'And now you're not.'
'No, sir.'
'What does he do when he stalks you?' I said.
'He follows me around.'
'Does he speak to you?'
'Yes, sir.'
'What does he say?'
'He swears at me and stuff.'
'Does he threaten you?'
'He says if he can't have me no one else will.'
'Has he ever hurt you?'
'You mean now, when he follows me?'
'At any time,' I said.
'Yes, sir.'
Slow going. I felt that I'd had better conversations with Hugger Mugger.
'What did he do?' I said.
'He hit me once, when we lived together.'
'Was he drunk?'
'Oh yes, sir. He drinks a lot. Says it's the only way to deal with the pain.'
'What was it that attracted you to him?' I said.
'He loved me.'
'And now, why is he stalking you, do you think?'
'Because he loves me. He can't bear to give me up.'
Valerie said, 'Kate, that's ridiculous.'
'And how do you feel about him?' I said.
'I'm afraid of him. He's so crazy in love with me. I don't know what he'll do.'
'How would you like me to handle this?' I said.
'I don't want him to get in trouble,' Kate said.
Valerie was appalled.
'For God's sake,' she said. 'Kate!'
'Well, I don't,' Kate said. 'He loves me.'
'How can you say that?' Valerie said. 'He has beaten you. He threatens to kill you. This isn't love, it's obsession.'
'I don't know about that psychology stuff. But I know he's crazy about me.'
'He's crazy, all right,' Valerie said.
Kate's small, pale face pinched up a little tighter. She wasn't going to give up the great romance of her life.
'So,' I said. 'If you care this much about him, why did you leave him?'
'Kevin wasn't working. There was no money. I needed this job.'
I looked at Valerie Hatch.
'I told Kate that her responsibility was Miranda, and that she couldn't exercise that responsibility properly if her low-life boyfriend was hanging around.'
I nodded.
'You live in?' I said to Kate.
'Yes, sir, in Ms. Hatch's place on Commonwealth Avenue.'
'We have a large condominium,' Valerie said. 'Near the corner of Dartmouth.'
'So if you live there, and Ms. Hatch doesn't want him around, you don't get to see him much.'
'No, sir, hardly at all.'
'When do you see him?'
'When I'm walking Miranda, or at the playground.'
'Are you afraid of Kevin?' I said.
