I found Tammy sitting on the floor, legs crossed, rummaging beneath layers of meat in the pullout drawer on the bottom of Darryl’s refrigerator.
“You won’t find what you’re looking for in there, Tammy,” I said. “It’s gone, and you’re trespassing on a crime scene.”
She looked up at me. “What’s gone?”
“The weed. Police have it. All of it, from what I’ve been told, and he didn’t keep it in there anyway.”
She cupped a hand around the end of the Formica countertop, pulled herself to a standing position. “I’m a simple housewife. What makes you think I have any interest in drugs?”
“When I was here before, you said you had ADHD. You also said it’s been a lot better lately.”
“Yeah, so?”
“It’s better because Darryl gave you weed, right? What was it, some kind of exchange? Drugs for sex, maybe?”
Tammy leaned against the counter and grinned like she was impressed. “The sex was his idea. Have to say though, I didn’t mind going along with it. He suggested exchanging a little pot for a few minutes in the sack, and I accepted. Truth is, I would have paid for it and slept with him anyway. Getting both free was even better. It was a mutual arrangement that benefited us both.”
“You lied to me.”
“No I didn’t. I withheld information. There’s a difference.”
“How’d he do it? How did he manage to deal the drugs without neighbors like Mary noticing?”
“He had a runner. A guy who’d pick them up and take them around. It made it a lot more convenient.”
“Then what was Heather doing there the other night?”
“From time to time, if he had a high-end client and they couldn’t wait, he’d allow them to come to the house. Heather was one of the few people he allowed to do it.”
“You told me you were an honest woman. You led me to believe all you cared about was telling the truth. But you don’t care about honesty at all. You care about saving your ass.”
“I didn’t kill him, and I didn’t kill his lady friend either. I knew what you’d think if I told you everything. You’d think I did it. It’s what you’re thinking now, isn’t it?”
It was what I was thinking. I’d imagined Tammy and Darryl arguing—maybe over drugs, or sex, or both. It was too easy though. It didn’t feel right. I felt like a child playing a game of hot and cold with my friends. Today, I was the child. And I was cold. Very, very cold.