peered left and right into the underbrush as if expecting someone to leap out of them, seize him by the throat. He was only a few feet away when he saw Pierce and Cohen rise from the bench. He stepped back fearfully, then stopped and waited as they came toward him.
“Albert Smalls?” Pierce asked.
The man nodded.
Pierce flashed his badge. “Mind coming with us?”
“No.”
They led him back up the path to Clairmont Towers, then into the building and back to the apartment of Herman Getz.
“Is this the man you saw coming out of the alley yesterday afternoon?” Pierce asked Getz.
“Yeah, that’s him,” Getz said without hesitation.
Pierce took Smalls’ wrists, brought them behind him, and cuffed them together. “Did you kill Cathy Lake?” he asked Smalls. “The dead girl we found in the park yesterday?”
“Was that her name?”
“Yes, that was her name,” Pierce said impatiently.
“No. I didn’t kill her.”
Pierce grasped Smalls’ arm and guided him forward. “Okay, come on. I want to show you something.”
9:59 P.M. , September 12, Interrogation Room 3
“And we led you back down to the tunnel, Jay,” Cohen reminded him. “And I showed you that picture you’d drawn on the wall. The picture of a little girl. And I toldyou that we’d found the same picture in the alley by Clairmont Towers. You told us, Pierce and me, that you’d drawn both of those pictures. The one in the tunnel and the one in the alley. You admitted that right away.”
“I drew them,” Smalls admitted again. He peered at his hands as if he wished to be rid of them.
“And so we didn’t let you go, Jay,” Cohen told him. “Not like we did that first night when the woman saw you. Do you know why we didn’t let you go? Because we found those two drawings in two different places. Places that made it clear to us that you’d been near Cathy at the time of her disappearance, and that you’d also been near the place where we found her. Still with me here?”
Smalls continued to stare down at his hands. “Yes.”
“We arrested you,” Cohen continued. “And since then we’ve been coming to talk to you, asking you questions. And during the time you’ve been with us, Detective Pierce and I have shown you a few things, right? Like the wire we found on the path between Cathy’s body and the playground. And we’ve had other people come in and take a look at you. In a lineup, I mean. And one of those people identified you right away as the man she’d seen near Cathy’s body.”
“I scared her,” Smalls said quietly.
“Yes, you did.” Cohen wondered if it might actually be working, if coaxing out small, seemingly inconsequential admissions might finally lure Smalls into a trap he couldn’t weasel his way out of. Careful , he thought. “You remember telling me that when Cathy came to the bench a couple of days before her murder, that maybe she was real scared of this guy who hangs around the playground?”
“Yes.”
“How about the time in the rain? Two days before the murder. When you saw Cathy in the rain. Could she have been scared of somebody then too?”
“I don’t know.”
“Look, Jay, at some point Cathy leaves the building where she’d been at a party. She walks across the street and she stands at the gate at the entrance to the park. You saw her there. You told us that.”
“Yes, I saw her.”
Slow , Cohen thought, very slow. “Okay, and if Cathy saw you, she probably recognized you too, right? Maybe she nodded hello, something like that, smiled. Gave you some sign that she had seen you before. Did Cathy do that, Jay?”
“No.”
“But why not? I mean, if she’d seen you before, wouldn’t she naturally have given you some indication of that when she ran into you that day?”
“She didn’t see me that day.”
“Of course she did, Jay. You were standing right there, right by the gate. She had to have seen you.”
“No. She didn’t.”
“Look, Jay.” Cohen took a notepad
“Albert Smalls?” Pierce asked.
The man nodded.
Pierce flashed his badge. “Mind coming with us?”
“No.”
They led him back up the path to Clairmont Towers, then into the building and back to the apartment of Herman Getz.
“Is this the man you saw coming out of the alley yesterday afternoon?” Pierce asked Getz.
“Yeah, that’s him,” Getz said without hesitation.
Pierce took Smalls’ wrists, brought them behind him, and cuffed them together. “Did you kill Cathy Lake?” he asked Smalls. “The dead girl we found in the park yesterday?”
“Was that her name?”
“Yes, that was her name,” Pierce said impatiently.
“No. I didn’t kill her.”
Pierce grasped Smalls’ arm and guided him forward. “Okay, come on. I want to show you something.”
9:59 P.M. , September 12, Interrogation Room 3
“And we led you back down to the tunnel, Jay,” Cohen reminded him. “And I showed you that picture you’d drawn on the wall. The picture of a little girl. And I toldyou that we’d found the same picture in the alley by Clairmont Towers. You told us, Pierce and me, that you’d drawn both of those pictures. The one in the tunnel and the one in the alley. You admitted that right away.”
“I drew them,” Smalls admitted again. He peered at his hands as if he wished to be rid of them.
“And so we didn’t let you go, Jay,” Cohen told him. “Not like we did that first night when the woman saw you. Do you know why we didn’t let you go? Because we found those two drawings in two different places. Places that made it clear to us that you’d been near Cathy at the time of her disappearance, and that you’d also been near the place where we found her. Still with me here?”
Smalls continued to stare down at his hands. “Yes.”
“We arrested you,” Cohen continued. “And since then we’ve been coming to talk to you, asking you questions. And during the time you’ve been with us, Detective Pierce and I have shown you a few things, right? Like the wire we found on the path between Cathy’s body and the playground. And we’ve had other people come in and take a look at you. In a lineup, I mean. And one of those people identified you right away as the man she’d seen near Cathy’s body.”
“I scared her,” Smalls said quietly.
“Yes, you did.” Cohen wondered if it might actually be working, if coaxing out small, seemingly inconsequential admissions might finally lure Smalls into a trap he couldn’t weasel his way out of. Careful , he thought. “You remember telling me that when Cathy came to the bench a couple of days before her murder, that maybe she was real scared of this guy who hangs around the playground?”
“Yes.”
“How about the time in the rain? Two days before the murder. When you saw Cathy in the rain. Could she have been scared of somebody then too?”
“I don’t know.”
“Look, Jay, at some point Cathy leaves the building where she’d been at a party. She walks across the street and she stands at the gate at the entrance to the park. You saw her there. You told us that.”
“Yes, I saw her.”
Slow , Cohen thought, very slow. “Okay, and if Cathy saw you, she probably recognized you too, right? Maybe she nodded hello, something like that, smiled. Gave you some sign that she had seen you before. Did Cathy do that, Jay?”
“No.”
“But why not? I mean, if she’d seen you before, wouldn’t she naturally have given you some indication of that when she ran into you that day?”
“She didn’t see me that day.”
“Of course she did, Jay. You were standing right there, right by the gate. She had to have seen you.”
“No. She didn’t.”
“Look, Jay.” Cohen took a notepad
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