Tell Me Lies by J.P. Pomare

Author:J.P. Pomare [Pomare, J.P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

‘MRS SCOTT,’ SIMMS says, lines appearing on his forehead as he raises his dark eyebrows. He inhales. ‘How can I help you?’

At first the officer at the front desk was reluctant to get him. She wanted to know precisely why I wanted to see Simms, and what exactly I intended to do with the sheets of paper in the plastic bag. I could have called, I suppose, but I needed to give him the evidence. Eventually she called Simms to the front desk from the depths of the office.

‘This,’ I say, holding it out to him.

He frowns, reaching between the glass barriers for the paper. I hold it away. ‘Wait,’ I say.

‘What is this? You’re conducting surveys?’

‘No. It’s got his prints on it. The arsonist.’

Simms turns his head, looking at the other officer at the front desk. Then he closes his eyes for a moment as if trying to clear a headache. ‘The alleged arsonist. How would you get his fingerprints?’

‘Look, can you just run them? That’s all I want. If they match then I can confirm who it is.’

‘I can’t do anything until you do some explaining.’

‘Explain right here?’

‘Come on through to an interview room if you like.’

Interview room. I imagine a camera in the corner and microphones. ‘Can we go outside instead?’

Again, that sideways glance at the other officer. ‘Sure, there’s a food court across the road.’ He disappears for a moment, a buzzer sounds, and the door beside the front desk opens and Simms comes through.

He leads me outside into the sun.

‘I’ve only got five minutes,’ he says.

We cross the road into a shopping centre food court. Simms orders a cappuccino with two sugars. ‘In a takeaway cup, please.’ Then we sit at a table.

‘Before you say anything. Someone called in an anonymous tip and we had a suspect,’ he says, giving me a knowing look, making it clear he is talking about Joe. ‘But he has an alibi.’

His wife. Of course she’s going to say that, isn’t she? She sleeps while he is awake all night. She probably thought he was in bed with her when he was out.

‘So you’re not pursuing him?’

‘Not until I have something a little more concrete than a late-night anonymous phone call.’

I level my gaze on his face, push the bag with the paper across the table and speak directly at him. ‘That’s concrete. Just check, please.’

‘I’ll run the prints to clear him because frankly Mrs Scott I don’t want you to lose your job over a suspicion.’

‘Thank you. That’s all I wanted.’

The girl at the counter calls Simms’ name and sets the takeaway coffee down on the counter.

He stands and walks over to collect it. I follow him. He takes a sip, then turns back. ‘I’ll call you when we’ve cleared the prints. This is totally unorthodox, but I can see it’s troubling you. I would also add that even if the prints match, as unlikely as that is, it only proves he touched the print-out, not necessarily that he threw the bottle.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.