Hour Game

King said quietly, "I thought you'd want to talk to us first, before the police. But if not, we can go ahead and call them now."

"Oh, my God," she said. Within seconds her hardened exterior simply crumbled and tears slid down her cheeks. King pushed open the door and they went in.

CHAPTER 63

"I DIDN'T KILL HIM, Sean. I didn't."

"But you were buying drugs from him?"

They were sitting in the living room. King and Michelle were in wing chairs. Dorothea was on the small sofa across from them, clutching the arm of the furniture as though if she let go, she'd topple to the floor.

"I've been under tremendous pressure lately," she began slowly. "I've had some… financial reverses."

"Spending a thousand dollars a night on drugs isn't exactly the way to stop financial problems."

She looked at him, stunned. "Did you talk to that little shrimp!"

"Careful, one shouldn't speak ill of the dead. Tell me about that night."

"How much do you know?"

"Enough that if you start lying, I'll know, and that won't make me happy."

"I don't know what came over me, I really don't. I could tell Kyle wanted to sleep with me. Not that it wasn't obvious. Men are so transparent."

"But you didn't want to sleep with him?"

"Of course not. But I'd had a lot to drink. And I'd made up my mind that that night was the last time. Like you said, drugs weren't going to solve my problems. And it wasn't just the money problems. It was the family… Marrying into the Battle clan carries with it a lot of pressure and stress."

"I can see having Remmy as a mother-in-law wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park," commented Michelle dryly.

"It was a complete and total nightmare. Everything I did, wore, ate, drank or said was scrutinized. And they weren't tactful about criticism. Bobby was far worse than Remmy. He was such a tyrant. And his mood swings were terrifying. Smiling and happy one minute, screaming and bullying the next. Anyone could be a target, even Remmy. I've started seeing a therapist, trying to tackle my issues in a more constructive way."

"That's good," said King. "But you were telling us about Kyle."

"Yes. Well, when Kyle came with the drugs, I was a little looped and decided to screw with him. So I, well, I…" She stopped, her face flushing. "It was idiotic. I know that."

"We know about the striptease. You don't have to elaborate. But you pulled a gun on him."

"He was about to attack me! I had to protect myself."

"And you demanded the money back."

"I'd paid him enough. He was stealing the drugs. His profit margin was a hundred percent. I was just trying to make the transaction a little fairer from my end."

"So you got the money back?"

"Yes. I pretended I was going to shoot him, and he ran out. That's the last time I saw him, I swear."

"How did you end up approaching him in the first place?"

"I knew he worked at Sylvia's office, although we never had any direct contact. I'd gone there for a back injury. The painkillers she prescribed became sort of a necessity, but after my treatment was completed, Sylvia wouldn't write any more prescriptions. But by then I was hooked. I knew Sylvia kept the drugs I wanted at her office. I could tell Kyle was a marginal person: ready, willing and able to do anything for money. And I knew prescription drugs from a medical office were far safer than anything you could buy on the street. Besides, I had no wish to get hooked up with an actual drug dealer. I picked the Aphrodisiac as the rendezvous spot because I'd had lunches and meetings there and knew they had rooms and wouldn't ask any questions."

"And you don't think he knew who you were? He'd obviously seen you at Sylvia's office."

"I always wore glasses and a scarf, kept the lights low and spoke very little. And if he had recognized me, I'm sure he would've tried to blackmail me."

King was looking at her closely when she said this. She caught his look and paled.

"I know this seems really bad, Sean."

"Dorothea, it is really bad. Does Eddie know about any of this?"

"No! Please, you can't tell him. We don't have the world's greatest marriage, but I still care for him and this will kill him."

"I can't promise you anything, Dorothea. Now, I want to know where you were last night."

"I was here."

"Eddie can corroborate that?" asked Michelle. "He came back early from the reenactment."

"How did you know that?" asked Dorothea.

Michelle looked uncomfortable. "I drove up with Chip Bailey to Middleton to see the battle. Chip had to leave early and Eddie drove me back. He said he wasn't going to stay for the second day of the reenactment."

Dorothea stared at her suspiciously and then said, "Well, he wasn't in the house last night. He was probably in his studio. He sleeps there sometimes."

Michelle started to say something but then stopped.

King said, "So you don't have an alibi. By the way, I called the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. You never checked in on the night Bobby was killed, like you said you did. The FBI will also have discovered that fact. Were you at the Aphrodisiac that night?"