The room smelled sweet, floral, like lavender and jasmine, and the light was soft, coming from low-watt bulbs under silk-draped lampshades. Conklin and I sat on a velvet upholstered loveseat while Junie took a seat on an ottoman, clasped her hands around her knees. She was barefoot, her nail polish the pale coral color of the inside of seashells.
“Nice place,” Conklin said.
“Thank you. I rent it. Furnished,” she said.
“Have you ever seen this man?” I asked Junie Moon, showing her a photo of Michael Campion.
“You mean for real? That’s Michael Campion, isn’t it?”
“That’s right.”
Junie Moon’s gray eyes grew even more huge. “I’ve never seen Michael Campion in my entire life.”
“Okay, Ms. Moon,” I said. “We have some questions we’d like to ask you at the police station.”
Chapter 5
JUNIE MOON SAT ACROSS FROM US in Interview Two, a twelve-by-twelve-foot gray-tiled room with a metal table, four matching chairs, and a video camera affixed to the ceiling.
I’d checked twice to be sure. The camera was loaded and running.
Junie was now wearing an open-weave pink cardigan over a lace-trimmed cami, jeans, and sneakers, no makeup, and – I’m not overstating this – she looked like she was in the tenth grade.
Conklin had started the interview by reading Junie Moon her Miranda rights in a charming, “no big deal,” respectful manner. She initialed the acknowledgment of rights form without complaint, but still, it irked the hell out of me. Junie Moon wasn’t under arrest. We didn’t have to Mirandize her for a noncustodial interview, and Conklin’s warning might very well inhibit her from telling us something we urgently needed to know. I swallowed my pique. What was done was done.
Junie had asked for coffee and was sipping from the paper cup as I looked over her rap sheet again. I mentioned her three arrests for prostitution, and she told me that since she’d changed her name, she hadn’t been arrested for anything.