Real Bad Things(86)
“Do I need stitches?”
The medic examined Jane’s cuts. “Probably.”
“Will I die if I don’t get them?”
The medic grimaced. “This should hold you for a while. But you need to go to the hospital when you’re done here. You might have other injuries. Understood?”
Jane nodded halfheartedly.
After the medic finished with Jane and packed up their things, Jane sat in the interview room alone for an indeterminate amount of time. She wondered if they had locked the door but didn’t have the energy to get up and check. The room was bright as hell from the fluorescents, like a work conference room. Not at all like in the TV shows. All white walls with stains and broken ceiling tiles. No two-way mirror in sight. She glanced at the camera mounted from the ceiling. Still broken. Just like the last time she’d been in this room.
“Fucking Maud,” she whispered.
When Benjamin came in some time later, Jane lifted her head off the table. She must’ve fallen asleep. She felt like a pincushion, head throbbing.
She wiped her eyes and mouth. “Did you arrest Diane?”
“It’s in progress,” he said.
“For murder?”
“For assault. On you.”
She groaned. “It should be murder. When can Jason leave?”
Jane refused to acknowledge Georgia Lee. She wouldn’t. Couldn’t. One detail she did remember: the look of shock on Georgia Lee’s face when Benjamin confirmed what Jane said was true.
Benjamin tilted his head as if not understanding her.
“Are you going to let Jason go now?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Maybe her blood sugar was crashing because she got woozy and gripped the table. “You said the DNA doesn’t match. And I gave you the photo of the guy whose body Gerry found.”
“Just because you say something doesn’t make it true. Your confession is plenty evidence of that.”
“Well, if the bones don’t belong to Warren, then why is Jason still being held?”
He cleared his throat, looked down at the paper, and took a deep breath. “Because he confessed to murdering Warren.”
“I know,” she said. “He confessed. But to that murder. Not this murder.” His irritation at her irritation irritated her. “And—”
“There’s no body?” Now he held her in a staring contest. “Is that what you were going to say?”
She stared right back. “Yeah. I was. Because how can there be a crime if there’s no body?”
“Because—”
“He confessed. Got it. But technically . . .”
“Technically, you confessed to murder. Then, Georgia Lee confessed to murder. And then, because this is the most ridiculous town I’ve ever worked in, Jason confessed to murder but then changed his story and said that he didn’t commit murder but helped Georgia Lee get rid of the body. And they both said that you had nothing to do with it, despite your confession.”
“Well, they’re wrong.”
He steepled his fingers. “Are they?”
She didn’t know what to say to that.
“So you’re not going to let Jason go?”
He stared at her.
“Sorry. Just wanted to be clear. I assume this will be a lot like what happened to me. And maybe he’ll be out in like, a week, or something.” She held up her hands to stop him from interrupting her. “Pending your investigation, of course.”
He shook his head and went back to his notes for a while. “Are you sure there’s nothing you remember about this guy?” He held up the photo of the missing-finger man, who’d been so kind and fun.
What life might Jane and Jason have had if Diane had been normal and hadn’t murdered him? And what about the others? The other men in the photos? Had she assaulted them like she’d assaulted Jane?
“Do you know who this guy really is but are wondering if I know so you can pin this on Jason too?” He wouldn’t manipulate her with his polite manners and good looks. “Did you guys even do forensics before you arrested them? Or whatever it’s called?”
Benjamin put down his pen and clasped his hands. “I didn’t arrest them. They confessed.”
Right. The details had begun to get lost among the lies they’d told. What she remembered had been wrong. No. What she had assumed had been wrong. And she still wasn’t even sure what was right. Everything was as close to the truth as she knew it, except how she’d sent Jason home with Angie and she’d helped Georgia Lee, not Jason. Had Diane helped Jason? The truth she did know was right there on her tongue. All she had to do was open her mouth and let the words fall out. But she was tired of admitting to things she hadn’t done. And things she had.
“I don’t remember anything about him except he was nice.”
Now he looked like a disappointed dad. After jotting down one more note, he rested his chin on his fist. “Is it true? Did you lie about killing Warren to protect Jason?”
“Yes.”
“So you lied? Is that your final statement?”
“Yes.”
He wrote it down and then outlined her consequences. False confession, technically, which meant she was looking at three to ten years in prison for perjury, plus a fine, if the court decided to convict an adult of a false confession made as a juvenile—according to Benjamin, who advised her to speak to an attorney. At least it wasn’t life. Or death at the hands of the state. Maybe Jason’s attorney had a referral discount.