“What about physical abuse, does he hit you?”
She flinched and then set her glass down.
“When one person hits another, you see it as a sign of physical abuse, like they intended to cause harm.”
“And you don’t?” I said.
“I view it as a chance to let out pent up frustration. It’s a way to express oneself. When I throw paint against a blank canvas I act out my emotions and that’s how I create my art. I don’t think of it in terms of abuse. I think of it more like––”
“Let me guess,” I said. “Something that makes you free.”
She nodded.
“Have you seen Parker since Charlotte died?”
“We see each other whenever he has time. He comes and goes when he pleases.”
“Has he spoken to you?” I said.
“We talk all the time.”
“About her death I mean.”
“He felt sorry for her I suppose, about what happened, and he’s confused about why you implicated him in her murder. I don’t see what the police want with him. There’s no way he’s guilty.”
“What makes you so sure?” I said.
“He’s not capable of it. Parker is an expressive person, yes, but he’s not the type to end someone’s life. He has too much respect for it. You look at what happened and what do you see––a murdered woman, a victim whose killer must be brought to justice in the name of the law. But there’s a higher law. Would you like to know what I see? A woman set free from this life, given the power to roam the Earth on her own terms. I hardly think you should waste your time feeling sorry for her.”
On that note there was nothing left to say.
“Thank you for time,” I said.
We reached the doorway and Zoey took both of my hands in hers and gazed into my eyes.
“Go your way and embrace life,” she said. “Don’t live in the past. There’s nothing for you there. It can’t heal you. You must find peace within yourself and move forward.”
On the way back to the car Maddie slapped her thigh and laughed.
“Why do I feel like I just returned from a 70’s time warp?”
I raised my middle and pointer fingers and made a sideways V with my hand.
“Peace and love, my sister.”
CHAPTER 40
I leaned back in my chair and kicked my bare feet up on the coffee table. The warmth of the fire adhered to my toes and I rested them there until the heat penetrated so deep I couldn’t stand it any longer. Lord Berkeley slept beside me with one eye open and the other closed, and every once in a while he let out a series of noises and I wondered if he was any closer to catching the kitty cat.
I thought about Maddie’s actions earlier that day and found myself trying not to laugh over it now. It was true what she said at the café. To some degree the case consumed me. But I didn’t care. If I could catch the killer and earn some justice for Charlotte the universe would align again. At least that’s what I told myself, because then I wouldn’t have to admit that I needed to solve it so that all would be right in my world. Right a wrong where I previously failed to do so, like that would make things all better.
The doorknob turned and my front door opened and I reached for my 9 mm semi-automatic.
“You startled me,” I said to Nick.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to.”
Lord Berkeley woke from his slumber. He looked at Nick with weary eyes that said his performance for the evening was postponed until such time when his batteries were recharged. He mustered up enough energy to wag his tail, but didn’t move from the sofa. Nick walked over and gave his belly a good scratch.
“You and Madison stay out of trouble today?”
“I don’t know where to begin,” I said.
He raised an eyebrow.
“For whatever reason I allowed her to tag along on my adventures in detecting,” I said. “She begged and against my better judgment, I relented.”
He stoked the fire with a few pieces of wood and sat down next to me.
“You said something about that in your text message earlier, but now it sounds like you feel you made the wrong choice.”
“I don’t know. To tell you the truth she added an element of fun to my day,” I said. “I’m sure I needed it. Just don’t ever tell her I said that.”
“And she didn’t cause any trouble?”
“I didn’t say that. When we went back to Bridget’s apartment she was in the parking lot,” I said.
“Bridget was?”
I nodded.
“That’s great. You talked to her then.”
“Maddie ran over and scared her off and Bridget blew out of the place, and then I lost it on Maddie who just wanted to help.”
He draped his arm around me and pulled me over to him.
“I don’t think you need to worry too much about Maddie. She’s a big girl.”
“She barely said two words to me after it happened,” I said.
“That’s a first for her, what about Parker’s other woman?”
“Zoey gave me the impression that he has this alternative lifestyle that only she understands. She thinks they’re soul mates. And according to her, their relationship started before he met Charlotte.”
“If he was with her, why get involved with Charlotte in the first place?”
“So they could live as free spirits,” I said, and I waved my hands back and forth in the air. “Peace and love and happiness, dude.”
Nick looked confused. He picked up my martini glass from the coffee table.
“How many of these have you had?”
“Just the one,” I said, and I took it back. “I’m serious Nick. She knows about the other women and it doesn’t matter. He pays her expenses for her house, her bills, all of it. She doesn’t care about money or possessions or her existence for that matter,” I said. “It’s like the woman could find out tomorrow she was dying and she’d throw a party and celebrate it.”
“And Madison stayed quiet through all that?”
“After what happened at Bridget’s place, she was determined to prove she could behave herself. Otherwise, she would have unleashed on her. I’m quite sure of that,” I said.
“Did she say whether Parker ever hit her?”
“I got the impression she allows Parker to do whatever he wants to her.”
Nick rolled his eyes and went to the kitchen and made himself a drink.
“Parker presents himself as a different person to different people,” I said.
“Like a chameleon.”
I nodded.
“With one woman he’s sweet and sincere and full of charm and with another he wants complete control. I suspect that’s why all the women are so different from each other. Some come from money, some work for it, some hold a place in society, and others don’t. My guess is that with every woman he starts out as the perfect gentlemen and then he feels them out and gets to know them and what they’re like. He learns how to woo them and then he alters himself accordingly. For awhile he’s tolerant until a situation presents itself where he fills to the brim with an uncontrollable rage and then everything he had suppressed over the course of their relationship erupts, and then heaven help them all.”
“That’s quite the theory.”
“And here’s another one,” I said. “Zoey’s jealous of the other women. I could see it in her eyes when she talked to me. For all the free love crap she claimed to have, there’s something else there. I’m sure of it.”
Nick took a couple swallows of his drink and then set it on the table in front of him.
“Do you think she could have killed Charlotte?”
“Maybe,” I said.
“Now what?”
“What’s the chief doing about it on his end?” I said.
“Can I preface my answer by reminding you not to shoot the messenger?”