Free In Death 03 - Immortal in Death by authors_sort Page A

She didn't give a rat's damn about me, but she wouldn't tolerate me being the one to pull back. Unless I stopped seeing Mavis, unless I was her lapdog again, she would have seen to it that the show was a failure, if it ran at all."
    "You didn't want to stop seeing Ms. Freestone."
    "I love Mavis," he said with great dignity. "She's the most important thing in my life."
    "And yet, if you didn't accede to Pandora's demands, you would in all probability be left with enormous debts and a stain on your professional reputation that would have been intolerable. Is this correct?"
    "Yes. I put everything I had into the show. I borrowed a great deal of money. More, I put my heart into it. My soul."
    "She could have wiped that all out."
    "Oh yes." His lips curled. "She would have enjoyed it."
    "Did you ask her to come to your apartment last night?"
    "No. I never wanted to see her again."
    "What time did she come to your apartment last night?"
    "I don't know."
    "How did she get in? Did you let her in?"
    "I don't think so. I don't know. She would have had my key code. I never thought to get it back from her or to change it. Everything's been so crazy."
    "You argued with her."
    His eyes glazed over, went blank. "I don't know. I don't remember. But I must have. I would have."
    "Recently, Pandora came into your apartment uninvited, threatened you, attacked your current companion physically."
    "Yes, yes, she did." He could remember that. It was a relief to be able to remember that.
    "What was Pandora's state of mind when she came to your apartment this time?"
    "She must have been angry. I would have told her I wasn't giving Mavis up. That would have infuriated her. Dallas..." His eyes focused again, and desperation shone in them. "I just don't remember. Any of it. When I woke up this morning, I was in Mavis's apartment. I think I remember using my key code to get in. I'd been drinking, walking and drinking. I rarely drink because I tend to lose time, black holes in my mind. When I woke up, I saw the blood."
    He held out his arm where the wound had been poorly bandaged. "There was blood on my hands, on my clothes. Dried blood. I must have fought with her. I must have killed her."
    "Where are the clothes you were wearing last night?"
    "I left them at Mavis's. I showered, and I changed. I didn't want her to come home and find me looking like that. I was waiting for her, trying to figure out what to do, and I turned on the news. I heard -- I saw. And I knew."
    "You're saying that you don't remember seeing Pandora last night. You don't remember having an altercation with her. You don't remember killing her."
    "But I must have," he insisted. "She died in my apartment."
    "What time did you leave your apartment last night?"
    "I'm not sure. I'd been drinking before. A lot. I was upset, and I was angry."
    "Did you see anyone, speak with anyone?"
    "I bought another bottle. From a street hawker, I think."
    "Did you see Ms. Freestone last night?"
    "No. I'm sure of that. If I'd seen her, if I could have talked to her, everything would have been all right."
    "What if I tell you Mavis was in your apartment last night?"
    "Mavis came to see me." His face brightened. "She came back to me? But that can't be right. I couldn't have forgotten that."
    "Was Mavis there when you fought with Pandora? When you killed Pandora?"
    "No. No."
    "Did she come in after Pandora was dead, after you'd killed her? You were panicked then, weren't you? Terrified."
    There was panic in his eyes now. "Mavis couldn't have been there."
    "But she was. She called me from your apartment, after she found the body."
    "Mavis saw?" Beneath the copper tone, his skin went pasty. "Oh, God, no."
    "Someone struck Mavis, knocked her unconscious. Was it you, Leonardo?"
    "Someone hit her? She's hurt?" He was up, out of the chair, dragging his hands through his hair. "Where is she?"
    "Was it you?"
    He held out his arms. "I'd cut my hands off before I'd hurt Mavis. For Christ's pity, Dallas, tell me where