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“She’s playing him like a flute. He thinks he’s manipulating her, running the show, setting it up so—dead or alive—Julian takes the fall. But she’s calling the tune. She’s doing a damn good job.”
“Wine?” Roarke said, lifting the bottle.
“No. Jesus.” Then she took his glass, and a minute sip. “Pretty good stuff. I’m going to let her string him a little longer. So, want to open another bottle when we get home, and have half-drunk sex?”
“I think of nothing else every waking moment.”
He dropped an arm around her shoulders as they watched Peabody work.
“Sir,” Peabody said, honesty shining from her eyes, “I’ve got to be straight with you. You’re in some trouble here. The conflicting statements, the money, and—well. What I want to say is if you know something, now’s the time to tell us. Me. The lieutenant’s running hot.”
“Then she should cool off! You expect me to turn on a friend? On someone who counts on my support?”
“Maybe that friend needs help. Maybe he needs to get that help if he—he may not make it, Mr. Steinburger. It doesn’t look good. Julian’s in a coma, and the doctors say he may not come out of it.”
“God. Oh God.”
“Let me do what I can here. While I have the chance.”
“Julian.” He covered his mouth with his hand. “Poor Julian. I shouldn’t have left him alone tonight. He said he would be fine, that he wanted time to rest. He’s been so—he’s been torn up about K.T. It wasn’t his fault, Detective Peabody. You have to understand, it was an accident.”
“What was?”
“Let me explain.” He drew in a breath. “Let me explain what happened. When Julian didn’t come back to the theater, I got concerned. I knew he and K.T. were at odds, and both had been drinking. I went up to the roof.”
“Why the roof?”
“It’s where K.T. went to smoke those damn herbals she’s addicted to. When I got there … It was too late.” He reached across the table. “She was floating, facedown, and Julian was in shock. He was washing blood off the pool skirt, and barely able to speak.”
“She was in the pool, facedown, when you got to the roof?”
“Yes. Yes.”
“And you didn’t attempt to pull her out?”
“It was too late. She was dead.”
“How do you know?”
“Julian said. He said she’d fallen. They’d argued and struggled, and she’d fallen. And when he’d tried to get her up, he passed out. He thought he’d blacked out, you see, and when he came back to himself, she was dead in the pool. I’m afraid that while he was in shock, under the influence, he—he dragged her into the pool. He tried to cover it up. He couldn’t clearly remember, you see.”
“What did you do then?”
“I took him downstairs. He was in no shape to talk to anyone. He all but passed out on the sofa.”
“You didn’t go for help.”
“It was my help that was needed, Detective. I wanted to protect Julian. He needed my protection. It was too late for K.T. It was an accident, Detective Peabody.”
“Let me get the details straight, so we can lay this out for Dallas. You followed Julian up to the roof, where he’d met K.T. In the pool area—under the dome, right?”
“Yes, yes.”
“The dome was closed.”
“Yes, of course. It’s October. The entire area reeked of K.T.’s herbals. It was sickening.”
“I guess you didn’t think to open the dome.”
