“NO! You’re making it seem like we’re guilty. Why would we want Julia dead? How do I get my money now that she’s dead?”

“You weren’t going to get anything if she was alive either,” Jack said. A moment of cold silence could be felt in the room.

“Why was Colin at this convention? The convention where you met him?” Val asked.

“He was there with Julia. She was the one attending the convention. It was all about pathology.” Lauren’s words were clipped.

“It was a pathology convention?” Val inquired. “So, you were there with a pathologist. A pathologist from Buffalo?”

“Yes. Why on earth would I be there otherwise?” she said quickly, maybe a little too quickly. She appeared to want to pull the words back in. The next question was unavoidable.

“What’s this pathologist’s name?”

Lauren hesitated again, staring at Val. Val repeated the question.

“Phillip Blythe,” she said.

30

“So, the elusive Dr. Blythe has finally agreed to talk to us.” Thomas turned towards Gavin. “Thank you for making this arrangement.”

The three men stopped just outside the doctor’s office. “Dr. Blythe has agreed to meet on an informal basis. I hope you won’t resort to any line of questioning he might find offensive,” Gavin said, stressing the unofficial nature of the interview. “If there is a possibility that he’s going to be blindsided, especially without a lawyer present, there will be hell to pay.”

“Of course, Mitch, I would never do anything offensive,” Thomas said breezily.

As they entered the room Dr. Blythe stood up and welcomed them in a friendly manner, seemingly relaxed and not worried. They each took a chair around his desk. After a few thanks to the doctor for his time, the meeting began with Blythe speaking first. “I hear this meeting is about a woman named Lauren Fitzgibbons.”

“That’s correct.”

“I knew her a long time ago,” Blythe admitted.

“In what sort of context did you know her?”

“We dated,” Blythe said, calmly. He appeared to have no guilt about it.

“How long did you date her?”

“On and off, probably about a year. Our relationship was more off than on. Lauren liked to play the field. She went where the money was. When she finally realized I didn’t have any, we were officially off.”

“When was the last time you were on?” Jack asked.

Blythe took a moment to think about the answer. “That had to be about eight or nine months ago.”

“Do you still keep in contact?”

“No,” he said flatly.

“Did you know about Julia’s problem with her?”

“She told me about the lawsuit one day. I think she just wanted someone to talk to. I listened.”

“Did you tell Julia about your past relationship with Lauren?”

“No, I saw no reason to. I hadn’t spoken to or seen Lauren in a while. There was no reason to upset Julia.”