'You know about Eric Brooks?'
'Yes, I do. I'm still having a hard time making myself believe it.'
'Why's that?'
'I saw him just a few hours ago and he was alive. I still can't believe'
'Were you two alone?'
'Yes.'
'What was his mood?'
'Oh, he wasEric. You know.'
'No, I guess I don't know, Miss Coffey.'
'There was always something Eric wanted, and he always seemed agitated when he couldn't have it.'
'Was there anything in particular he wanted this evening, Miss Coffey?'
'Not that I know of.'
'Did he want you, Miss Coffey?'
She looked at Mitch. He made a big Happy Face, indicating she should do the same.
'I've already talked to some of his co-workers, Miss Coffey. They told me that he had always been interested in you romantically.'
'I wouldn't say 'romantically.''
'Oh, then what would you say?'
'Sexually. But I didn't take that as any kind of compliment.'
'Why not?'
'Because Eric was fascinated with any woman who wouldn't sleep with him. I suppose he just couldn't imagine how we could say no to all his charms.'
'Was he charming, Miss Coffey?'
'He could be. But he could also be very manipulative and cynical.'
'Why did you two split up as partners?'
'There's no easy answer to that.'
'Then give me a complicated one.'
'Well, there was the sexual problem.'
'That being what exactly?'
'That he kept trying to get me into bed.' She looked at Mitch and shrugged. She felt as if she were saying the wrong thing.
'I see.'
'And we had argued a lot about the types of work I was doing. I'm a photographer and that's what I love doing and that's what I wanted to do, but Eric was trying to turn me into some kind of executive. I didn't want that.'
'I'm told you had very stormy arguments.'
'I can't deny that.'
'Did you have an argument tonight?'
She hesitated. 'I wouldn't characterize it as an argument.'
For the first time, a frown wrinkled Mitch's forehead.
'Then how would you characterize it?'
'Eric wanted to seduce me.'
'And you didn't want him to?'
'No, I didn't.'
'What happened?'
'Nothing, really. Before I went up there tonight, I'd had some hope that maybe Eric had changed. You know, grown up a little.'
'But he hadn't?'
'No. He wasEric.'
It was all clear, of course, how Eric had forced a kiss on her and how she'd slapped him. She wanted to tell Lieutenant Sievers about this but every time her lips began to form the words
Her slapping him.
And storming out.
And shortly thereafter, Eric murdered…
Jill remembered what Mitch had said about Lieutenant Sievershow he was one of those cops who pursued the first serious suspect he came upon. She'd heard about cops like that. They spent all their efforts making a case against one person while not considering any other suspects.
So she didn't tell him about Eric's kiss, or her slapping him afterward.
'So you weren't intimate tonight?'
'Not just tonight, Lieutenant. We were never intimate.'
'How long were you there?'
'Fifteen minutes, something like that.'
'Did you see anybody else in the offices?'
'No.'
'Did you see anybody in the lobby or on the elevator?'
'No.'
'Did Eric receive a call when you were there?'
'No. But'
'But what, Miss Coffey?'
'When I first arrived'
'Yes?'
'There was a young woman just leaving Eric's office.'
'Could you describe her, Miss Coffey?'
Jill described her.
'Did she see you, Miss Coffey?'
'No, I don't think so.'
'Then she left?'
'Yes.'
'Did everything seem all right between them?'
'When I first got there, I waited outside Eric's door. I just heard the tail end of their conversation.' She told the Lieutenant everything she'd overheard.
'So Eric seemed angry?' the Lieutenant asked.
'No, that's too strong. Combative is more like it.'
'That's a strange word to describe a social relationship.'
'Not where Eric was concerned. He made a lot of sexual demands on youa lot of innuendo, a lot of what he considered to be sly hintsand you had to fight back. Combative isn't too strong a word for how it felt.'
'So you saw this young woman there and then not again?'
'Once more.'
'When?'
'As I was leaving his office. I walked to the elevator, and she was standing there waiting for one to arrive.'
'You're sure the outer office was empty?'
'As far as I could see.'
'The elevators there have very distinctive bell tones. Did you hear the elevator bell?'
'No.'
'You're positive?'
'Positive.'
'And on the way down?'
'I saw nobody.'
