Her Best Defense

Chandler looked at Glory questioningly. She just shrugged and looked away. “I think it was only a few weeks,” he finally said.

Lisa couldn’t help but wonder if Glory’s indifference was real or an act. Did this woman know that from now on, every statement she made and every gesture she used would be noted by anyone and everyone who happened by accident or by design to be in her vicinity?

“Is that what you remember, Glory?” she asked her point-blank.

Glory looked surprised that Lisa was addressing her again. “Yes, I suppose that’s about right.”

“And is that when your…relationship with him began?”

“Yes,” she said, finally answering without hesitation and looking Lisa straight in the eye once more.

It appeared to Lisa that Glory enjoyed causing uneasiness in those around her. Was this a game to her? Or was it that her social standing in the community led her to believe that she was above common decency and good manners? And what about Chandler? He didn’t flinch, bat an eye or even seem to take notice. Didn’t any of this bother him at all?

But if they truly believed they were bulletproof, why on earth had they run to an attorney so soon?

Lisa pondered that question for a moment, then asked, “Was anyone in your household staff aware of the affair?”

“Not that I know of,” Glory answered. “I always gave them the night off when I planned on seeing him.”

“Where were you last night, Chandler?”

“I was in Detroit.”

Lisa wrote, Check Chandler’s alibi. “When did you leave?”

“Yesterday morning. It was a short trip. Just one day.”

“What hotel did you stay at?”

Glory huffed as if to tell Lisa that this was all a waste of time. Lisa ignored her.

“The Radisson, downtown.”

“And you returned just this morning?”

“That’s correct. I was on the six-fifteen flight.”

All of that would be easy enough to check. With security measures being what they were these days, Chandler would not have been able to board an aircraft without first showing identification. Of course, with the weird relationship he and Glory obviously had, Lisa couldn’t quite believe that he had gone off to Detroit, only to return sometime in the night to kill Mateo, then fly back and return in the morning as if nothing had happened. However, there usually was very little logic to murder, and Lisa had learned years ago that anything was possible.

She turned her attention back to Glory. “So, you were alone in the house with Mateo last night?”

“I was until whoever it was came along and killed him.”

“Can you tell me what you remember about the night?”

“Do you want all the gory details?”

“Just the ones about letting the staff off and then everything surrounding the time Mateo was killed.”

Glory looked almost disappointed. “Very well. I guess it was around sixish when I told everyone, including Maria, to leave.”

“Why do say, ‘including Maria?’”

“Maria is our only full-time house staff,” Chandler explained. “She oversees the daily routines of running an efficient household, which includes managing the part-time help…maids and such…we employ. She’s quite adept at it all. And when I’m out of town, she makes sure everything is taken care of for Glory.”

“Does she live on the property?”

“She stays occasionally when her duties cause her to work late. Other times, she goes home.”

“Where is home?”

“You’ll have to get that from her.”

Lisa reverted back to her original line of questioning. “Did everyone leave right away, Glory?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“What time did Mateo get there?”

“I guess about an hour later.”

“Without too much detail, can you tell me about the rest of the evening?”

“After Mateo arrived, we got a bottle of wine and went out to the spa. He liked water sports,” she said with a salacious little grin. Tossing her head, making her fabulous hair bounce a bit, she added, “Then, we went up to my room and spent the rest of the night there.”

“What time did he leave?”

Glory shrugged, which Lisa noticed that she did quite beautifully. Watching this woman was more entertaining than watching a movie, she thought with a slight frown. Truth was, she would like to really know Glory Witherington, through and through. Did Glory ever let anyone get that close?

“I couldn’t say,” Glory said. “I took a pill and went to sleep. I have a hard time sleeping when Chandler is out of town so I always take something that will knock me out.”

“Was Mateo still there when you did this?”

“Yes, I suppose he was.”

“So, you were asleep before he even left?”

“That’s how I remember it, yes.”

“And you heard nothing?”

“Honey, a bomb could go off in that house and I wouldn’t hear it after I’ve taken one of my pills.”

“This could present a problem if the police decide to go after you, Glory.”

“I believe that’s why we’re hiring you, dear, to make sure they don’t.”

Lisa’s intense interest in Glory’s entertainment value came to an abrupt end. In fact, she could stand this woman’s condescending attitude no longer and put pure ice in her voice to respond to such patronization.