Prologue
Elizabeth shifted in the hard metal chair for the third time as she continued to wait. It felt like hours since she was led into this cold, unforgiving room by a stone-faced police officer. She knew the detectives were trying to make her nervous before they started with their questions, and she was ashamed to feel it working. She tried to still her fidgeting limbs and project a calm demeanor to those looking at her through the one-sided window. The unseen eyes made her skin crawl as she tried to pretend she was at complete ease. Her eyes jerked to the door as the knob twisted.
The first man who entered was a tall older man with dark brown hair peppered with gray. His forest green eyes hardened as they made contact with her dark blue ones. His mouth turned downwards, and he crossed the room to where she sat. He tossed the manila folder he was carrying on the medal table in front of her. He took his black suit jacket and hung it over one of the two remaining chairs. He stiffly sat in the chair in front of her and observed her as a second man entered the room.
The second man was much younger than the first one. His dirty blonde hair was gelled in a quiff, and he smiled widely at Elizabeth as he entered. The smile fell short of his blue eyes, though, and Elizabeth felt uncomfortable as she made eye contact. The man strode to the last remaining chair and slid into it smoothly. He crossed his arms and subtly adjusted his grey suit jacket to expose the knock-off Rolex on his left wrist. The older man cleared his throat as he opened the manila folder, still staring down at Elizabeth.
“Ms. Cox, my name is Detective Thompson, and this is my partner Detective Davis,” The older detective said, motioning to the younger man as he spoke.
“Do you know why you’re here, Ms. Cox?” Detective Davis asked after he was introduced.
Elizabeth stared at the table in front of her. Her heart thumped loudly in her ears as she tried to keep her breathing even. She could not give them any hints of emotion. She had to keep her calm and reveal absolutely nothing.
“Ms. Cox? Would you care to answer us?” Detective Thompson asked gruffly.
Elizabeth examined her chipped black nails as she again ignored the detective’s question. She needed to keep her relaxed, nonchalant attitude. These two would get nothing from her.
“Elizabeth, can I call you Elizabeth? We want to figure out what’s happening. We don’t think you had anything to do with this whole mess. Still, we need some details to clarify a few fuzzy facts,” Detective Davis said, trying a new tactic from his partner.
So, they were going to try to good cop, bad cop routine. Elizabeth thought this was just something cops did on the trashy crime shows that Katie always wanted to force her to watch. Did these two believe that this would actually work? That she would spill everything, she knew because one of them was mean to her and the other nice? Surprisingly, this little routine was all she needed to relax. She thought they already had hard evidence against her, but apparently not. She jumped as a hand slammed on the hard metal table before her.
“Ms. Cox! Answer me! Do you know why you’re here?” Detective Thompson roared.
He was on his feet, towering over her. She knew he couldn’t lay a hand on her during this questioning, but she was happy for the table in-between them and Detective Davis. Detective Davis stood up more slowly than his partner and put a hand on his shoulder. Thompson glanced at the other man over his shoulder and sank slowly in his chair again. Davis joined him in the chair next to him and leaned towards her.
“As I said, Elizabeth, we want answers to a few of our questions, and my partner here is not as patient as I, so I would just cooperate if I were you,” Detective Davis said as he laid a gentle hand on her arm.
Elizabeth moved her arm out from under Detective Davis’s warm hand and leaned back in her chair, observing the two men in front of her. Davis frowned as she moved away from him. She never particularly liked being touched by anyone other than Katie and Tony. It felt as if people only used touch to manipulate those around them as her mother did. She hated being manipulated.
“I have nothing to say to you,” Elizabeth said coldly, staring down the detectives.
Anger crossed Thompson’s face, and he shoved the manila folder across the table towards her. She hesitantly took the folder and opened it. Mug shots of different men and women stared back at her. Her stomach twisted as she regarded the familiar faces. Have the detectives connected her to any of these people? Did they know more than she previously guessed? No. They couldn’t. She had been careful. They were trying to scare her into spilling everything she knew to them. She wouldn’t give them anything they could use against her.
She looked back towards the detectives and saw that they were studying her reaction to the photos. She made sure that her emotionless mask was still in place and felt a twinge of pleasure when frustration quickly crossed the men’s faces. They glanced at each other, and an unspoken message passed between them. Thompson stood up and left the room without looking at her. Davis leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. He stared at her with hard eyes as if he were trying to intimidate her. So, it looked like he realized his good cop act wasn’t going to work with her.
Silence overtook the room as Elizabeth and Detective Davis stared at each other. Where had Thompson gone? Why wasn’t Davis doing anything? Thompson must have gone to talk to the others watching the exchange through the window as they hit a wall with her. In Katie’s shows, the detectives always discussed new strategies when they didn’t immediately confess their crimes. Why did every cop and detective she was forced to converse with today think that she would have broken down and confessed to her supposed crimes? They must’ve known that she wouldn’t have, so they would have had a backup plan to twist her arm. Unfortunately, she likely knew what angle they would use to attack next. She must steel her emotions and heart for the emotional onslaught that would come.
Her train of thoughts was interrupted as the door opened. Detective Thompson stepped through the door once more with another larger manila folder tucked underneath his muscled arm. He had a slight smile on his face as he thought he had her with this new tactic. He opened his new folder as he took his seat and pulled out a sheet of paper, sliding it to her.
“Ms. Cox, do you recognize these two men?”
Elizabeth glanced down at the new paper, and her heart froze. She knew they would go down this route, but it did not make it any easier for her. Elizabeth had wished never to have seen these men’s faces again after that one last time months before. She clenched her teeth and steadied herself before opening her mouth to answer.
“Yes.”
“Where do you recognize the men from?
“From a recent trial,” she said shortly. Should she demand to see her lawyer? No, not yet. She might still be able to turn it around and in her favor.
“A recent trial? Are you referring to the trial of your twin sister, Katie Marie Cox?”
“Yes.”
“The murder trial in which these two were the accused?”
Elizabeth closed her eyes as the words hit her. The murder trial. Those words brought up an unspeakable pain within her. How could she keep herself in check when a wave of agony overtook her and froze her limbs? A single tear slide down her cheek before she could stop it. A small pack of Kleenex slid across the table and hit her hand. Her head snapped up, and she saw that Davis slid the tissues to her. She roughly wiped at her face and shoved the tissues away from her.
“I know this is a hard subject, but we just need you to answer our questions,” Davis said, gently leaving the tissues on the table.
She couldn’t bear to look at either one of them. She couldn’t trust herself not to scream from the anguish these two were putting her through. The men in that picture were monsters; no, they were worse than monsters. They ripped her soul out when they took Katie from her.
“Ms. Cox, did you know that these two were both found dead? They were discovered a couple of weeks back, but the coroner believes that they’ve been dead for months, though. It seems they disappeared a few weeks after your sister’s trial,” Thompson said nonchalantly as he examined an unseen paper in the folder.
She shrugged and looked down at the picture in front of her. They think they had her with this. Maybe they did. She couldn’t trust herself to keep her control of the emotions surging through her.
“Your sister’s trial didn’t end the way you and your family wanted it to, did it?” Davis chimed in.
“From what I remember, the two were found not guilty due to lack of evidence,” Thompson said.
“I could understand why an angry family member might want to exact revenge on the main suspects of this case. An injustice occurred. I would have been angry if this happened to me. They got away with murdering a loved one of mine. I would be furious,” Thompson’s voice rose as he spoke. He sounded almost elated as he tried to rile her up.
Elizabeth steeled herself as she prepared to answer. She would keep herself in control. She would not let her anger or grief ruin what she had worked so hard to keep from notice.
“I was angry, but as you said, who wouldn’t be? Those monsters murdered my sister and got away with it. I prayed that I would never have to lay eyes on them again and to never think about that time again,” Elizabeth said. Was that her voice? It sounded so cold and emotionless.
Detective Thompson went to open his mouth again, but Elizabeth raised her hand, stopping him.
“I will answer no more questions until I speak to a lawyer.”
