The Bone House - Brian Freeman [35]
Without changing the expression on his face, Cab struck like a snake. 'Tresa Fischer ended all of that for you, though, didn't she?'
He saw Gale's hand lightly cover Bradley's wrist, as if to send his client a message. Stay calm.
'That wasn't Tresa's fault,' Bradley said.
'Whose fault was it?'
'I'm not sure it was anybody's fault. If you're a male teacher these days, people have a bias to believe just about anything bad that gets said about you. It doesn't matter whether it's true.'
'That must be infuriating. I mean, first you lose one career, then another. I'd be pissed off at somebody.'
Gale leaned forward. 'Excuse me, Detective, but this doesn't seem to have a lot to do with your investigation.'
'I'm interested in your client's state of mind, Mr Gale. I think if I were in his shoes, I'd be angry at how I was treated.'
'I was,' Bradley admitted before his lawyer could stop him. 'I am. But that has nothing to do with Tresa or Glory.'
'Did you have a sexual relationship with Tresa Fischer?' Cab asked, watching Bradley's face.
'No.'
'What about Glory Fischer?'
'No.'
'Have you ever had sex with a girl under eighteen?'
Bradley cocked his head. 'What, in my life? Do you want to know when I lost my virginity? Do you want to know everybody I dated in high school?'
'I think we'll skip that question, Detective,' Gale interjected.
'I'm suggesting that athletes and teachers both have to deal with underage girls, Mr Bradley,' Cab went on. 'You've had girls making passes at you your whole life. You've had girls trying to manipulate you. Come on, it must happen all the time. It has to feed your ego.'
'I'm married to a mature, beautiful, independent woman who's a hell of a lot smarter than I am,' Bradley retorted. 'That feeds my ego.'
Cab pursed his lips in surprise. He hadn't expected that response, and it sounded sincere. However, he'd known some accomplished liars in his life. Starting with a girl in Barcelona named Vivian Frost.
'Many athletes look at women with contempt, Mr Bradley. You figure if they don't respect themselves, why should you?'
'I wanted something more meaningful, Detective, and I found it. I hope you're as lucky as I am.'
'Well, here's my problem. Glory Fischer is dead. You lost your job, and you're pretty much hated in the community where you live, al because of the Fischer family. You had a room overlooking the beach where Glory was killed. Those are big coincidences.'
'Wrong,' Bradley snapped. He ticked off his responses on his fingers. 'The Fischer family did not fire me. The principal and the school district did. I bear no ill will at all toward Tresa or her mother, and certainly not toward Glory. It's no coincidence at all that I'm at the same hotel as Tresa, because she's a dancer, and my wife coaches dance. As for my hotel room, half the rooms in the building overlook the beach.'
'But you were out on the beach last night, weren't you?' Cab asked. 'You met Glory Fischer there.'
Gale jumped in quickly before Bradley could say a word. 'Sorry, Detective, that topic is off limits.'
'Excuse me?'
'Mr Bradley will not answer your questions about where he was overnight,' Gale informed him sharply. 'I've instructed him to say nothing. We're not saying he went out on the beach, we're not saying' he didn't. We're not saying he met Glory, we're not saying he didn't. No info. No answers. Nothing.'
'In other words, he was out there,' Cab retorted.
'In other words, if you think he was out there, then you better be prepared to prove it,' Gale said. 'We're not going to do your work for you.'
'We have a witness who saw him.'
Gale wasn't fooled. 'Good for you, Detective. If you have a witness, you trot him out. In the meantime, Mr Bradley isn't answering any questions about his actions last night. The most important thing is that Mark did not kill Glory Fischer.'
'If he was out there, then he may know something that can help our investigation,' Cab reminded him. He looked at Mark Bradley.
'Did you think about that, Mr Bradley? A girl is dead. If you didn't kill