“No. She says she was downstairs in the library watching television.”
“She hear the shot?”
“No. Says the TV was on loud and her door was closed so as not to wake him up.”
“So she found him that way when she went up to bed.”
“Yes. They didn’t share a bedroom, but she usually stopped in to say good night.”
“Did he normally sleep naked?” I said.
“I don’t know.”
“Okay,” I said. “She’s a good candidate. But they got to have more than that to prosecute.”
“They had a huge fight earlier in the evening. He actually slapped her.”
“Witnesses?”
“Two dozen. It was a big cocktail party in Brookline.”
“And I assume she’s his heir,” I said.
“Yes.”
“And there’s more,” I said.
“Unfortunately, yes. Prosecution has a witness who says she tried to hire him to kill her husband.”
“And he declined?”
“He says he did.”
“He make a deal for his testimony?”
“Yes. They picked him up for something unrelated. He said if they could work something out, he could help them with this case.”
“Which is a high profiler,” I said.
“The Smiths first came to Boston on the Mayflower,” Rita said.
“The Mayflower didn’t come to Boston,” I said.
“Well, they’ve been here a long time,” Rita said.
“But the cops can’t put her in the room when the gun went off,” I said.
“No.”
“No powder residue on her hands.”
“No. But he did.”
“Shot at close range,” I said. “Put his hands up to try and stop the bullet?”
“That’s the police theory.”
“Everybody knows about powder residue anyway,” I said. “She could have worn gloves.”
“Police didn’t find them.”
“You can flush those latex jobs down the toilet like a condom.”
“I’ve heard that can happen,” Rita said.
“I’ll bet you have,” I said.
“I meant about the gloves,” Rita said.
“Oh.”
“There is probably more,” Rita said. “But that’s what I know they’ve got so far.”
“You think they can convict her on that?” I said.
“Motive, and opportunity, prior solicitations to murder. Plus the jury won’t like her.”
“Because?”
“Because she’s what my mother would have called cheap. She’s too pretty, too made up, too blond, lot of attitude, drinks to excess, probably does dope, sleeps around.”
“Sounds like a great date,” I said.
“And her diction is bad,” Rita said. “She sounds uneducated.”
“Juries don’t like that?”
“They are more inclined to think you’re innocent if you sound like Barbara Walters,” Rita said.
“You think Barbara would be a good date?”
“Oh, oink,” Rita said.
“You think the prosecution knows stuff they haven’t told you?” I said.
