“Okay, yes, I was there. My father was originally from New York, but we moved to Florida when I was little. My parents liked the weather, and the taxes were a lot lower than New York’s. We lived in West Palm at the time. I traveled with my father to Miami. I wanted to meet the president. I was only fifteen.”
“So, anything unusual?”
“Unusual how?”
“Anything out of the ordinary.”
“Not that I can think of. The president gave his speech, then my father followed him with his remarks. There was the photo op and shaking the hands of all the big donors. I got to meet Reagan. He was quite charming. And looked quite robust, considering he’d almost been killed not that long before. Then the president left. No one could leave before him—that’s standard procedure, you know.”
“And then what?”
“And then I went back to the hotel with one of my father’s aides. Then I went to sleep.”
“And your father?”
“I’m sure he came along later. He had some more people to glad-hand.”
“But you didn’t see him that night?”
The maid brought the coffees out and then departed.
Fellows took a sip of hers. “I don’t think I saw him after I got back to the hotel. I mean, I wasn’t a little child he needed to tuck in.” She paused and added, “Why do you think anything unusual happened that night?”
When she said this last part her gaze dipped, and her hand shook a bit, Decker noted.
White said, “That night a Secret Service agent saw something that, let’s just say, changed his life completely. He was never the same since.”
Fellows looked startled. “A Secret Service agent? You mean from Reagan’s detail?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not suggesting that the president—”
“No, of course not,” said Decker. “Reagan was in bed long before then, surrounded by his protection detail. And the agent in question was off duty. Some of his fellow agents went out for dinner and drinks, but he didn’t. He stayed at the hotel.”
Fellows looked thoughtful. “And that’s when you think he saw something unusual?”
“Yes.”
Decker watched her closely. “But since you never left your room and saw nothing, I guess you can’t help us…？”
White added, “And that means the recent murders we’re investigating, I guess the guilty people go free.”
Fellows shot her a stern look. “So now you’re trying to guilt me into talking, I guess?”
“We’re just trying to get to the truth,” replied Decker.
She took another sip of coffee and then looked down at her freshly done nails. “I was very excited that night. After meeting the president and all.” She glanced up, seemingly trying to read their reaction to this. “It made it difficult to sleep.”
Decker shifted his large bulk in his small seat as he perceived what she was trying to do. “And when you couldn’t sleep, what did you do?”
“I might have gone out into the hall and…walked around, gotten some fresh air.”
“And saw…something, perhaps?” interjected White.
“What did this Secret Service agent look like?” Fellows asked abruptly.
Decker took his phone from his pocket, pulled up a file, and showed her a photo of a far younger Kanak Roe from his company’s website.
She looked at it and nodded. “Yes, that looks like the man I saw that night. At least I think so. It was a long time ago, after all,” she added with a touch of defiance. “Memories are not infallible, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” said Decker, drawing a surprised glance from White. “What was he doing?”
Fellows suddenly became rigid, closed her eyes, and shook her head. “I really don’t want to revisit this. There’s no point in dredging up the past. No good can come of it.”
White leaned forward. “I know this is hard, Ms. Fellows. I really do. But there are some people who could unfairly be found guilty of murder and go to prison, or worse, if we don’t get to the bottom of this. And what you tell us will go no further. We just need some information, that’s all.”
Fellows pulled a tissue from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes. After a few moments she said, “I…I heard raised voices from a room.”
“Could you hear what was being said?” asked Decker.
She shook her head. “But the door was open a crack. I…I took a peek.”