“Yes. Were there problems in the marriage?”

“There’re problems in every marriage.”

“But specifically with yours, Mrs. Young.”

Tessa shrugged. “Sure. We had lots of problems.”

“Can you describe them?”

Another pause. “If you’re asking if we were happily married, I’d say no. We’d been having problems for years but were trying to make it work.”

“Were you having financial problems?”

“Excuse me?”

“Money issues are a common source of struggles within a marriage, so I’m asking if you had any issues with money.”

“No, money was not a problem. Cameron’s books, for the last couple of years, were quite successful. We don’t have any debt, besides the mortgage on this apartment. The house in the Catskills is paid off. We have plenty of money saved.”

“When you say plenty . . . ?”

Tessa shook her head as she calculated. “Three million. Maybe more. Cameron handled the finances. I see the balance once a year when I sign the tax returns.”

“Was the money in a joint account?”

“Yes, Detective. I could get my hands on all the money I ever needed at any time. I certainly wouldn’t have to kill my husband for it.”

Walt made a note on his pad.

“Did your husband have a life insurance policy?”

“We both do. We took them out just after we married. Million-dollar policies on each of us.”

Tessa Young’s tone regarding the millions of dollars she and her husband were worth was so matter-of-fact that Walt didn’t know what to make of it. She was either a damn good actress or she had nothing to hide.

“You are a professor, is that correct, Mrs. Young?”

“Yes.”

“Would you say that most of your income came from your husband?”

“I make a hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year as a professor at Columbia University. But yes, our income came mostly from my husband.”

Walt made a few notes in his book, and then looked up from the page and made eye contact with Cameron Young’s widow.

“Some of this will be difficult to hear, and may be uncomfortable to discuss, but I need to ask.”

Tessa waited, and finally nodded.

“Your husband was gagged, Mrs. Young, with what is called a ball gag. It’s a bondage device used in S and M sex.”

Tessa Young said nothing, just held Walt’s stare.

“Did you and your husband engage in sexual behavior that included bondage?”

“For Christ’s sake, no!”

Walt paused.

“Your husband was bound with rope also commonly used in S and M sex. Do you possess any of that rope?”

“Of course not.”

“Would you allow me to look around your home?”

“My lawyer would tell me to let you look anywhere you wish, but would insist on a search warrant.”

Walt removed a slip of paper from his folder. “I’d never ask without one.”