“Dr. Bennett, we checked your phone. You called Elise Durand seven times Monday night.” Mahler opened the file in front of him. “You also gave us a statement earlier. Concerning your whereabouts on Monday evening, you said, quote, ‘I went out later for something. I was gone for maybe an hour. I went about ten and was back by eleven.’ Your wife’s confirmed this.”

Stricker put his arm in front of Bennett. “I need to advise you, Chris. This is—”

“My wife? What’d Lynn say?” Bennett waved away the lawyer’s arm. “What’d she say about Monday?” His voice was breathless.

“Lieutenant Mahler,” Stricker said, “I’d like to request a moment alone with my client.”

Mahler ignored the lawyer and addressed Bennett. “Did you see Elise Durand Monday night?”

“I repeat,” Stricker said. “For the recording, Thomas Stricker, representing Christopher Bennett, requests—”

“I went to her house,” Bennett said quickly. “I parked out front. I don’t think she was there. Her car wasn’t on the street where it usually is. I just sat there.”

Frames waited a beat. “You didn’t see her?”

Bennett looked down at the tabletop. “No. The lights were on, but I never went to the door.”

“You were in your car the whole time?”

“All kinds of things went through my head. I was out of my mind. You can’t imagine.” He ran his fingertips over the table’s surface, as if searching for something. Then he looked up. “Have any of you been in love with a woman? I mean, so, so in love? I thought about the color of her eyes, the way her hair smelled after a shower. And I couldn’t stand it, couldn’t stand her leaving me. I thought…I wanted to make her stop, to do something so she’d never go away. I wanted…I wanted—”

Mahler waited for Bennett’s eyes to focus on him. “To kill her?”

“Yes…No. I don’t know. But I didn’t. I swear to God, I didn’t. I did not kill her. You can give me a lie detector test. I left. I drove home.” Bennett licked his dry lips. “It was late. Lynn can tell you. She was in bed, and I woke her up. I made love to her. I guess I was rough. Is that what she said? She yelled at me to stop, and I didn’t. Suddenly, I heard her screaming…as loud as if—”

This time, Stricker reached out and held his client’s forearm.

Bennett looked up, pleading with Mahler. “Can I see Elise? I never got to see her. Just for a minute? Ten seconds. I promise I won’t touch her.”