Todd shook his head, glancing at Rose before he spoke. “No, I didn’t get a ticket. I was going faster than eighty, I’ll tell you that. I nearly got myself killed more than once.”
“How about a gas receipt? Big truck like yours, there’s no way you could possibly make it home from Savannah on a single tank of gas.”
“I could give you that, but I don’t save those receipts. I rely on my bank statements to tally up my gas costs.”
When Taylor didn’t respond, Wolff quickly filled the silence. “I’ve got a gas card. That way I can keep those charges on one card to keep it all straight. I can get deductions on my taxes, you know. So yeah, I stopped in a little town…I can’t remember the name of it now. But I’m sure I can find the information once my statement comes.” He smiled for the first time, satisfied with his answer.
“That’s great, Mr. Wolff. We’ve already pulled all of your financials, so we’ll be able to get that answer right now.” She leaned back toward the corner, where a small table sat with a phone. She stabbed at a button, then hit speaker. Marcus’s voice rang through the room.
“What can I get you, LT?”
“I need the bank statements for Mr. Wolff analyzed. Please look for charges specific to his gas card so we can see the stops at gas stations on the day in question. He says he stopped in a little town, but can’t remember the name. Any chance you could ID the place for me, so we can check that out?”
“Sure thing, LT. I’ll get back to you in a minute.”
She clicked the speaker off and looked at Todd Wolff’s vividly white face.
“Was it something I said?” she asked.
“I just, I didn’t realize, I…” He trailed off.
Rose jumped in. “This is highly irregular, Lieutenant. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen-”
“Stow it, Mr. Rose. This is hardly irregular. Mr. Wolff is lying to us, and I’d like to know why.” Taylor ignored Rose sputtering and hand-wringing, instead focusing on Todd.
“Todd, when was the last time you had sex with your wife?”
Todd’s eyes got round. “What does that have to do with anything?” He stopped, and Taylor could see his mind whirling along the process. He became rigid in his chair.
“Oh, my God. Are you saying she was raped?”
Taylor didn’t react, just sat back in her chair and glanced at Fitz. He gave her a barely perceptible nod. “Mr. Wolff, all I’m asking is when you last had sexual relations with your wife.”
Miles shot up a hand. “I’d like a moment to confer with my client, please.”
“It’s really not that difficult a question. Mr. Wolff, how about it? When did you and Corinne last have sexual relations?”
Todd’s head was on a pivot, swinging rhythmically between his lawyer and Taylor. She could almost hear each distinct turn.
Rose got to his feet. “Don’t answer that. Lieutenant, we need the room, please.”
She gave it a moment, then nodded. She clicked the remote, turning off the audio and video feed. They stood and went into the hall. Rose closed the door quietly behind them.
“The monitors?” Fitz asked.
“Oh, yeah.” They went into the printer room, stood shoulder to shoulder and watched the show. Too bad it was illegal for them to listen in; the sound mike remained off, the tape wasn’t rolling.
“Why’s he balking about answering the sex question?”
“Fitz, that is an excellent question. I’d like to know the answer myself. Shouldn’t be such a big deal, they were married. Granted, according to the kid brother, they’d had that huge fight, but that was a month ago. They’d probably made up. Unless…”
Taylor could tell that Rose was doing all the talking. Todd just sat, head in his hands, shoulder hunched in misery. After a few moments, Rose threw up his hands in exasperation, then looked straight into the camera, motioned for them to come back.
Taylor raised an eyebrow. Rose knew the score.
They went back into the room, got settled, and Taylor hit the button to restart the tape. Rose spoke first.
“I have advised my client that unless you intend to arrest him immediately, he should no longer participate in the interrogation. My client does not agree. He wants to continue talking to you. I’ve warned him that this isn’t a good idea, but he is quite insistent. So. The floor is yours, Todd.”
Todd’s eyes were rimmed in red. He met Taylor’s gaze. “I didn’t kill my wife.”
“That wasn’t the question, Mr. Wolff. I asked when you last had sex with your wife.”
Taylor crossed her arms and waited. Todd was obviously wrestling with something. Finally, he took a deep breath. “Corinne and I hadn’t had sex for at least a week before I left town.”
“Would you be willing to take a DNA test to confirm that statement, Mr. Wolff?”
“Why do you need DNA from me? I just told you I didn’t have sex with her.”
Taylor glanced at Fitz. He read her gaze and made a note on his paper.
“Because you may or may not be telling the truth, but the tests don’t often lie. The autopsy showed that Corinne had engaged in sexual relations recently.”
Todd stared at her hard, a muscle in his jaw working furiously. Gritting his teeth. He was trying not to react, and it was difficult for him. She found that response more interesting than denials and lies. What if he did kill his wife? Lying about the sex would be a great starting point for their evidentiary investigation.
So far Todd had displayed little emotion outside of his initial despair at the loss of Corinne. But some people are natural actors. He obviously had a temper, that much was apparent right now. She decided to push a little harder, see what broke free.
“Was your wife having an affair?”
Wolff flinched. “No. Of course not. You’ve obviously made some sort of mistake. We did have sex before I left. I forgot.”
“You just told us that you hadn’t had sex for a week.”
“I was mistaken. It was the night before I left. I’m very upset, Lieutenant. Surely you can understand that. Details aren’t perfectly clear in my mind.”
“Okay, Mr. Wolff. That’s fine. We’ll arrange for that DNA test as soon as we wrap up here. Let’s talk about something else for a moment. Was your wife taking any prescription medication that you were aware of?”
The subject change caught him off guard. He sat back in his chair, eyes squinted in distrust. Then he answered.
“As far as I know, she was taking a prenatal vitamin, and some extra folic acid. She might pop some Tylenol if she had a headache or a sprain. My wife was extremely healthy. She was very careful with what she put in her body, even when she wasn’t pregnant. But if you’ve been through the house, you’ll have noticed that already.”
The organic milk carton sitting on the counter popped into Taylor’s head. Okay, so that much was consistent, at least.
“Then would it surprise you to learn that she had a large presence of benzodiazepine in her system?”
“A benzo what?”
“A benzodiazepine called lorazepam. It’s a prescription anti-anxiety medication. Ativan is the brand name. We found a therapeutic level in her bloodstream.”
Todd was shaking his head dismissively. “There’s no way.”
“Unfortunately, there is a way. She’d been taking it for several weeks at least, according to the medical examiner’s office. Are you sure you don’t remember anything about it? She never mentioned feeling anxious, calling the doctor, getting the prescription?”
“No. There’s no way she was taking anything like that. Hell, she wouldn’t even drink a cup of coffee since she found out she was pregnant. There’s no way she knowingly took any kind of prescription drug. God, not without telling me first.”
“Who is her obstetrician?”
“Katie Walberg. At Baptist. She’s been going to her for years. They’re big buds. You can ask her, she’ll back me up. No way Corinne would do anything to jeopardize the pregnancy. If she was anxious, she would have told me. Trust me on that.” He crossed his arms again and clenched his teeth. Taylor recognized the signs. He was
