Page 33 of Dead Air
Lawson's coffee cup trembled against the saucer as she set it down. Her chest tightened with each revelation. Monica's secret relationship playing out in clinical detail while tourists laughed at nearby tables.
"More how?" Blackwell's recorded voice asked.
"We started seeing each other. Nothing dramatic. Dinner after reviewing case files. Drinks when we made progress. My place or hers when we needed privacy."
The casual tone made it worse. Monica's intimate moments reduced to interview sound bites. Blackwell continued playing the recording, each detail another blade twisting in wounds Lawson thought had scarred over.
"When did this relationship begin?"
"Six months before she died. Monica suggested keeping it quiet. Department politics, you know. Partners dating other officers complicates things."
Lawson closed her eyes, absorbing the timeline. Six months of deception while she and Monica shared beds and secrets and quiet mornings over coffee. Monica's careful compartmentalization extending beyond work into the most intimate aspects of her life.
"Did anyone know about your relationship?"
"We were careful. Professional at work. No public displays. Separate cars to restaurants outside Savannah. Monica insisted on discretion."
Blackwell stopped the playback. Her gaze never left Lawson's face, cataloging every micro-expression of pain and recognition. "Quite the revelation, wouldn't you say?"
"She never mentioned him." The words escaped without conscious permission.
"Of course not. Monica kept multiple secrets, Detective. From everyone." Blackwell returned the recorder to her bag. "Including you."
The hotel bar continued its afternoon rhythm around them. Business travelers checked phones between meetings. A family with young children debated dinner reservations. Life proceeded normally while Lawson's understanding of the past five years crumbled.
"How much of the relationship was real?" Lawson asked, hating the vulnerability in her voice.
"That's not for me to determine." Blackwell's response carried unexpected gentleness. "Human relationships rarely fit into simple categories. Monica could have loved you both, for different reasons, at different times."
"Or she could have been using me as cover while conducting her real relationship with Hutchinson."
"Also possible." Blackwell didn't offer false comfort. "The question becomes: does it change what happened that night?"
Lawson considered this. Monica's deception stung, but murder remained murder regardless of personal betrayals. Justice didn't depend on the victim's honesty about her romantic entanglements.
"No," she said finally. "It doesn't change anything."
"Good answer." Blackwell's approval seemed genuine. "Victims deserve justice regardless of their personal choices or moral complexity."
"Yet you're using her secrets to build audience engagement."
"I'm using her secrets to build a complete picture of her final weeks." Blackwell leaned back, professional distance reasserting itself. "Monica withdrew from both relationships simultaneously. Hutchinson describes the same pattern you've mentioned—cancelled plans, avoided conversations, increasing isolation."
"Because she discovered something dangerous."
"Or because she was preparing to abandon both relationships for whatever came next." Blackwell opened her tablet, fingers moving across the screen. "Your theory assumes professional motivation for her withdrawal. Hutchinson's suggests personal."
"What's his theory?"
"That Monica planned to disappear. New identity, new location, new life. The federal investigation provided perfect cover for vanishing completely." Blackwell turned the screen toward Lawson. "Bank records show cash withdrawals totaling thirty thousand dollars in the weeks before her death. More than enough for initial relocation expenses."
The numbers blurred on the screen. Lawson blinked, forcing focus. "Monica didn't have that kind of money."
"Exactly. Which raises questions about income sources during her final weeks." Blackwell closed the tablet. "Questions your official investigation apparently didn't pursue."
Another indictment of departmental thoroughness. Or another piece of evidence supporting the cover-up theory. Lawson couldn't determine which interpretation served truth better.
"I need time to process this," she said.
