Aaron was hesitant but eventually got out his story, basically a recap of what he told Marge. As they were preparing for their camping trip, Adrianna called him. Aaron delivered the message to Garth—that she was breaking up with him. Garth panicked, and went back to L.A. to talk to her. Garth left for the Reno airport in a taxi while Aaron and Greg went on their trip. But it was too cold in the mountains for them to stay.

“There was snow on the ground. We brought fleece and stuff, but it was way colder than we were prepared for. So we turned around the next day and came back.”

“How far did you travel by car?”

“Musta been like, I don’t know…two hundred miles. It took all day to get there. The roads are really windy.”

“They have gas stations along the way?”

“Yeah, but not a lot. You gotta be careful of your gas tank.”

“Did you stop for gas?”

“Sure.”

“Where?”

“Several places. I told the lady detective that I put all my purchases on my credit card.” Aaron paused. “I was far away when Adrianna died. My credit cards prove it.”

“It certainly does prove that your credit cards were far away. Anyone see you at your pit stops?”

“Yeah, sure. We went into a convenience store. We got some snacks. I remember the store clerk. She had blond hair and brown eyes and had a nose pierce. She was cute. I think her name was Ellie or something like that.”

Decker knew that most convenience stores had video monitoring. If he could pull Otis’s credit card records, he could contact the store and probably get the video verification if the clerk hadn’t erased the tape.

Aaron said, “We also stopped there on the way back. Same clerk, by the way.”

“Can I pull your credit card receipts to get the name of the convenience store?”

“Sure. Whatever you need to prove that I wasn’t anywhere near L.A.”

“Okay. If everything checks out, you probably weren’t involved directly in Adrianna’s murder. So let’s move on to Crystal.”

“I’m not friendly with Crystal…I mean I’m not unfriendly with her, but she’s much better friends with Greg than me.”

Decker looked up from his notebook and made eye contact with the lad. “I’m going to ask you this and I want an honest answer. If I find out you were lying to me, I’ll be much less forgiving of your statements. Do you understand?”

Aaron put down the coffee cup. “I’m not lying to you.”

“I haven’t asked you the question yet.” Decker’s eyes bored into his. “Have you ever had sex with Crystal Larabee?”

Aaron’s eyes shifted focus. “Yeah, like a long time ago…like two months.”

Decker had to stifle a smile. “Not so long ago to me. How long did the affair last?”