Divided in Death (In Death #18)(51)

"Oh, I have a key. She's got one for mine, too. We were always in and out of each other's places. Should I give it to you? The key?"

"I'd appreciate that. We'll get it before we leave. Why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Okay." She drew breath in and out, scrubbed a hand over her face. "Okay. I got back from class, and I thought I'd see how she was doing. She was so upset about Blair's death. Just flattened, you know?" Deena let out a long sigh. "I just went right in. When I left her last night I promised to come by this afternoon after class, so I didn't bother to knock or anything. I just went in and called out that I was there."

"The door was locked?"

"Yeah. When she didn't answer, I went back to the bedroom. I was going to try to talk her into going out, or at least over to my place. Cheer her up. God. It's hard to say it," she managed. "It makes me see it again."

"I know."

"I went in. I saw her on the bed. I didn't get it at first, just didn't think... I said something like: 'Oh, come on, Chlo.' I said something like that..." Her voice started to break. "Jesus, 'Come on, Chlo,' a little impatient, I guess, because it was all so... stagey and dramatic. I was a little irritated with her as I walked over to the bed. And then..."

"Take your time," Eve instructed as Deena took a long, long sip from the bottle of water.

"Her eyes were open. Staring and open, and I still didn't get it. For just an instant, I couldn't get it. It was like part of my brain shut down. I've seen someone dead before. My great-grandmother." Deena knuckled a tear away. "She lived with us for a while, and she died in her sleep one night. I found her in the morning, so I've seen somebody dead before. But it's not the same when they're young, when you're not expecting it."

It's never the same, Eve thought. "Did you touch her, or anything else?"

"I think I touched her shoulder, or her arm. I think I reached down to touch her because I didn't see how she could be dead. But she was cold. God, her skin was cold, and I knew. That's when I ran out and started yelling."

"You sat down in the hall, and stayed there until Officer Nalley came."

"Yeah, that's right."

"Did you or anyone else go into the apartment before the officer responded?"

"No. I just sat in front of her door, crying. Some people came out of their apartments, and asked me what was going on. I said, 'She's dead.' I said, 'Chloe's dead,' that she killed herself."

"Okay. You talked to her last night."

"I called when I got home. I'd been out working on a set for a play on the West Side. I knew she was having a rough time. We talked awhile, then I went over. Kept her company for a little while. I stayed till about eleven. I had an early class, and she said she was going to bed. Escape into sleep, that's what she said. She said things like that, but I didn't think she meant..." Deena reached out to grip Eve's arm.

"Officer Dallas. I'd never have left her alone if I'd understood what she meant. I'd never have let her do it."

"This isn't your fault. You were a good friend." And because she could see how the guilt was pricking, she didn't correct Deena on her rank. "How was the apartment?"

"I'm sorry?"

"I wondered what sort of state the rooms were in last night when you were there."

"Oh. It was pretty neat, I guess. Chloe liked to keep things neat. Well, there were tissues everywhere. She was crying a lot at first, and tossing them around."

"Did you have anything to eat or drink?"

"We had some wine. I brought over a bottle, and we went through about half of it, maybe."

"Ice cream?"

"Ice cream? No, I didn't think of it. That would've been good, though."

"Did you clean up the wineglasses?"

"The glasses? Ah, no. I didn't think about it. I was tired, and she'd about cried herself out. We just left everything in the living room."

"Not the bedroom?"

"No, we sat on the floor in the living room, just a couple hours. Maybe if I'd stayed over with her..."

"I want to ask you to look at this note." Eve took out the pink paper in an evidence bag. "Do you know if this is Chloe's handwriting?"

"Yeah. Big and splashy, that's Chloe. But she was wrong. There was life without him. There's always more life. And for Christ's sake, it wasn't going to go anywhere. It was all just a fantasy."

"Did you ever meet Blair Bissel?"

"No." She took a balled-up tissue, blew her nose. "She kept him really close. I didn't even know about him. I mean, I knew there was somebody, and I knew the somebody was married, but she wouldn't tell me his name, or anything. Made a vow, she said. A solemn vow. It's so like her to say that: 'I made a solemn vow.' That, and the fact she knew I didn't see him as the love of her life the way she did, meant she didn't tell me a lot of specifics about him. I didn't know his name, or that it was the guy she worked for part-time in the gallery until after it happened. After his wife killed him, I mean, and she told me about it last night."

"So he never came here."