Page 21 of Dirty Weekend

“I’m Sheriff Lawson,” Jack said. “This is Dr. Graves. She’s the coroner for the county. Cami Downey was murdered. We need anyone who lives in the house to come downstairs and answer a few questions.”

John’s tan paled and his arm dropped and went limp at his side. “Cami?” he asked. “You’ve got to be wrong. She’s just working. Sometimes she stays at the hotel down the street from the courthouse if it gets too late. I’ll call her cell. You’ll see. It’s not her.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Jack said. “She’s been identified through both prints and dental records. Can you get her roommate for me? And anyone else in the house.”

John nodded, his motions jerky, and I didn’t think he was faking his reaction. Cami’s death had hit him hard.

“I’ll go get her,” Will said, squeezing John’s shoulder and narrowing his eyes at Jack.

“I think I need a drink,” John said, moving over to a sideboard that had been cleverly turned into a bar. He poured three fingers of whiskey and took a deep drink, and then he dropped down into the chair closest to the fireplace, as if Jack and I weren’t there at all.

“What was your relationship with Ms. Downey?” Jack asked. We sat on the love seat across from John, but he never looked at us.

“We were friends,” he said, looking into his drink. “Sometimes lovers. But it was nothing serious. Mostly friends.”

“Mostly?” Jack asked. “You guys have a fight?”

John smiled, this one more real than the polished one he’d given us before. “We’re attorneys. Or at least, most of us are. We’re always arguing about something. But no, Cami and I were more friends than lovers. It’s just that in our line of work there’s not a lot of time for dating or relationships, so when one of us had a need it was convenient.”

“How many people live in this building?” I asked.

“There’s six of us,” John said. “Two on each floor. Will and I share the bottom floor, and there’s also a common kitchen and living space down here. Thea and Kevin bunk on the second level. And then Toby and Cami on the third floor. But everyone has their own apartment suite. It’s a great setup.”

“And did you or Cami have a sexual relationship with anyone else in the house?” Jack asked.

“I don’t think Cami did,” he said. “She was really focused on her career. I used to hook up with Toby when we were in law school, but that’s been a couple of years. And I hooked up with Thea once, but she got weird about it so I decided once was enough. Thea’s kind of clingy. She’s big on relationships.” John gave us air quotes when he said relationships.

“You were all in law school together?” Jack asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “Went in together and graduated together. Top of our class. Which is why we all got judge clerkships, and we started hanging together. Well, plus Kevin’s dad is in Congress so that’s why he’s a clerk. But I don’t think he really wants to be. Every one of us has taken and passed the bar exam except for Thea. And she’s due to take it in a couple of weeks. I don’t understand. What happened to Cami?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Jack said as Will and a young woman came down the stairs.

Jack and I stood as introductions were made. Toby Wallace was more delicate than I expected her to be. I knew law clerks had to have a thick skin and a bulldog determination. Those were coveted positions that didn’t come easily.

She was slight of build and slender, with strawberry-blond hair and a smattering of freckles across her nose. She was pretty in a girl-next-door kind of way, but she was someone who’d blend in as nondescript if in a room of other attractive people. There were dark circles under her eyes and she twisted the silver ring on her finger nervously. She stood just in front of Will, near the stairs.

“Did you find Cami?” she asked. “Is she okay? Sometimes I don’t see her for a couple of days, but I knew when I woke up this morning and didn’t see her that something wasn’t right.”

“Where are the other two roommates?” Jack asked. “Kevin and Thea, I think you said.”

“Thea works at the Mad King a few nights a week to make extra money,” Will said. “She went to law school on student loans. Kevin usually hangs out there with her because he’s an alcoholic and she gives him free drinks.”

“What happened to Cami?” John asked, knocking back the rest of his drink.

“Her body washed up this morning in Gambo Creek,” Jack said. “We estimate time of death somewhere between thirty and sixty hours ago. When was the last time any of you saw her?”

Toby’s face paled at the news and a tear snaked down her cheek. “Umm,” she said, twisting her ring more.

“Sit down, Toby,” Will said, pushing her gently onto the other sofa. “You look like you’re about to fall over.”

“Tuesday,” she said. “Cami wasn’t feeling great, so she stayed home to work. I got home at a fairly reasonable hour, so we ordered Chinese food around seven thirty and then we both went back to work. Cami felt better after dinner and said she needed to go into the office for some files, so she showered and got dressed, and then she left.”

“She didn’t come home that night?” Jack asked.

“I…I’m not sure,” Toby said, shrugging. “We all keep weird hours. I had a splitting headache, so I took something and went to bed. And then I got up about six and got ready for work like usual.”

“How does Cami get to work?” I asked.

---