We sat there for two hours. There were parts where the words seemed so absurd, I almost didn’t believe they were true. I tiptoed around the word blackmail for as long as I could, but I finally said it, and once the details began to flow, I couldn’t stop talking. I wanted him to understand why I’d done what I’d done.

I’d done it for him.

For us.

“You don’t have to fix me,” he said, and there was anger there that I knew I deserved. “I know it’s been hard on you too, Paula, but this is my reality. Our reality.”

I tried to cut in, but he kept talking.

“And a surgery is not going to ‘fix’ things. It never was going to. I’ve changed and you’ve changed, and I need you to understand that we can never go back.”

I started to speak again, but he held up a hand.

“We can go forward, though.”

We stared at each other for a few moments, and I nodded.

“I know that,” I whispered. “I’m sorry.”

I started talking again. I got through the rest of my story uninterrupted, and he watched me with an expression I couldn’t read. He only flinched when I told him that it was Hooks who’d broken into the apartment, presumably to take the money back.

He stared at me, his entire body rigid, the idea that his new client and idol could’ve been responsible for the break-in seeming to jolt him out of the daze he’d been in for the last few hours.

“Are you okay?” I asked this time, and he shook his head.

“Hooks?” he said, looking around the room. He continued shaking his head and then lowered his gaze to his hands, which were nervously tapping on both thighs.

“Keith?”

He shook his head faster and then finally stopped and looked up at me. “Stop talking,” he said. “My turn.”

Chapter 33

Claire

Five days after

PART 1 OF RECORDED INTERVIEW:
EMMA BENTLEY

Interview duration: 24 minutes

Location: 18th District Police Department, City of Chicago

Interview conducted by:
Detective Claire Puhl, Detective Greg Kuchi

PUHL: This interview is being recorded. I’m Detective Claire Puhl. Also in the room with me is Detective Greg Kuchi. This interview is being conducted in relation to the investigation of the death of Mrs. Beverly Brighton, 115 West Oak Street in Chicago, Illinois, which took place on Saturday, August 8. Today is August 13. Can you please state your name?

BENTLEY: Um, Emma Bentley.

PUHL: And where do you live?

BENTLEY: 115 West Oak Street.

PUHL: You own the building, correct?

BENTLEY: Yes.

PUHL: Now, Ms. Bentley, I know we’ve already talked about this, but can you tell us how well you knew the victim, Beverly Brighton? She was one of your tenants, yes?