“What does that even mean? Isn’t it your job to find the truth? In this case, the truth being I had nothing to do with that horror show that took place in my backyard.”
“If it was my case then it would be my job. Since it’s not, then my job requires I stay out of the way.”
“Even when you had a relationship…”
‘Especially when I had a relationship with the suspect.”
“I’m not under any requirements,” Margot told her.
“But you’re not a cop.”
“I used to be though. I know the job, but if you don’t want to hire me, that’s your business.”
“Hire you? I thought maybe you’d do this as a favor to Rick, who was doing this as a favor to me.”
“You want a favor? This is a favor,” Radcliff said to her. “I talked to your lawyer, he’s thinking about making a plea agreement, but I twisted his arm into hiring Margot. If you’re telling the truth, she’s your best chance.”
“You know my lawyer will just pass the expense on to me.”
Radcliff shrugged. “I can’t ask her to put in the kind of time this requires for nothing.”
Phoebe looked at Margot, “Are you worth it?”
“She is…”
“I was asking her.”
“Yeah, I’m worth it.”
“Do you believe I didn’t kill my husband?”
“I haven’t done enough work to draw a conclusion. So, I don’t believe you did either.”
“You have an open mind?”
“It’s the best way to get to the truth. So, yeah.”
Phoebe seemed to like that.
“Tell me your side of the story,” Margot said as she took the digital recorder out of her purse and set it down in front of Phoebe.
“I don’t really like to be recorded.”
Margot shrugged and waited. She wasn’t all that concerned about what Phoebe liked or didn’t like.
“Where should I start?”
“Wherever you want.”
“Can’t you talk to the lawyers? I already gave them the whole sad story.”
“I’d prefer to hear it from you.”
“Why?”
“It’s your story, not theirs.”
When Phoebe stayed silent, Margot added, “You have an appointment or something?”
Phoebe smiled again as she took a cigarette out of the pack in front of her. She lit it up with a disposable lighter and blew a smoke ring before she said, “I came home, changed clothes, and noticed the hot tub was running. I went out and found Tim and Rita floating in hot red water. I screamed for a while and then called the police. There’s not much more to tell.”
“There’s always more to tell.”
After a long pause Phoebe asked Margot, “Did Rick tell you I left him for Tim?”
“Until today I never knew you existed.”
“You thought you were the first?”
“No, I just didn’t care.”
“It wasn’t Rick’s fault that Tim drove a Ferrari. Though it was his fault he chose a profession that ensured he never would.”
“It’s not always about money.”
“No, but most of the time it is. I bet you’d be leaving poor Rick behind if the guy driving the Ferrari was looking your way.”
Margot didn’t reply to that. Instead, she asked, “How’d Tim make his money?”
“Wholesale imports, mostly garments, was his job, but he really made his money the old-fashioned way. He inherited it from his dad who did the same from his dad. That’s not to say he didn’t do all right, but Rick does alright solving crimes and no one would ever mistake him for rich.”
Margot didn’t reply to that either. Instead, she waited patiently for Phoebe to tell her more.
“Our marriage wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t bad. Even when it was bad, it was never that bad. I had no reason to kill him.”
“He was having an affair.”
“He had more than one. So did I. Neither of us liked the other one stepping out, but we were adults about it. We never left each other.”
“It’s usually only one who does the leaving.”
“Are you buying that whole ‘he was going to leave me, so I killed him’ nonsense?”
“I haven’t bought anything yet.”
“You know I’d get half if he divorced me. I could do fine with that. I’ve got expensive tastes, but I’m not greedy. Plus, I’m still more or less in my prime. He’s not the only man out there who has a few bucks in his pocket.”
“Did you know Rita Helms was one of his affairs?”
Phoebe blew out some more smoke before she said, “I wouldn’t kill her. I liked her.”
“You knew her?”
“Of course, her husband and Tim are business partners—or they were.”
“The way you say that makes it sounds like the partnership didn’t end well.”
“That depends on who you ask. We did fine, but from what I understand Derek was disappointed in the way things worked out.”
“What happened?”
“You’d have to ask Derek. I tried to stay out of my husband's business as much as possible. I just know he was unhappy.”
“Tim seeing his wife probably didn’t help.”
“As far as I know, Derek didn’t discover his wife was stepping out on him until they found her body floating in my hot tub.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“No, but I don’t see Derek doing anything like that. He’s not the type.”
“Anyone else unhappy with your husband?”
Phoebe shrugged. “As I said, I tried to stay out of his business as much as possible. I’m sure he had a few; Tim liked to throw his weight around.”
Again the room became silent as Margot waited for Phoebe to expand on what she said. When she didn’t, Margot asked, “What else can you tell me about what happened the night of the murder?”.
“I don’t know what else I can tell you. I wasn’t there,” Phoebe replied.
“Where were you?”
“I was out.”
“Alone?”
“With someone who
