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Chapter 89
Rhea Wellmy-Steinbergrecovered faster than I thought she would. In less than thirty seconds, she was wiping her nose with the same soggy napkin and looking up like she was waiting for more questions.
It was Detective Holly who was able to strike a hammer blow to Rhea’s confidence by playing up the evidence. “We have a DNA match. Your DNA was found on Michelle Luna’s body. It could only have come from you during the struggle with Michelle.”
Rhea didn’t deny any of it.
Detective Holly said, “Were you reacting to a threat from Michelle?”
Solving a homicide in Baltimore was important. But now that the conversation was focusing almost exclusively on Michelle Luna, I worried I might not get a chance to ask anything more about Emily Parker.
Rhea chose that moment to look at me and say, “I love my husband. I love him more than anything.”
All the detectives stared at one another in acknowledgment that Rhea’s nonsensical statement had come out of left field.
Rhea turned to Detective Holly and said, “Men can be fickle. They certainly don’t like to share the same way women do.” Then she was silent.
What the hell was she talking about? I caught a look from Detective Holly. She was as confused as I was.
I said, “Did Michelle Luna threaten your husband?”
This time there was a long hesitation. “It wasn’t a physical threat. And it wasn’t to my husband. It was a threat to my marriage. She got her hooks into Rob and wasn’t going to let go. He became obsessed with her. The more power she had over my husband, the more she enjoyed it. And she liked to rub it in my face.”
This wasn’t quite a confession, but it was close. I could feel the excitement build in my stomach. Like I was on a roller coaster about to drop from the top of the lift hill.
She wore a blank look on her face as she took a clean napkin to wipe her eyes and blow her nose again. Rhea said, “I just wanted to talk to Michelle. We were at her apartment building in Laurel, in the parking lot next to her car. It was evening, the first time in a week she’d left our house. The first time I could get her away from Rob to talk to her alone. She said she was part of his life now.” Rhea trailed off to nearly a whisper. “It was nothing planned. It just sort of happened.” Then she sat there without saying a word.
Twenty seconds passed in what felt like an hour.
Detective Holly prompted her. “What happened? I mean exactly what happened?”
Rhea was still operating in that weird time warp. She waited ten seconds more, then said, “Michelle turned away from me. Looking at her back and neck reminded me of all the self-defense training I’d taken with Beth.” She looked around the table, then said, “Beth Banks is my husband’s sister. She’s really quite good at Brazilian jujitsu.”
Then she returned to her original story. “Anyway, when Michelle turned her back, I wrapped my arm around her throat. Just like Beth had taught me. I locked my arm in place with my left hand. By that time, I was furious. I don’t even know how long I held her throat. But when I released my grip, she dropped to the ground. I panicked. We were right next to her car, so I shoved her into it. Then I drove out of the parking lot. Before I knew it, I was headed north toward Baltimore. I parked the car in a desolate-looking section of the city.”
Detective Holly said, “Did you do anything to the interior of the car?”
This was important. If Rhea knew the details, she couldn’t claim later she invented the story.
Rhea said, “Yes. I found a small can of WD-40 in the glove compartment. I’d seen a brief my husband had read where the defendant sprayed WD-40 to remove oils that leave fingerprints on surfaces. I gave it a try before I placed Michelle behind the wheel of her car. Then I just walked away. I took three different cabs to get back to my car at her apartment complex.”
Now it was our turn to be speechless. We all stared at Rhea Wellmy-Steinberg.
