Page 47 of All He Takes
CHAPTER TWENTY
The local police station was small and cramped, and most of the officers were yawning their way through the night--but Nicky was able to secure a small interrogation room for them to question Harold Smith in.
Now, Nicky sat opposite him with Ken at her side, and Harold still wore that calm, eerie smile, like he was unbothered by all of this. Certainly not the deranged type Nicky was used to dealing with, but maybe he was very good at closing off his emotions. Who knew what was really behind that calm smile?
"I'm sure you've realized by now that this is a bit more than a casual questioning," Nicky said. Now that they had him, the need for pleasantries were over--but she had to admit, it was nice to bring a perp in willingly for once, rather than having him try to kill her.
Before they'd come in, though, Nicky and Ken had called the two "friends" who Harold allegedly had been going out for drinks with. And those men confirmed that Harold was not with them tonight--nor had he been with them for months. They said he just had a baby and had dropped off the map, which didn't line up with Margaret's story at all.
Harold had been lying to Margaret. So where had he really been going?
To wherever he was keeping the girls he killed?
Harold only smiled. "It does look that way, Agent Lyons. Might I ask what you think I've done?"
Nicky opened up the file in front of them. She pulled out copies of the four photos, then slid them across to Harold. He looked down at them, but still, no hint of emotion crossed his brow.
"Those are quite graphic," he said. "You think I did this?"
"We're look for a man around your age, Harold, with a 1998 Hana Kuma. We believe the person driving that car has murdered and photographed these women, leaving them in antique stores around the area."
"And I'm a suspect," Harold said matter-of-factly. "I can't imagine what I've done to get on that list. I do have the car, but..."
"But what?"
"But I would never kill anyone," Harold said. "You don't seem to understand me. I'm a good person, Agent Lyons. I'm involved in the community, I volunteer at the local school, I help my family as much as I can. I am kind, generous, and gentle. I would never kill someone."
"Has that always been the case, though, Harold?" Nicky asked, and for the first time, something flashed in Harold's eyes. "We know about the sexual battery charge. We know what happened in your twenties."
Harold averted his eyes. "That... was a complicated situation."
Ken laughed once. "What the fuck is complicated about sexual battery? You were charged with it, bud, so drop the nice guy act."
"I'm not acting," Harold said. "I was with two boys at a fraternity when I was younger, yes. They did assault a girl, and I did nothing to stop it--but I didn't partake it in myself. Not at all. In fact, I was sleeping at the time. The girl lumped me in with the friends, though. Maybe she thought I was awake and just chose not to do anything, I don't know. But I never assaulted anyone."
"Not even a little?" Ken asked.
"No, not at all," Harold said. "I don't know what my past does to your case, but it has nothing to do with this crime."
"It tells us that you're willing to look the other way," Nicky said. "You're willing to let people do cruel things, and that's not the kind of person we want to have walking around. What would you do if you saw a friend hurting a woman? Would you help her?"
"Of course, I would," Harold replied.
"Then why didn't you do anything when you were in college?"
Harold didn't answer, and Ken leaned in. "What were you doing back then, Harold?"
"I was trying to get some sleep," Harold said. "I was tired, and I wanted to leave the next day, so I went to bed. I didn't know what was going on."
"You were a bystander," Nicky said.
"I was not a bystander. I was an unknowing participant."
"You were there when the girl was assaulted," Ken said. "You could have stopped it."
"I already explained that to you," Harold said. "I was tired. I didn't know what was going on."
"A jury didn't seem to think that," Nicky said.
