“A military ship?” Nate asked evenly.
“N…no, a civilian ship…”
“So, Mr. Schafer,” Nate continued. “Where were you last night?”
He frowned with annoyance, even anger, but he at least must have seen the sense in answering the question. “I was at home.”
“With anyone?”
“No, I live by myself,” he said. “I have an apartment near the harbor.”
“We know where you live, Mr. Schafer,” Nate said. “What we mean is, can anyone confirm your whereabouts?”
“No,” Schafer said, seemingly a little shaken by Nate’s calm statement.We know where you live.In other words,we’re looking for evidence right now. Maybe even,we’ve had you under surveillance for some time.
“Night before last?” Nate asked. “In fact, in any of the last two weeks, would you be able to prove where you were from the evening into the night?”
Schafer looked down. “No, I guess not,” he said. “Not after getting home for the day.”
“Good,” Laura said. “Now that’s out of the way, tell me about these people.”
She slapped three photographs down on the table in front of him: Elias Makks, Dina Grey, Alana Garland. Each of them was in their crime scene photographs, the close-ups showing their faces. It was obvious that the first two were dead, and Alana looked terrible in her own way as well.
“Oh, God,” he shuddered, looking away. “Why would you show me that?”
“That’s what you did to them,” Laura replied. “Can’t you handle it?”
“I didn’t do this,” he stuttered, shaking his head. “I didn’t do anything!”
“Tell me about these people,” Laura repeated. It was a deliberately vague question. It left room for interpretation. It could meando you know them?orwhat do you know about them?orwhy did you do this to them?
“I don’t know,” Schafer said, with a hint of desperation. He glanced down at the shots one by one as if he wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. “Ah, the first two—I’ve seen them on the news. They were killed here. They got tied up to figureheads.”
“What about before that happened?” Laura asked.
“I don’t know!” he shouted. He struggled visibly to contain himself, shaking his head. “Oh, God. Elias—I knew Elias. From the docks. I just saw him around and talked about the ships sometimes. He was getting a figurehead put on his vessel, so he wanted to ask me about mine.”
“Your ship is a replica like his was?” Laura asked. She wasn’t certain why it would be relevant, but it had to be in some way.
“Yes, I had the figurehead remade about five years ago,” he said. “I…I only knew him a little. Not even enough to go to his funeral. And Alana, I only went out with her one time.”
Laura stopped. “Excuse me?”
“It was about five years ago,” he tried.