The Ex Who Wouldn't Die (8 page)

The detective made a few notes, then again directed his stern gaze to her. Apparently there wasn
'
t going to be a
"
good cop
.
"
"
Was Charley involved with another woman?
"

Amanda stiffened, but waved a hand negligently as if the matter were of no import
, was not totally humiliating
.
"
Women,
not
woman.
Yes, Charley
'
s charm and lack of morals extended to
other
women.
"

"
Can you give us names?
"

"
We were never formally introduced
.
"

Daggett'
s lips almost curved into a wry smile, but he caught it
just
in time.
Yeah, she might like him under different conditions. "
Did you catch him with another woman?
"

"I never actually caught him in the act
, or I might have shot him
.
Justifiable homicide." She glared at him, daring him to contradict her assessment. "
But t
hey called him. He c
ame home smelling like cheap
perfume and wearing his shorts backward. If we went out together, women would come over and flirt with him. A couple of them called
me to ask me to let him go
. One even came by our home.
I felt kind of sorry for her. She stood at the door and cried and begged me to let her see Charley. I told her I'd toss his sorry
ass out and let her have him but
he wasn't home. He wasn't home a lot."

"
Were you jealous of these women?
"

"Of course."
The first time,
she'd been insanely jealous, but after th
at
initial
betrayal
, she'd simply hated
...the women, Charley and herself
.

"
So you
'
ve had personal contact with some of these women, but you don
'
t know their names.
"

Amanda
shrugged.
"
I can give y
ou first names and descriptions. None of them
were around for more than a few days.
Charley wasn't into long-term relationships."
Except with her
. She
want
ed to get away
, and he
didn't want to let her go.
Typical Charley.

Daggett
leaned back, blew out a long sigh, and rubbed his square, stubbly jaw.
"
You know, you
'
re not being very helpful. It
'
s in your best interest to give me another suspect.
"

Amanda
threw up her hands and opened her mouth to protest, but
Brian
interrupted her.
"May I remind you that our presence here is on a voluntary basis. If you've
finished questioning my client, we
'
ll leave now.
"

The cop
scowled at Brian, then forced a pseudo-smile.
"
I appreciate your coming in,
"
he said, his voice dripping with honeyed sarcasm.
"And while I don't want to be a nuisance,
I do have a couple more questions, if you don
'
t mind.
"

Brian
gave a curt nod.

"What did you and the deceased fight about the day he was murdered?"

"I advise you not to answer that."

Daggett dropped his pen on the table
and looked frustrated
. "We've already taken statements from the neighbors. It's not exactly a secret that Mr. and Mrs. Randolph were arguing about their divorce. I'd just like to get a few details so we can find out what happened in that apa
rtment on t
he day of the murder
.
"

Amanda
didn't really want to discuss her problems with the police, but she
didn't want to look guilty, either. She
supposed she
'
d already admitted most of the sordid details
anyway
. What di
fference did a few more make
?

She clenched her hands in her lap
and ignored her attorney. "
That morning w
e had another court date for the divorce. I thought it was finally going to happen,
and I planned a motorcycle trip out of town as a celebration. Bu
t his
freaking
lawyer got another
freaking
continuance.
I decided to take the trip anyway, even though there was nothing to celebrate. Th
en
Charley called and said he needed me to bring him the gun."

Daggett's eyes widened slightly. "
The gun
?" he repeated.

"Amanda, I advise you not to say anything else," Brian said, his tone adamant.

Amanda looked at him and shook her head. "This is all going to come out. I'm not going to say anything that will make me look guilty because there isn't anything
that could
."

Brian and her father exchanged worried glances.

Amanda rolled her eyes, then
turned her attention back to Daggett. "Charley gave me a gun when we got married. Said it was for my protection. I thought that was a little strange at the time, but it
made sense when I realized what he did for a living
."

"And he wanted you to bring this gun to him?"

"Yeah. Said he'd sign the divorce papers if I'd bring him the gun.
I didn't believe him.
I figured he just wanted to sell it. He persisted, of course. He's good at that." She frowned. "He sounded funny, kind of tense, stressed. I could tell he really, really wanted that gun
,
and I thought maybe, if he wanted it badly enough, just
maybe
he might sign those papers. So I went to his apartment."

"You told
him you were bringing him a gun?
"

"Yes."

"But you didn't?
"

"No way! If he'd signed those papers, I would have
taken
it to him. But I know better than to give him what he wants and expect that he's going to give me what he promised.
"

"So you went to his place without the gun?"

"Yes.
My bike was already packed for the trip, so I rode over to his place.
He opened the door just a crack and
asked me if I had the gun. I
told
him
he had
to give me the signed papers first. He freaked out, started yelling at me, and I started yelling at him. I tried to get inside so we could yell at each other in private, but he kept me from coming in, and that made me really mad."

"He kept you from coming in? Did he have company? Somebody he didn't want you to see? A girlfriend?"

"I thought about that.
But usually when I catch him red-handed, he gets…" She spread her hands, searching for the right word. "He turns into Super-Conman. Ultra slick. Really lays on the charm."

"He didn't do that this time?"

"No, he just kept shouting at me to go home and get the gun, and he was adamant that he wasn't going to let me into his apartment. So naturally I kept trying to get in."

"You thought he was hiding something in his apartment?"

"I wasn't really thinking rationally at that moment. He didn't want me inside his apartment so I was determined to get in."

"Y
ou threatened him."

"I advise—" 

Amanda interrupted
her attorney's admonition
. "
Brian, there's no point in my denying it.
Yes, I threatened him.
I'm sure all the
nosy
neighbors heard me, th
at
time an
d a hundred other times
.
I threat
ened him
on a regular basis
.
But I never
actually
threatened to kill him. It was always something like—" She waved a hand negligently, trying to call up some of her promises of bodily harm that didn't involve Charley's genitalia and a rusty serrated knife. "Like pouring hot wax in his ear while he slept or drilling a hole through his forehead, inserting a peg and ha
nging a potted plant from it…stuff like that."

Daggett grimaced
.
"
And you don
'
t think those things would have killed him?
"

Amanda
shrugged.
"Probably. But o
bviously I didn
'
t do any of them.
They were just
fantasies
.
"
That probably didn
'
t sound right.
"
Anyway, I never threatened to shoot him. That
'
s far too quick and easy, not enough suffering.
"