Face of Death

The man settled back into his own desk chair, the old leather creaking with his weight as they both watched in silence.

Shelley was already on the screen, sitting opposite Jimmy Sikes, whose handcuffs were threaded through a bar on the table to keep him in check. He had been watching her, chewing on one of his rough, dirty fingernails, for a good five minutes as she read through her files without saying a word. She calmly flicked through page after page, never so much as looking up to acknowledge him.

Zoe worried; not about Shelley, but about Sikes. He was heavier than she had wanted. The crime scenes had, she felt, indicated a lighter man. Sikes had put some weight on since his details were last updated. Not only that but the way he chewed on his nails was—wrong, somehow. At odds with the careful fastidiousness told by the marks the killer never left behind.

Sikes was growing more fidgety, shifting his weight from side to side, spitting a chewed-up fingernail out on the floor. Shelley’s technique was working, putting him off guard. He would have expected a fired-up shouting match, a grizzled old cop trying to intimidate him. The silence was not what he was used to—nor was the light and easy smile that Shelley flashed him from time to time as she continued reading.

Shelley finished looking through her files and glanced up, settling into a more comfortable and open posture. “Mr. Sikes,” she said warmly. “Jimmy, if I may.”

He stared at her, saying nothing, eyeing her out of one side of his head like a cornered dog.

“You’ve got quite the record, haven’t you?” It was said with a smile, as if encouraging him to brag about his exploits rather than judging him.

“Served my time.”

“What was that, Jimmy?”

“I said, I served my time. I’m out. You can’t punish me for those no more.”

“Well, we can, actually, Jimmy. Because you were released on probation, weren’t you?” Shelley made a show of consulting her records, though Zoe knew she had already memorized them. “For aggravated assault, it says here. A violent crime.”

Jimmy said nothing into the silence she left between them, only turning to spit another of his fingernails onto the floor. It hit the ground with a thud that was only audible to Zoe. The thud of truth. Their killer would never do that. Never leave DNA evidence behind.

“And because you were on probation, Jimmy, you weren’t supposed to leave the state. Were you? And yet we have records that show you and your car moving all the way from your sister’s home—Manda’s home—down through Missouri and over here to Kansas. That’s quite a journey, isn’t it?”

Jimmy shifted, his eyes hitting the surface of the table between them. He was thinking something over, his gaze distant and unfocused. Zoe shook her head tightly. This was all wrong. Their killer was smart, calm, careful. He would have spoken, had some kind of cover already prepared. He would never have allowed Shelley to railroad him like this.

“You also failed to check in with your probation officer, and all in all, that means you’re looking at going back inside for a violation. What a real shame. I’d like to see you rehabilitated, rather than facing more time behind bars.” Shelley made a show of checking all the details in the file, then closed it and set it to one side. “Of course, I might be able to help you out there. Because that’s not why we arrested you, is it?”

Jimmy’s head swiveled up, his eyes squinting. “… Ain’t it?”

Shelley smiled at him like they were best friends. “No, Jimmy. We arrested you because of the murders you committed this week.”

Jimmy Sikes nearly fell out of his chair. “What? I never!”

Shelley tutted and shook her head. “Now, now. Don’t lie to me, Jimmy. Not to me. I’m your best shot at getting a good deal with the judge, you know? I can help you figure something out—but only if you tell me the truth.”

“I ain’t killed nobody!” Jimmy shouted, shaking his head wildly. “I don’t know what you think you got me on, but I just been having some fun. That’s all. No killings.”

And Zoe believed him completely. This was all a waste of time. Jimmy Sikes wasn’t their man, and never had been. That was written in every slumped and careless angle of his body, the screwed-up lack of intelligence spread across his face, his word choices, his actions. Even the weight of his body.

She waited. Shelley would clear this up. They needed to be by the book, after all. If they weren’t, people would wonder why Zoe had not followed up every lead available to her.

Shelley folded her arms on the table top, retaining her smile. “Well, Jimmy, why don’t you tell me about the last few days, then? In your own words. Then we can sort out this silly misunderstanding.”

Jimmy gasped for air, then shook his head just as wildly again. “I know what you cops are up to. No way. No. I ain’t telling you a thing. You’re gonna pin this on me, make me look stupid. I know cops.”