Juan’s eyes registered momentary surprise when he saw the telltale gray drape around the shoulders that guaranteed equal status to all arrestees. But his face never changed from expressionless as he said, ‘Yes.’
‘You understand,’ Sarah said, ‘we are Tucson city police.’ They had agreed not to mention Homicide yet. ‘We have no interest in your documentation and the license under which you operate here.’ She paused, aware that her denial conveyed a powerful threat. ‘We only need to know how long you have been servicing this car and what maintenance you do on it.’
The interrogation that followed was conducted almost entirely by Oscar, who besides being bilingual was a car buff and had spent years in Auto Theft. In alternating Spanish and English, with pauses, he teased out the details of the work that kept Joey’s old car on the road, and translated it for his team, with Juan himself interjecting at points in shaky English.
‘He has no interest in how the car looks, as you have seen,’ Juan said, ‘and he does not have much money of his own. But the person he works for requires him to make occasional trips out of town, so he puts hundreds of miles on the car each month. He comes to me for basic maintenance, so he won’t break down out there on the road.’ As he grew more relaxed, Juan’s English, somewhat suspiciously, seemed to improve.
‘I noticed that the car looks better under the hood than anyplace else.’
‘Yes. It’s an old car but a standard make, you know, so I can always get parts. I keep the gears lubricated, the brakes tight. I keep the engine clean and the oil fresh. Also, I rotate the tires and keep them balanced, and I recently replaced the whole set.’
‘I noticed that too. You ordered and installed them?’
‘Yes.’
‘Where does he go, do you know?’
Juan shrugged. ‘Not exactly. Somewhere near Phoenix, it must be. Sometimes I have to dig out the front floor, just enough so I can work. That guy, he is a pig, you know? The trash in the car is all food – candy wrappers and fast food bags. But the receipts are from Chandler or Mesa.’
‘Does he pay you each time you service the car, or—’
‘Not exactly. He brought money along the first time he came to me, and then he wanted to run a …’ He looked at Oscar and said a Spanish phrase.
‘A charge? A tab?’
‘Si, a tab. He said that his employer wanted to see the charge. But I said that I cannot run a tab, I deal only in cash. So now he brings a deposit every two or three months, and when I work on the car I give him a bill and show him how much credit he has left. When it gets down to around fifty dollars I show him and he brings more money.’
‘The deposits, Juan.’ All the detectives leaned forward as Oscar asked the next question. ‘Are they cash or a check?’
‘Cash.’
‘And when you replaced the tires? Did you order those?’
‘Yes. After they paid a deposit.’
‘They?’
‘Well.’ Juan licked his lips. ‘He says someone else is paying.’
‘But you haven’t seen that person?’
‘No.’
Sarah said, ‘And so far you haven’t lost on the deal? He’s paid for everything he’s used?’
‘Yes.’ He nodded, gratified by this indication that someone understood his greatest anxiety. ‘But each time I hold my breath a little, because the arrangement seems a little … irregular.’
‘But on the other hand they’re good business, huh?’
‘Yes.’ A tiny shrug, balanced between resignation and fear, and then he tried to put a Chamber of Commerce spin on his risky life. ‘All my customers are good business. Good people here!’ He smiled the ghost of a boosterish smile, and then went back to watching them carefully.
Driving back to the station, the three of them batted the question around – who’s the ‘employer’ who pays the bills on the car?
‘You think maybe it was Angela who got the money after all?’ Sarah said, turned sideways in the passenger seat while Jason drove. ‘But why would she “employ” Joey?’
‘And if Joey then killed her and took the money, why was he doing a home invasion just to score a couple of cameras and an iPad?’
‘But if he doesn’t have the money,’ Oscar said, ‘what’s all the travel about?’
‘And if he does have the money,’ Jason said, ‘who’s his employer now that Angela’s gone?’
‘Maybe there is no employer,’ Sarah said. ‘Maybe it’s one more dodge for him to hide behind. Have you noticed how fast everything Joey touches slides out of control?’