“Interrogation is all about asking questions that seem innocent. With some of them, you have better knowledge of than your subject. Some will make your suspect wonder how much you really know. When you jockey for control, that’s when they mess up. But be careful. Never be too confident unless you know you can be.”

Val took a deep breath: the instructions only made her more nervous.

“How am I going to get my money now that the bitch is dead?” Lauren wasn’t a person who held back on what she was thinking. Her disfigurement could have easily caused this nasty demeanor, but equally possible was that maybe, she had always been this way. At this point, Val couldn’t really tell.

A temporary prosthesis hid the lost section of her face, but the material gaped and the chin portion didn’t fit properly. Lauren resembled a worn rag doll with a fraying face.

One of her wounds still wasn’t healing and serious measures were being taken to keep it under control. She had what Val recognized as a catheter for intravenous antibiotics on her arm, an aggressive attempt to prevent the infection from spreading. Lauren explained that the infection had been waxing and waning for months, since the surgery. Luckily, it hadn’t caused any further loss of tissue. However, it was obvious she wasn’t out of the woods yet. Lauren confirmed, though, that out of all the antibiotics she was given none were doxycycline.

“Your lawsuit is something you’re going to have to discuss with your lawyers. Colin hired us for other matters,” Thomas said.

Val learned Thomas and Jack had questioned Colin at great length that morning about how Lauren acquired this infection. Other than his own opinion that Julia did it on purpose, Colin gave them nothing solid to follow up on. But, in the end he did say something interesting, though it took some pulling to get it out.

Colin finally admitted that when he returned home that night from Julia’s, Lauren wasn’t there. She didn’t return home until the next day.

While she was crude, Val sensed that Lauren Fitzgibbons probably had a lifetime of men surrounding her. Several photographs were on display around the room, depicting the woman she’d been, and she had been gorgeous. Those days were certainly over and clearly her personality wasn’t going to make up for her looks.

“Can you tell us what happened the night of Julia’s murder?” Jack asked. Val knew her own questions would focus on three subjects: drugs, infections and Colin’s affair. Everything else would be left to Jack and Thomas.

“She called and asked him to come over.” Lauren seemed angry as she spoke, her arms crossed tightly, making it obvious she didn’t approve of Colin’s trip to Julia’s house.

“Did he tell you at the time where he was going? Or did you find out later?”