Page 51 of Tangled Past
Chapter Seventeen
From the observation room, Maya could see straight into the interrogation chamber through the one-way glass.
Troy Malbern slouched in the metal chair, hands cuffed loosely in front of him, his thick shoulders rolling with irritation rather than fear. His beard was patchy, graying in streaks, and his eyes flicked around the room like he was already deciding who he wanted to yell at first.
He didn’t look like the kind of man who could stand perfectly still in a barn, talking to a four-year-old with chill indifference. He didn’t move like him. Didn’t breathe like him. Still, her body shook when she realized she was looking at someone truly bad. Malbern might not have murdered, but he’d done some terrible things in his lifetime.
Since the only way Maya might identify Malbern as the killer was by hearing his voice, Will had brought him in for questioning.
Asa, Rachel, and JT slipped in behind her, closing the door, its click echoing like a heartbeat.
Will stepped inside the interrogation room on the other side of the glass, file in hand, his expression controlled but sharp.
The speakers crackled as Will’s voice filtered through. “Hello, Troy. Thanks for coming in.”
“I didn’t exactly come in voluntarily,” Troy spat. “Your officer hauled me in like I robbed the bait shop.”
The second the words were out, Maya knew the truth. Malbern wasn’t the killer.
Will didn’t blink. “We need to clear up some questions. Cooperate, and you’ll be out of here fast.”
Troy leaned back, smirking. “You making threats, Kelly?”
“No,” Will said, his voice smooth and easy. “I’m offering an opportunity.”
Maya swallowed, eyes locked on the scene unfolding before her.
Will opened the file slowly, deliberately. “Let’s start with the Hardesty property. You visited the property more than once after you sold it.”
Troy snorted. “You kidding me? That land was mine for twenty-one years. Just because the bank said otherwise doesn’t mean it wasn’t still mine.”
Asa let out a slow breath behind her. “Entitlement complex,” he murmured.
Maya nodded.
Will continued, “You were escorted off the property by Chief Raymond Dutton several times.”
Troy rolled his eyes. “Dutton was a Boy Scout with a badge. Always telling people how to live.”
Will’s expression didn’t change. “Did you threaten him?”
“Threaten him?” Troy barked out a laugh. “I told him he’d regret messing with me. That’s not a threat. That’s a philosophy.”
“Good grief,” JT muttered from near the door.
Inside the interrogation room, Will laid another page on the table. “What about your vehicle history? You drove a white SUV, I believe.”
“Lots of people drove white SUVs,” Troy snapped. “Pretty sure half the island did.”
Will’s voice remained steady. “Your SUV was seen idling near the Hardesty farm several times. One witness who passed by that road regularly said they saw it on more than one occasion. Possibly the night Raymond Dutton was murdered.” Will was trying to provoke a reaction from Malbern with that last part.
Troy lifted both hands. “My SUV was impounded back then. Ask anyone. I said it all over town that month.”
“That still doesn’t mean you weren’t able to retrieve the vehicle to show up at the Hardesty place.”
Malbern snorted and waved a dismissive hand.
Rachel leaned forward slightly.
