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“I think so.”
“Zelda suggested that she and Martha were college friends. Is that right?” Robin probed.
“They never mentioned that to me. I assumed the connection between those two was Remy. Besides, when Zelda arrived at the house, you could tell that Martha had never laid eyes on the woman.”
“Then I wonder why Zelda would say that?” Robin mused aloud.
Betsy shrugged. “I have no idea. Those three are kind of strange, though. In case you haven’t noticed, Martha dotes on the woman. Of course she dotes on everyone, but especially Remy. You can really see the affection in her eyes. And worry. She’s always worried about her even though Remy hates it. I’d hate it too, being fawned over all the time. Remy was really very pleasant to me. I liked her. Not as a lover, she’s not my type, but she might have become a friend; we just never had much time alone together to develop a friendship. Remy’s working at the lab a lot and then Martha spirits her away when she gets home. Then with Zelda here, like a third wheel. I never did figure out that woman in relation to the other two.”
“So, Zelda was trying to come between Martha and Remy?” Robin asked.
Betsy considered the question, “No, not that I saw. I think they’re just friends…” her voice dropped as if she wasn’t sure… “I think.” She perked up and smiled. “She’s kind of fun in a way. But we didn’t see much of each other.”
Robin sat back a moment, trying to get a real fix on Betsy Longcore and her now dead lover.
“Was Felicia leaving you for Martha?” Robin suddenly posed the question.
“No,” Betsy answered immediately, shaking her head emphatically.
“Yet, she was having sex with her?”
“That was expected. You had to allow Felicia her liberty. You couldn’t keep her from having sex with other women, it would frustrate the hell out of you, and it would be completely impossible for Felicia. I know, the police are making a big deal of the way we argued, but it wasn’t about sex. I knew that I couldn’t satisfy her completely.”
“Then what did you argue about?”
Betsy took a deep breath. “It’s hard to explain my relationship with Felicia, she was a very odd woman.”
“I knew Felicia personally, I think I can understand some of what you’re saying.”
“You did?”
“Yes, it was a long time ago, but I know enough about what she’s like.”
Betsy nodded, looking relieved by the information, grateful that she didn’t have to explain more. “I let Felicia sort of have me, when we first got together, and she was very good at taking. She was also generous with her home and sex and just about everything. But she wanted me to be a certain way. I wanted ours to be a more equal, independent relationship, especially in the last few months. What I really wanted was more from her. I loved the sex we had, but I wanted our relationship to be about more than sex. She had a problem with that. I guess you could say she had me in this compartment, and that’s where I belonged. She didn’t want me any other way.”
“And you fought about this?”
“I didn’t really believe that I could make her change. But I had to try.”
“Were you planning to leave?” Robin asked. It was just a theory, but a good one.
Betsy smiled tersely and looked away for just a second. “Funny, I hardly admitted it to myself, but I knew I couldn’t stay with things the way they were. In the back of my mind I thought about leaving, but I never really discussed it with Felicia. I considered it the last resort.”
“Had you threatened her in any way, particularly the day of her death?”
“No!” she jumped in quickly. “Not at all. I tried talking with her, reasoning with her, suggesting things that we could do differently. She was just stuck on things being her way. In that respect she wasn’t unlike other lovers I’ve had. And if I left, I left. Hell, I’ve left a half dozen lovers, and the thought of leaving Felicia was almost as good as the idea of staying.”
“But you loved her?” Robin asked.
“Yes, I loved her very much. There was a lot there to love, even though there was a lot to detest.”
Robin could easily agree with that. “I know the feeling,” Robin admitted. “The police say Felicia left you a substantial sum in her will?”
“I guess so, but I never really thought much about that. I don’t need much money, not that I have a lot, I just don’t require it. I certainly don’t need Felicia’s money.”
“I heard too that you were trying to encourage Felicia to turn Roman Hill into a bed and breakfast?”
“Yes. She needed the money, she always needed more money, she was far too extravagant, debts all over the place.”
