Page 40 of Girl, Empty
Lorraine seemed to reconsider, take a step back, and then he asked, ‘You guys aren’t here to drink.’
Ella had been thinking about Emma Rankin’s hair tie trick since yesterday, so she decided to channel her inner conjuror in tribute.She found her badge in her pocket, palmed it, then pretended to pull it out of the table.‘FBI.We’d like to talk to you.’
‘Whoa.Cops.Did you just classic palm your badge?’
'Sure did.'Ella had seen a detective in some old British TV show pull the same maneuver and had always wondered if it could work in the real world.Apparently, it could.
‘Color me intrigued.Where’d you learn that, YouTube University?’
‘Something like that.’
‘Your thumb moved when you palmed it.Dead giveaway.But points for trying.’Lorraine pulled a chair from a nearby table and finally sat himself down.A waft of spicy perfume assaulted Ella’s nostrils.‘I assume you’re not here to talk about magic.’
‘Maybe we are, actually.’
‘Oh?’
‘I’m Agent Dark and this is Agent Ripley.We’re working with State PD on a homicide investigation.’
Lorraine straightened up.He glanced behind him, and then placed his deck of cards back in his pocket.‘Doesn’t sound much like magic to me.’
‘Mr.Lorraine, we understand you consulted on security for Morrison & Associates.’
‘Among others.’
‘And First National Bank.’
‘Guilty.’He produced a business card from nowhere, slid it across the table.‘Security consultation by day.Magician by… day as well.I’ve got a passion for both.’
Ella took his business card, then studied his body language from head to toe.There were no immediate tells, so he was either innocent or so guilty he'd rehearsed this moment like any other performance.
Lorraine continued, ‘Okay, so cards on the table, so to speak – I know Michael Rankin is dead.Everyone in the city knows Michael Rankin is dead.And yes, Isort ofknew him.’
‘Talk us through your relationship with him.’
‘Relationship?Nothing like that.Michael wanted a magician for his daughter’s birthday party last year.Someone at his work recommended me.I did the gig.End of story.’
‘So you’re saying you only met him once?’
‘Not even once.Michael wasn’t at the party.He was stuck at work according to his wife, and I felt really bad for his little girl, so I stuck around after the show and showed her some magic one-on-one.She loved it.Hopefully it distracted her from the fact her dad is a waster.I’m sure he brought home the bacon, but a rich deadbeat is still a deadbeat.’
The comment suggested resentment, but Lorraine delivered it so casually that Ella had to reconsider.He didn’t strike her as the killer type, and there didn’t seem to be much motivation beyond Lorraine’s general disdain for work addicts.‘You didn’t like Michael Rankin, then?’
Lorraine shrugged.‘Like I said, I never met the man.He might have been the nicest guy on earth, but I’ve seen a million guys like him who throw money at their families to make up for them never being there.I got no time for that.’
‘You have a family of your own, Mr.Lorraine?’asked Ripley.
‘Sure do.Married for thirty years, four kids, and no I’ve never missed a birthday.’
By Ella’s admission, Lorraine was saying the kind of things an innocent man would say.Guilty men lied with purpose.They volunteered nothing and denied everything.Lorraine was making judgments on Rankin's character.It was messy, human, and completely pointless from a killer's perspective.
‘What about Thomas Grayson?’Ella asked.
‘Grayson?Never heard the name.’
Ella and Ripley shared a look.Ella knew better than to trust a man who lied for a living, but the authenticity radiated off him, even in that glossy suit.‘You assisted with the security measures at Morrison & Associates and First National Bank.We need you to tell us about them.’
Lorraine scratched his neck with an unnecessary flourish, like he might have been dumping an object behind his back.Maybe it was one of those magic moves that he’d practiced so many times the natural act was no longer natural.‘What’s First National got to do with this?Rankin worked at Morrison.’
