M: Yes.
K: But what about the evenings and nights that you weren't together? What did she do then?
M: She was alone. She liked being alone. She read a great deal and, anyway, she sometimes worked evenings. She wrote some, too, but I don't know what. She never mentioned it to me. You understand, Roseanna was very independent. Then too, we really didn't have the same interests. Except for one thing. But we got along well together and that's the truth.
K: How can you be sure that she was alone when you weren't there?
M: I… I was jealous sometimes. Once in a while when she wouldn't see me I went there and stood outside her apartment house watching. Twice I even stood there from the time she came home until the time that she left in the morning.
K: Did you give her money?
M: Never.
K: Why not?
M: She didn't need my money, she told me so from the very beginning. If and when we went out, she always paid for herself.
K: And when you stopped seeing each other? What did she do then?
M: I don't know. I never saw her again. It wasn't too long before I got a new job and moved here.
K: How would you describe her character?
M: She was very independent, as I said earlier. Honest.
Completely natural, in every way. For example, she never wore make-up or jewelry. She seemed calm and relaxed for the most part, but once she said that she didn't want to see me too often because she knew that if she did I would get on her nerves. She said everyone did and that in our case it was unnecessary.
K: I am going to ask you some rather intimate questions now.
M: Go ahead. I'll answer anything now.
K: Have you any idea of how many times you were together?
M: Yes. Forty-eight times.
K: Are you sure? Exactly?
M: Yes. I can even tell you why. Every time we met and slept together I drew a small, red ring around the date on my office calendar. Just before I threw it away I counted the days.
K: Would you say that her sexual behavior patterns were normal?
M: She was very sexual.
K: Had you had enough experience to judge that?
M: I was thirty-one years old when we met. A certain amount had happened before that time.
K: Did she usually have an orgasm when you had sexual intercourse?
M: Yes, always.
K: Did you usually have intercourse several times in an evening?
M: No. Never. It wasn't necessary.
K: Did you use contraceptives?
M: Roseanna had some kind of pills. She took one every morning.
K: Did you usually discuss sexual matters?
M: No, never. We knew what we needed to know.
K: Did she often speak about her previous affairs?
M: Never.
K: And you?
M: Only once. She seemed totally uninterested and I never talked about it again.
K: What did you speak about?
M: Anything and everything. Mostly everyday things.
K: Whom did she see, other than you?
M: No one. She had a friend, a girl at the library, but they rarely saw one another outside of work. Roseanna liked to be alone, as I said.
K: But she went to that party where you met?
M: Yes, in order to meet someone to sleep with. She had been… abstaining for a long time then.
K: How long?
M: For more than six weeks.
K: How do you know that?
M: She said so.
K: Was she difficult to satisfy?
M: Not for me, in any case.
K: Was she demanding?
M: She wanted what all normal women want. That a man would take her until she didn't have anything left, if I understand you correctly.
K: Did she have any particular habits?
M: In bed?
K: Yes.
M: Harrison's Law isn't valid in Nebraska, is it?
K: No, you don't have to worry about that.
M: It doesn't really matter. She had only one habit which could possibly be called special. She scratched.
K: When?
M: Generally speaking, all the time. Especially when she had an orgasm.
K: How?
M: How?
K: Yes, how did she scratch?
M: I understand. Well, with both hands and all her fingers. Like a claw. From the hips, over the back and all the way up to the neck. I still have marks. It looks like they'll never go away.
K: Did she show much variety in her sexual exertions? M: What unbelievable expressions you use! No, not at all. She always lay in the same way. On her back with a pillow under her hips and her legs spread wide apart and raised high. She was completely natural and direct and open in this as in everything else. She wanted to do it, she wanted a lot and at one time, without digression or deviations and in the only way that was natural for her.
K: I understand.
M: You ought to understand at this point.
(Pause)
K: Just one more thing. From what you've said I have the impression that during your time together it was you who took the initiative, that it was always you who contacted her. You telephoned and she answered, either that you should come up, or that she didn't care to see you then and that you should call another day. It was always she who decided if and when you would meet?
M: I believe so.
K: Did she ever call you and ask you to come over?
M: Yes, four or five times.
(Pause)
K: Was it hard for you when you broke up?
M: Yes.
K: You have been very helpful. And very honest. Thank you.
M: I hope you understand that this conversation must be confidential. I met a girl here last Christmas and we got married in February.
K: Naturally. I said that in the beginning.
M: Okay, now maybe you can turn off the tape recorder.
K: Of course.'
Martin Beck put down the bound report and thoughtfully dried the perspiration from his forehead and palms
