I left him and went through the door that led to the back of the station. I headed straight to the break room and the coffeepot. It was going to be a long, tiring day, and I’d need about a gallon of caffeine to get me through.
Deputy Juan met me in the break room. “Hey, boss. How’s Dr. Thornton?”
“As best as can be expected. No serious injuries.” I poured coffee into a mug. “He’s been sleeping since we got back.”
“Damn. Must have been rough out there. He’s lucky he didn’t break a bone or two.”
“Yes.” I winced inwardly. Max easily could have broken his neck in that fall, but I didn’t like thinking about that. “You ready to interview River?”
“I’ve got him in interview room two, so you can watch and listen. Is there anything in particular you want me to ask him?” He leaned against the doorjamb. “Shall I let him lead the conversation?”
“I would. Get him talking, and just listen. If he says something that leaves you with questions, ask him whatever you need to.” Deputy Juan knew all about the Lucinda angle already, and I trusted his instincts.
“Okay.” He gave an uneasy laugh. “I still can’t believe River did something that outrageous to Dr. Thornton. Everyone thought he was the nicest guy.”
“I’ve ordered a psych evaluation for him. I suspect his sister’s death played havoc with his mental state.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised. Grief can change a person.”
“Definitely.” I sighed. “Shall we go talk to River?”
“Yep.” Deputy Juan moved down the hallway. I slipped into the small room on the side of the interview room that would allow me to observe. It was hard looking at River without feeling angry, but I stuffed it down. Max was home safe, and now I needed to figure out what exactly had happened.
Deputy Juan entered the room where River was sitting, fidgeting at a table. I hadn’t seen River since the night Max went missing. He looked thrashed. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his blond hair was a tousled mess. If I hadn’t been so upset with him, I might have even felt sorry for him.
I adjusted the volume of the mic in the room as Deputy Juan chitchatted with River about nonsense, just to loosen him up a bit. Finally, he pushed a bottle of water toward River. “So, Sheriff Callum asked me to sit in for him today. As you know, he’s personally involved with the victim. He thought you might have an easier time talking about what happened to someone other than him.”
River pouted. “You don’t need to make excuses for him. I’m well aware Royce loathes me now. If he’d just listen to my side of things, perhaps he’d be more understanding.”
I gritted my teeth because I’d known going in this was going to be hard to hear. The way River had been the night Max was lost in the desert had shown me how out of touch with reality he was.
“Well, I’m here, and I want to hear your side,” Deputy Juan said smoothly.
River sniffed. “Is that so?”
“Absolutely.” Deputy Juan picked up his pen. “So, how about you tell me in your own words what happened?”
River wrinkled his brow. “Maxwell came over to my place to sign some papers. I… I simply wanted to talk to Maxwell. I… I was just going to have a nicehonestconversation with him.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. But Maxwell can be so difficult.”
“In what way?”
Lifting one shoulder, River said, “You know… prickly. He’s so closed off. It’s almost impossible to get anything out of him. I… I tried to talk to him many times in the past, but he was always so cold. This time, I had him on my turf, and I wanted things to be different.”
“Different? Meaning what?”
“Meaning I wasn’t going to put up with him blowing me off as usual.”
“You don’t think you went a little overboard?”
River’s mouth thinned. “Everyone is making such a big deal about nothing. Maxwell is just fine, from what I hear. I don’t understand why everyone is so serious.”
Deputy Juan frowned. “You drugged him, River.”
“Well…” River grimaced. “Yes. But the drug wasn’t harmful to him.”
