Sarah caught her just before the door closed. The two backup patrolmen leaped out of their car at once and helped her get the cuffs on.
Oscar had debated, on the way to the shop, putting cuffs on Cecelia, saying he didn’t think it was necessary. But Sarah had said, ‘This woman has killed two people that we’re sure of, let’s not underestimate her.’ So she had her cuffs ready, and made sure they were good and tight, and put on the hard way – arms in back, uncomfortable almost at once and worse as time went on, and once in the car making it impossible to lean back in the seat. Before they put her in, though, Sarah left her standing in cuffs in front of the shop a few minutes. Several of her best customers registered shock when they saw her there, listening as Sarah read her Miranda rights off a card she kept clipped in the glove compartment.
When Cecelia was secure in the backseat, with a patrolman standing guard on either side, Sarah went back in the shop and said, ‘Ready?’ to Oscar, who had just got up off the floor with as much dignity as he could muster. He was still having some trouble getting his breath, and was having a lot of loose hair brushed off him by a helpful haircutter. He got back in the passenger seat of the Impala and never spoke another word to Cecelia, then or later.
Sarah put her in Interview I and stepped outside to check with her interview partner. Cecelia had been wearing only a sleeveless top under the smock – it got pretty hot in the shop – and the whole crew of detectives had gathered around the video picture now. They were all trying to maintain professional decorum – Delaney was there. But watching her heaving bosom in the low-cut top, as she tried to adjust her generous backside to the tiny stool, and seethed over being cuffed to the restraint strap on the table, the men clearly found quite diverting.
‘It kind of makes you think of Sophia Loren in one of them early pirate pictures, don’t it?’ Jason whispered.
Sarah said again, to Ollie this time, ‘Ready?’ They had the list of questions, drawn up yesterday afternoon, and they went through them dutifully. How had she learned of Frank’s being accused of pedophilia? Did she know it was a false charge, or did she believe it? When did she threaten him with disclosure, and what did she say? Did he protest at all, or give right in? Did Ed know about the accusation? Did he know she was extorting money from his uncle? How did she get Joey to help her with Angela’s murder? ‘We know you could not have hung her in the closet without help, Cecelia, was it Joey who helped? Did he do it just because you paid him, or did you have something on him too? Did he help you with Frank’s murder as well?’
Cecelia denied everything. She declared she had never received any money but her own, hard-earned income that she stood on her two feet and earned. She didn’t know what they were talking about. If Joey had something funny going on with a bank, that was Joey’s doing – she couldn’t be expected to keep track of her crazy-ass brother. Why are you talking about Frank’s murder when everybody knows he killed himself?
They talked at cross-purposes like that for about an hour. When the transport vehicle arrived they stopped talking and two fresh officers, who had been warned to watch her every move, took Cecelia away to the Pima County Adult Detention Center.
‘I thought there was one second there, when you asked that last question about who helped her with Frank’s murder, when she almost said, “No!” kind of indignantly,’ Delaney said. ‘Like maybe she did that one all by herself and was proud of it and didn’t want to share the credit.’
‘I thought I saw that too,’ Sarah said.
‘Holy Moly,’ Ollie said. ‘That’s really sick.’
‘Well, you can watch the video,’ Delaney said. ‘See what you think.’
‘I think I need a cup of coffee first,’ Ollie said. They all went in the break room together, poured coffee and sat quietly staring at it for a couple of minutes. Finally Delaney said, ‘OK, what did you all see in that interview?’
‘Total denial,’ Sarah said. ‘She feels no guilt at all for having wrecked her entire family. She saw a way to get something she wanted, she took it. She still feels entitled to it.’
‘That’s right,’ Leo said. ‘This broad is never going to break down and confess. We gotta get her with solid evidence.’
‘I think so too,’ Delaney said. ‘So how much have we got?’
‘Well, the money in the pots is pretty good,’ Oscar said. He was proud that he had found the money in the pots.
‘It’s not enough, though. Not even close to what they claim is missing.’