“No.” Mary smiled, jerking his chain. “Where am I now? Am I here or there? Or is it neither here nor there?”
Roger ignored her, closing his eyes lightly. “Visualize this with me. Sit in the interview with Judy. Try to breathe deeply. Find a space of conscious mindfulness. Say to yourself, ‘Go inside to serve outside.’”
“Whatever, let’s go!” Bennie clapped her hands loudly, startling Roger. “Once more, into the breach!”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Mary and Judy sat in the interview room opposite Detectives Krakoff and Marks, and Detective Marks had taken notes while Detective Krakoff had conducted the questioning. Mary thought it had gone well, since Judy had refused to answer any questions, remaining composed even when they’d Mirandized her “out of an abundance of caution.” Mary wasn’t fooled. This was custodial interrogation, and they were narrowing their suspicions on her best friend, which meant that Mary morphed into a bulldog. A pregnant bulldog, at that.
“So Ms. Carrier.” Detective Krakoff crossed his legs in his dark suit, dressed oddly formally. “Are you refusing to cooperate with us?”
Mary interjected, for Judy, “Not at all, Detective Krakoff. Don’t try and bully her. She’s already made her statement.”
“So Ms. DiNunzio, you’re here in an official capacity, as her lawyer?”
“Yes, in case she needs one.”
“And from now on, should we desire to communicate with her, we should do so through you?”
“I can’t imagine why you would want to, given what she’s already told you, but yes.”
Judy’s mouth set firmly. “Detective, as I said, I don’t know anything about John’s murder. I have no idea who killed him. I have no facts whatsoever that would further your investigation.”
Mary interjected again, “If we knew anything helpful to the police, we would tell you immediately. All of us are devastated over John’s murder, and we want you to find his killer and bring him to justice. That’s exactly why I came here last night with our law firm’s founding partner, Bennie Rosato.”
Detective Krakoff returned his attention to Judy. “Ms. Carrier, did you have a romantic relationship to the victim?”
Mary interjected, “She’s not going to answer that. You and I both know that no putative defendant would, in the circumstances.”
“What circumstances? We haven’t charged her. She’s not a suspect. She’s not even a person of interest.”
“You Mirandized her,” Mary shot back. “Detective Krakoff, why don’t you tell us the information you have so far, so we understand why you called us down here? After all, last night, you refused to give me or Bennie any information or answer any of our questions.”
Detective Krakoff smiled slightly. “By the way, how are you feeling, Ms. DiNunzio? I would hate for you to have another contraction that would cut short the interview.”
“I feel much better, thanks.” Mary arranged her face into an expressionless mask, though it wasn’t easy since she had labeled herself Italian-American, before she’d found out that labels were bad.
“Glad to hear that.” Detective Krakoff faced Judy again, his mouth a firm line. “Ms. Carrier, I’ll lay my cards on the table. Our investigation is in the preliminary stages, but we have already developed facts supporting a theory that you committed this murder. We believe it is in your interest to consider making a deal and we are prepared to offer—”
Mary interrupted, “Detective Krakoff, none of this makes any sense. I was told that John was killed in the course of a burglary.”
“No, that’s incorrect.”
“But that was what Detective Azzic told me last night.”
“He was mistaken.”
“He heard it directly from you.”
“He did.” Detective Krakoff didn’t blink. “But I didn’t confirm or deny to you last night, if you recall. Before your contractions, that is.”
Mary let it go. “Why did you tell him that, if it wasn’t true?”
“We may have believed that initially, given the signs of struggle and the disappearance of the victim’s electronics. But there was no sign of forced entry, so that didn’t square.”
“I see.” Mary found herself wondering instead if Detective Krakoff had misled Detective Azzic, playing close to the vest with his investigation, which seemed likelier. If so, Detective Krakoff was no pushover.
“As I was saying, I don’t have the authority to offer your client a deal, but we can informally explore—”
Mary interrupted again, “And as I was saying, I’d like to hear the facts that you found. That was the question I asked you, and I reiterate that my client is completely innocent of John’s murder. Otherwise we’ll just end the interview.” Mary fake-reached for her purse. “We were at work today and we have a major case to prepare for.”
“Fine.” Detective Krakoff pursed his thin lips. “The medical examiner has performed his autopsy and placed the time of death as between nine o’clock and eleven o’clock last night. We know, Ms. Carrier, that you were the victim’s girlfriend and that you were at his apartment at that time last night, engaged in a quarrel.”
Mary controlled her expression, though she felt fear bolt through her. “What evidence do you have for that?”
“The next-door neighbor heard arguing in the apartment for much of Friday night and into Saturday, up to and including the relevant time period. She was able to identify Ms. Carrier’s voice as the one she heard, and she identified her as the victim’s girlfriend.”
Mary felt her heart sink, but didn’t let it show.
“Emergency dispatch received a call from another neighbor at nine fifteen concerning arguing in the apartment. She lives across the back and she saw Ms. Carrier and the victim arguing in the apartment, though it was too far to hear them. She worried because she has a personal history of domestic abuse by an ex-boyfriend. She said she felt ‘triggered’”—Detective Krakoff made air quotes—“and suspected it may have been a domestic dispute. She identified the woman in the apartment as Ms. Carrier. In addition, there was a dog barking constantly in the victim’s backyard on Friday night, which annoyed her. She works at home, a website designer.”
Mary took mental notes, since he was filling in the gaps in her information. So the detectives had an eyewitness and an earwitness, which was substantial evidence.
“Although emergency dispatch got the call at nine fifteen, an officer was not dispatched to the scene until later. As you may have heard, there was a double homicide in the Northeast last night, which drew uniformed resources. So it wasn’t until 11:16 P.M. that a patrol officer went to the domicile and discovered the victim, who was deceased.”
Mary kept her game face on, and so did Judy.
“The facts lead us to believe that the victim was killed by someone he knew, someone he felt free admitting to his apartment, or even had her own key, like a girlfriend.” Detective Krakoff glanced at Judy. “The medical examiner confirmed that the victim was killed by blunt force trauma to the back of the head. There was a heavy Luxor lamp on his desk, and the killer used its base. We believe it was opportunistic. Somebody lost her temper, like a girlfriend in a fit of anger.” Detective Krakoff eyed Judy hard. “That’s why we brought you in for the interview.”
Mary bore down, setting her emotions aside. “Detective, my client had nothing to do with any of that, even assuming that scenario, which I might add, involves a great amount of speculation.”