Masters then takes his cell phone and calls King’s number. It rings four times with no answer. On the fifth ring, King answers the phone.
“Hello, Detective.”
“Justin, thank you for answering. Tell me, what is going on here?” asks Masters.
“You tell me. Why am I surrounded by the police, treating me like a wanted criminal? You have the person who killed Naomi. Stop harassing me.”
“Justin, we just need to talk. We know you have more information than what you’ve told us. We need to clarify exactly what happened.”
“I’ve told you everything I know.”
“Justin, please come out and talk to me. No one is going to hurt you.”
“No, you need to leave me alone now.”
“You know I can’t do that Justin. We need to talk.”
“Talk about what?”
“The fact that you were with Naomi and Ryan on the night she was killed.”
“That’s not true and you have no evidence of that!”
“We already know you were Justin, that’s why I need you to explain to me what happened while you were there.”
“You’re just making crap up now. I wasn’t there and you can’t prove I was.”
“Justin, listen to me carefully. You did a great job of wiping your prints off Ryan’s gun, but you forgot about the bullets.” Masters pauses and there is no response.
“You see Justin, we were able to process the prints you left on those bullets. They are your fingerprints Justin and nobody else’s. But you would know that, right?”
“You’re talking crazy now.”
At this point, Masters knows he has him. King did not deny loading the gun or that his fingerprints were on the bullets. He’s trying to divert the conversation by attacking Masters.
“And if that weren’t enough Justin, we obtained your phone records, as well as Naomi’s. She called you the night of her murder from her book club meeting.”
Again, no response.
“Oh, another thing, we have you and your car arriving on the evening of the murder. We even have you leaving after she was shot.”
“You’re bluffing.”
Again, Masters makes a mental note that King did not deny it.
“This is why we need to talk Justin. Let’s clear this all up, and if you can do that, you will be free to go.”
King is sitting on the floor in his condo contemplating his predicament, wondering how he is ever going to get out of this now. He feels like a trapped animal. He doesn’t want to admit it to himself, but he knows the ruse is over.
“I’m not going to jail detective.”
“Maybe not, at least not if we can talk and figure all this out. But if you won’t talk with us, we have no choice but to take you to jail. We need you to explain this evidence and why you lied to us. It’s time to come out now Justin. No one will hurt you.”
“Can you promise me I won’t go to jail?”
“You know I can’t promise you that Justin. Unless of course, you can explain all this evidence pointing to your involvement.”
“I’m not going to jail.”
“So what are you going to do, sit in your condo for the rest of your life? Think about your kids Justin.”
“You’re going to have to come in and get me.”
“Justin, we have an entire SWAT team out here. Don’t be stupid. Stop this nonsense and come out. Detective Tippen and I will take you with us back to the station where we can talk. We need your version of what happened.”
There is a long pause.
“Justin,” continues Masters, “your friend Ryan is sitting in jail charged with First Degree Murder. He was drugged with Rohypnol on the night of Naomi’s murder. Did you drug your friend and partner to frame him for murder? How is this fair to Ryan?”
King of course knows Masters is right. He starts to feel shame for what he has done to Cooper. His dissatisfaction with his own life led him to do things he never thought possible. King knows the truth may be the only thing to keep Cooper out of jail. Of course, the truth will put him in jail, and that is not an option for King.
“Detective,” says King, “I need you to record what I’m going to tell you.”
Masters had already set his phone on speaker so that the SWAT Commander could listen and Tippen has been recording the entire conversation.
“We are Justin, go ahead and say what you need to say.”
King takes a deep breath, “Ryan had nothing to do with Naomi’s murder. I planned it and shot Naomi with Ryan’s gun to make it look like he shot her. I drugged Ryan with Rohypnol prior to Naomi coming home. Ryan never knew what happened. I was having an affair with Naomi, but Ryan didn’t know it. The letter was a fake, written by me. After I shot Naomi, I wiped down the gun, then placed it in Ryan’s hand. I take full responsibility.”
“Why Justin?”
“I was drowning in debt and saw the only way out was to get full control of the business. I know that was selfish, but I was not thinking clearly. Please tell Naomi’s family I am sorry.”
“But why kill Naomi?”
“I had to. She was in line to inherit Ryan’s half of the business and I needed full control. She wanted to marry me, and I wanted no part of that. After the divorce I went through, no way I was ever getting married again. With her death and Ryan taking the blame, I would be able to remove him as partner and have it all to myself. It sounds so stupid now. Tell Ryan I’m sorry as well, will you?” says Ryan as his voice gets softer.
“You can tell him yourself, Justin. It’s time to come out now.”
“I’ll be coming out in a few minutes.”
The SWAT Commander radios to his team to be ready, the suspect will be exiting soon. SWAT officers have
