“That’s right. Out with the old, in with the new. The firm is sending another partner to take over the litigation. Believe me, I can’t wait to be out of this place and get back to civilization. No offense. If you want to talk to me, you can call me in Minnesota.”

“Not Milwaukee?” I asked.

“No. I’m going back home to stay with my family for a while and decide what to do next. The last thing I want to do is go back and live in Gordon’s house again. It was always his house, not mine.”

“Of course.”

“So what do you want?” Erica asked. “I’m sorry to be brusque, but there’s snow in the forecast, and I’d like to be out of Black Wolf County today.”

“We have some follow-up questions for you, Mrs. Brink,” Darrell said. “And for Jay, too. Is he here?”

“No. He’s in school.”

I looked at her with surprise. “Isn’t he leaving with you?”

“Jay decided he’s going to stay in Black Wolf County for the rest of the school year. Who knows why? I assumed he’d jump at the chance to be out of here and back with his mother.”

“Will he stay in this house?”

“No. Norm Foltz offered to put him up at his place. He’s all packed. The movers will drop off Jay’s boxes at Norm’s house on their way out of town.” Erica glanced at her watch. “As I say, I’m in a hurry. Can we get through this quickly? What do you need from me?”

“We talked to someone who said your husband had a reputation among the women in his firm,” I told her.

Erica’s pretty jawline hardened. “A reputation?”

I didn’t know how to sugarcoat it, and I didn’t want to. “For demanding sex during job interviews.”

“Who told you that?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Let me guess. Penny Ramsey. Did Penny happen to mention that her reputation is for breaking client privilege? There was one particularly egregious example in which she told a friend outside the firm an anecdote involving one of our client’s executives. Gordon made sure she kept her job, when she should have been fired. So it’s rich to have her accusing him of anything now that he’s dead and can’t defend himself.”

“Was it true about Gordon?” I asked again. “Did he have a pattern of forcing himself on other women?”

“What does that have to do with your investigation?”

Darrell interjected, “Because that kind of behavior can be a motive for murder.”

“If you think Penny Ramsey or some other woman murdered Gordon over a fling on an office sofa, then you should talk to them, not me. I don’t have anything to say about it. If that’s all you have, then you can leave right now.”