In the interview room, Adam sat at the bare table and watched through the wire-reinforced glass windows as guards and visitors walked by. One of the guards, a blank-faced hulk of a man with tattoos crawling up his meaty forearms, unlocked the door and held it open for Monty. Monty walked in under the guard’s arm and tossed his briefcase across the table.
“I’ve got an in with the judge’s clerk, and it looks certain bail will be denied. You need to prepare yourself for that. I could scream and yell, but it might be smarter to just roll over, stay in the judge’s good graces. This thing will get some news play, so bottom line is it’s political.
“Political or not, I just don’t understand why I am here at all.”
“Apparently the DA’s office has got some pretty damning evidence against you.”
“How could there be evidence against me? There is no evidence. There is no crime.”
“Does the name Constance Perkins mean anything to you?”
“Constance?”
“Also known as Violet.”
“Oh.”
“Oh? What the fuck do you mean, ‘Oh’? Look, Adam, it’s time to fess up. Who is Violet Perkins?”
“I had an affair with her. I told them that.”
“Told who?”
“Leo Hewitt.”
“Goddamn! I should never have called that fucking sawed-off prick.”
“So what do I do?”
“There’s nothing. You have to wait. For the trial. I’m sorry. They’re not gonna allow bail.”
“So I have to stay in jail. What am I going to do?”
Monty took out a yellow legal pad and uncapped his pen. “You’re going to tell me. Tell me everything.”
“There’s nothing to tell.”
“Adam, if there were nothing to tell, you wouldn’t be in jail on murder charges. Now tell me. I want to know who you were fucking, who you weren’t fucking, who is Violet Perkins, and what she could know about you that’s got the prosecution so goddamn happy. I want to know what happened the last time you saw Rachel alive, why you left her alone with Albert knowing full well his history of violence. I want to know why there wasn’t a single drop of blood on Albert when there was bloodspray on the walls and ceiling. But the first thing I want you to tell me is, did you kill her?”
“This is insanity.”
“Be that as it may, I have to ask you. I have to know, Adam. Did you kill her?”
“No. I loved Rachel.”