In Death 26 - Strangers in Death

idea before you settled on Suzanne.”
    “It means nothing, none of it means—”
    “Not done,” Eve commented. “I can prove your father-in-law—whose murder I’m also going to hang on you given a little more time—was annoyed with the way you were allocating funds earmarked for the program.”
    “Ridiculous.” But her body jumped. “Insane.”
    “You keep thinking that,” Eve invited. “Reginald Anders’s murder opened the door to your long-term plans. I can prove you not only spoke with, not only contacted Suzanne after Custer’s murder, but drove to a lot several blocks from her home—reserved slot again—and met her on the street where you were seen by witnesses. Black coat, fur trim. We’ve got that in evidence now, too. I can prove you drove her to a rest stop off the Turnpike, where you were seen by witnesses.”
    “She was blackmailing me.”
    “Oh please.”
    “After she killed her husband, she blackmailed me. She said she’d call the police, that she’d tell them I was having an affair with her husband, and that she knew he was meeting me that night. I was terrified. I met her that day, outside her building, to give her the last payment. I drove out of the city to that rest area, and I gave her the last payment. I told her it had to be the last, and she was angry. That must be why she killed Tommy.”
    “How much she sting you for? Quick, quick,” Eve said when Ava hesitated. “How much?”
    “Two hundred thousand dollars.”
    “See, you should’ve lowballed it. That’s too much for her to hide, too much for you to skim without leaving crumbs.”
    “I sold some jewelry.”
    “No, Ava, no.” Heaving a sigh, Eve leaned in. “Now you’re disappointing me. I gave you more credit. We can check that. First, going back, Suzanne doesn’t have the brains or the balls to blackmail anyone. Going further back, not only wasn’t she in the room when Ned bought it, but she’s too short to have executed the killing blow. This is basic forensics, and juries are pretty savvy there. Got you cold on that one. Witnesses, forensics, your own statement putting you there.”
    “She didn’t come. She didn’t come as arranged, and he attacked me.”
    “Who? Let’s be specific since we’ve got such a winding road here.”
    Ava picked up her cup again, drank. “Suzanne’s husband.”
    “Ned Custer attacked you?”
    “Yes. He wanted sex, and I told him Suzanne was coming, and he was furious, and attacked me. I was terrified; you have to understand. He was going to rape me, so I grabbed the knife.”
    “From where?”
    “From…”
    “Quick!” Eve snapped and had Ava jolting again. “Where’d you get the knife?”
    “From him. He had the knife. He threatened me with it, and we struggled. I lashed out, in fear for my life.”
    “You killed Ned Custer.”
    “Yes, yes, but in self-defense. He was a mad man, waving the knife, shouting. He tore at my clothes. I was terrified.”
    “I’ll take the admission of guilt, but not the plea. And neither will a jury. Basic forensics again, Ava. You took him out from behind.”
    “We were struggling.”
    “With one, clean slice. No defensive wounds, no signs of struggle on him or in the room. You did a damn good job of it.”
    “I want a lawyer. Now.”
    “Sure. While we’re taking care of that,” Eve said as she began to gather the evidence bags and files, “I’ll go have a little chat with Suzanne. She should be here by now.”
    “It was her idea.”
    “I’m sorry, Ava, you’ve invoked your right to counsel. I can’t take any further statements from you until such time as—”
    “Fuck the lawyer. I don’t want a damn lawyer. I need your help. Aren’t you a public servant? Isn’t it your duty to help someone in trouble? Isn’t that what I pay you for?”
    “So I’m told. For the record, you’re again waiving your right to counsel?”
    “Yes, yes, yes. It was her idea. I was upset with Tommy for some silly thing, and I’d been drinking. She came to my room, at the retreat, and we started to talk.”
    Ava’s breath came fast. Eve imagined her thoughts came even faster.
    “She said we’d both be better off without our husbands. I was in a mood, I agreed. Then she hatched this idea about how each of us would kill the other’s. It was foolishness, or so I believed. We talked and talked, plotting it out. Laughing about it. It was just a joke. I was awfully drunk, just feeling blue and ridiculous, and it made me laugh