by Becky Harmon
She grabbed an evidence bag and camera from her truck and joined Cassie as they walked back around the house.
“I wonder why he targeted her,” Cassie stated.
She knew Cassie’s detective mind was in full operational mode and that her statement was only that and not a question. “Me too. That’s why I want to visit his parents before I talk to him. Maybe his dad said something at home that piqued Junior’s interest.”
“At least he didn’t make it through the window.”
“Yeah, I’m glad we were here too.”
Steph studied the window for any permanent damage and then snapped a couple of pictures. Using the edges of the evidence bag, she picked up the screwdriver and sealed it inside. Sondra had stepped onto the back porch to watch them and she looked at her. “Do you have any idea why he would be targeting you?”
“I can’t think of any reason. I only met him once. He came and helped his dad move into a new office about a month ago. He seemed quiet and was very respectful.” Sondra shivered. “What was he going to do if he got in?”
“Probably just looking for money or things he could sell,” she suggested, though she had trouble believing that herself. Assuming he was the same person who broke into the garage, why didn’t he take anything to sell from there? “The window is fine out here. Just a few screwdriver scrapes. Do you need us to check anything inside the house?”
“No, it’s all still good. I checked the piece of wood after I called nine one one.” As if noticing for the first time that Steph was in civilian clothes, she grimaced. “Thanks for coming out on your night off and for catching him.”
“No problem. This is my friend, Cassie Thomas.”
Sondra gave Cassie a nod. “Thanks for helping out.”
“My pleasure. I’m really glad we caught him.”
“Go back to bed, Ms. Pace, and I’ll give you an update when I know something,” Steph offered.
“Could you do it before work on Monday? I don’t want to face Tom without knowing more.”
“I understand.”
“Thanks again,” she said as she closed the door.
Steph and Cassie walked back to the truck as the light from the porch went dark. “I should probably drop you off before I go wake up Junior’s parents.”
“Yeah. They aren’t going to be happy to see you and having a civilian hanging around would probably make things worse. Thanks for letting me play, though.”
“As I told you before, when resort life gets boring, sign on as a reserve deputy and I’ll let you play more often.”
Cassie laughed. “Yeah, Kathleen would love that.”
* * *
Steph dropped Cassie off and woke up the McAllisters. Tom and Margaret didn’t have much to say about their son’s trespassing. At first they were surprised, but then they admitted John hadn’t been acting right lately. She asked them to accompany her to the station so she could question him. She assured them unless anything more came out John would be arraigned when Judge Starkey arrived in his office at nine the next morning.
At the station, Steph allowed the parents to meet with their son alone first. She watched through the two-way glass as they each hugged him. “Did he say anything on the drive over?” she asked the deputy beside her.
Deputy Brian Harris was a few inches shorter than her with coal-black hair. Though he looked scrawny at first glance, his legs and arms were muscular, and he didn’t shy away from physical confrontations if they were needed. He was one of the newest deputies in the department and always ended up on the late night shift. Which meant he worked the bar closings and other hubs of drunken activity that brought out the worst in people.
“I tried to engage him, but he remained silent. You might not get anything out of him.”
“I’m counting on mommy and daddy to help in that area. Any ideas on why he might have targeted Sondra Pace?”
“I got nothing. I don’t even think I’ve seen her out at any of the bars.”
“He’s only sixteen anyway.”
“Really? Okay. Could it be gang-related then?”
She raised her eyebrows. “An initiation? Maybe. And he chose her house because he knew there wasn’t a husband to chase him.” She was silent for a second while she thought about this option. She didn’t like to think that this might be possible, but they had seen a few signs of gang graffiti on an empty warehouse lately so maybe a group had moved up from Pensacola. “So, what was he planning to do when he got inside?”
Brian shook his head. “That’s the mystery. Maybe he would have taken something to prove he’d been inside. You should talk to Jared since the kid is so young.”
“He’s still working with the high school kids?”
“Yep.”
She nodded. Deputy Jared Miller would be on duty at seven, and she would probably be able to catch up with him before she headed home. She pulled open the door to the interrogation room and took a seat across from Junior and his parents.
“You go by John, right?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Okay, John. I’m sure the officer told you when he brought you in here that this room is under video surveillance.” Steph waited for him to nod again. She needed him to begin speaking so she started small.
“John, I need you to state your name for the record.”
“Thomas John McAllister, Junior.” His voice was squeaky and he didn’t look like a tough kid trying out for gang acceptance.
“You understand why you were arrested, right?”
He nodded again.
“Can you tell me why you were at the Pace residence tonight?”
He stared at his lap until his father nudged his shoulder. “Speak, son.”
“I didn’t know it was her house.”
“Okay,” Steph said. “Whose house did you think it was?”
“A friend.”
“Does your friend have a name?”
“Troy.”
Of course, the next logical question would be asking if he entered all of his friends’ houses with a screwdriver, but she knew that would only put him on the defensive. So she held her sarcasm instead jotting down what he said on her notepad. She wrote slowly to stall for time. He was developing a short answer rhythm, and she didn’t want this to be a question-and-answer session so she changed tactics.
“John, what time did you leave your parents’ house tonight?”
He glanced back and forth between his parents. “Ten thirty.”
His parents had already told her they didn’t know John was even out of the house. He had gone to his bedroom at the normal time, and they had told him goodnight around ten when they went to bed.
“Tell me everything that happened when you left your parents’ house tonight.”
She jotted down a few more notes and then stared at John. His focus was again on his lap. She took a sip of her coffee and then set it gently on the table. She gave his parents a nod of warning and then slammed her hand on the table in front of John. His head whipped up.
“Now, John. I’d like to go to bed before dawn and I’m sure your parents would too.”
He swallowed hard. “I met some friends at the convenience store.”
She made a note. It would be easy to check the video surveillance to confirm that information and get the identities of his friends. No need to push him to rat them out. She made a motion for him to continue.
“They said there was a party, but we couldn’t enter from the front door. We had to come in through the window in the back so the neighbors wouldn’t see.”
John’s mother shook her head, and Steph lifted a hand for her to remain silent. She made the motion for him to continue again.
“That’s it. You caught me trying to get into the party.”
Steph took another sip of her coffee as she stared at him. His thin face looked almost gaunt and his eyes were red and bloodshot. His gaze traveled around the room never staying on one spot longer than a few seconds. She didn’t need to
tell him his story was lame. His inability to look her in the eye told her that he knew this tale wasn’t going to hold up.
“Let’s see if I got this right. Your friends told you to break into a house because there was a party going on inside.” She slapped the table again, making John look at her. “So, why were you alone? Where were your friends?”
“I was supposed to call them when I got inside.”
She closed her eyes for a second, looking down at her notepad. Those were the first words she believed, and it made her cringe to think John and his friends would have been inside Sondra’s house.
“How did you get to Wymer Street?”
“I walked.”
“John, I’m going to step outside with your parents and I need you to think about the story you just told us. And it was a story. There’s no one in this room who believes the tale you just told. When I come back in I want the real story.”
She didn’t wait for him to acknowledge that he understood. His chin was already resting against his chest anyway with his eyes focused on his lap. She motioned his parents to follow her. She took them into the viewing room next door and stared at John through the glass. He still had his hands on his lap, but his forehead now rested on the table. She turned and leaned against the glass, leaving his parents with a view of their son.
“What do you guys think of his story?”
Tom glanced at his wife and then spoke. “It was crap.”
Margaret nodded.
“How do we get him to tell us the truth?” she asked. She already had a plan but she wanted to give them a chance first.
Tom threw up his hands. “I’m not sure what to do with him. I thought we’d raised him to be honest with us, but clearly we have a problem.”
Margaret touched his arm. “This might be the first time he snuck out, Tom.”
“Oh, come on, Margaret, you don’t believe that, do you? I bet he has been doing this for months, maybe even years.”
Steph interrupted their argument. “I’m going to leave you guys to talk with him. I want to get the surveillance video from the store and see if I can identify his friends. There are several hours between when he left your house and when we caught him. I’d like to know what he was doing during that time. I’d also like to drug test him. With your permission, of course.”
Margaret gasped, but Tom nodded. “Yes, I’d like to know too.” He put an arm around Margaret’s shoulder and patted it.
She escorted them back to the interrogation room. She enlisted help from another deputy for the drug test and asked him to monitor the McAllisters from the viewing room until she returned.
The owner of the convenience store had just arrived for dayshift when she pulled into the lot. He quickly made her a copy of the surveillance video and she returned to the sheriff’s department. Jared was at his desk when she entered and she popped the DVD into his computer. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his long legs out underneath the desk. His blond hair was almost white and the wispy stubble on his chin did nothing to make him appear older. His pressed uniform had been altered to fit his thin body, making him appear even taller and thinner.
“Do you know of any gang activity at the high school?” she asked as she took a seat beside him.
He shook his head. “Nothing that I’ve noticed and no drug busts this year either.”
“I’ve got a sixteen-year-old claiming he was invited to a party that required entrance through a back window with a screwdriver.”
Jared laughed and then frowned. “Sorry, that’s not funny. Well, it is, but not really. It certainly doesn’t sound right though. Let me do some checking and see what I can come up with.”
“Sounds good. Can you help me identify the other two yahoos with my guy?”
He tapped a couple of keys to start the video playing.
“Should be around ten thirty.”
Jared advanced the tape and, true to his word, John showed up around ten forty-five. He was wearing blue jeans and a dark red sweatshirt. Not the shirt he had on now. He went in the store and came back out with a bottle of soda. His friends showed up around eleven and they stood around talking for almost an hour. A few minutes after midnight, the video showed headlights graze the parking lot and John and his friends walked out of camera range toward the car.
“Can you fast forward until daylight and make sure none of them came back?” Steph asked as she leaned back in her chair. “Looks like someone in a car picked them up about midnight. Can you put names to the other two faces?”
“The video isn’t very clear, but I know who John McAllister hangs out with.” Jared pulled a yearbook from his desk drawer and began flipping pages. “My guess, based on the crew cut, is Troy Berry and this guy is probably Alan Mickey.”
They compared the yearbook photos to the video and Steph nodded her head in agreement, jotting down both names on her notepad.
He stood. “I’ll see if I can track down another surveillance camera that might show the car.”
“That would be great. Thanks. I’m going to talk with John again. If I don’t get anywhere, I’ll pick up the other two boys on Monday.”
“Check with me before you leave and I should have something for you.”
She returned to the interrogation room, relieving the deputy she had left watching the McAllisters. As she stepped inside, John was wiping his eyes and his parents looked grief-stricken.
She sank into the chair across from them. “John, I’ve been checking out your story.” She glanced at her notes. “Do you think Troy and Alan will give me the same story that you did?”
He looked at her in surprise.
“Yes, we know who you were with last night and we also know you got into a car. Do you want to tell me who was driving?”
“I don’t know his name.”
“Okay, what can you tell me about him? Or his car.”
“He was the one who told us about the party, but he wasn’t from around here.”
She shook her head. “At this point you haven’t left me any options, John. You’ve lied and made up far-fetched stories. I’m going to hold you for the weekend.”
Margaret started to cry.
Steph looked at her apologetically. “I’m sorry, Mrs. McAllister. I know you would like to take your son home today, but I can’t release him with this story. If he wants to leave today, he needs to come clean with the truth.”
Jared stuck his head inside the room and motioned for Steph to follow him. She stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind her.
“There aren’t any surveillance cameras that cover the convenience store parking lot, but Jo had a camera that catches the road. Not much traffic at that hour, so I’m sure it was a light blue sedan and I was able to grab a partial plate number. I’m running it now.” He motioned at the room behind her. “Get anything from him?”
“Nothing.” She rubbed her face. She was beyond tired. There wasn’t really any reason not to put John in Juvenile Detention. He had been uncooperative and really didn’t deserve her support or a break of any kind. “I’m thinking about putting him in juvi for the rest of the weekend.”
“I hate to see it come to that, but you’ve spent hours with him and he’s giving you nothing.” Jared looked around. “We could keep him here. We have at least one empty cell.”
“I’d consider that if we use the rubber room. I really don’t want anything to happen to him. That’s why I’m a little afraid of putting him in juvi. I just can’t figure out what’s going on with him.”
“Book him and I’ll go check out the room.”
She watched Jared walk away. Her head was too foggy to continue questioning John. She could always come back in later today or on Sunday if his parents were willing. She stepped back inside the room.
“Last chance, John. We have the car and it’s just a matter of time until we get the owner. Do you want to tell me what really happened last night?”
He hesitated, and she thought for a second he was go
ing to come clean, but then he shook his head.
“Okay, stand up. Let’s go get you booked in for the weekend.” She glanced at his parents. “If you would like to see him again before you leave, I can come get you when he gets settled.”
Margaret’s head was buried in her hands as she sobbed, but Tom nodded.
“It’ll take about twenty minutes, but I’ll come get you.”
She took John’s arm and escorted him from the room. While she fingerprinted and photographed him, she continued to talk. She worked on his feelings for his mother, talking about how torn up she was about what he was doing to her. He didn’t offer any more answers, but at one point she could see glistening in the corner of his eye. She hoped she was right about him and that he deserved her benefit of the doubt. It wouldn’t be the first time she was played by a kid, but she couldn’t stop believing there was good in them.
As she locked the door to John’s cell, leaving him only a mattress to lay on, she took one last opportunity to play on his emotions. “John, we’ve been up for over thirty hours now and we’re all exhausted. Get some sleep, but when you wake up, work through all of this. It doesn’t have to end like this. I have no doubt that you love your parents and that you don’t want to put them through any of this. If you want my help, you have to tell me the truth.”
He sank onto the mattress and held his head in his hands. “You don’t understand,” he mumbled.
“I’ll understand if you tell me.”
He shook his head. “I want to see my parents.”
She nodded at the deputy watching the cells and returned to the interrogation room. She placed a cup of coffee in front of John’s parents and took a sip of her own before speaking. “I think he’s too scared of his friends to tell the truth.”
His parents nodded.
“I could try to make him more scared of the police and what his future could hold, but honestly I don’t like to do that to kids. I’d rather he make the decision on the right thing to do than to make him even more scared. So, when you talk to him just keep pushing him to be honest. If he tells the whole story, then we can counter whatever has him frightened. I told the deputy to give you thirty minutes, but you won’t be able to see him again until Monday. He can call collect, though, so if he wants to talk to me, just let the desk sergeant know and I’ll come in.” She stood. “Go through the doors at the rear of the station and follow the hallway. The deputy will meet you there.”
