Sloane accepted the use of Brian’s office and closed the door. Catherine was on another call, so Sloane was taking this interview solo. She’d coordinated with Agent Sylvia Black out of the Tampa FBI office, and encouraged her to make contact early, as this was a critical investigation and lives were at stake.
At 7:45 in the morning, Sylvia called Sloane and put her on speaker. “Agent Wagner, I’m here with Mrs. Blanche Richardson and told her why we wanted to speak with her. She’d like to cooperate, though indicated that she hasn’t seen Mr. Reid since before she left Los Angeles.”
“Thank you for your time, Mrs. Richardson,” Sloane said. “And I apologize that we came to your door so early.”
“I’m up before six every morning,” she said. “How can I help?”
“Did Agent Black tell you why we are inquiring about Garrett Reid?”
“He was arrested.”
This was when Sloane wished she was there. Seeing facial expressions was important. But she had talked to Sylvia earlier and the senior agent knew what to look for and would interject if warranted. “Are you surprised?” Sloane asked.
“I don’t know,” the woman said. “Maybe. Why was he arrested?”
“Attempted abduction of two law enforcement officers,” Sloane said.
Mrs. Richardson laughed. “Garrett? That’s—almost unbelievable.”
“He’s a suspect in a homicide investigation,” Sloane said bluntly.
“Murder?Garrett?I—I don’t see that.”
“How would you describe your relationship with him?” Sloane asked.
She was silent for a moment, then said, “You think I’m a fool.”
“No, ma’am.”
“So does my son. He thinks Garrett manipulated me, that he used me. Maybe he did, but I didn’t care because I used him as well. We had a mutually beneficial relationship based on very selfish common ground.”
“Can you explain further?”
“You want details?”
“If they are relevant.”
“Relevant to what?”
“I need to understand who Garrett is, what motivates him, why he would kill someone he didn’t know.”
“Murder,” Richardson said, her voice full of doubt. “That I have a very hard time believing, Agent Wagner.”
“Who was Garrett Reid when you were involved with him?”
“Attentive. Inventive. Intelligent. I was quite demanding of him in bed, and he was more than willing to learn everything I had to teach him.” She paused. “I had a good marriage, but it wasn’t sexually satisfying. When my husband passed suddenly, I was upset because I loved him and he was a good man. But I never had a real orgasm with him.”
Sloane did not need to know this, and was about to interrupt when Richardson continued. “I tried, but my dear husband didn’t have the same drive I did. This isn’t something I could explain to my son. I never strayed in our twenty-seven-year marriage. Not once. But I told Garrett my fantasies, and he fulfilled them. I knew he wanted a comfortable place to live,good food to eat, a state-of-the-art gym to work out in, luxuries that I had more than enough to share. In exchange, he gave me complete and total physical satisfaction and treated me like a queen. I never harbored any fantasies that he loved me, and I didn’t love him, not like I loved my husband, though I think we both loved the image of us.”
“How did the relationship end?” Sloane asked.
“My son. Dear boy threatened to kill poor Garrett. Garrett doesn’t like conflict, and even though I told him to ignore Johnny, he walked away. Well, we had one more amazing night together, and then he left. I harbor no ill feelings. Garrett taught me as much about myself as I taught him about what makes me—what makes most women—happy. Garrett is not a violent man, Agent Wagner. If he killed anyone, I’m certain it was an accident.”
She sounded confident, Sloane thought.
“Did Garrett tell you any of his plans after your relationship was over?”
“No. We never saw each other again, though I talked to him a few times on the phone. I heard he had brief affairs with a couple of other women my age, but they were short-lived. A few weeks, at most.”
