Divided in Death (In Death #18)(5)

"This is no walk in the meadow," she murmured. "Double homicide. I have to call it in."

"Will you stand as primary?"

"I'll stand," she agreed. "But if your friend did this, that's not going to be a favor."

"She didn't."

He stepped back while Eve drew out her communicator.

"I need you to take Caro in another room," she told him when she was finished. "Not the kitchen," she added with another glance at the knife. "There must be a den or a library or something like that down there. Try not to touch anything. I need to question-what was it? Reva?"

"Reva Ewing, yes."

"I need to question her, and I don't want you or her mother around when I do. You want to help her," she said before he could speak, "let's keep this as much by the book as we can from this point. You said she's security."

"Yes."

"Since she's one of yours I don't have to ask if she's good."

"She is. Very good."

"And he was her husband?"

Roarke looked back at the bed. "He was. Blair Bissel, an artist of some debatable talent. Works-worked in metal. That's one of his, I believe." He gestured toward a tall, seemingly jumbled series of metal tubes and blocks that stood in the corner of the room.

"And people pay for that?" She shook her head. "Takes all kinds. I'm going to ask you more about her later, but I want to get to her first, then take a closer look at the scene here. How long have they had marital problems?" Eve asked as she started down the hall again.

"I wasn't aware they had any."

"Well, they're over now. Keep Caro tucked away," she ordered, then walked to the living area to get her first look at Reva Ewing.

Caro sat with her arm around a woman in her early thirties. She had dark hair, cut short in a style nearly as careless as Eve's. She looked to have a small, compact body, the athletic sort that showed off well in the black T-shirt and jeans she wore.

Her skin was icy white, her eyes a kind of sooty gray that was nearly black with shock. Her lips were colorless, a bit on the thin side. As Eve stepped closer, those eyes flicked up, stared blindly. They were red-rimmed and puffy, and showed none of the sharp intelligence Eve assumed she owned.

"Ms. Ewing, I'm Lieutenant Dallas."

She continued to stare, but there was a faint movement of her head, as much shudder as nod.

"I need to ask you some questions. Your mother's going to go with Roarke while we talk."

"Oh, couldn't I stay with her?" Caro's arm tightened on Reva's shoulders. "I won't interfere, I promise, but-"

"Caro." Roarke moved to stand beside her, reached down and took her hand. "It's better this way." Gently, he drew Caro to her feet. "Better for Reva. You can trust Eve."

"Yes, I know. It's just..." She looked back as Roarke led her from the room. "I'll be right here. Reva, I'm right here."

"Ms. Ewing." Eve sat across from her, set her recorder on the table between them. And saw Reva's gaze fix on it. "I'm going to record this. I'm going to read you your rights, then ask you some questions. Do you understand?"

"Blair's dead. I saw. They're dead. Blair and Felicity."

"Ms. Ewing, you have the right to remain silent." Eve walked through the revised Miranda, and Reva closed her eyes.

"Oh God, oh God. It's real. It's not some horrible dream. It's real."

"Tell me what happened here tonight."

"I don't know." A tear dribbled down her cheek. "I don't know what happened."

"Was your husband sexually involved with Felicity?"

"I don't understand it. I don't understand. I thought he loved me." Her eyes locked on Eve's. "I didn't believe it at first. How could I? Blair and Felicity. My husband and my friend. But then I could see it, could see all the signs I missed, all the clues, all the mistakes-those little mistakes they both made."

"How long have you known?"

"Just tonight. Just tonight." Her breath shuddered in and out as she used a balled fist to wipe at the tears on her cheeks. "He was supposed to be out of town until tomorrow. A client, a new commission. But he was here, with her. I came, and I saw..."

"You came here tonight to confront them?"

"I was so angry. They'd made a fool out of me, and I was so angry. They broke my heart, and I was so sad. Then they were dead. All that blood. All the blood."

"Did you kill them, Reva?"

"No!" Her whole body jerked at the question. "No, no, no! I wanted to hurt them. I wanted them to pay. But I didn't... I couldn't have. I don't know what happened."

"Tell me what you do know."

"I drove over. We have a house in Queens. Blair wanted a house, and he didn't want to live in Manhattan where we both worked. Someplace private and away, that's what he said. Someplace just ours."

Her voice broke on the words so that she covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry. It all seems impossible. It seems I'll wake up any minute and none of this will have happened."

There was some blood on her shirt. None on her hands, on her arms, her face. Eve noted it down among her observations and waited for Reva to compose herself and go on.