“Please, call me Nick. And I’m glad to talk to you. Sylvie was a special person. Very special to me. I want her killer caught and punished. I promised her parents I’d see to it.”
“Are you in the habit of making promises you have no way of keeping?”
Black’s eyes delved into mine, searching, analyzing. I felt like his patient but stared back without blinking until he said, “I intend to cooperate in every way possible. Her parents are distraught, understandably so. They asked me to intercede with the authorities and the media on their behalf, and I felt obligated to do so.”
“Then you are well acquainted with Sylvie Border’s parents, I take it?”
Black picked up the silver creamer and dribbled about a teaspoon of cream into his cup. Every movement was easy and graceful, while nonchalantly masculine. He held the creamer toward me. I shook my head. “I take mine black.”
His eyes lingered on my face a moment too long; then he replaced the creamer on the tray. He didn’t add sugar. He was one handsome fella, yes, sir, and mercy me. Charisma radiated from him like heat off the burning desert sands. I wasn’t so out of the romance game that I couldn’t feel it. Sexual chemistry was alive and well, and almost a tangible presence, as if it stood personified between us and laughed when I tried to step around it. I wondered if he felt it. Because I sure as hell did. But it wasn’t ever going to happen.
I raised my cup, took a ladylike sip. Not that I’m much of a lady, but I do know how to sip—I just put my foot down at crooking my little finger. The coffee was good and strong, brewed to perfection, no decaffeinated crap for Nicholas Black. Perfect Miki strikes again.
Black resumed the conversation. He said, “I don’t know them extremely well. We’ve met on several occasions, and I found them to be nice people. I knew them well enough to want to break such horrible news in person before they heard it on TV.”
“Did you also feel obligated to break the horrible news to the whole world on CNN, or was that simply a publicity stunt to promote your new book?”
Black’s facial expression didn’t waver, but I watched something move in those blue eyes, something that hinted at danger. “I sense a certain hostility in you, Detective. Do you think I killed Sylvie? Is that what this is all about? Or do you just exhibit this chip on your shoulder as a matter of course?”
“Oh, it’s a matter of course, I guess. Especially when I’ve just brought up a beautiful young woman who spent the night under the lake being nibbled by carp. And you were her only known visitor the night of her murder.”
He didn’t look away, but he waited until he’d taken a drink and replaced the cup on the saucer, then said, “I suppose I’m the primary suspect until you verify my alibi?”
“Everybody’s a suspect until we verify their alibi. Tell me about the last time you saw Ms. Border alive.” I pulled my notepad and pencil out of my purse and moved to the edge of my chair like Lois Lane at the Daily Planet. He made me wait. Choosing words carefully?
“It was the night before last, just before I left for New York.”
“And where was that?”
“I went down to her bungalow.”
“What time was that?”
“I guess it was around nine o’clock, but it could’ve been nine-thirty, or even ten.”
“When did you leave?”
“I stayed about thirty minutes or an hour, I guess. She was getting ready for bed. She said she’d gone running earlier in the evening with Miki and was tired. We sat outside on the deck and watched the water.”
I jotted without looking up. “Are you sure about these times, Doctor Black?”
“Fairly certain. I’m guessing, so they could be off some.”
Lie number one and still counting. I said, “What was the purpose of your visit to Ms. Border’s private bungalow?”
I watched him now for hesitation or signs of guilt. He stared back as if he knew what I was doing and how to get around it. I had an uncomfortable feeling he could hold his own in any police interrogation. Then again, I am not half-bad when I’m really motivated.
“She called up here and asked if she could borrow my car over the weekend, so I drove it down to her bungalow.”
“Did she say why she wanted to use the car?”
“She said she needed to go to the grocery store and then pick up some things at the mall.”
“Did she ever use your car before that night?”
“Last weekend, on Sunday afternoon. Shopping. Sylvie loved to shop.”
I heard the sorrow thicken his voice now, and it seemed real enough. On the other hand, the surveillance camera showed his car leaving around midnight. Maybe I could make him dig that hole a couple of feet deeper. “How did you get home that night?”
“I walked along the lake. It’s quicker than following the road back. It was a beautiful night with a full moon and lots of stars. I like walking at night. It helps me think.”
He had adroitly covered himself with a viable story. “What did you have to think about, Doctor Black?”
“I was a little worried about Sylvie. I have other cases that dwell on my mind, as well.”
“Why were you worried about Sylvie?”
“She wasn’t happy, and she wouldn’t say why.”
“And what time did you say you left her bungalow?”
“About ten or ten-thirty. I had to get back and pack. We took off at midnight.”
“We?”
“My flight crew and myself.”
“Did you have sex with Sylvie that night?”
For the first time, anger sparked in his eyes, then turned into the blue ice Dottie had described.
“Certainly not. I told you already that she was a friend, Detective. A good friend and a patient. We never had sex, nor would I ever have sex with any patient. I’m sure you know that would violate the doctor/patient relationship.”
I’d riled him, and that was a good thing. Riled people made mistakes and said stupid things. “I meant no offense, Doctor. I’m just doing my job.”
He relaxed and smiled, teeth white and even, a veritable Crest commercial. I wondered if they were capped, or at the least, bleached. “I have nothing to hide. Eliminate me as soon as possible so you can move on and find out who did this.”
“Thanks for the tip on police procedure. I think I’ll take you up on that and see if I can’t find the killer.” I can get a little sarcastic sometimes.
“You’re a very angry lady, aren’t you? It’d be interesting to find out why.”
“Sorry. I don’t believe in paying a thousand dollars to lie around on a couch and tell somebody my secrets. Seems like a stupid thing to do.” I smiled ingratiatingly. “And besides, what I am doesn’t matter in this investigation, Doctor Black. It’s you we’re investigating.” For effect, I looked down at my notes. “Did Ms. Border act oddly or say anything out of the norm when you saw her that night?”
“Actually, she did. Like I said, she was unhappy, and she’d been upset all week. I’d noticed how stressed out she was in our first session, but we’d been making progress. She was relaxed and happy for a day or two; then all of a sudden, she reverted back to the way she was when she got here.”
“What was she upset about?”
“I’m afraid that is privileged information,