A Killing in the Valley by JF Freedman

off.
    Q.: What time did you and she part company?
    A.: About seven. A few minutes before. Me and Steven had said we’d meet back there at seven.
    Q.: And at that point you and he got together again.
    A.: Yeah. (There is a moment’s hesitation) Not right away.
    Q.: Not right away?
    A.: Steven wasn’t there when I got there.
    Q.: When did he show up?
    A.: About an hour later.
    Q.: So that would be eight o’clock?
    A.: Right.
    Q.: Did Steven say where he was?
    A.: At a movie. He lost track of time.
    Q.: (There is a pause on the tape. Sound of papers being shuffled.) So between two or two-thirty in the afternoon, and eight o’clock at night, you and Steven McCoy had no contact with each other. Is that correct?
    A.: Yes.
    Q.: What happened once the two of you got together?
    A.: We had dinner at Brophy’s Restaurant, down by the wharf. Then we drove back to the ranch.
    Q.: (Another pause, more shuffling of papers) Now when you got there, the security gate at the entrance to the property was unlocked. You’re positive about that?
    A.: Yes. Unlocked.
    Q.: And you were surprised, because you thought it had been locked. That was what you remembered.
    A.: (after a lengthy pause) At first, yeah, but then Steven reminded me that he’d forgotten to lock it when we left earlier.
    Q.: But your initial reaction was that he had locked it when you left earlier. Is that correct?
    A.: (another pause) Yes.
    Q.: All right. Go ahead. What then?
    A.: We parked near the old house. We went inside, but it was dark, so we couldn’t see much. There’s no electricity in the house.
    Q.: Remind me again. Did you sleep inside the house?
    A.: No, outside. We only spent a few minutes inside, since it was too dark to see much inside.
    Q.: (Pause) Very important now: did you see anything, hear anything, any unusual noises, any vehicles coming or going, any voices? Footsteps? Anything at all, during the time you were on the property.
    A.: (firmly) Not a thing. If anybody came or went while we were there, I don’t know anything about it. We were sleeping, but if someone did come by, I’m sure we would have heard it.
    Leaving the boys to cool their heels in their respective interview rooms, Watson and Rebeck huddled together in their cramped office. He filled her in on his interrogation of Tyler, then she told him about hers, with Steven.
    After Steven and Tyler split up, he had hung around the mall—he couldn’t specify exactly how long—then he had driven to Butterfly Beach, where he parked on Channel Road near the Biltmore Hotel. He sunbathed, swam, jogged as far as Miramar Beach and back, then laid down and worked on his tan again. He was alone the entire time.
    “He didn’t talk to anyone ?” Watson asked. “That seems odd.”
    “According to him, not a soul,” Rebeck answered. “Which felt strange to me, too, because this boy—man—is definitely tuned into women.” She hesitated. “There were times during my questioning when I felt like he was mentally undressing me,” she confessed, feeling embarrassed. She didn’t want to give her partner any ammunition for teasing, but Steven’s attitude had been too obvious to ignore. His sexual magnetism, and his awareness of it, had been apparent to her almost from the beginning of their conversation. She had actually been concerned that he was going to hit on her. To her relief, he hadn’t.
    “I could see he was doing that earlier,” Watson said. “You didn’t seem all that put off by it,” he added, maintaining a poker face.
    “No comment,” Rebeck told him. She felt her cheeks redden.
    “Just an observation,” Watson teased her dryly. “The point being, there are plenty of women who would go for that. Especially young ones.”
    Like Maria Estrada. He didn’t have to spell it out—they both understood that clearly.
    Rebeck continued her recitation. After Steven left the beach he came back into town, where he popped into Kris & Jerry’s Bar off State Street and drank a couple of