Page 46 of A Winter of Discontent for Henry Milch
Neither of them said a word. This was going to be cheery.
We were at the end of the driveway and about to turn onto M-22, when the deputy asked, “Why isn’t he cuffed?”
“It’s not necessary,” Detective Lehmann said.
“Sheriff said?—”
Ah, that was what was going on. Crocker had reached out a long arm from Florida and messed with Lehmann’s investigation. No wonder he was grumpy.
The sheriff’s office was part of the Wyandot County Municipal Center. A group of three contemporary brick buildings which in addition to the sheriff’s office and jail, housedcourt rooms, clerks, commissioners and various others who did the mysterious work of a county.
I had the distinct feeling my cousins were still in the jail section of the sheriff’s department. They hadn’t been able to make bail—the point of making it so high, one million each—so they had to be somewhere. Fortunately, I was not put in a cell with them. I was instead led to the maple-paneled interview room, which I’d been in before. Fun times.
Detective Lehmann got us both coffees. I had mine with plenty of sugar and artificial creamer—the kind that came from artificial cows. He sat down, and without any kind of ice breaker asked, “Has Melanie Frasier admitted to killing Bobbie LaCross?”
I was still a little fuzzy on what I could and couldn’t say. But the honest answer was actually beneficial to my client, so I said, “No. Can you ask me questions about my client?”
“I can ask you anything I want.”
“But do I have to answer?”
“Are you working for her attorney?”
“Nnn—yes.”
“Are you? Or aren’t you?”
“I’m not sure.”
Well, itwasconfusing. First, we were working for Melanie’s insurance company. Then we were working directly for Melanie. She hired a lawyer so maybe we were working for them now. For all I knew there was an email at home explaining all that.
It was possible.
“Can you tell me why Melanie killed Bobbie?”
“She didn’t kill her. How can I tell you the reason for something that didn’t happen?”
“But Melanie did have a motive?”
“No, I told you, we caught Bobbie in a lie. There was no way the lawsuit was going to proceed. It was all over. Melanie didn’t have a reason to kill her.”
“So what was she doing at Bobbie’s place the night she was killed?”
“She said she went to the bar to tell Bobbie off, but then she ended up feeling sorry for her. Bobbie was drunk and went full-on pity party, so she drove her home and made sure she got into the trailer safely.”
“None of that sounds likely.”
“Which part? The part where Melanie was being kind? Or the part where Bobbie was being manipulative.”
That earned me an icy stare.
“Tell me everything Brian Belcher said to you.”
“Brian Belcher? Why are you interested in Brian Belcher?”
“He was sitting right next to you. He must have said something.”
“Mostly that Patty was really nice to his family.” Then something hit me. I did have information he’d find interesting. Possibly useless but information none-the-less. “Patty told me Bobbie killed a man.”
