Detective Todd Sweeny sat down at the table across from James Harper and looked around the coffee shop. It was not a bad little setup. If he were a coffee drinker, he might have enjoyed sitting around this place and downing a cup or two. That is, of course, if he did not have anything better to do with his time. Being a homicide detective in a city with a fast rate of population growth did not give him much extra time, though.
As far as he was concerned, he was married to his job. It certainly seemed as if his work was never done. Grand Junction was seen as one of the nicest places for people from big cities to move to in order to settle down in what they considered a smaller community. All that really did was make his city grow exponentially. It also meant that the big city people brought their problems with them, most of which involved crime. Most of the crime involved somebody getting killed.
When somebody got killed, Detective Sweeny was usually involved in the investigation. Sure there were other homicide detectives, but he was always lending a hand even if he was not directly in charge of the investigation himself. This was the reason that he had never been able to maintain a successful relationship with any of the women that he met. Eventually, they all figure out that they took second place to the solving of murder cases.
It was his need to assist in catching every depraved killer that roamed the streets that had him sitting in this coffee shop. Twenty minutes ago, the police station had received a call that the man suspected of killing the two men at the golf course had been in here and threatened one of the patrons. Detective George Anderson was the guy running the case, but he was not in the office when the call came in. Sweeny had gladly gone out to gather information in his stead.
"Mr. Harper, I presume?" He asked, chuckling inwardly about stealing a famous line from history. Sure they were not in Africa, and he was not sitting across from Dr. Livingston, but it still humored him. Mr. Harper either did not get the reference or did not see the humor.
"Yes." James said. He was still fighting off the shock of his encounter with a killer.
"I understand that you called saying that you had been threatened by the man suspected of murdering two men at the Lincoln Park Golf Course." Detective Sweeny said, looking deeply into James' eyes. James had the feeling that he could see all the way down into the depths of his soul. He was glad that he was merely a witness, and not a criminal trying to hide something, for he doubted that anything could be hidden from the man on the other side of the table.
"Yes that is correct." James said.
"Why don't you tell me the whole story." Sweeny suggested, taking out his notebook.
"Okay, I was sitting here drinking my coffee…" James told the detective about the whole confrontation, careful to include every detail that he could think of. Detective Sweeny listened intently, taking the occasional note.
"So you are saying that his hair had changed remarkably from the artist's rendition that you saw on television." Sweeny noted. "Are you sure that this was the same man?"
"Yes, I am sure. He had the same face, the same look in his eyes. His eyes were not as bright though, so he must have been wearing contacts when he was seen at the park. Besides that, he admitted to me that he was the killer." James said.
"Yes, you mentioned that." Sweeny said, tapping his pen against his lips and looking at his notes. "You also said that he accused you of stealing from him. Maybe he was just trying to scare you by saying that he was the man who had committed the crime at the park. It could be that when you accused him of this, he felt like running with it to keep you intimidated."
"Well that would have been stupid. He must have known that I would try to turn him in." James answered.
"Admitting to the murders whether he did them or not would be stupid, Mr. Harper." Sweeny said. "I think at this point it would be safe to assume that we are not dealing with a man that is in full control of his faculties."
"Right." James said, feeling foolish.
"You said that he accused you of stealing from him." Sweeny said as he scratched the side of his face. His face always itched when he felt like he was onto something. He was sure that a psychiatrist would love to tell him that it had something to do with his mother, but he simply didn't have the time or patience for a shrink. "Are you stealing money from him?"
"Of course not." James answered defensively. "I am a business consultant. If I were stealing money from somebody, why would I call the cops and tell them that I had been threatened?"
"If you had killed two men on a golf course, why would you admit it to a stranger in a coffee shop?" Sweeny responded, answering his question with another question. "It would amaze you what criminals do and say without thinking of the consequences. Would you mind if I verified your source of income?"
"Why would you need to do that? Shouldn't you be more focused on catching the killer than looking into my activities?" James asked indignantly.
"Look, you are throwing around some very serious accusations." Sweeny said. "I just need to verify your credibility in order to list you as a witness. If it turns out that you are making stuff up in order to dodge a man that is just trying to get his money back, well that would be a pretty serious thing to do."
"I am not making anything up. I told you that he looked just like the man that was shown to be the primary suspect." James said.
"Yes, you did say that." Sweeny said, reaching for the first time into a folder that he had brought with him. He pulled out the picture that had been shown on television and held it up next to James. "Of course that would not be hard. After all, you look a lot like the man yourself. Sure, this man has short blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and you have a shaved head and pale blue eyes, but the face is quite similar. If you were to put on a wig and some contacts, you could be the man at the park."
"Now that is just plain stupid." James said. He could not believe the fact that he had become the focus of the detective in this way. "Why on earth would I have called up the police and told them that I had seen the suspect, if I was the suspect?"
"As we have discussed, criminals do not always behave in manner that follows conventional logic." Sweeny answered. "Don't worry, I am not going to haul you off and accuse you of murder. Not yet anyway. I am only making a point. You said that the man looked a lot like you. I say you look a lot like the man we are after. Perhaps the three of you are all just very similar in appearance."
"But I told you that he admitted he was the one that did it." James insisted.
"And I believe that he did. I still say he may have only done this to make you worry about what would happen to you if you did not give him his money back." Sweeny said calmly. "This, of course, brings us full circle back to verifying your income. Why don't you just give me a list of your clients and I will check with them to make sure that you are, in fact, a business consultant."
"Because I can't think of any to give you." James knew how lame that sounded. "I don't know why, but ever since he asked me to provide a list earlier, I have not been able to think of who my clients are. I know it sounds crazy, but it is like he put some sort of haze over my mind."
"I tell you what, Mr. Harper. I will run your name through every company I can think of and see if they can verify your claims. If even one company says that they remember your services, then I will be satisfied and take a serious look at tracking this guy down. If nobody knows who you are, I will need to speak to you again. By then, hopefully you will have a list ready." Sweeny said.
"What about my girlfriend and me until then?" James asked. "I told you that he threatened to take away everything that was important to me. Can't you give us some sort of protection?"
"Mr. Harper, I know that, in the movies, people have protection thrown at them at the drop of a hat. In the real world, we can't go around throwing away our resources and man power on every person that has been intimidated by someone else. First we have to verify you as a credible witness, and then we can talk about protection." Sweeny said.
"What if he comes for us before that?" James asked.
"We work fast James." Sweeny said, standing up. "I believe that I have gotten all the information that I want from you at this time. If I think of anything else, I will give you a call. In the mean time, I hope you have a nice day."
With that, he turned and left the coffee shop. James felt even more helpless than he did before. He did not think that this strange man that had threatened to kill him would wait around until Sweeny was done verifying James' story. Why couldn't he think of any of the companies that he worked for? All he would have needed was to come up with one name, and he could have had protection. One stupid name.
He thought about Jennifer and began to worry. The crazy man had said that he would take away everything that he held dear. He loved Jennifer the most, and this psychopath would no doubt figure that out. He was not able to contain himself anymore. In state of near panic, he rushed out of the coffee shop and headed for the hospital. He needed to make sure that she was all right.