It is going to come as a surprise to Denise to see me show up; she’s expecting Laurie. If I had Simon with me, it might kill the interview. Laurie had said that Denise was hesitant to agree to meet in the first place and offered to come along. I said it wasn’t necessary; that I would use my dazzling charm to win Denise over.
To my surprise, she wanted to meet at Lisa’s home on Derrom Avenue. I’ve been here before, and that previous visit is the reason that I’m working this case at all. Standing at the bottom of the steps and looking up at the entrance does not bring back pleasant memories.
I ring the bell and Denise comes to the door. Her eyes are red; my guess is that she has done quite a bit of crying since her sister was murdered.
“Oh,” she says, when I identify myself. “I was expecting Laurie Collins.”
“Laurie is my partner. We’re both working this case. I hope that’s okay.”
She thinks about it, like it just might not be okay, but finally says I can come in. We enter, and I’m struck by how little has changed, and how indelibly the place is carved into my memory.
“This is Lisa’s house,” she says, not realizing that I already know that. “I have to go through some of her papers. I know if I put it off, I’ll never do it. I’m not up to going through the rest of her things; that’s for another day.” She pauses. “I’m actually glad not to be alone.”
“I appreciate your talking to me. I’ll try not to take too much of your time.”
“What is your interest in this?”
“We’re trying to find Lisa’s killer.”
“Why? Are you working with the police?”
“Not officially, but we’ve talked to them.”
“Is somebody paying you?”
I need to be up-front with this woman, so I tell her the truth about the reason for my interest in the case. I end with “I feel I may have let her down that night, and I want to know if that led to what happened.”
She nods. “I understand. If there’s any way I can help…”
“Do you know Gerald Kline?”
She frowns. “Yes.”
“Tell me about his relationship with Lisa.”
“He controlled her; it used to drive me crazy. Lisa was a strong, independent woman, except around that man. He had a way about him.”
“What do you mean?”
“He could be charming. I mean, he ran these seminars and it was literally his job to be charming. But it could be powerful, and Lisa couldn’t handle it.”
“Was she afraid of him?”
“I wouldn’t say that, but it’s possible. We were really close and we talked about everything … everything except Gerald Kline. Lisa knew how I felt about him, so we just avoided it. It made things awkward, as you can imagine. But we got through it.”
“Did Lisa ever express any fear of anyone? Any physical fear?”
“Why? Do you think they were after Lisa? According to the newspaper accounts, the police seem to think it was just some random animals shooting from a car.”
“That’s possible. But it works best for us to assume she was the target. If it turns out that she wasn’t, then we’ll adjust. So did she ever seem afraid of anyone? Like she might be in danger?”
“No, but she had been acting strangely lately. We talked some, but she was cut off more than usual. I thought it might be problems at work, so I didn’t push it.”
“So you’re not aware of any enemies she might have had?”
“Lisa? Lisa was the friendliest, most wonderful person you could ever meet. She did not have an enemy in the world.”
The one thing that all murder victims have in common, as described by their friends and family, is that they never had an enemy in the world. I rarely point out that someone killed them, an act that some would think might qualify them as an enemy.
I ask Denise to please call me if she thinks of anything that might be relevant to the case. She promises to do so.
I leave, having accomplished as little during this trip to the house as I did during my last one.
LAURIE and I are going to talk with Una Loge together.
I told Laurie that both of us doing it was overkill, but her response was that she should do it and I should stay home. “She’s really fragile and shaken up,” Laurie says. “It wasn’t easy to get her willing to talk.”
The unspoken implication was that Laurie can handle matters with more sensitivity than me. She’s saying that because she can handle matters with more sensitivity than me. On the sensitivity level, I probably rank just below Mike Tyson.
She didn’t want us to come to her home, so we’re meeting at a Starbucks. Una is waiting for us when we arrive; I recognize her from the funeral service. She’s sitting at an outdoor table, but two other occupied tables are nearby. “Why don’t we sit over there?” I point to a table near the side. “We can talk more privately there.”
So we move over. I head in to get coffees for all of us, leaving Laurie to make Una comfortable. By the time I get back, they are smiling like good buddies. Laurie has that way about her.
“I got some scones also in case anyone wants one.” I put down the coffee and scones.
“No thanks,” Laurie says, and Una turns them down as well.
“Perfect. I was hoping to have all of them for myself.”
Laurie says, “Una, I know this is difficult, but we want to ask you questions about Lisa, and about that night.”
“It was horrible.”
“Tell us what happened, please.”
Una takes a deep breath. “There really isn’t that much to tell. We had dinner and said good-bye at the door. I had parked with the valet, and she parked on the street. I was waiting for my car when I heard these loud noises; I didn’t know what they
