The next morning we drive to the jail and obtain permission to talk to both Armand and Sheriff Paul. Our request to have them separated so we could talk to each of them more privately was denied, which means this is going to give me a headache.
First up: Armand.
“You’ve been on the run for quite a while,” I say to him. “Then, the boat. Where were you planning to go?”
Paul’s voice pierces the dank air surrounding the cells. “He’s a worm, a termite, a criminal, a thief, a murderer! He’d go to China or anywhere else he could to get to, anything to get away. Don’t believe anything he tells you!”
“Says the murderer next door,” Armand says.
“Quiet, Paul!” I said, turning my attention back to Armand. “Do you have friends that are helping you, where you planned to stay?”
“He was probably trying to hook up with the crew from the track,” Paul says, loudly. “They’re all crooks! Go ahead, ask him about his low-life friends at the track!”
I ask Armand the same question again, this time in lower voice so that Paul could not hear us.
“I need to be moved to another cell where I can sleep without listening to this all day and all night,” Armand says. “He doesn’t know anything about anything and he won’t be helpful to you or to me. Get me a lawyer. I’m not going to tell you anything until I have a lawyer.”
“I’ll get you a public defender,” I respond, “but I already asked for a cell change and was denied. If you aren’t going to talk to me without a lawyer, I’ll suspend our discussion until you have representation. In the meantime, I do need to speak to Paul. Please do not interrupt us.”
I ask the guard to move me over to Paul’s cell. I am careful to speak softly so Armand cannot hear us. “Are you willing to tell me about your relationship with Armand and how he contracted with you to kill Mick Righteous?”
Paul shakes his head.
“No, I am not. No more. I’ll need my lawyer for the discussion”, he says.
I’m very disappointed. The day is a bust, and my head is pounding.
It occurs to me, as Merc and I leave the jail, that the Mick Righteous part of my work that keeps me in Middle Valley should soon be wrapping up – at least to some extent. If I am not still living here when the trials are held, I’ll certainly have to return.
I’ll only have to return, though, if I leave … and I’m not sure that’s what I want.