Justice (16 page)

“
No
.”

“
What
?” Davidson growled. “Of course she was his girlfriend! Fucking liar.”

Elaine said, “Have you ever had sex with Cheryl Diggs
?”

“
Yes
.”

“
Have you ever had a homosexual encounter
?”

“
No
.”

“
On the night of the prom, were you aware of the fact that Cheryl Diggs was pregnant
?”

Whitman paused. “I can’t answer that yes or no
.”

“
Next question,” Moody said
.

Oliver said, “Why can’t he answer
that
yes or no?”

Decker said, “I don’t know. Elaine knows what I want. She’ll get it out of him.”

Elaine said, “Mr. Whitman, on the night of the prom, did you suspect that Cheryl Diggs might be pregnant
?”

“
No
.”

Elaine paused. “Mr. Whitman, on the night of the prom, did Cheryl Diggs
tell
you she was pregnant
?”

“
Yes,” Whitman answered
.

“Good going, Elaine,” Decker whispered.

“
Did Cheryl Diggs tell you that you were the father of the baby she was carrying
?”

“
Yes
.”

“
Did you believe her when she told you that the baby was yours
?”

“
No
.”

“
Did you believe her when she told you she was pregnant
?”

Whitman held up his hands and shrugged. “Can’t answer that yes or no
.”

“
Next,” Moody said. “Where are we, Mark
?”

“
We’re up to twenty-one questions,” Kramarze answered
.

Elaine said, “Mr. Whitman, do you believe that you fathered Cheryl Diggs’s conception
?”

“
No
.”

“
Mr. Whitman, after the senior prom, did you and Cheryl attend parties
?”

“
Yes
.”

“
Did you have sex with Cheryl Diggs at any of those aforementioned parties
?”

“
No
.”

“
Were you alone with Cheryl Diggs at the Grenada West End Hotel in room three-fourteen the night of the prom or in the early morning afterward
?”

“
Yes
.”

“
And did you have sex with Cheryl Diggs in room three-fourteen at the Granada West End Hotel the night of the prom or in the early morning afterward
?”

“
Yes
.”

“
Did you have sex twice with Cheryl Diggs in the aforementioned hotel the night of the prom or in the early morning afterward
?”

“
Yes
.”

“Ah, the energy of youth,” Oliver said wistfully.

“
Did you have sex three times with Cheryl Diggs in the aforementioned hotel the night of the prom or in the early morning afterward
?”

“
No
.”

“
Did you witness or hear of Cheryl Diggs having sex
with any other man the night of the prom or in the early morning afterward
?”

“
Did I
?”

“
Yes, sir
.”

“
I didn’t hear or see anything. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t
.”

“
A yes or no answer, Mr. Whitman
.”

“
Skip over the question,” Moody said. “It’s improperly stated
.”

Elaine moved on. “At the Grenada West End Hotel, on the night of the prom or in the early morning afterward, did you in any way bind, tie, or help secure Cheryl Diggs’s hands to the headboard using ropes, articles of clothing, or anything else as constraints
.”

“
No
.”

“
Have you ever tied up Cheryl Diggs as part of your sexual interplay with her
?”

“
No
.”

“
Have you ever tied up any person as part of your sexual interplay with that person
?”

“
No
.”

“
Have you ever tied up anyone, for any reason, in the last ten years
?”

“
No
.”

“
Are you a homosexual
?”

“
No
.”

“
Have you ever murdered anyone
?”

Moody said, “Ms. Reuter, for the second time, Mr. Whitman has a clean record for all the world to see. Your question is not only biased and prejudicial but insulting and irrelevant. If you can’t keep your questions more germane to Miss Diggs’s unfortunate case, we can stop now
.”

Elaine said, “Mr. Whitman, were you drinking the night of the prom or in the early morning afterward
?”

“
Yes
.”

“
Have you ever had blackouts from your drinking
?”

“
Don’t answer that, Chris,” Moody said
.

“Why’d he object?” Davidson asked Decker.

“Blackouts could be for the prosecution or for the defense. Moody doesn’t know how he wants to use it, so he doesn’t want to deal with it.”

“
Where are we, Mark?” Moody asked
.

“
Thirty-six
.”

“
Four more, Ms. Reuter
.”

Elaine said, “Mr. Whitman, were you drunk the night of the prom
?”

Moody said, “In the absence of any clinical analysis, the question postulates a subjective state of mind which my client is neither prepared nor skilled to give. Proceed to the next question
.”

“
Have you ever taken drugs
?”

“
Ms. Reuter, for the last time, Mr. Whitman’s record is clean,” Moody said. “I am sorely losing my patience
.”

“
Mr. Whitman, did you murder Cheryl Diggs the night of your senior prom or in the early morning afterward
?”

“
No
.”

“
Did you, in any way, do harm to Cheryl Diggs so as to cause her death the night of your senior prom or in the early morning afterward
?”

“
No
.”

“
That’s forty,” Kramarze stated
.

Elaine said quickly, “Mr. Whitman, did you in any way, wittingly or unwittingly, do harm to Cheryl Diggs so as to cause her death the night of your senior prom or in the early morning afterward
?”

Moody broke in. “Again, you are asking Mr. Whitman to evaluate something subjective. How does he know what he might have done unwittingly
?”

Kramarze said, “And we’re up to forty-one, Mr. Moody
.”

“
We are done,” Moody stated
.

Elaine said, “Mr. Whitman, have you been completely truthful in answering these questions
?”

“
Yes
.”

Elaine smiled at Moody. “Now we’re done
.”

“
He passed
.”

“
What
?” Decker said. “All of it?”

“Yep.”

“You’re
kidding
!”

“’Fraid not.”

Davidson grabbed the test results from Elaine Reuter’s hand. “These tests are
garbage
! No wonder they’re not admissible as evidence.”

“I told you he was going to pass,” Oliver said, combing his hair. “He’s wiped out. He doesn’t give a shit. No anxiety, no fluctuation in the galvanic skin response.”

Elaine said, “There’s some truth to that.”

“Or he’s a psycho,” Davidson said.

“There’s truth to that, too,” Elaine said. “A pathological liar could probably beat it.”

Decker took the test results from Davidson. “Were any of his answers inconclusive?”

“Some variation when I asked about an arrest record—”

Decker cleared his throat.

Davidson glared at him. “You got a problem with mucus, Decker?”

“No,” Decker said. “I got a problem with Whitman’s clean sheet. I
know
he’s been caged before.”

“Call New York,” Oliver said. “Kid’s not
that
old.
Even if his records as a juvey have been sealed, someone’s bound to remember a crime committed by Joseph Donatti’s son.”

“Anything else show up funny, Elaine?” Decker asked.

“He also had a little wiggle when I asked him about tying girls up. Betcha he’s had some bondage fantasies. But nothing jumped out beyond the norm.”

Davidson swore. “This is really going to put us in a one-down position when we interview him. Once the little shit knows the results, he’s gonna be an impossible nut to crack.”

Elaine said, “Delay it. Tell them I went for dinner, will have the results back in an hour or so.”

“They’ll see through it,” Oliver said.

“Probably,” Decker said. “But it won’t hurt to increase Whitman’s anxiety. Like Scott said, the kid could use a dose of nervousness.”

“Goddamn mother F!” Davidson said. “How’d he pass it?”

Decker shrugged. “Maybe he didn’t do anything.”

Davidson glared at Decker. “He did it. You know it and I know it.”

“Let’s backtrack for a minute,” Decker said. “Whitman admitted screwing Cheryl twice. I think that explains the two used condoms we found in the hotel room. But she also had lots of semen
inside
of her.” He paused. “There’s another guy unaccounted for, Lieutenant.”

Oliver said, “Some of Whitman’s friends told me they’d been raging before they reached the hotel. Cheryl had been seen with a lot of guys.”

Decker said, “So she had plenty of opportunity for sex before Whitman got to her at the hotel.”

Elaine said, “But Whitman was with her at the parties.”

Decker said, “I’m sure he wasn’t with her every single moment. We’re talking about teenage boys.” He
smiled. “I mean, how long does it take?”

“That’s what pushed him over the edge,” Davidson said.

“Come again?” Elaine said.

“Simple,” Davidson said. “He slipped it in, realized she’d already put out for someone else. He went psycho.”

Elaine said, “Except he didn’t consider Cheryl his girlfriend.”

“That’s according to
him
,” Davidson said. “According to everyone else, they were tight. Stick to polygraphs, Reuter.”

Decker said, “Lieutenant, if she had had sex with another man prior to Whitman…and Whitman was the one who used condoms…there’d have been semen found on the
outside
of the skins.”

Oliver nodded. “Was any found?”

“I’ll check.” Decker’s eyes went to Davidson’s. “Matter of fact, I think the best thing to do is go back to basics and check out everything about this case…
all
the different leads.”

Davidson’s eyes grew hot. “Right now, Decker, the best thing to do is lean on Whitman. You go in and interview the hell out of that kid. Grill him hard and don’t let up. I know psychos and killers, and he’s a psycho and a killer.”

“But a tired one with no anxiety,” Oliver said.

Davidson said, “That’s exactly when you want to attack, Oliver. When the defenses are down and the mind’s confused. By him coming in tired, he’s done half our work for us.”

“Loo,” Oliver said, “I know wisdom states that you want to wear your suspects down…they become vulnerable when they’re tired. But that’s not
this
guy. Let him go home and sleep. Give him a chance to build up his arrogance. He’s a surefooted son of a bitch. If anything trips him up, it will be his cockiness.”

“Oliver, you’re a good homicide cop,” Davidson
said. “But you’re wrong.” He turned to Decker. “You’re going to do this right?”

“Only way I know how to work,” Decker said.

“Good,” Davidson said. “Now I got a couple of phone calls to make. You go get that little psycho.”

Davidson left the room, slamming the door behind him. Decker turned to Oliver. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re right.”

“I do, too,” Elaine said. “Whitman wasn’t my typical subject. Nothing riled him.
Way
too passive.”

“Fatigue.” Oliver shook his head. “Not that I personally think Whitman’s innocent. I think he’s guilty.”

“Why?” Elaine said.

“Picture I got of him from talking to his friends,” Oliver said. “A cold mother.”

“He’s a spooky kid,” Decker said.

Elaine sighed. “The good ones are always gay or weird.”

Oliver smiled. “I’d like to see him nailed. I’m just saying, if you go after someone, do it in the best way possible.”

“I’ll work around it,” Decker said. “Got a few aces up my sleeve…thanks for the support, Scott.”

Oliver shook his head. “I just don’t understand Davidson’s attitude. You don’t crucify without evidence. The loo’s got a real hair up his ass with this one.”

Several, Decker thought. And they’re all African American.

Decker walked into the interview room, taking a seat opposite Whitman. He pulled out a cigarette pack and slid it across the table. Whitman eyed the cellophane carton, then pulled out a smoke and placed it between his lips. Decker lit his cigarette.

Whitman nodded a thank you, eyes on Decker.

Decker said, “Congratulations.”

Moody smiled. “He passed.”

“Passed?” Decker focused on Whitman. “Oh, you mean the polygraph. Ms. Reuter took a dinner break. We’ll know the results in about an hour.”

Moody sat back in his chair. “Christopher, that means you passed and he doesn’t want us to know about it.” To Decker, he said, “Sergeant, until we can all be honest, there isn’t much purpose to this interview.”

Decker didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled out a Xerox copy of a newspaper clipping—the sole pickings from his morning in the library. Slowly he moved the paper until it lay in front of Whitman’s line of vision.

Whitman blew out a cloud of smoke, then inched his eyes to the paper. He closed his lids, then opened them, but his expression remained flat. Moody took the Xerox and read the text. He said nothing, handing the article to Kramarze.

“So when’s the big day?” Decker said.

Reflexively, Moody said, “This aspect of Mr. Whitman’s personal life is not germane to the case.”

“I think it is, Counselor,” Decker said. “According to the papers, Mr. Whitman is currently engaged to a young lady…from a very
prominent
New York family. Then we find out, in his spare time, Mr. Whitman’s been sleeping with another girl who shows up dead
and
pregnant. This does not bode well for Mr. Whitman’s future relationship.”

“Is there a point to your sarcasm?”

“Last I heard, the Benedettos weren’t particularly tolerant people.”

“That’s because you get your information from the papers,” Moody said. “In fact, they are a lovely family.”

“I’m sure they’re salt of the earth. Being such down-home folks, I don’t know if they’d approve of Christopher’s extracurricular activities. Ever read a book called
An American Tragedy
?”

“Oh, don’t lower yourself with melodrama, Detective.”

“Do you want me to write down the name of the book, Mr. Moody?” Kramarze asked.

“No, Mark, I don’t,” Moody said. “Sergeant, if you have some pertinent questions that Mr. Whitman might assist you with in Ms. Diggs’s terrible death, speak up. If not, I’m going home to watch the game.”

Decker faced Whitman. “When’s the big day, Chris?”

Whitman took another puff and turned to Moody. “Should I talk to him or what?”

Moody folded his hands and placed them on the table. “Answer his questions, Christopher.”

Whitman stubbed out his cigarette and poured himself a glass of water. “October fifteenth.”

“Of this year?”

“Of this year.”

“Kind of young to be taking such a big step.”

Whitman didn’t answer.

Decker paused. “Does Lorraine Benedetto know what’s going on out west?”

Whitman looked at Moody. The lawyer said, “He’s trying to establish a motive for Cheryl’s death. You didn’t want your fiancée to find out about Cheryl so you murdered her. Answer him, Chris. Does Lorraine Benedetto know what went on between you and Cheryl?”

Whitman drained his water glass. “Yes. Lorraine knows about Cheryl and me.”

Decker paused. “Your fiancée is aware of the fact that you’ve been sleeping with Cheryl Diggs for the past year?”

“Yes.”

“Has Lorraine always been aware of this?”

“Don’t know,” Whitman said. “But she knows now.”

“How about Lorraine’s father? Does he know you’ve been fucking other girls—”

“Sergeant—”

Decker said, “How’s your fiancée reacting to all of this mess?”

Whitman looked at Moody. The lawyer nodded.

“No one’s happy about it,” Whitman said. “I know there’ll be hell to pay when I get back home. But we’re going through with the wedding.”

“You’re lucky,” Decker said. “She sounds like a very understanding girl.”

Whitman was silent.

“I got married pretty young,” Decker said. “Not quite as young as you, but twenty-one is still a baby in my book. I had a kid at twenty-two. Lots of responsibility. I always felt I missed out on my youth—”

“Is there a purpose to your biographical digression?” Moody interrupted.

“If I had known I was going to get married so
young
, I might have sown a lot more wild oats…done some real outrageous experimentation—”

“If you feel deprived, Sergeant, take it up in therapy. Either get with the program or we’re gone.”

Decker said, “You were adopted by the Donattis at thirteen, Chris?”

“Yes.”

“Who’d you live with before you were adopted?”

“My mother.”

“What happened to your mother?”

“She died.”

“Who’s your mother?”

“Who’s my mother? Are you asking me her name?”

“Yes.”

“Her name was Shevonne, spelled S-I-O-B-A-N.”

“And do you know who your father was?”

A flash of indignation traveled through the boy’s eyes. “Yes.”

“Name?”

“William Patrick Whitman.”

“He was married to your mom?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re legitimate—”

“Sergeant, I’m warning you,” Moody broke in.

“And what happened to your dad, Chris?”

“He died when I was nine.”

“How did Donatti come to adopt you?”

Moody said, “Next question.”

“I’m just trying to get a little background on Mr. Whitman. He’s got some blank spots in his bio.”

“For the last time, Sergeant, make it relevant or don’t ask it at all.”

Decker said to Whitman, “How long were you and Cheryl Diggs sexually active together?”

“I’ve got to think.” Whitman folded his hands and laid them on the table. “I got to Central West around a year and a half ago. Shortly after that, I guess.”

“You’ve been sexually active with Cheryl for a year and a half?”

“Around.”

“But you never considered her your girlfriend?”

“No.”

“Because you were…still are engaged to another girl?”

“Yes.”

“So how would you define your relationship with Cheryl Diggs?”

“I don’t know. Sexual friends maybe.”

“Sexual friends,” Decker said. “I like that. Lorraine knew about Cheryl?”

“You already asked me that. I don’t know.”

“Did Cheryl know about Lorraine?”

“I don’t know that, either.”

“Did you ever
tell
Cheryl that you were engaged to another girl?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“It never came up.”

“Nah, I don’t imagine it would.”

“Sergeant—”

“I’ve spoken to some of your friends, Chris. They told me that Cheryl really liked you. They told me that she considered you her boyfriend.”

Moody said, “That’s hearsay.”

“And this isn’t a court of law, Mr. Moody.” To Whitman, Decker said, “Chris, did you ever correct her impression?”

“What impression?”

“Ever tell her you
weren’t
her boyfriend?”

“Like I said, it never came up. We slept with each other, Sergeant. That was the extent of our relationship.”

“All your interactions with Cheryl were of a sexual nature?”

“Basically, yes.”

“You
never
talked to her?”

“Not about anything substantive, no.”

“Well, what
insubstantive
things did you and Cheryl talk about?”

Whitman poured himself another glass of water. “You know, they were so insignificant, I can’t even remember. We were
rarely
alone except when we were having sex. At those times, we didn’t talk.”

“How about when you weren’t having sex? You ever take her to a movie…or to a rock concert…or go grab a hamburger with her?”

“No.”

Decker tried to keep his face neutral, but it was a challenge. “Cheryl was a cheap date.”

“She wasn’t a date,” Whitman said. “It wasn’t a one-on-one thing. We always went out in groups. We went to parties. Sex usually took place in the back rooms of the house where the parties were. I’ve never been to Cheryl’s house. She’s never seen my apartment. We weren’t emotionally close.”

“So who are you close to, Chris?”