The Trespasser

Breslin and Conway each adopt a different interrogation style to question Rory. Breslin’s persona is Chief Jock while Conway is Cool Girl. They get Rory to repeat his actions on the night of his date with Aislinn: He took a bus to her neighborhood, arrived a half-hour early, and went to buy flowers. Conway is convinced Rory is concealing something about that half-hour lag, but she doesn’t press him. When the detectives inform Rory that Aislinn has been murdered, he goes to pieces at the news. Breslin is primed to force a confession when Conway pulls him out of the room. He says that Rory is guilty and that they should close the case as soon as possible. Steve intercedes and tactfully tells Breslin that the two rookies in charge of the investigation need to work at their own pace. Conway sends Breslin off to interview Rory’s friends.

When Conway and Steve are alone, they discuss the possibility that Breslin might be on a gangster’s payroll—possibly in the pocket of Aislinn’s unknown married boyfriend. This case may be deeper and more dangerous than they had imagined. Conway says to herself, “Breslin the bent cop: he’s a dare, a bad poison dare that no one with sense should take, and I’ve always had a thing for dares” (116). The two detectives form a strategy to keep Breslin occupied with busy work while they pursue the gangland angle of the case. At all costs, they need to keep him away from Aislinn’s electronics until they can check all her files. They question Rory one more time but can’t yet decide if he’s guilty or innocent. Conway feels a little less paranoid now that she and Steve have decided to get to the bottom of things: “The corridor still feels like it’s twitching with covered pits and pointed sticks, but that doesn’t feel like such a bad thing, not any more” (126).