SPINS - A BRITE Alliance mystery

Chapter Three

Why, oh why, did I need to interview someone I knew—like my best friend?

Out in the bullpen, I reminded Jack and Harrison about Chrissy’s charm bracelet. We decided the two of them should interview her, and I’d watch. I was too close to the situation to be neutral.

After making arrangements with Jack and Harrison, I went back to my office to continue my planning. One topic I needed to discuss with Dino was the current state of politics in the BRITE Alliance. Politics had been an underlying focus of our last investigation.

Harrison showed up at my office door and motioned me outside. A confused Chrissy had arrived for her interview.

“Tari, what’s going on? What happened to the Tristorian? Who was it?” My friend’s emotions were always on the surface.

“Let’s go to an interview room so we can have a conversation.” Harrison led us to a free one.

After we settled, I said, “Chrissy, Harrison and Jack are going to ask you some questions. Since you and I know each other well, I shouldn’t be involved. I’ll just listen. You know Harrison and Jack, so you should be comfortable.”

“I guess,” she replied, “but I don’t know why I’m here. Do I need a lawyer?”

I didn’t answer, but let Harrison get started.

“Miss MacDonald, I will read you your rights. It’s just standard procedure,” Harrison added, and then spoke the familiar words.

“Again, do I need a lawyer?” asked Chrissy.

“That’s your decision,” replied Jack. “However, I suspect you have nothing to hide, so getting a lawyer here would delay our discussion.”

Harrison added, “If you want a lawyer, we’ll certainly let you get one. However, this is just a fact-finding meeting. A Tristorian was killed last night and we’re talking to everyone at the banquet as to anything or anyone they saw.” Harrison laughed. “You’re awfully small to be going around murdering large aliens like Tristorians and then, perhaps, moving them. So we don’t think you killed anyone, but you were there and we need any information you can provide. You might have seen something.”

“No problem, Harrison. For a banquet, it was quite enjoyable.” She studied us. “Okay, I’ll answer questions for a while until I decide you’re being mean.”

I tried not to smirk.

“Miss MacDonald, were you at the aquarium last night?” asked my partner.

“All of a sudden, Miss MacDonald? Get real, Harrison, why would I answer to that name? You know who I am.”

I gave Chrissy a glance she recognized. “Okay, okay. Yes, I was at the aquarium. The Itlans put on a banquet, and since they love fish they wanted to watch human ones while we had the banquet. All teams involved in the competition were invited.”

Why hadn’t I known about the banquet? Of course, I wasn’t on any team for the current competition but I thought someone could have told me about it.

I sighed and gave myself a lecture about being needy. I wasn’t a member of any team, this time.

“Did anything unusual happen during the Itlan banquet? Did you see everyone you expected?” asked Jack.

“Nothing unusual; just another boring banquet. The food was pretty good because Smith catered it. I think everyone was there but I didn’t count. Our team was too busy thinking about our bowling strategy to focus on the other participants. Oh, I think some of the ambassadors and their staff were there too.”

Harrison and Jack exchanged glances, and I knew what they thought—Chrissy wasn’t much of a witness. To be fair, witnesses were not very observant, at the best of times.

“Did you go into any other areas of the aquarium?” asked Harrison.

“Ah, ah, not really.” Chrissy’s nervousness was obvious. We all knew she tried to hide her movements. However, she didn’t know about our evidence.

“Did you lose anything?” asked Jack, pointedly.

“What do you mean?” Chrissy glanced around the room.

“Did you lose any of your possessions?” Jack asked again.

“At the aquarium last night?”

Jack nodded.

“No, I don’t think so,” Chrissy replied, clearly confused.

Jack took an evidence bag out of his pocket. “Is this yours?” He pushed the bag with her charm bracelet across the table.

“Where did you find that?” she asked, reaching for the package.

“In the aquarium’s storeroom,” answered Harrison. “Is this yours?”

“It looks like mine. My bracelet did disappear yesterday, but I thought I’d lost it at home.”

I resisted the urge to jump in. However, for everyone’s peace of mind, I needed to let Harrison and Jack continue the interview.

“We found this bracelet in a storeroom at the aquarium. But, of course, it can’t be yours since you said you didn’t go anywhere other than the banquet area,” said Jack, continuing his bad cop routine.

“Well, I did leave the banquet area once to find Smith.” Chrissy wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes.

“So you lied,” said Jack.

“I sort of didn’t answer your question because I knew I shouldn’t have been back there,” said a defiant Chrissy, sitting up straighter.

“Why were you wandering around?” continued Jack.

“I wanted to find Smith and see when he’d be able to leave. I wanted to go home and relax.” Chrissy sighed. “Bowling practice and a boring banquet had tired me out.”

“Who would Smith be?” asked Harrison, trying not to smile.

“Harrison, you know who he is. Smith Cannon owns Revolutions and catered the Itlan banquet. And he’s my boyfriend, so I wanted to talk to him.”

Irritation crept into Chrissy’s words, and I noticed her interviewers rejoicing. She might let something slip while she focused on her annoyance.

Jack gave Harrison a subtle signal; a signal I understood but Chrissy probably wouldn’t catch.

Harrison asked, “Did you see anything unusual when you were where you weren’t supposed to be?”

Chrissy sniffed. “Yeah, I saw a Tristorian lying on the floor. Seemed a funny time and, ah place, to be sleeping, but then I saw blood and my brain froze. I ran out of the room and bumped into Smith almost immediately, but I only told him I’d see him at home. Then I rushed out of the Aquarium. Am I in trouble?”

“Wasn’t a particularly smart thing to do, Chrissy,” said Harrison, echoing my thoughts. He shook his head at her. “You should have told someone. Maybe the Tristorian could have been saved.”

“No, no. The floor was covered with green blood. I knew from last time he was dead. Tristorians never lie down.”

“Now, tell us exactly what you saw in the storage room.” Jack stared at Chrissy.

“I already did.” She wasn’t happy with his request.

“Try again,” said Jack, back to playing bad cop. “Describe the scene. Smells, visuals, etc.”

“Okay, okay. I went into the storeroom looking for Smith. Well, I didn’t know it was a storeroom. I was just looking for my boyfriend. Then I saw a Tristorian lying on the floor. Seemed a little strange because he should’ve been at the banquet.”

Chrissy gazed off into space.

Harrison brought her back down to earth. “What did you do then?”

“I took another look around, and that’s when I saw all the blood, the green, green blood. He was dead, wasn’t he” she asked.

“Most likely,” said Harrison. “Then what did you do?”

Chrissy gave Harrison a look of exasperation. “I told you. I found Smith; spoke to him and then left for home.”

“Did you see anyone else in the storeroom, or anything out of place?” asked Harrison.

Chrissy sighed. “The lights were off, so I turned them on. Other than the Tristorian, I didn’t see anyone, human or otherwise, in the storage room, and since I’d never been in there before, I certainly didn’t notice anything out of place. So I left.”

My friend had tired. The whole experience had exhausted an emotional Chrissy. I gave Harrison a signal.

“Okay, Chrissy. Is there anything else you can tell us?” asked Harrison.

“Not that I remember. If something comes to me, I’ll let you know. Can I go home now? I need to get some bowling practice in tonight.”

“We need the shoes and clothes you wore last night at the banquet. I’ll meet you at your place and pick them up,” said Harrison. “Let’s go.”

Chrissy gave me a mute appeal, but I didn’t respond. She needed to take responsibility for her actions, but I did ache for my sweet, sensitive friend.