“How did you meet?”
“We met at the Libre. She'd come in with her father from time to time, and we'd talk and stuff.”
“How long were you dating?”
“Maybe three or four months.”
I saw something from the corner of my eye. When I turned to look, it disappeared back into the kitchen. I kept my eyes fixed on the doorway.
Maggie kept up the questioning. “How do you feel about what's happening to Adela now?”
He didn't hesitate. “She's getting what she deserves.”
“You think she killed her parents?”
“I know she did.”
“And how do you know?”
“She tried to get me to lie for her. She wanted me to say that she was with me all night.”
“And was she with you all night?”
“No.”
“Was she with you at all that night?”
“Yes. She snuck over and I let her in through my window. We did it a couple times in my bed and then she left.”
“When did she leave?”
“I don't know. I was sleeping.”
“Then how do you know she left?”
“She was gone when I woke up. She called me in the morning, when the police were at her house, and she told me to tell them that she was here all night.”
“Maybe she was.”
“She couldn't have been. Detective Davies said she killed her parents at two in the morning.”
“How do you know she wasn't in your bed at two? You just said you were asleep.”
“I never told Detective Davies that she wasn't with me at two. I just told him that I couldn't say she was. ”
“Didn't you want to protect her?”
“Not after I found out what she'd done. You think I want a crazy bitch like that as a girlfriend? I date a lot of girls, but I draw the line at murderers.”
Maggie paused to rub her temples. A real piece of work this kid. I returned to watching the door. It was back, a tuft of frizzy hair poking out. Slowly, the hair moved further into the doorway, followed by a pimply forehead, and then finally an eye. She saw me looking right at her and ducked back behind the wall.
Maggie saw her, too, but she kept her attention focused on Raj, whose back was turned to the doorway. Maggie asked why he thought Adela did it.
“She was pissed that they were divorcing.”
“You think she killed her parents just because they were divorcing? Doesn't that seem a little crazy?”
“Surprised me as much as anybody,” he said.
No longer afraid that she was going to get in trouble, Raj's puberty-stricken sister poked her head fully into the doorway. I threw a wink her way, getting a smile full of braces in return.
“Well, thanks for going through all that again,” Maggie said. “So you said you like to date a lot of girls?”
“That's right.”
“Did Adela know?”
“I don't think so. You think I'd tell her?”
“How do you think she would've reacted if she found out?”
“I guess I'm lucky she never did, or it might be me that got whipped to death.”
“Were you ever serious about Adela?”
“Listen, I thought Adela would be a lot of fun. I mean you've seen her, right? She's hot as they come, but she had… issues. ”
“What kind of issues?”
“She was all clingy, you know what I mean? We went out a couple times, and it was like we were married or something.”
“If it bothered you so much, why didn't you just break it off?”
“She was my boss's daughter. I wanted to let her down easy.”
“By having sex with her?”
“Like I said, she was hot.”
“How many other girls were you seeing?”
“I don't keep count,” he said, self-satisfied.
“Did Adela know any of these other girls?”
“I don't think so.”