“The bank advised you that they were going to sue you for fraud, did it not?”
“I was aware of that threat, yes. Again, I left that to the attorneys.”
“So you were under considerable financial distress.”
“Yes. It was a difficult time.”
“Did you borrow any money from any individual who would have been unhappy about not being repaid?”
Strickland shook his head, looking and sounding bored. “No.”
“You were convinced your wife was dead?” Tracy asked.
“Yes, I was convinced, and I told the rangers and the Pierce County Sheriff I was convinced. I was the only one there. She left the tent and never came back. What else was I to think?”
“How come you didn’t get up with her that night?” Kins asked.
“No,” Montgomery said, head shaking. “We are not going there, Detective. Mr. Strickland has answered all of those questions before and they are now irrelevant. I suggest you speak to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office if you have any questions regarding their investigation.”
“I was just following up on what he said,” Kins said.
“Do you know anyone who would have wished your wife . . . Andrea, harm?” Tracy asked.
“No one, but . . .”
Strickland paused, and again Tracy had the distinct impression he’d done so on purpose, the actor engaging in a dramatic moment. “But what?” she asked.
“Well, it doesn’t appear I knew my wife all that well, does it?”
“Were you having marital issues?”
“Again, Detectives, that investigation is over,” Montgomery said. “Unless you consider him a suspect in his wife’s death, in which case we won’t be answering questions.”
“It’s okay, Phil,” Strickland said. Even before he continued speaking, Tracy knew what Graham Strickland was going to say. “I have nothing to hide, Detectives. I told the Pierce County detective that Andrea and I were having difficulties stemming from my infidelity early in the marriage.”
“What do you mean by difficulties?” Tracy asked.
“I don’t understand the question.”
“You said you were having ‘difficulties.’ Did you ever strike her?” Tracy asked.
“Never,” Strickland said. “I would never strike a woman. We were just trying to get through a difficult time.”
“Whose idea was it to climb Mount Rainier?”
“Andrea’s.”
“Not yours?”
“No. I really hadn’t had the time to even think of such things. We’d been so immersed in trying to make a go of the business that we had lost touch with each other. The stress was tremendous. We’d hoped that climbing, something we enjoyed doing together, would help us both remember why we’d fallen in love in the first place.”
“And was her taking out an insurance policy benefiting you also her idea?” Kins said.
Strickland shifted his gaze and gave Kins a smug smile. “Actually, it was, Detective.”
“And you had no idea your wife was planning on leaving you?” Kins said in a tone intended to get a rise out of Strickland.
“None. I’ve thought about it, obviously. I’ve thought about it a lot.”
Tracy wondered how that was even possible, given that Strickland had only learned the evening before that his wife had walked off the mountain. “And what did you conclude?” Tracy asked.
“Clearly, Andrea had to have planned this. At the very least she had to have a separate set of crampons and clothing to get off the mountain.”
“So she clearly didn’t think the climb was going to repair your marriage,” Kins said, ever the annoying fly.
Montgomery sat up, now poised to respond each time Kins asked a question, which Tracy knew was the reason Kins kept doing it. He was diverting Montgomery’s attention, and his displeasure, so the attorney would be less inclined to object to Tracy’s questions. “He’s not going to speculate about what Andrea thought or believed.”
“Seems self-evident now,” Kins said, shrugging and sitting back.
“Did your wife have any relatives?” Tracy asked.
Strickland shook his head. “No. Her parents were deceased.”
“How about friends who would have assisted her?”
“I’m not sure anyone did,” Strickland said.
“She had to get from Mount Rainier to Seattle some way,” Tracy said.
“Yes, but she could have rented a car and hidden it somewhere.”
“Did the Pierce County detectives indicate they’d found evidence she’d done so?”
“No,” Strickland said, “but she could have used her false identity.” Again, he looked pleased with his reasoning. Fields was accurate: Strickland believed he was smarter than everybody.
Tracy thought Strickland’s speculation of a rental car unlikely, but she made a mental note to find out. “Assuming she didn’t, can you think of anyone who would have assisted your wife?”
“Andrea was an introvert,” Strickland said. “I was the more outgoing one.”
“She didn’t have any friends?” Kins said.
“It wasn’t that. It was just that mostly her friends were my friends . . . our friends.”