Chapter 13

When Grace and Veronica met at the airport, it was obvious to both of them that neither one of them had gotten much sleep. They both decided that this case was more important that the sleep that they could get on the flight to New York. As they were waiting for their flight, Veronica decided that it would be best if they shared their interview questions with each other so they could sleep on the flight if they wanted to. Grace could have cared less because she knew that she would not be sleeping. She rarely slept when she was working on a case. There was too much anticipation with each lead that she would get on a case and it would not allow her to sleep; she was always afraid she would miss out on something.

"I think that it is going to be very important for us to bounce questions back and forth between each other, so we know who is going to ask what," Veronica stated.

"I would disagree," Grace quietly said. "You see if you plan out a conversation, then there is no way to let things just happen. If a person knows that you are expecting a conversation to go a certain way, then they are going to be suspicious as to what your agenda is."

"And this is a bad thing?"

"Well of course it is a bad thing. We want this to be a conversation not an interrogation."

“I would disagree with you,” Veronica was now standing and almost yelling at her. “You see, if they think that we are just having a conversation then they might leave out some important information, but if they know that we are there to interrogate them then they will tell us what we need to know.”

Grace sighed, “I would like to know exactly how many victims’ family members have you actually interviewed?”

“Well…..actually none,” she cased down her eyes.

“I have had to interview hundreds of people’s families when I am trying to find out all I can about them. It is not easy and it is simpler if they see it as a conversation then as the police asking them questions. The family tends to feel more at ease if they are not being considered a suspect. Do you understand?” Veronica nodded. Grace did not like to make it seem like she knew it all, but this was her area of expertise. She knew that this was one of the reasons why Jason had asked her to be part of the task force. He knew that she would handle these types of questions with the utmost delicacy; she did not want to let him down. She was grateful to him for allowing her this opportunity.

“I guess you do know what you are talking about Grace. I am sorry that I doubted you at all. Please understand that I am use to working alone and working with just papers and no humans until I get to the courtroom. This is a bit daunting to me.”

“Not a problem at all. I understand completely.”

As if the airlines knew that they had completed what they needed to get done, the boarding call was made and they were allowed to get on the plane. As they got on the plane it was apparent to Grace that the flight was going to be full and the idea of being able to sleep was going to be impossible. There were too many small children flying and that was never a good mix when one is trying to sleep.

Other than the restless children, the flight was uneventful. There was no baggage to be picked up as they were going to be only staying for a brief time; actually they had already booked their return flight for 5:30 that evening. They both hoped that this would be enough time for them to get through the conversation that they were going to have with Vincent Ramo’s parents. They were also hoping to meet with some of his old college buddies but they had not set that up beforehand. They were just going to call them up and see if it was possible.

After picking up their rental car at the airport, they headed down to Soho. When they arrived to the gate of the Ramos’ home, it was apparent that they were very well off. It was amazing to Grace how much people who showcase their wealth. It was almost as if they did not care who knew that they had money; in fact it appeared that they wanted everyone to know that they had it. There were four cars in the driveway; a Lexis, a Mercedes, a H2, and a classic Mustang that had been fully restored.

Veronica and Grace arrived at the top of the driveway; they were greeted by a man. At first Grace thought that it was Mr. Ramos, but she was mistaken; it was the butler. “How can people actually want to work for another people just answering their door,” Grace asked Veronica. Veronica just shook her head. She often wondered the same thing but there wasn’t much that she could do about it. She had been raised by a mother who worked for another family as a maid and it often made her mad that her mom had to be with them on special occasions instead of being with her and her dad.

When they were shown into the house they were both blown away by the enormous space that was in the foyer. They were told to wait there and that Mrs. Ramos would be meeting with them shortly. Grace felt very uncomfortable being placed in a home that did not feel like a home; it was much closer to a museum. There were huge artifacts covering the walls and there were sculptures that were larger than life. It really made her wonder why someone needed to be so showy with their money.

When Mrs. Ramos walked into the foyer both Veronica and Grace were surprised as to how she was dressed. From all of the money that was apparent she appeared out of place. She was wearing a jogging suit that had seen better days. It appeared that she did not care about her appearance and that it did not bother her that she did not seem to fit the part. She told them that they could come into the family’s living room and take a seat where they would be much more comfortable

As they walked into the living room it was a much more homey feeling. They could tell that this was the room that the family spent most of their time. The couch had two Bassett hounds laying on it and it did not appear that they were going to be moving any time soon. As soon as the two women took their seats on the two chairs next to the couch, it was apparent to both of them that this interview was going to be different than any other that the two of them had conducted. Mrs. Ramos had a pad of paper in her hands and told them to please wait as her lawyer was going to be meeting with them in about three minutes. Grace could not figure out why a lawyer was needed at this meeting, as it was routine.

Grace could not have been farther from the truth. This was not going to be a normal interview. There were defiantly some skeletons in the closet and it would appear as if they were going to be rearing their ugly heads early on in the process. Grace wondered if her technique was going to work with this woman or if she should have had Veronica deal with it. It was going to have to be done off the cuff and it was not going to be easy. Grace just hoped that Veronica was up to the challenge if need be.