Derek asked a few more basic questions, then moved to the crux of the matter. “You know he drugged you, Robin. Did you realize what was happening at the time?”
The question caught her off guard. She reached for her coffee and took a few nervous sips. “No. I remember feeling really tired, and then I guess I just fell asleep. But why would he drug me? We’d already had sex. Great sex, by the way. Amazing. Inventive. I mean, really great.”
“Yeah,” I said intently. “We heard you the first time.”
“Sorry.” But her teasing smile faded as her eyes clouded over. “Why would he drug me
Derek sat forward. “It would allow him to search your place without interference.”
“But why? I don’t have much money lying around. I have artwork.”
“Is it worth a lot of money?”
“Most of it’s my own, plus a number of local artists. We’re not talking Rembrandts. Who would want to steal anything from me?”
“He must’ve thought you had something worth stealing,” I said.
“Like what?”
I had no idea. “Maybe he was just a charming cat burglar who worked from the inside out.”
“So I was a crime of opportunity?”
I winced. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“So then who killed him?” she demanded. “A rival burglar? It doesn’t make sense.”
“No,” I agreed. “That’s definitely the sticking point. Why would anyone come into your place and kill this guy?”
“It wasn’t random,” she mused.
“No, of course not,” Derek said.
She frowned. “I mean, if it was random, they probably would’ve killed me, too. And they didn’t steal anything. Not that I know of, anyway. I have my purse, so they didn’t rob me. So who were they and what were they after?”
I pondered the question. “A jealous wife?”
“Oh, God, no,” Robin cried. “That’s just too awful to consider. Maybe it was a business rival?”
“Or an old boyfriend of yours?”
“No guy is that hung up on me,” she said drily.
“You never know,” I countered. “Maybe Alex had a partner he double-crossed.”
Derek finished off the last of his coffee. “Let’s run a few scenarios. Perhaps Alex knew the other person. He expected the guy to come by later and help him rob your place, so he drugged you to keep you out of their way. He probably didn’t expect his friend to kill him.”
“That’s quite a scenario,” I said.
Robin shook her head. “But it still doesn’t make sense.”
“I know.”
“I thought I’d met the man of my dreams,” she said quietly, then rolled her eyes in disgust. “Obviously, I watched too much Disney as a child.”
I squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“If it’s not too painful,” Derek said, “I’d like you to take us through the entire evening.”
“It might be a little painful,” she said after a moment’s consideration. “But if it can help clear up a few questions, let’s go for it.”
“Good. Let’s take a quick minute to clean things up.” Derek stood and cleared our plates, then filled our cups with more coffee. I got up and grabbed a notepad and pen from my utility drawer and we both sat down again.
Robin started at the beginning of her date with Alex, trying to remember the smallest details, such as what they both wore and what kind of car he drove.
Derek scowled at the mention of the car, and I knew he would’ve loved to comb through it. But it was probably in the police impound lot by now.
“Whose idea was it to wind up the evening at your place?” he asked.
“Mine.” Robin paused. “Well, wait. Let me think about that. We were talking about San Francisco neighborhoods. He lives in the Richmond District and I mentioned living in Noe Valley. He said he’d heard about this fabulous new restaurant in Noe Valley. I laughed and said, ‘That’s like two blocks from my place,’ and he was like, ‘You’re kidding. We have to go to this place.’ Then he sort of changed the subject, told me he was having the best time ever, or words to that effect. I thought the same thing. I was having a wonderful time.”
She took a slow sip of coffee before going on. “So then we were eating and talking, and a while later, he brought it up again. Said he wanted to take me to this new place, Serafina. It’s Italian. On Castro. And somewhere in there, he said he’d heard a lot of great things about the Noe Valley neighborhood and wanted to check it out sometime. And by then we’d finished a bottle of wine, and so I said, ‘How about checking out my neighborhood right now?’ ” She shook her head. “I thought I was being so alluring. What an idiot.”
“You weren’t an idiot,” I said fiercely. “He used you.”
“I guess,” she said. “Anyway, essentially, I invited him over.”
Derek’s eyes were cold as steel as he qualified her statement. “The invitation was from you, but Alex manipulated you into extending it to him.”
“Which means he’d already planned out the whole thing,” she reflected.
“Probably so,” Derek conceded.
“I can’t believe it,” she said, her lips tightening in anger. “That bastard set me up.”
Chapter 6
Derek went off to get ready for work while Robin washed the breakfast dishes and I dried and put them away.
I kept an eye on her as she drained the soapy water and wiped off the counter. While we’d talked, Robin’s eyes had sparkled with righteous anger, and I was happy to see it. I’d hated seeing her feeling so miserably guilty about Alex’s death, as though she were somehow responsible for it.
No, it was much better for her to get pissed off and take action.
But now her shoulders drooped and she looked pale and worried.
“How are you feeling?” I asked carefully.
“I’m fine,” she muttered.
“Yeah, right.” I noticed she was staring at her fingers, avoiding my gaze. That couldn’t be a good sign, either. “That must be why you look so perky.”
“Perky. Good one.” She wrung out the sponge more vigorously than necessary, then tossed it into its holder. Clutching the edge of the counter until her knuckles went white, she finally looked at me. “I’m afraid, Brooklyn.”
“Of course you are,” I said, clutching her arm. “You’ve been pushed through the wringer. But you’re also mad as hell, remember? You’re going to bounce back and be ready to kick some ass, right?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m a real ass kicker,” she said sarcastically, and grabbed the dish cloth from me. She dried her hands off, then leaned against the sink. “The truth is, I’m totally freaked out. I don’t want to see or talk to anyone. I just want to hide in my room and sleep.”
“You can stay here as long as you want.”
“What about my apartment?”
I thought about the glimpse I’d gotten of Robin’s place and just managed to control a shudder. “You’ll go back when you’re ready.”
“I’m not sure I want to live there anymore.”
“Not right now you don’t, and I totally get that. But it’s your home. Eventually…”
She shook her head as she stared at the floor. “I’m too afraid to go back.”
“So you’ll stay here. But I guarantee, after a few days you’ll be itching to get back there.”
