Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Samantha refuses to talk, even when her attorney arrives. It´s as if she had lost her will to live, which makes her more of a suspect. She stares out into emptiness and hasn´t slept a wink all night. All we could get from her are vague, evasive answers.
“Samantha, I need you to talk to me.” I insist calmly. “Was it Josh who killed your baby nine years ago?”
“I don´t know.” She responds uncaringly, she avoids looking at me.
“Did you kill him?”
She remains silent.
Peck is calling again. I was unable to get back to him yesterday. He seemed to be desperate to contact me. I decide to call him later. He must have seen all the commotion on the media.
“Samantha, please. I need you to work with me here. If you didn´t kill him, we´re wasting some precious time, and the killer might be out there, and dangerous.”
She nods, still indifferent, staring out into space. I shake my head; I have to stay cool. I think about Paula and the dinner I owe her. I try to think about pleasant things. Suddenly, Ana is in my thoughts again, together with the bearded, tattooed man screwing her.
“Samantha!” I slam my palm on the table. She doesn´t even wink. This powerful, relentless woman, director to one of the most prestigious agencies in New York, with a tortuous past which includes losing her daughter to a merciless murderer, now looks like a wilted flower. Refusing to defend herself or speak the truth. “You must have an alibi. Tell me, where were you the night Parker was killed?”
She shrugs indifferently.
“Do you want to end up in jail? Is that it?
A lonely tear slides down her haggard face. She shrugs again, and in barely a whisper, asks for a cup of coffee and a cigarette.
We don´t have any prints yet, no conclusive evidence that points a finger at Samantha in Parker´s murder. I have been to the lab over a hundred times and the answer is the same:
«Nothing. We have nothing Tischmann. It´s as if a ghost had slit Parker´s throat».
In the afternoon, I go to my apartment and give Paula a ring.
I need to see her, talk to her. Why shouldn´t I? I need a break from this hassle, some down time. She tells me she´ll come over at seven.
Paula is on time. As usual. She shows up wearing her high-executive gear: High heels, making her as tall as me, a tight gray skirt and a deeply cut, provocative white blouse.
“I really wanted to see you.” She whispers in my ear. Her lips brush my ear and my skin goes up in goose bumps. Her hand on the back of my neck pulls me in forcefully and we kiss passionately.
“Paula, before we...” I blush and with my hand on her hip I push her back. “We haven´t talked since yesterday. Everything was so hectic and Samantha isn´t talking. Not even with her lawyer there.”
“I understand. As I said yesterday,” she begins, sitting on the sofa, “I remembered. I was all flustered as I was leaving the office. My mind was in a blur because of what had happened with Josh. But I remembered, I saw her as I was leaving and I heard the crash of breaking glass, and then... I don´t know Paul. I´m not sure she did it, just that she was there. She was the only person there.”
“Regardless of how stocky she is, I honestly doubt Samantha could smash that glass partition.”
“I know, Paul. It seems impossible to me too. Do you have anything else though? Some prints that might incriminate someone else?”
“No. We don´t have a thing.”
She lowers her head, smiling. I want to read her thoughts, know what´s going on in her head.
“Come, sit here beside me and make love to me.” She says suddenly.
I comply. I approach her and have her clothes off so fast, it even surprises me. In her green eyes, I can see Ana. But even that doesn´t stop me. I pick her up in my arms and take her into the bedroom, and once again, Paula manages to make me forget all the cruelty and evil in the world. That cruelty with which Parker extinguished the life of his own child.