Kate gave him the Rodriguez address, and Torres shook his head."No, I've never done any work at that address.But..."He paused, thinking."I did canvass that neighborhood a few weeks ago, too.Left business cards on a bunch of doors and mailboxes."
"You left a business card at the Rodriguez house?"DeMarco asked.
"Probably.I usually hit every house on a street when I'm canvassing.Most people throw the cards away, but sometimes someone calls."Torres looked increasingly nervous."Is that...is that a problem?Am I not supposed to be doing that?I’m not going into their mailboxes or anything.Sometimes I just sort of slip it into their screen door, you know?”
Kate looked over to DeMarco, and she could see that she was already buying the story.Kate didn't blame her; there was something about Torres that seemed genuine.Besides, his explanation made perfect sense.He'd done legitimate work for Carol Bennett after she'd received his business card, and he'd left a card at the Rodriguez house during his neighborhood canvassing, but never actually worked there.
"Mr.Torres, you said most of your clients pay cash," Kate said."Do you keep records of your jobs and payments?"
Torres shifted uncomfortably on the couch."Not great records, to be honest.I know I should, but the paperwork side of the business isn't really my thing.I prefer the actualwork."
"So you might not remember every job you've done recently?"DeMarco asked.
"I remember the big jobs, but if someone just had me fix a leaky faucet or replace a light switch, I might not write it down."Torres looked down at his hands."I know that probably sounds suspicious, but I'm just not good at the business stuff."
Kate felt the case slipping away from them.Everything Torres was telling them sounded completely believable, and his nervousness seemed to stem from concerns about tax compliance rather than fear of being caught for murder.All of it would also be easy enough to check.
"Mr.Torres, have you ever had medical training or worked in the healthcare industry?"DeMarco asked.It was a good and relevant question, grasping for any connection to the sophisticated method used to poison the victims.
"Medical training?"Torres looked genuinely confused."No, nothing like that.I'm just a handyman.I do basic repairs, painting, simple electrical work, that kind of stuff."
"Any experience with pharmaceuticals or access to medical supplies?"
"No ma'am.I wouldn't even know where to get that kind of stuff."Torres paused.While he still looked frightened, there was a softness to his expression now that made Kate think he was starting to feel he may not be in trouble here—that he was absolutely not the guy they were looking for."Can I ask what this is all about?You said something about suspicious deaths?"
Kate realized they had reached the end of their productive questioning.Torres appeared to be exactly what he claimed to be: a small-time handyman who preferred cash payments and didn't keep detailed records.His connection to the victims was entirely coincidental.He’d simply been business cards in certain neighborhoods in the same way landscapers or politicians did.
"Mr.Torres, thank you for your cooperation," she said, standing up from her chair."We may have additional questions later, but for now, you're free to go.And Iamsorry for the trickery."
Torres stood up quickly, clearly eager to leave."Am I in trouble for the cash payments?Because I can start keeping better records if that's what this is about."
"That's between you and the IRS," DeMarco said."This was about something else entirely and quite frankly, not of our concern."
Torres nodded and headed for the door, then paused and turned back.Kate had a pretty good idea that after this scare, his spreadsheets and accounting would be stellar.
"Those people who died...they weren't hurt because of something I did, were they?Because I would never intentionally harm anyone."
Kate could see genuine concern in his eyes."No, Mr.Torres.This had nothing to do with your work."
He gave a quick nod and then made his exit.Once he was gone, Kate and DeMarco stood in the empty safe house, both feeling the deflation that came with a promising lead turning into a dead end.
"Well, that… well, it sucked," DeMarco said.
Kate walked back to the kitchen window and watched Torres drive away in his pickup truck."He seemed completely legitimate.Nervous about taxes and poor record-keeping, but not about murder."
"Which means we're back to square one."
"Not quite square one," Kate said."We know the killer is adding poisoned pills to legitimate prescriptions.We know they're targeting empty-nesters dealing with adult children moving back home.And we know they're sophisticated enough to manufacture pharmaceutical-grade poison."
"But we don't know who they are or how they're gaining access to the victims."
Kate pulled out her phone to call the tactical team and let them know the operation was concluded.She knew they wouldn't be happy about being deployed for what had turned out to be an interview with an innocent handyman.She looked around the sparse safe house one more time, already mentally preparing for the next phase of their investigation.
"Then we need to figure out what Carol Bennett and Thomas Rodriguez had in common besides Dr.Chen and their family situations."
DeMarco gathered her things from the coffee table."Back to the drawing board?"
"Back to the drawing board," Kate agreed.“But after I call off a tactical team who are probably going to be even more disappointed than we are.”
