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“Mrs. Boxer, you can call me Rich if I can call you Darla.”
Darla shrugged, said “Fine.”
“And you can call me Lindsay,” I said.
“I guess I should call you that. I am kinda your stepmother, right?”
I didn’t blink. I just listened.
Conklin went on. “Do you have any weapons in the house, Darla?”
“Like guns?”
“Right,” Rich said.
“I didn’t allow it. We—I have an eight-year-old.”
“I assume he’s at school now?”
Darla nodded.
“Mind if we take a look just so we can cross it off our list?”
Darla shrugged again. I had the warrant from Yuki but it looked like we wouldn’t need it. Darla gave Conklin a tour of the closets and drawers while I poked around in Marty’s home office. When we were satisfied that there were no guns in the house, we three got into the patrol car and Conklin drove us back to the Hall. Twenty-five minutes later, Conklin, Darla, and I were in Interview One at the station. Alvarez was observing behind the glass and the camera was rolling.
“May I have some water?” Darla asked.
Conklin got up and returned with three varieties of bottled water and a cup of ice.
“Thanks,” she said. “What do you want to know?”
CHAPTER 25
WE WERE AT the scarred gray table in the interview room. I sat beside Rich and he sat across from Darla. Rich had established rapport with our subject and for the most part, I just listened as Rich asked and Darla answered his softball questions.
“Darla, how long have you and Marty been together?”
“About seven years. We met in Mexico, but we’re both from California. After Marty had his heart attack, we decided to come back to be closer to family.”
Darla didn’t look me in the face as she told this story, and I wondered how many holes she was covering up.
“Darla, where were you on Sunday night?”
“Home.”
“Who can verify that?”
“My neighbor, Angela, and mylittle boy, Austin. We watched a movie on TV.”
“When did you last speak with Marty?”
“When he was leaving Briny’s after having drinks with Leo. Eight something. Sunday night.”
“Was anything troubling Marty?”
“There was always something, but nothing stands out.”
“If there was something wrong, would he tell you?”
