Page 44 of The Perfect Deception
“He is,” Halloran said, “but with conditions.Mr.Golden has voluntarily surrendered to authorities, which I think should engender some goodwill.He’s here to clear up some confusion but I won’t allow him to put himself in a compromising position.So there’s really no point in asking questions that I’ll be forced to shut down.With that in mind, please proceed.”
Jessie could sense that Halloran was itching to object, so she decided to see if she could throw her off her game a bit before they started.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Ms.Halloran, how do you and Tommy know each other?I wouldn’t have pegged you to travel in the same circles.”
“Please address my client as Mr.Golden.”Halloran was smiling broadly but her tone was sharp and humorless.“And I’m happy to answer that question.Mr.Golden is my personal trainer and he came to me for legal guidance in this matter.”
“So this is pro bono then?”
Halloran scoffed.“I don’t do anything pro bono, Ms.Hunt.How do you think I afford this outfit?”
“It’s really pretty,” Jessie acknowledged.“But you do know that your client isn’t in the best financial shape?Is he going to pay you back with free training for life?”
“I’d be less concerned with that than with why your department set up a dragnet to capture a man who helps women get firmer buttocks for a living.”
“Well for one thing,” Ryan said, ignoring the back half of that comment, “Mr.Golden ran from our interview with him and during our pursuit, nearly ran me over with his vehicle.So, whatever additional issues we need to address, he’s going to have to face the music on that.”
“May I respond to that?”Tommy asked Halloran, speaking for the first time.
She nodded, but her eyes seemed to be saying something more complicated, along the lines of “only say what we discussed earlier.”He appeared to register what she was conveying.
“I’m sorry about that.I was panicky and didn’t even see you until it was too late.There was no intent to harm you.”That last line sounded like it had been fed to him.
“Setting aside almost running me over, why did you run in the first place, Mr.Golden?And at this point I should say that we’re only using that name because we don’t yet know what your real last name is yet.I suspect we’ll have it after we book you and get your fingerprints.”
Halloran held up a hand.“I’m going to let my client answer that question, but within prescribed limits.”
“Okay,” Ryan said.“we’re all ears.”
Golden sighed and ran his hand through his now-black hair.“In my past, I’ve had a few run-ins with the law.Nothing violent!But when you—an LAPD detective—came to the club, I thought that my past…indiscretions were coming back to haunt me.So just like in the car, I panicked.Obviously it was ridiculous to think the solution was to run away, but that’s the point.Iwasn’tthinking.”
Jessie spoke up.“And yet you had the wherewithal to avoid detection for hours.You dodged surveillance cameras.You changed outfits and even dyed your hair.You seem like you were thinking pretty efficiently about how to avoid capture, Mr.Golden.”
“That’s related to some of those prior indiscretions I mentioned, when I had to leave my circumstances in a hurry.I learned a few tricks along the way.I guess I figured that if I escaped at the club, you’d let things go because the infractions I’d committed elsewhere weren’t worth the hassle.But then I saw the news.”
“What did you see?”Jessie asked.
He stared back at her.“I sawyouin footage outside a house in a neighborhood I know well.And then the anchor said something about multiple people in the neighborhood being murdered.She didn’t reveal names but I checked online and saw that one of the houses you visited belonged to Mark and Belinda Tropper.Since I know them, I realized that you thought I was a suspect.That’s when I really freaked out.So I called Bridget.”
Halloran gave them another shark smile.“And that’s why we’re here: to clear up any misimpression you may have had about Mr.Golden’s recent activities.”
“Unfortunately, it’s a little more complicated than that.”Jessie figured it was time to get down to the nitty-gritty.“You see, there wasn’t just a murder at the Tropper home.There was also one at the residence of James and Olivia Maplewood.I believe you know them quite well too.”
Golden’s mouth dropped open in either real or impressively feigned shock.“I don’t know if I should answer that.”He turned to Halloran.
Jessie replied before she could.“Whether you answer or not, you must know by now that we’re well aware of the arrangement you had with those couples.And you must also know that this doesn’t look great for you.In fact, right now you’re our best suspect.So, if youweren’tinvolved, maybe now’s a good time to be little less cutesy about your criminal history and come clean.As Detective Hernandez said, we know you’re not really Thomas Golden.We know you faked your current identity documents.We know you’ve piled up six figures worth of credit card debt in seven months.We even know that your personal training certification is fabricated.”
Though she couldn’t see him in the corner of the room behind her, Jessie distinctly heard Officer Devery gasp quietly at the cascade of revelations.Apparently also surprised, Bridget Halloran’s eyes darted briefly to her client before she regrouped and focused again on Jessie, who continued.
“So, here’s the way we look at it.We’re investigating multiple murders.We think more may be forthcoming.If you have information that might exonerate you for these crimes but implicate you in other, lesser ones and you hold back, we may view that as aiding and abetting whatever crimes you could have helped prevent.”
“That’s absurd,” Halloran sneered.“My client has no obligation to actively help in your investigation.If harm comes to someone else, that’s on the perpetrator of the crime and the police who were unable to catch him.I figured you would know better than to attempt such cheap intimidation tactics, Ms.Hunt.”
Though Jessie hadn’t wanted that response, she had anticipated it, and she had one of her own.
“And based onyourreputation, Ms.Halloran, I figured you’d know how public perception works.Whatever you believe your client’s obligations are, the people of Los Angeles may feel differently.And if I hold a press conference after we’re done here, explaining to the media and the public that we have a person in custody who could help stop a serial killer but is choosing not to, how do you think that will reflect on him?How will it impact his trial for, at the least, attempted vehicular homicide of an LAPD detective?How about the trial for whatever crimes he’s being so coy about?Not well, I’m guessing.”
“You wouldn’t do anything so unethical,” Halloran hissed.
