Page 92 of The Couple's Secret
She recited his Miranda rights. He confirmed that he understood them. When a couple of minutes passed and he didn’t request an attorney, Josie forged ahead.
“Zane is in bad shape. He underwent several hours of surgery today and he’ll probably need more. It will be a very long recovery.”
Jackson visibly flinched. Lowering his head in shame, he said, “Did he have internal injuries?”
“No. He was very lucky. Just a lot of broken bones. Comminuted fractures. Crush injuries.”
“Fuck.” Jackson put his head in his hands. “Is Hollis with him?”
“Yeah,” Josie said, softening her tone. “Hollis isn’t leaving his side.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt him, I just… I don’t know what happened. I…” His words were muffled by his hands.
Josie turned her chair and scooted it forward so that their knees were almost touching. “We talked about a lot of disturbing things today. Painful things. You were dealing with a lot already—burying your dad and Cora. Riley’s death.”
She was deliberate with her wording and careful to keep any hint of accusation from her voice.
“Then Detective Palmer and I showed up and asked you to relive your mother’s death and Gabrielle’s death. You were talking with us about those very traumatic memories and then Zane showed up and, being your little brother, he got upset. He had a lot of questions, didn’t he?”
Jackson nodded into his hands.
“He was upset with you.”
Finally, he lifted his head, grimacing. “He’s always upset with me.”
“Not like today. We need to talk about some of the things he said.” She left out “the things that made you drop a soda machine on him.”
“What the hell else is there to talk about? I figured out my dad was a lying murderer. I couldn’t prove it. Then he vanished.”
Josie pulled the file folder toward her, leaving her palm on top of it. “That was a tidy solution to your problem, wasn’t it?”
He snuck a glance at the folder. “My problem?”
“The problem of proving that he was a killer.”
“I mean, yeah, I guess. It didn’t matter once he was gone.”
Josie sighed and flipped the file open. “Jackson, we can dance around this all night. I have nowhere to be but there’s no point. You and I both know that. So let’s get down to it. Tell me about the night you killed Tobias and Cora.”
An incredulous laugh bubbled up from his chest, dying when he met her unwavering gaze.
“I didn’t kill them, and I didn’t kill Riley. I know my brother was saying some outlandish shit earlier, but I didn’t do it.”
“Interesting you should say that.” Josie thumbed through the documents in the file until she found the statement that Bruce Olsen had given to Fanning shortly after Tobias and Cora disappeared. “Why would Mr. Olsen need to give you an alibi for something you didn’t do?”
“He didn’t—that’s not what happened. I?—”
Josie slid the statement over to him. “This is filled with lies. We just took another statement from Mr. Olsen where he admitted to lying in this one. Pretty much the only thing he told the truth about was that you were a guest at Karl Staab’s retirement party. But you didn’t get drunk. You weren’t there all night.”
“That party started at six,” Jackson said, pushing the statement back to her. “Everyone there was drunk as hell, including Olsen. How could they possibly remember anything? I was there all night.”
“You make a fair point,” Josie said. “And if it was just Olsen who said you left after nine p.m., I would be inclined to believe you, but we found two other men who were at the party who admitted that they saw you leave just after nine and not return.”
His face paled. “Wh-what?”
“Remember what I said earlier? Olsen was a highly respected member of the law enforcement community. When he was with Brighton Springs PD he received a commendation of valor. His credibility was unimpeachable.” Josie snagged another statement from the file, this time waving it in his face rather than giving it to him. It was Olsen’s recent statement, but it didn’t contain the things she was about to tell Jackson. “Olsen knew that you’d been seen leaving the party early by at least two of his former colleagues so as soon as Fanning started checking alibis, he took those guys aside and told them that if they were asked, you were at the party all night. They went along with it because they figured Olsen had his reasons. After a year or so went by with no sign of Tobias and Cora, they both wanted to come clean but realized that doing so would put them at risk of prosecution. Perjury. Obstructing justice.”
Jackson splayed one hand over his stomach but said nothing.
