Page 167 of Broken Lies
Chapter Thirty-Six
KIERAN
Andre doesn’t even botherwith small talk when I step into his office less than an hour later, carrying the folder of evidence. He leans back in his chair, the glow from his desk lamp throwing sharp shadows across his face as he regards me with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity.
“Did we have an appointment?”
“Since when do I need one?” I toss the folder down on his desk.
“What’s this?” Andre picks up the folder and flips open the cover, his eyes quickly scanning the contents.
“A police interview transcript. I need you to verify the contents.”
Andre nods as he continues to read through the handful of papers inside. “How did you get this?”
“That’s not your concern.”
“It is if you want me to verify it’s real.”
I glare at Andre, but his attention is solely focused on the evidence in his hand, which only irritates me more.
“Riley Walsh.”
Andre lets out a low whistle that has me grinding my teeth.
“She used it as leverage as a way of getting my family to help her.”
His eyes scan the first page, and I watch as his brow furrows.
I took a quick look over the document once I was safely in the car and away from Riley, and it’s just what she said it was, a police interview transcript in which Sean O’Keefe confessed to murdering my father.
“And you never asked to see it until now?” Andre asks.
“Why does that matter?”
Andre lets out a humorless laugh before tossing the folder onto his cluttered desk. “Because it’s fake.”
“Fake? How can you tell just by looking at it?”
Andre flips open the folder and taps a finger against the top corner.
“This letterhead? The logo’s missing two key elements, and see the badge design? It’s the completely wrong size and font.”
“You’re sure?”
“Sure enough to bet my life on it.”
“That’s not exactly worth much.”
Andre huffs a laugh.
I snatch away the folder. “Clearly, someone wanted whoever had this to believe Sean O’Keefe murdered Seamus Sullivan.”
“Looks that way.” Andre settles back in his chair. “It’s a classic move. It’s just real enough to plant a seed, which means this could be used as a setup, or it could be bait.”
Bait.
The word sits like a lead weight in my stomach.
