Page 12 of Shadow of Justice
The next morning, Jamie Simmons walked into the Sheriff’s Department with a smile on his face. Sam and I sat in the observation room behind one-way glass.
“What did Gus tell him to get him here?” I asked Sam.
“He told him they found something that might be connected to his sister-in-law’s case. Gus asked Simmons if he could run it by him before he brought it to her mother. Simmons was more than happy to oblige.”
“I’ll bet,” I said.
Gus hadn’t entered the room. I knew that was part of his tactic. Simmons came dressed for work in dark-blue scrubs. He sat calmly, sipping from a paper coffee cup Gus had offered him when he walked in. Simmons checked his smart watch a couple of times, but didn’t seem irritated by the wait.
He was tall, with a trim, lanky build of someone who had exercised regularly his whole life. A basketball player, or someone who biked a lot. He had thinning, dark-blond hair and wore a pair of round, wire-rimmed glasses. I couldn’t help staring at the thick wedding band on his left ring finger.
The door opened and Gus walked into the room. He’d left his suit coat in his office and had his shirtsleeves rolled up. That, too, was a tactic.
“Sorry to keep you waiting so long,” Gus said. He had a yellow legal pad and put it on the table.
“I don’t mind at all,” Simmons said. “But I do have to be at work in an hour. Do you think this will take that long?”
“I’ll do my best,” Gus said. “I was sorry to have to call you out of the blue on something like this.”
“Oh, I don’t mind one bit. I’m glad you did. The more I know … the more I can prepare my wife and mother-in-law. They don’t like to revisit what happened to Elizabeth. So if you think there’s a chance I can help you with what you need without involving them, that would be best.”
“We’ll see what we can do,” Gus said. He flipped through the pages of his legal pad. He had a portion of his original report tucked in between them. He pulled it out.
“We’ve spoken before,” Gus said as he read the excerpt from his report. “I have to admit, I hadn’t remembered that. I didn’t realize that you were friends with Ellie Luke. I mean, outside of your relationship with her sister.”
“We were classmates,” Simmons said. “Friendly, yes. Ellie and I were in the same cohort in nursing school.”
“Is that how you met her sister?”
“My wife and I became close after. It was one good thing to come out of such tragic circumstances.”
“How so?”
“I just got to know her. Her family. There were fundraisers in Ellie’s name after her death. I met Erin during that time frame.”
“I see.”
“Detective, I don’t mean to rush you. But as I said, I need to get to work shortly. You said you’d found something you believe is related to my late sister-in-law’s case. What was it?”
Gus looked up from his paperwork. He put the pad and report face down in front of him.
“Mr. Simmons, I’m sorry if my memory isn’t what it used to be. Twenty-two years is a long time. But I have in my notes that we did speak before. I spoke to many of Ellie’s friends after she went missing.”
“Yes,” Simmons said. “We were all in shock. We all wanted to do whatever we could to try to find her.”
“Of course. Do you remember much about that period?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, how would you describe your relationship with Ellie? How close were you?”
Simmons frowned. “I told you. We were classmates.”
“But you hung out socially, too?”
Simmons’s posture changed. He leaned back in his chair. “I’m not sure why you’re asking that. What is it that you found, Detective?”
“Mr. Simmons, I really need to try to clarify what your relationship with Ellie was. It’ll help me put some things into context.”
