Page 96 of The Ice Sisters
“Again, yes and no answers only,” the administrator said curtly. “Did you kill your wife?”
Modelle inhaled as if trying to control his breathing. “No.”
“Did you kill your daughter?”
Modelle glared at him. “I already answered that.”
The administrator showed no reaction. “Did you kill Taylor and Heidi Woodston?”
“No,” Modelle said his voice rising an octave.
“Did you abduct Mazie Birmingham?”
“No.” This time Modelle’s look was dead pan.
“Did you abduct Ivy Stuart?”
Modelle shook his head.
“Please answer with a verbal response.”
“No, I didn’t abduct those kids.”
“He’s getting agitated,” Ellie said. “Is it because he’s lying or telling the truth?”
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEEN
Ten minutes later, Modelle was back in his cell. Ellie and Derrick met with the polygraph administrator for the results.
He produced a printout of the test and pointed to the lines created on the page by Modelle’s results. “You can see when his pulse jumps, when his breathing changes and his blood pressure rises. It’s slight and he’s good at trying to fool the machine but he did exhibit indicators of lying.”
Ellie and Derrick studied the page. “Explain.”
“Well, look at the baseline questions.” He pointed out the straight lines then the rising peaks and jaggedness in spaces, then compared to the questions regarding his family. “He told the truth about having a family, but these results indicate he lied about abusing his daughter, killing her and killing his wife.”
Ellie breathed out. Just as she had expected.
“Now look at the questions regarding the twins’ murder and the abductions.”
Ellie couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her gaze flew to Derrick who looked puzzled.
“He was telling the truth about not killing the twins and the abductions,” she said, stunned.
He scratched his chin. “It’s possible he learned techniques to control his physiological reactions but according to these indicators, he didn’t abduct or murder the missing girls.”
Dammit.
“We can’t release him,” Ellie said.
Derrick shook his head. “No, we have the pics of him removing his wife’s body from the wall and burying it. That’s enough to file charges for her murder.”
Frustration filled Ellie. Now they just had to make the charges stick.
But if Modelle wasn’t responsible for the twins’ deaths and the abductions of Mazie and Ivy, who was?
Ellie’s phone dinged. Cord. She answered immediately and explained about the polygraph. “Modelle denies killing his daughter and wife although the polygraph indicates he’s lying.”
“He is,” Cord said with conviction.
