A Deadly Game (27 page)

"Yeah, there's a lot of rumors," Scott agreed.

"Have you taken a polygraph, uh . . . the polygraph test?"

"Yes, I have," Scott replied.

"You have?" Amber asked, surprised.

"Yes," Scott repeated.

"And what happened?" Amber inquired. "What. . . how did that go?"

"Fine. I mean, I have nothing to hide," Scott stated.

"You have nothing to hide?" Amber asked.

"No," Scott declared.

"And so it went fine?"

"Yes," Scott insisted.

"And so then wouldn't I read somewhere that you're. . . that. . . that there's no possible way that you're [sic] suspect? At this point, they haven't ruled that out, Scott."

"Yeah, well, as you read it, of course, everyone's the suspect, I'm the prime suspect um . . . you know, and all they say is they haven't ruled me out, they haven't ruled me in," Scott explained. "Um, and they can't talk about the case and they can't tell anyone about the polygraph test."

"You know they've searched your house and warehouse and everything else . . . Have they found anything?" Amber inquired.

"No," Scott said. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be, you know, free. They just. . . they have so little to go on and yes, I have not spoken to the press because I am not the focus of this, it's finding Laci, that's the focus of this."

"I know, but you're the husband," Amber stated.

"Yes, I am," Scott agreed.

"Okay, so one thing I want you to do ... I want you to prove to me you took a polygraph test."

"Okay, I will," Scott agreed.

"Okay, I want that tomorrow," Amber instructed. "I will give you a time ..."

"I'll try," Scott interrupted her.

"No, no 'try.' You will make it possible," Amber insisted. "I will ask you to go in front of the press and I want you to talk about your polygraph and that you've taken it and completed it and ..."

"I think I can do that," Scott said.

"You think?" Amber questioned.

"I have to ... I mean I have to ask my attorney, obviously, and I have to ask the police," Scott explained.

"I don't see where an attorney would disagree for ... for a plea of innocence?"

"That's true," Scott agreed.

"I want to see ... I want to see this tomorrow," Amber demanded.

"Amber," Scott said.

"You taking your polygraph test. I want to see you speak in public," Amber commanded. "It could be one minute, five minutes, whatever. It could be very short and brief, I want it from you, if you want my respect and my trust and everything else, then you will do this for me, Scott, for us."

"I need to check with the police and my attorney," Scott said again.

"You need to check with the police and your attorney?" Amber asked. "You know, it's not like this is some huge thing for you to do. It's quite small, it's ..."

"I don't know what's huge and what's small now," Scott replied.

"I could tell you the disappearance of Laci is huge."

"Oh, I know that," Scott confirmed. "I took the polygraph test," Scott said.

"I need to check with them if I can say that I have or not [taken the test]."

"Why? Why couldn't you?"

"Because right now the police have not released that I have to the press. They say we can not comment," Scott insisted.

"Who runs your life, Scott? You're a thirty-year-old man," Amber declared. "Who runs your life, you or the media or the . . . ?"

"In this kind of situation, the police and my attorney," Scott replied.

"I have faith that you'll make this possible and that you will take that polygraph test and you speak in front of ..."

Scott interrupted. "I took the polygraph test."

"Okay," Amber said. "Then that's no problem. Nobody's telling you not to get up in front of the public."

"Yes, they are," Scott declared. "The police, the families, and my attorney." The lies were spilling from his mouth with abandon. I find it hard to believe that Scott ever thought he could get away with the deception. In fact, he told Amber he would try to give her answers within twenty-four hours. He simply didn't care about repercussions; his only concern was extricating himself from whatever challenge was right in front of him.

Later in the conversation, the topic turned to Scott's attorney, Kirk McAllister. Without identifying him by name, Scott said that his lawyer had been a district attorney for seventeen years.

"He knows the cops can make bad cases," Scott commented. "They can interpret things wrong. He said this is a game of life and death," Scott stated, referring to McAllister's remarks about the "deadly game" his client was playing-a remark he would later gleefully relay to his parents. Scott Peterson was fairly insightful about other people, but not about himself. He was obviously excited about the attorney's description, but he failed to realize that McAllister wasn't delivering a compliment. Scott's attorney was trying to shut him down, to keep him quiet, but Scott wasn't interested in taking his advice. He truly believed he could take on law enforcement and win. "This is a capital case," Scott told Amber. "If they interpret something wrong, and they were to arrest me, there's no bail for me. I would have to wait until the trial cleared me, which could be months." "So does he think that I'm involved?" Amber asked. "No," Scott replied.

"No? Are you sure he knows about me, Scott?" "He does," Scott assured Amber. "And what's his name?"

"The first day we sat down," Scott replied, apparently responding to Amber's first question.

"What's his name?" Amber again demanded. "His name is um ..." Scott paused.

"He's your attorney and you don't know his name?" Amber shot back.

"Amber, hold on, Kirk McAllister," Scott finally divulged.

Amber laughed, then took down the spelling of McAllister's name.

Scott told Amber that McAllister would be angry if he learned that he was speaking to her. After additional prodding, however, he finally provided Amber with McAllister's phone number.

"Okay. I still expect you to talk to him. So would you rather me just be a call of surprise, or do you want to fill him in first?" Amber asked.

"Well, I told him about you," Scott said. In frustration, Scott blurted out, "Give me something that is in my control."

"So, is the polygraph admissible in court?" Amber asked.

"No," Scott replied.

"No? Then what do you have to lose?" Amber asked, sounding puzzled.

"I already took it, Amber," Scott insisted.

"Okay, I want to believe that you have," Amber said.

Scott told Amber that he was meeting with the chief of the Modesto Police Department, Roy Wasden, later that afternoon; from there he was going to Laci's parents' house, where he'd been invited for dinner.

"How are her parents doing?" Amber asked.

"It's awful, it's awful for everyone."

"You didn't answer my question, Scott," Amber stated.

"I mean, her mom is taking drugs," Scott revealed.

"What kind of drugs?" Amber asked.

"You know, like Xanax and stuff," Scott explained. "And that's the way she's functioning . . . She looks like she has no emotion, so I'm worried about her." Was Scott truly incapable of seeing what the entire world could-that Sharon Rocha's heart was being ripped from her body? Or was he merely projecting his own coldhearted behavior onto his wife's grieving mother?

As the call ended, Amber was still insisting that either Scott or his attorney telephone her by noon the following day with proof that he had submitted to a polygraph.

Early on January 8, police tracked Scott to the Red Lion. Just after one o'clock in the afternoon, Scott left the volunteer center and headed to his attorney's office, then to Home Depot. The police watched as he talked on the cell phone from the car.

As he pulled out into traffic, Scott dialed into his voice mail and retrieved a message from Amber.

"Hi, Scott, this is Amber. I was calling, uh, to say, obviously, at this point. . . you have no desire in attempting to prove your innocence to me, so at this time, I'm driving to Modesto to the Modesto Police Department and I'm going to wipe my hands clean of all this."

Scott, who had allowed Amber's noon deadline to pass without any response, returned her call immediately.

"Hello," Amber answered.

"Hey, Amber, it's Scott," he began, his manner cool. "Did you not receive my call? I tried to call at eleven-thirty, 'cause I just got your message?"

"You didn't try calling me at eleven-thirty!" Amber shot back.

"Yes, I did," Scott claimed. More and more, Scott's behavior was calling to mind Hitler's theory reminiscent of the big lie: If you say something completely outrageous, but repeat it often enough, many will finally believe you. Over the years, Scott had evidently learned simply to bulldoze his way through such confrontations. More often than not, he would succeed.

"No, you did not. My phone was sitting right by me. My phone never rang."

The two went back and forth, with Amber finally demanding to know what he was calling about.

"Well, I wasn't sure, you said yesterday that you'd expect a call by noon," Scott began.

"Yes, by either you or your attorney, yes," Amber stated flatly. Scott insisted that he had taken the polygraph, at a place called Priority Investigations.

"And the police were there with you?" Amber asked.

"Yes," Scott affirmed.

"What were the names of the police people?" Amber demanded.

"Al Brocchini, who is a detective," Scott said.

"Okay."

"Well, no, I'm sorry I think it was Craig who was there," Scott confirmed.

"No, Craig what?" "Grogan," Scott replied.

"He was there when you took the polygraph test?" Amber inquired.

"Yeah."

"So, I could call. . . contact them, and they could give me proof that you took this, correct?"

"Sure," Scott agreed.

"True, or yes?" Amber asked.

"Yeah, yes," Scott said.

"Interesting. Okay, that's something I will do then," Amber threatened. "You know, Scott, when people find out, and they will, no one will think your behavior is innocent. Do you understand that?"

"Yeah, I know that, but I had nothing to do with this. So, you know, once we find her . . . you know, everyone will know that I was not involved in this. And I just, you know, I hope that you, uh . . . are not, um . . . involved in any degree, and ..."

Amber fumed. "How . . . back up! Back up to th[at] statement."

"Yeah. Well, I was trying to explain it to you. But, you know, what I mean by that is obviously you're not involved in ... but I mean I don't want, um ... to have any repercussions from people, you know," Scott insinuated.

"What repercussions? My hands are clean of this, Scott!" Amber railed.

"Oh, I know, and I'm the one that. . . that lied to you."

"Exactly," Amber said.

"And put you in the position."

"Exactly," Amber shot back. "So where do you think that behav-. . . they are not going to think your behavior is innocent."

"No, of course not," Scott backed down. "No, they won't. You're right. Of course they won't."

Next, Amber demanded that Scott walk her through the details of Christmas Eve day.

As Scott steered Laci's SUV through the streets of Modesto, he told Amber that Laci had awoke first and had cereal for breakfast. Laci's favorite show, Martha Stewart Living, was on TV, he explained, and she was mopping the floor while watching it. He left home around 9:30 or so, stopping by his warehouse and then heading for the Berkeley Marina for an afternoon of fishing.

"So you're telling me that she . . . she ... at this point, she was still feeling great in the morning? After, I mean, you told me that she was aware of me, right?" Amber asked. "Yes," Scott affirmed.

"And she was still doing great in the morning with that? She wasn't emotionally distraught about..." Scott interjected. "No."

"... you not being with her, and faithful to her, and having someone else? Because that. . . that's just really hard for me to believe," Amber insisted.

Amber next launched into a tirade about a former boyfriend of hers who was married when they first began their relationship. She explained that he'd tied the knot in a quickie wedding at a Vegas drive-through chapel, and the evening had resulted in a "wedding night" pregnancy.

"I was with him, and she was pregnant and had to deal with that," Amber explained. "I said, you know, are you sure you want to be with me? I mean, you have a pregnant woman here with your child. That was hell for me."

Amber went on to explain that the woman hadn't taken the news of her husband's infidelity well. "She was a complete crazy woman," Amber explained. "She wanted to fight me. Every time [he] would speak to her on the phone, his wife would ask, Are you still with that bitch?'