As I followed Cooper down the hall to where we were going to be talking “off the record” with Eddie Ralston, I pulled the sticky “Visitor” tag off my shirt and crumpled it into a tight ball. I had just stuffed it into my pocket when Cooper turned to me and said, “Not many guys would risk irritating Chance like you do. You really have a problem with authority or what is it?”
“I guess I just don’t trust the guy,” I replied simply. “I think he has his own agenda, and he uses people in any way he can to get what he wants.”
“Uh,” acknowledged Cooper—neither agreeing nor disagreeing with my assessment of his superior officer. “Rules of engagement here—I conduct the interview. You don’t say or ask anything unless I say so. Agreed?”
“Uh,” I replied as we entered into a long narrow room that was barely furnished at all. It was painted the pale green color favoured by hospitals and police stations. There was a heavy scarred oak table bolted to the floor and two flimsy chairs on both sides of the table. Comfort had not been a priority in the room’s design. There was a lingering scent of Pine Sol deodorant like maybe someone had tried to create the impression of fresh air or a forest.
Eddie Ralston was sitting in handcuffs and leg irons waiting for our arrival. An escort guard stood at ease behind him. I had expected that Eddie’s lawyer would be present. He wasn’t, and I didn’t ask. As we moved to take our seats across from Ralston, Cooper quickly head bobbed the guard who nodded in response and quietly left the room.
“So Eddie, how are you doing? Is life in a small cell agreeing with you?” Cooper asked. I wondered why Cooper wanted to antagonize the guy right off the bat.
Ralston was a ratty little guy with a surly look on his narrow face. His features seemed to be squashed into a limited space. He was the “extremely anorexic before” to almost any advertisement offering improved strength and health.
“I get by,” Eddie replied squirming a little on the hard chair. “What do you want anyway? Like they told me this was tied to Vic’s death—I get it—but what do you want from me?”
“According to Vickie’s mom, you were hanging with her for awhile before she got killed and you got sent away? Is that true?”
“Close Cooper,” Ralston said with a little sly grin as if he had just side stepped a land mine or some big intellectual semantic trap. “I got sent away, before she got killed. There’s no way I’d hurt Vic anyway. Anyone from then will tell you that—we were buds.”
“Did your bud ever tell you about her older half sister, Mia?” Cooper was throwing curves trying to get Ralston off balance.
“Yeah, she said that her older sister ran away from home when she was younger. Said she hated her stepfather, Ted. I can’t blame her there. The guy’s rich sure, but he’s a total asshole. Have you met him? Vic hated him too. In the last few months or so before I got sent up, they were talking about getting together. Why do you care about this shit for?”
“How about if I ask the questions Eddie—and you answer them. It works better that way,” Cooper shot back still keeping Ralston guessing.
“No it don’t, ‘cause I’ll just shut the fuck up like my lawyer always tells me to do and you get jack, Jack.” Ralston actually grinned. He was a pretty funny guy. I smiled too.
Cooper pushed back in his chair like maybe he was going to get up and swat the little peckerwood. Instead, he realized that he was in an untenable position. If he was going to get anything from Eddie Ralston today, he was going to have to give something. “Okay Eddie—how about I ask a question and as long as you don’t lie, you get to ask a question back?”
I had seen this tried before in soft interrogations. Sometimes it works.
“Okay,” Ralston said, “I get the first question ‘cause I’ve already answered a couple of yours.”
Cooper just nodded.
“Who’s this guy with you?”
I jumped in before Cooper could answer. “A friend of Mia’s,” I replied. Cooper frowned. This wasn’t playing the game the way he’d laid it out.
The old cop let it slide and came back with another of his questions. “Did Vickie ever tell you why her sister hated her stepfather?”
Ralston seemed distracted by me. He answered Cooper, but he was studying me. “Er, yeah, something about not being able to do anything right. He was always raggin’ on her. I think he used to smack her around sometimes too. One time when we were doin’ some weed, she told me once that Ted said he’d kill her if she ever spoke about some things. Why is this guy here?”
I let Cooper decide how he wanted to reply. “Mia Doulton, that’s Vickie’s sister, was badly beaten up a few days ago. She had started looking into Vickie’s murder. We think that may have led to her being almost killed. She was supposed to be here to talk with you, but she’s in a coma in the hospital.” Cooper looked at me. “He’s here acting on her behalf.”
“You a lawyer? You sure don’t look like any fuckin’ lawyer I ever saw,” Ralston was talking directly to me now. “Love your friggin’ T-shirt man.”
“I’m not a lawyer Eddie,” I stated. “What things could Vickie talk about that would make Ted say he’d kill her?” Cooper frowned again before he picked up his line of questioning. He wasn’t happy, but there was a developing rhythm to this Q & A. And it was also being productive.
“Ted’s a fuckin’ crook. He’s into all kinds of shit—big time. He don’t do nothin’ that won’t put cash in his pockets. Vic knew about some of that stuff I guess.”
“How did Vickie get along with her stepbrother?” Cooper asked.
“Hated the prick. Who wouldn’t? I think she was more afraid of him than her old man. The big asshole used to pick on her bad; my turn.”
And so it went for the next forty minutes. Cooper tried to get Eddie to give him more about Ted and Terry. Ralston didn’t want to go there. Fred went over the events of the weeks before Vickie was killed. Finally, he nodded to me to see if there was anything I wanted.
“I’d like to thank you on behalf of Mia and Vickie for talking with us this morning Eddie. You didn’t have to say a word.”
“No problem man. Fuck, I gotta get me a shirt like that.”
“Oh yeah, one last thing—do you think Vickie would have told her mom about going to Orlando to meet Mia?”
Eddie paused on this one. Finally he spoke, “You know what? I think she might—just before she left though so that her old lady wouldn’t have time to try to stop her. But she wouldn’t want her mom to worry about her. Vickie might not have been too bright you know, but she wasn’t real stupid either. She wouldn’t have said anything like, too soon ‘cause she’d be afraid that her dad or brother would stop her from going.”
“Thanks,” I said. “That’s just what someone did.”
Ralston just nodded his head like he had just mentally reviewed his answer and believed that he had been right in his estimation of what Vickie might have done.
Cooper told Eddie that he had been helpful. He and Eddie’s lawyer would talk soon.
Cooper and I pushed back from our chairs and stood up. We were free to go. Eddie Ralston had lost that privilege. He also knew the drill. He sat in his chair and waited. You don’t do much until you are told to when you are doing time. Independent action can be misconstrued and have dire consequences. Cooper nodded to Ralston before he went to the door to get the escort guard.