“I'm Detective Orzo, and this is Detective Mozambe. Can we come in?”
“Yes, of course.”
We entered her apartment, a plain-looking place with a decent view of the river.
“Can I get you some tea?”
“Please,” said Maggie.
Inez Shenko went into her kitchen.
My eyes inventoried the sitting room-floral print upholstery, cheap plastic angel figurines in glass cases, no vid system, no sign of a man. Total square.
Inez came back in after having put some water on the stove. “How can I help you, officers?”
I hoped this line of investigation would yield some results. We decided to start with the only victims we could identify: Margarita and Hector Juarez. If it wasn't their daughter who did them in, it was somebody else, and lase- whipping them in their own home didn't match the MO of our offworld serial killer with the medieval fetish.
Maggie said, “I appreciate your willingness to speak with us. We'd like to talk to you about the Juarez family.”
“I've already told everything I know to Officer Davies.”
“Yes, we know. But I'm sure you're aware of the fact that Adela Juarez is due to be executed on the fifth.”
“Yes.”
“Well, it's standard procedure for us to conduct follow-up interviews just to make sure we have everything in order before we turn our records over to the Koba Office of Records.”
“I see.”
“So if it's not too great an inconvenience, could you please tell us how you know the Juarez family?”
“Sure,” she said. “I went to school with Margarita, and we've been friends ever since.”
“Did you see her regularly?”
“We'd get together a couple times a week and have lunch or go shopping.” She targeted Maggie as she said, “Sometimes we'd treat ourselves to a spa.” She said it like she was confessing a dirty little secret, like visiting the spa was the biggest curve in her otherwise square life.
“What can you tell us about her husband?”
“Well, Hector worked a lot. He had a very important job, you know.”
“Yes, we know. Why were they going to divorce?”
“They grew apart. He was always working, and she got lonely.”
“Who initiated the divorce?”
“That was Margarita. Hector was very upset about it.”
“He still loved her?”
“I suppose so, but the way Margarita talked, he sounded more interested in keeping his money than he was in keeping her. Excuse me.” She got up to tend to the whistling teapot.
Maggie and I waited silently until Inez came back with three cups of mellow green tea. “Where were we?” asked Inez.
I spoke up for the first time. “You were saying that Margarita was going to take Hector's money in the divorce.”
“Only what she was entitled to,” she responded, semi-offended.
Maggie blew on her tea. “How well did you know Adela?”
“Oh, I've known her since she was a baby. She was always a good girl. I think it's horrible that they're going to execute her.”
“You don't think she killed her parents?” I asked.
“No, I think she did it, but can you blame her? She just lost her head. She didn't know what she was doing. That lawyer she had did her a real disservice. He should've claimed temporary insanity.”
“I don't understand,” I said.
“Didn't you read Officer Davies's notes?”
I had read Ian's notes, but they claimed Inez thought Adela Juarez was a bad seed, a wicked little girl who couldn't be controlled. I sheepishly grinned. “Well, I didn't read them in their entirety.”
She shook her head at me like a disapproving schoolmarm. “Margarita was having an affair with somebody younger. She was so lonely.”
“Who was he?”
“She told me his name, but I didn't know who he was until after she died. If I'd known, I would've done something, taken her to counseling or something.”
“Who was he?” Maggie asked.
“Really, I don't know what Margarita was thinking.”
“His name?”
“Raj Gupta,” she whispered. “Don't you see? Adela must've found out about it.”
Maggie and I waited at the Gupta household for Raj to show. His parents were treating us well, serving us black tea and crackers. “He should be home momentarily,” they had said. That had been over an hour ago.
I sipped my tea, wired on something other than caffeine. We'd found a loose thread in the Juarez case, and his name was Raj Gupta. Ian hadn't tied it all up as tight as he thought. Maggie and I were itching to pull on the thread, see if any fabric would come with it. We needed to find out why Ian would protect the kid. Assuming Ian framed Adela, why wouldn't he let Inez Shenko's statement stand? What better motive could he ask for? Adela's mother was screwing her boyfriend for chrissakes. But Ian went against his own interests in falsifying the report by leaving the affair out.
I squirmed in my seat. We were taking a chance talking to Raj, a big chance. If it got back to Ian that Raj had seen me at the cameraman's…
A door opened, and in he came. He recognized us at once and smiled politely. He took his wingtips off at the door-very adult shoes for such a young kid. Mrs. Gupta told her husband to make room for Raj on the couch.
“Actually, we'd like to talk to him privately,” I said.
The Guptas stepped out graciously. “How can I help you, officers?” said Raj.
Maggie took a sip of tea. “We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind.”
“Of course not,” he said with a slick grin.
“It's just a formality, Raj. We're just trying to get our paperwork all straightened out.”
“No problem. I'm glad to help. Hey, what were you doing at Yuri's yesterday?”
“I'm afraid that's police business.”
“Okay, no problem,” he said without the slightest hint of nervousness.
Maggie put her teacup down. “You work at the Libre?”
“That's right.”
“What do you do there?”
“I'm an intern. I do whatever they tell me.”
“Do you get paid?”
“No.”
“Then why do you do it?”
“For the opportunity.”
“You want to be a reporter?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you go to school?”
“No.”
“How can you be a reporter if you don't get a degree?”
“You don't need a degree. The camera loves me.”
I wanted to slap the smug little bastard. Maggie kept her tone neutral. “You were dating Adela Juarez?”
“That's right.”
“How did you meet?”
“We met at the Libre. She'd come in with her father from time to time, and we'd talk and stuff.”
“How long were you dating?”
