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“Well, I’ll have some,” Lucinda said.
“How did you know we were going to ask you about your husband?” Michael asked.
Faith could see the suspicion on his face and didn’t blame him. She herself was curious that Lucinda would have come to the heart of the matter so quickly. She didn’t suspect the older woman as a killer, though. Turk was glued to her side, wagging his tail happily.
Lucinda smiled at the dog and bent down to scratch him behind his ear. Turk closed his eyes and savored the touch, making a sound that Faith thought sounded very much like a purr.
“Good dog,” Lucinda said. “I always wanted a dog, but Elmore’s allergic, so I could never have one. I suppose I could get one now that we’re separated, but I need to save my money for the divorce or God knows Elmore will clean me out of house and home. Then again, if you folks are onto him, I guess I might lose the house anyway. It’s in his name, after all. I was hoping I could convince him to let me keep it if I gave him the mutual fund and his precious sports car, but I’ll settle for watching justice catch up to him.”
Michael and Faith exchanged a look. “Ma’am,” Faith began.
“Call me Lucinda,” she said, setting a kettle of water to boil on the stove, “and if you don’t mind, I’m going to call you Faith and Michael. Special Agent is quite a mouthful, and anyway, you won’t know which one of you I’m talking to. I hope you don’t mind strong coffee. Elmore got me hooked on this French press. I haven’t had a drip coffee maker in years. I guess he can claim to have that much influence on me.”
She was rambling, and Faith wondered if it was lack of sleep, loneliness, or fear of what the agents had to say that motivated her verbosity.
“Lucinda,” Faith said, “you knew we were here to talk about Elmore. May I ask specifically how you knew we were here to discuss your husband?”
“Well, what else would you be here for?” she said, scooping coffee grounds into a glass carafe that Faith assumed was the French press. “It’s not like I have any assets of my own. Take my advice, dear. Don’t ever rely financially on a man. Marry into money if you can, but make sure you have your own money in case things sour between the two of you.”
“Lucinda, why do you think we’re here?” Michael asked, barely concealing the impatience in his voice.
Lucinda stared at him as though the answer should have been obvious. “Well, I assume you’re here because you’re investigating Elmore for tax fraud. I always suspected his money was running through illicit channels. He was a little too preoccupied with the Swiss markets if you know what I mean.”
Faith and Michael exchanged another glance. “Lucinda,” Faith said gently, “I’m very sorry to have to tell you this, but your husband was found dead this morning in his apartment.”
Lucinda stared at her blankly. “This isn’t about tax fraud?”
“No, ma’am,” Michael confirmed.
Lucinda stared blankly a moment longer. Then she walked unsteadily to the table. Michael immediately got out of his chair and helped her sit. “Thank you,” Lucinda said absently.
The kettle began to whistle, and Michael took it off the heat and began preparing the coffee.
Lucinda continued to stare vacantly ahead as Michael made the coffee. Turk sat next to the old woman and laid his head on her lap. She blinked and a touch of focus came back to her eyes. She scratched Turk absently behind the ears and asked, “What happened?”
“The neighbor found him about two hours ago,” Faith explained. “We believe that someone broke into his house and waited for him to come home.”
“So, this just happened,” Lucinda said. She lifted a hand to her face and tears came to her eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Lucinda,” Faith said.
Lucinda nodded but didn’t say anything. Michael returned a moment later and set a cup of coffee in front of Lucinda. He poured a cup for himself as well and returned to his own seat.
“Lucinda,” Faith continued, “I’m so sorry, but we do need to ask you a few questions.”
Lucinda took a shuddering breath and steadied herself. Her eyes remained wet with tears, but she managed to avoid bursting into sobs. “Of course,” she said, “I’ll help in any way I can.”
“Thank you,” Faith replied. “Can you describe your relationship with your husband?”
“Well,” Lucinda said, “not good. We haven’t lived together in almost a year. The only times we’ve seen each other have been to argue over who gets what in the divorce.”
“May I ask when things started to go south for you two?”
Lucinda chuckled mirthlessly. “Well, I’d have to say that was about twelve years ago. Elmore didn’t relish the prospect of turning forty, so he decided to relive his youth with a barista at the coffee shop he frequented. Pretty girl: blonde hair, big, blue eyes, the perkiest tits you’ve ever seen. I’ll bet she felt better than I had in years.”
Michael shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
Lucinda continued, “Well, I reacted about the way you’d expect a woman to react after spending eighteen years giving a man her body any time he pleased whether she felt in the mood or not only to walk in on Miss Perky-Twenty-Year-Old-Tits bouncing up and down on him on the couch. After chasing the young woman out of my house, I gave Elmore the tongue-lashing of his life and kicked him out.
