“Let’s go easy on the speeches, Merv.” The ADA was an abrasive man named Petronelli. Ted didn’t know him, but he recognized immediately that the ADA came from the same streets as Ted and Mervyn. He tended to apply sarcasm to every other word, a pose recognized by anyone who grew up in Queens—the Jersey defense. “Right now we are having a conversation. If we hear the right words, there is no need for this to go any further.”

“Then what have you got?” Ted tossed back. He was prepared to cooperate—to a reasonable extent. Now it was time for the great wheels of justice to make some headway in his direction. The puke-green walls of the interview room were interfering with his recovery. Fainting was a possibility. Barfing on the table was a high probability.

Petronelli flashed him a smile. It wasn’t meant to be friendly. “We had a visit from a Cheryl Rubiano first thing this morning. You know the woman?”

Ted didn’t reply. It wasn’t really a question.

“You are, in fact, intimately familiar with her, are you not?” He removed his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose as he talked. The gesture hid his eyes. “According to the story she and her lawyer presented, you two had a brief, but heated, affair. The husband, who did odd jobs for you, blamed her and moved out. She was devastated, broke it off with you, and begged the old man to come home.”

Ted’s blood pressure spiked, and a world-class headache took up residence in his temples.

“You didn’t like getting the brush-off. When Mr. Rubiano turned up dead, she confronted you and you steadfastly refused to deny any involvement. And you intimated that if she didn’t play along, you were prepared to go to the police and put the blame solely on her. How’m I doing, Mr. Molloy? Is there any of this that you’re willing to confirm?”

“My client has nothing to say at this time,” Mervyn said.

Ted disagreed. He was ready to scream. But he let Petronelli continue.

“Mrs. Rubiano was frightened. She tried to buy you off. You took the money, but then later you showed up at her apartment looking to get your dick wet. She wasn’t interested. You threatened. She was frightened, so she performed oral sex on you. That’s rape.”

“This is all such bullshit!” Ted yelled. His headache improved the moment the words came out of his mouth. “Total crap.”

Mervyn tapped the back of Ted’s hand. “My client should speak only when I grant him permission, but he does raise a good question. Do you believe all this crap?”

Duran’s face showed nothing during the recitation. Kasabian smirked at the sexual references but otherwise maintained a stoic Marlboro Man demeanor. Ted thought they were both too smart to have bought into this story.