She could barely catch her breath. It took everything she had to say, “That’s a mistake. I loved my husband. I would never hurt him.” The detective laughed under his breath.
“That’s what they all say,” he replied. “No, listen to me,” Julia insisted. “Whoever did this could have wiped the pitcher down. I touched it after I came into the room.”
The detective only made a note in his file and looked at her again with the same flat, unblinking stare. “You wanted the apartment, didn’t you?” he said. “Nice place. Valuable antiques. Good motive.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Julia shot back. “Victor owned a furniture business, not a Fortune 500 company, and he was not planning to leave me.”
“Even if we’d had problems, he wasn’t the kind of man who would throw me out with nothing,” she said through tears. Her black scarf was damp by then. She had come straight from the post-funeral gathering to that interview room.
The detective shoved a box of tissues toward her without much sympathy. “Let’s skip the performance,” he said, glancing toward the dark observation window. Julia had the uneasy feeling someone was watching from the other side.
“You acted out of greed,” he continued. “You wanted control of the property before anything could be divided.” “That’s not true,” Julia said. “You’re building a story and calling it evidence.”
“Trying to pass it off as heart failure would have worked if not for the toxicology report,” he said. “The poison gave you away.” Julia shook her head in disbelief.
“I did not kill Victor. Why won’t you consider the possibility that someone connected to his business wanted him gone?” she asked. Her hands were trembling with anger and fear. “Are you telling me how to do my job now?” the detective said sharply.
“He sold furniture, ma’am. He wasn’t some major player worth a contract hit.” Julia looked at him and understood, with a sinking certainty, that the decision had already been made. The detective leaned back as if the matter were settled.
“Take her out,” he told the officers at the door. “We’re done here.”
