“You’re not one hundred percent sure?” Ani asked, the surprise evident on her face.
“That’s right. I can’t be completely confident,” Cassie said, and then she explained her tendency to drink and even, on occasion, to succumb to—or, arguably, to court—the no-man’s-land where memory hadn’t a chance. “And then there was the bottle,” she said when she had finished.
“The bottle?”
“In the morning, I found a broken bottle of Stolichnaya vodka. I vaguely remember when we broke it the night before. It was the vodka Miranda had brought. Alex was having trouble with the top. Anyway, the shoulder—you know, the neck and the shoulder of the bottle—were intact. Sort of. The top of the bottle was like a weapon and it was by the bed. I took all the pieces I could find and threw them away after I’d left the hotel.”
“So, are you telling me that you might have killed him? You used the broken bottle as a weapon and cut his throat?” Her voice was flat. Toneless.
“Here’s the thing,” Cassie murmured. She recalled how when people had something utterly ridiculous to explain, they always seemed to begin, It’s complicated. She took comfort in the fact that she hadn’t begun with those two words. “I’m not violent when I black out. I’ve never been told I hurt someone. I may do stupid things and risk my own life, but I don’t attack people. If sometime in the night Alex had tried to have sex with me again, I don’t think I would have stopped him. It’s probably happened to me before. I mean, I know it has.”
“Men having sex with you without your consent.”
She nodded. “Look, I know it’s not a gray area. I just know that when I’m that drunk, I’m not prone to say no. Or, I’m sorry to say, care.”
“You’re right, it’s not a gray area. It’s rape.”
“But I don’t think Alex would ever have tried to rape me. Either I was so drunk I was oblivious—”
“That’s not consent, Cassie!”
“Let me finish. Please. Either I was so drunk I was oblivious, or I was happy with whatever was happening. But if I did ask Alex to stop, I believe he would have. He was a really gentle guy. I mean, he washed my hair in the shower. So, why would I have taken the broken bottle and fought him?”
“Is it possible that you killed him while he was sleeping? Is that where this is going?”
“It’s possible, but…”
“But…”
“But I don’t think so,” Cassie said. “That’s not me. And I’ve thought about this a lot since it happened. And…”
“Go on.”
“And I thought I left. I have this memory of leaving that’s pretty distinct.”
“Leaving the hotel room.”
“Yes. The suite.”
“But you woke up beside him in bed.”
“When I have a blackout, there are gaps. At first I thought I was going to leave with Miranda. Go back to the airline hotel. I mean, I was dressed when Miranda was there. Obviously.”
“Obviously,” Ani said, but her inflection was tinged with sarcasm.
“But I didn’t leave. Miranda left and I didn’t go with her. I stayed. And Alex and I went to the bedroom and made love. After that, however, I got dressed again. I know I did. Or I almost know I did. I have this memory of being at the hotel room door and saying good-bye to him. I really do.”
“I just want to confirm: you were there when he broke the vodka bottle?”
“Yes.”
“So, do you believe it might have been this Miranda person?”
“Who killed him? It’s crossed my mind,” Cassie answered. “This is the first time I’ve verbalized any of this, so I’m almost thinking out loud. Working it through. I guess it’s possible. I left. Miranda came back. Then I came back.”
“And you were so drunk that you didn’t notice that Alex was dead?”
“The room’s dark. Maybe.”
“When Miranda arrived at the suite, she knocked on the door?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I was wondering if she had a key. But even if she didn’t already have one, she steals a key while the three of you are having your little party.”
Cassie hadn’t thought of this, but it would certainly explain how someone had gotten into the room.
“But,” Ani continued, “if Alex knows it’s Miranda, she doesn’t need a key. He just lets her in. How long do you think you were gone?”
“If I was gone? No idea.”
“Why would you have come back?”
“I probably forgot something in the room and went back for it. That’s happened before.”
Ani looked down at her notes and then said, “It’s also possible it was someone who worked at the hotel or knew someone who worked at the hotel.”
“Yes, I agree that’s a possibility.”
“And while I personally have no idea how to break into a locked hotel room, I’m sure there are ways.”
“I guess.”
“This guy told you that he used to work for Goldman Sachs and now has a hedge fund. What else did he say about his job?”
“Nothing.”
“Why was he in Dubai?”
“Meetings,” Cassie answered.
“About?”
“He didn’t say. All I know is what I read online, which really wasn’t very much.”
The lawyer leaned in. “He was a guy. A young guy. My age. When guys my age hit on me, they always talk about work. It’s that alpha male thing to show me how important they are. So, think hard: surely he said something.”
“He really didn’t.”
“And you didn’t ask?”
“No.”
“Well, the fact he didn’t talk about work is revealing, too. Maybe it suggests he had something to hide.”
“Maybe. Your uncle thinks he may have been a spy for some country.”
Ani smiled. “My uncle loves a good spy story. So tell me: what did you two talk about?”
“We talked about my work. He seemed really interested in what I did. Flying. Passenger craziness. He seemed to get a real kick out of the stories.”
“What else?”
“We talked about growing up in Kentucky and Virginia. We talked about food. We talked about drinking. But…”
“Go on.”
“We both got toasted pretty quickly. It’s not that we can’t hold our booze. It’s just that we drank so much,” Cassie explained. It sounded as squalid and confessional as ever.
“What about when Miranda came? What did the three of you talk about then?”
“I don’t remember much. It was late.”
“Why did you think she was there?”
“When she first arrived? I assumed she and Alex worked together or he managed her money. I assumed they were friends.”
“Forgive me, but what kind of friends? Were they lovers? Ex-lovers?”
Cassie looked down at the table for a moment as she answered, because it was getting harder and harder to maintain eye contact with the lawyer. “I thought so at first. I assumed she was there to have sex with us.”
“The three of you,” said Ani evenly.
“I guess.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No. It never even came up. She brought that bottle of vodka, we all drank some, and mostly the two of them talked. I didn’t really pay attention.”
“They talked about his work? Her work, maybe?”
“I remember something about a meeting they were going to have together the next morning. That’s all. Late morning, I think. There would be other people at the meeting.”
“Who?”
“Dubai investors in the fund, I guess. I think it was going to be downtown. But I also got the sense that they really didn’t know each other all that well. They may have been meeting for the first time. I think she was maybe somebody’s daughter.”
“Someone he knew.”
“Or someone important in his life somewhere. But I can tell you this: I learned this morning that if she does work for Unisphere, it’s not in their Dubai office.”
“And you know this how?”
“I called them.”
“Dubai.”
“Yes,” Cassie answered, and she recounted her brief conversation with the receptionist.