Killer Ambition - [21]

I bit back the answer that would’ve gotten us thrown out and turned to Brittany. “Do you know that Hayley Antonovich is missing?”

Brittany leaned forward and knitted her brow. Her frown showed concern, but there was a vagueness to her expression that made her look as though she were trying to see me through a cloud of smoke. “I-no. I didn’t.” She turned to look at her mother.

Mom broke in. “I did tell you, sweetie. You probably don’t remember.” She turned to us. “She works very hard. She has a lot of lines in her next scenes, so sometimes it’s hard for her to tune in.”

The words were protective, but the tone was condescending and controlling. We hadn’t been here ninety seconds and already I was restraining the urge to smack Mother Caren. I turned back to Brittany, who practically swayed in her seat. It was pretty obvious that Brittany’s condition had nothing to do with hard work.

“What…what happened to Hayley?” she asked.

“She’s missing, Brittany. We’re trying to find her.”

“Oh, no…Hayley…that’s horrible.” Brittany teared up and bit her lip. “I love her. What happened? What can I do?”

“When was the last time you spoke to her?” I asked.

“Uh…no…I don’t remember exactly. Maybe a few months ago?”

Not according to the cell phone record. “Could it have been a few weeks ago?”

Brittany squinted with the effort to remember, but then her gaze drifted off. She was silent for so long, I thought she might not have heard the question, but at the last minute she rallied.

“Um…it could be.” She gave me a wobbly smile. I smiled back, hoping to encourage her.

“Do you remember what you guys talked about?”

“Now, how would she remember that?” Mrs. Caren interrupted. “She’s got way too much on her plate to remember whatever they might’ve gossiped about.”

On second thought, a smack wouldn’t be satisfying enough. I needed the satisfaction of a good solid punch to the midsection. “Why don’t we let Brittany tell us?” I turned back to the daughter. “Brittany?”

Brittany glanced at her mother, then looked over my shoulder at the piano. “N-no. I’m sorry.”

For Brittany, a train of thought was only loosely joined to begin with, so the uncoupling didn’t take much. I tried to come at it from another direction. “Did you and Hayley get together in the past month or so?”

Brittany tilted her head to one side, her expression thoughtful. “We might have…I seem to remember seeing her at some point. I just can’t say exactly when.”

“Do you know where you saw her? Maybe she came here?”

This time her answer was immediate. “No.”

It was the quickest, most definitive answer we’d had yet. I had a feeling I knew why. “Where else might you have seen her?”

Brittany opened her mouth, then gave a sidelong glance at her mother. I took the hint.

“Patricia, you really don’t need to stay,” I said as diplomatically as I could. “Besides, you both could wind up testifying, and if that happens, you being here now could pose a problem for me in court.”

My standard-and true-advisory to all witnesses. Defense attorneys loved to thrash witnesses for having heard each other’s version of events because they could claim the witnesses had altered each other’s memories. Of course, that really wasn’t a concern here. We weren’t talking about eyewitness descriptions of a robbery suspect. But I didn’t have to tell Patricia that. The truth was that Brittany would be a lot more forthcoming if we were alone.

“Testifying?” Patricia’s eyes widened. “To what? It’s perfectly obvious Brittany doesn’t have any information that could be of use to you.” Her eyebrows dipped into what would’ve been a frown if her face hadn’t been frozen by megadoses of Botox.

She looked angry enough to throw us out. I didn’t want her to end the interview, so I reassured her. “I’m not saying I intend to put either one of you on the stand-we don’t even have a case yet. But I always have to prepare for the possibility. And interviewing witnesses separately is standard practice.”

Mother Caren cooled off a few degrees, but not enough to capitulate. “I’m sorry to hear that, but Brittany doesn’t do interviews alone.” She turned to Brittany and patted her hand. “Isn’t that right, dear?”

“Ms. Caren, this is a criminal investigation, not a movie promo for Allure magazine. It is inappropriate to have you here while we talk to Brittany,” I said, keeping my voice as low and level as I could.

Patricia Caren narrowed her eyes at me. “You can either talk to her with me here or not at all. Your choice.”

Mommy Dearest ruled this roost with an iron hand. That’s why Brittany had been so certain she hadn’t seen Hayley at the house. She probably never brought anyone here if she could help it. It didn’t matter that she was legally an adult, or that she had paid for everything and everyone in this house. Brittany was mommy’s prize pony and mommy was going to keep her in the race. I’d have to capitulate for now. I sat back and Bailey took over.

“Do you happen to know whether Russell had any enemies?” Bailey asked. “Anyone who held a grudge against him?”

We knew that Brian was our kidnapper, but we didn’t know whether he was in league with someone else. Since Warden Patricia wouldn’t leave, and she-like Brittany-had known Russell for a long time, Bailey had wisely decided to use the opportunity to grill her too.