Midnight Crossing (Josie Gray Mysteries #5)(91)

Moss scooted his chair back. “I don’t have to put up with this nonsense. I did you a favor by coming in here. You need to learn some respect for your superiors.”

“I don’t think you want to leave just yet. I learned something that I think you’ll want to hear.” Josie smiled, sat down at the table, and opened up the manila folder in front of her.

Moss said nothing, but he remained seated.

“So you and Josh Mooney aren’t friends?” she asked.

Moss looked at Otto, who raised his eyebrows as if wondering the same question.

“You know full well I’m not friends with that moron.”

“You don’t offer him rides?”

“No.”

“He’s never borrowed your truck?”

“Hell, no. What are you getting at? I explained why I talked to him.”

Josie offered a cynical smile. “Here’s what we have. Not only do we have cell phone records that place you near the murder scene, as well as your own words, admitting you were there, but we’ve now connected your gun to the murder scene.”

“What gun?”

“The Ruger .380 that we removed from your home today,” she said.

“You said yourself the gun wasn’t in the box. How the hell could that gun be at the scene?”

Josie smiled again. “We don’t have your gun. We have the casing from the site of the murder, the bullet from Renata’s body, and the test-fired casing from your gun that all match perfectly.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked. His forehead was drawn up into worry lines. She realized he didn’t have any idea. Texas didn’t require registry of the test-fired casings, so why would he know? Most people had no idea what the envelope was for and ignored it as excess paperwork in the box, having no idea there was a spent casing inside it.

“When you bought your gun, did you notice the little yellow envelope in the box?” she said.

The mayor looked at Otto. “What the hell is she talking about?”

Josie nodded at Otto, to pass the baton back to him.

“Inside that envelope is a spent casing from the manufacturer,” Otto said. “That casing matches the casing we found at the murder site. Your gun was used to murder Renata Carrillo.”

They were bluffing. But Moss was so flustered he’d not thought it through that they had not had time to run ballistics to confirm the match.

The mayor’s face had the chiseled look of stone as he gritted his teeth, mentally recalibrating his story. After a moment he said, “Josh shot her.” Typical Moss: knee-jerk reaction, deflecting the blame before thinking through the consequences. He’d already told the police he’d lost his gun, and then instantly changed his story. He’d just made it easier for the prosecution.

Josie glanced at Otto, who was recalculating his questioning strategy. This was not the way they had imagined or planned for the interview.

“Were you with him?” Josie asked.

“I watched him. I drove the car.”

“Wait a minute,” she said. “Earlier you said Josh was driving.”

Moss began nodding his head, his expression earnest. “I know I did. I was trying to help the kid out. Trying to deflect some attention off of him, but it’s done nothing but cause me trouble. I’m done with that.” Moss’s eyes grew wider with his story. “He did take my gun out of the glove compartment of my truck, now that I think about it. He must have had it with him when he stopped the car. He got out and ran after them, chasing them into the pasture. When he couldn’t catch the first girl, he panicked and shot her. I drove the car down the road and tried to shine the headlights on the pasture to stop things from getting out of control, but it was too late.”

“What did you do after you heard the gunshots?” she asked.

Moss looked at Josie, unblinking. She could imagine him spinning his tale on the fly. She noted that his order of events didn’t exactly match Isabella’s but let it go. “I waited for Josh to get back in the car and we left. He told me he’d shot into the air to scare them, but that they’d escaped and he couldn’t catch them.”

Moss paused and suddenly looked as if he was tearing up. “I didn’t find out the woman had died until I heard about the death on the radio. Obviously it was too late to do anything at that point. I wanted to come forward, but that crazy bastard Josh Mooney said he’d kill me if I went to the police.”

*

Josie stood and said, “I need to place a phone call.”

She left Otto with the mayor to stall for time while Josie called Holder and explained the situation. “I don’t want to let him go, but I don’t know what to charge him with. We’re at the jail. We’ll talk to Josh Mooney next, but meantime, we have to do something with him. We can’t hold him indefinitely.”

“Place him under arrest for accessory to commit murder. If it falls apart we’ll let him go. But I’m with you. At this point, I don’t want to cut him loose.”

Josie entered the interrogation room, where she found the mayor smiling at Otto as he told some story. He obviously thought he’d played his part well and was headed for home. Josie wasted no time.

“Mayor Moss, after consulting with Prosecutor Holder, I am placing you under arrest for accessory to commit murder in the death of Renata Carrillo. You have the right to remain silent.”