left hand was pinned to the left side of his neck like a message tacked to a bulletin board.
There was a slight pause, no more than a few milliseconds.
Laura’s mouth moved. One or two words, her lips barely parting.
Then she crossed her right arm underneath her trapped left.
She braced the heel of her right hand near Helsinger’s right shoulder.
Her right hand pushed his shoulder.
Her left hand jerked the knife blade straight out of the front of his throat.
Blood.
Everywhere.
Gordon’s mouth gaped open.
Andy’s tongue turned into cotton.
Right hand pushing, left hand pulling.
From the video, it looked like Laura had willfully pulled the knife out of Helsinger’s throat.
Not just killing him.
Murdering him.
“She just—” Gordon saw it, too. “She—”
His hand went to his mouth.
On the video, Helsinger’s knees hit the floor. His chest. His face.
Andy saw herself in the distance. The whites of her eyes were almost perfect circles.
In the foreground, Laura’s expression remained placid. She looked down at the knife that pierced her hand straight through, turning it to see—first the palm, then the back—as if she had found a splinter.
That’s where Palazzolo chose to pause the video.
She waited a beat, then asked, “Do you want to see it again?”
Gordon swallowed so hard that Andy saw his Adam’s apple bob.
“Mr. Oliver?”
He shook his head, looked down the hallway.
Palazzolo clicked off the screen. She returned the phone to her pocket. Without Andy noticing, she had angled her chair away from Gordon. Palazzolo leaned forward, hands resting on her legs. There was only two inches of space between her knees and Andy’s. She said, “It’s pretty horrific. It must be hard seeing it again.”
Gordon shook his head. He thought the detective was still talking to him.
Palazzolo said, “Take all the time you need, Ms. Oliver. I know this is hard. Right?” She was talking to Andy again, leaning in closer; so close that it was making Andy feel uncomfortable.
One hand pushing, one hand pulling.
Pushing his shoulder. Pulling the knife through his neck.
The calm expression on Laura’s face.
I’ll tell you what I know, and then if Andrea feels like it, she can tell me what she knows.
The detective had not told them anything, or shown them anything, that probably was not already on the news. And now she was crowding Andy without seeming to crowd her, taking up a section of her personal space. Andy knew this was an interview technique because she had read some of the training textbooks during slow times at work.
Horton’s Annotations on the Police Interview: Witness Statements, Hostile Witness Interrogations and Confessions.
You were supposed to make the subject feel uncomfortable without them knowing why they were feeling uncomfortable.
And the reason Palazzolo was trying to make Andy uncomfortable was because she was not taking a statement. She was interrogating her.
Palazzolo said, “You’re lucky your mom was there to save you. Some people would call her a hero.”
Some people.
Palazzolo asked, “What did your mother say to Jonah before he died?”
Andy watched the space between them narrow. Two inches turned into one.
“Ms. Oliver?”
Laura had seemed too calm. That was the problem. She had been too calm and methodical the whole time, especially when she’d raised her right hand and placed it near Jonah’s right shoulder.
One hand pushing, one hand pulling.
Not scared for her life.
Deliberate.
“Ms. Oliver?” Palazzolo repeated. “What did your mother say?”
The detective’s unspoken question filled that tiny inch of uncomfortable space between them: If Laura really was that calm, if she really was that methodical, why hadn’t she used the same hand to take away Helsinger’s gun?
“Andrea?” Palazzolo rested her elbows on her knees. Andy could smell coffee on the detective’s breath. “I know this is a difficult time for you, but we can clear this up really fast if you just tell me what your mom said before Helsinger died.” She waited a beat. “The phone didn’t pick it up. I guess we could send the video to the state lab, but it would be easier if you just told—”
“The father,” Gordon said. “We should pray for the father.”
Palazzolo didn’t look at him, but Andy did. Gordon was not the praying kind.
“I can’t imagine …” he paused. “I can’t imagine what it feels like, to lose your family like that.” He had snapped his fingers together on the last word, but close to his face, as if to wake himself from the trance that the video had put him in. “I’m so glad your mother was there to protect you, Andrea. And herself.”
Andy nodded. For once, she was a few steps ahead of her father.
“Look, guys,” Palazzolo finally sat back in her chair. “I know you’re thinking I’m not on your side, but there are no sides here. Jonah Helsinger was a bad guy. He had a plan. He wanted to murder people, and that’s exactly what he did. And you’re right, Mr. Oliver. Your wife and daughter could’ve been his third and fourth victims. But I’m a cop, and it’s my job to ask questions about what really happened in that diner this afternoon. All I’m after is the truth.”
“Detective Palazzolo.” Gordon finally sounded like himself again. “We’ve both been on this earth long enough to know that the truth is open to interpretation.”
“That’s true, Mr. Oliver. That’s very true.” She looked at Andy. “You know, I’ve just realized that you haven’t said one word this whole time.” Her hand went to Andy’s knee with almost sisterly affection. “It’s all right, honey. Don’t be afraid. You can talk to me.”
Andy stared at the mole on the woman’s jawline because it was too hard to look her in the eye. She wasn’t
