Sheriff Cruso shot Pickell the look of an angry boss. “We had security,” Pickell told him, a note of defensiveness in his voice. “The family told him to let her through.”
“The security was for her?” I asked, trying to keep up.
Sheriff Cruso drew one cowboy boot to one knee and reclined in his seat, slowly shaking his head in annoyance. “The security was to protect Eileen and her family from anyone who may want to hurt or harass them, a banner under which Martina Cannon falls.”
“What has she done?”
“She’s interfering with an active police investigation, for one thing.” Sheriff Cruso put a finger on The Defendant’s face and slid it back my way. “This is not our guy.”
I wanted to put my finger in the same spot and slide it back toward him, but I doubted that would go over well. “That is the man I saw at the front door,” I said as calmly as I could. “I am positive.”
“Not so positive that you didn’t name Roger Yul in your initial statement.” Pickell smiled at me almost sadly. He wasn’t trying to be antagonistic, just stating an unfortunate fact.
Sheriff Cruso picked up the thread. “How well do you know Roger, would you say?”
“Very well,” I answered with far too much confidence. “He was Denise’s boyfriend for three years.”
“And yet they broke up a number of times.”
“Yes, but he’s a member of the same fraternity as my boyfriend. Even when Denise wasn’t dating him, he was always around.”
“Since you know him so well, I’m curious if you know how old he is.”
What an odd question. “He’s twenty-two,” I said. “His birthday is in April, so he’ll be twenty-three soon. He was held back a year in high school.”
“We are not trying to make you feel bad here,” Pickell said. “But your answer demonstrates some of our deepest concerns about Roger.”
I blinked between the two of them, furious and confused. What weren’t they saying? What didn’t I know that, as chapter president, as Denise’s best friend, I should have known?
“Roger Yul is twenty-eight years old,” Sheriff Cruso said.
I laughed coarsely. “He is not.”
“Yes, Pamela,” Pickell said gently, “he is. He served in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1970 before being discharged for ‘mental abnormalities.’ He spent the following year in an institution in Alabama before going off the grid completely. In 1973, he falsified high school records and applied to Florida State University.”
I thought about what Bernadette had told me just two nights ago, in Mrs. McCall’s chinoiserie-covered guest bedroom. What he had done to her. How she’d seen spots. She’d been sure she was about to die. I found that, like her, I’d opened my mouth and allowed half a vowel before remembering. She hadn’t given me permission.
“Were you about to say something?” Pickell asked. He was watching me closely.
“I was just about to say, isn’t it possible that Roger is… disturbed and also that this is the person who did it? Could they have been working together?”
“You’re going to law school in the fall, aren’t you, Pamela?” That was Sheriff Cruso. I must have mentioned my plans during our initial interview, though I couldn’t remember doing so. Or maybe he knew because his position made him privy to such things. Confidential things. Maybe I should respect that. Just let him do his job. Focus on doing mine. I remembered the victims’ assistance fund Brian had told me about. Apparently, you had to apply within seven days of the event in order to qualify. I needed to get on top of that. I wondered if there were applications right here in the station. I should ask.
“Columbia, right?” Pickell said. “Very impressive.”
A bolt of shock struck my tailbone. That wasn’t true. Why in God’s name had I told him that?
“I’m going to Shorebird College of Law. Down in Fort Lauderdale.” Brian and I were going together. He wanted to specialize in campaign finance law, just like his father, and I wanted to specialize in corporate, just like mine.
Pickell frowned. “Oh. I see.”
“Regardless,” Sheriff Cruso said, “you are someone who understands that we never say nothing is impossible. It’s impossible—it’s irresponsible—to make official determinations at this point in the investigation. We follow the trail that the evidence cuts. And right now the preponderance of evidence cuts to Roger.”