Wayward by Gregory Ashe

Author:Gregory Ashe [Ashe, Gregory]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hodgkin and Blount
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

MARCH 28

THURSDAY

5:04 PM

IN THE INTERVIEW ROOM, Dulac still slouched against the wall, and Gensler was still tapping on her phone. Maybe she was writing a novel, Somers thought. Maybe she could find something in this shitstorm and spin it into a story.

Melissa Hall wore a long sweater over leggings. She looked like a woman in a commercial who tucked her legs up under her and spent the day sipping coffee and leafing through books. Unlike Josh, she seemed perfectly comfortable in the interview room, although Somers was willing to guess that a lot of that had to do with her training as a counselor. You’ve got to have some kind of poker face when people pay you to listen to their lives falling apart.

“Ms. Hall,” Somers said, “thank you for coming down to meet us.”

“With a lawyer,” Dulac added.

“Of course,” Melissa said, her eyes locked on Somers.

“The same lawyer Josh Dobbs has hired,” Dulac said.

“I’m happy to do whatever I can to help the police,” Melissa said, still pretending Dulac didn’t exist.

Somers repeated his explanation that she was not a suspect, if that changed, she would be read her rights, and then said, “We have a few questions for you about the last night anyone saw Donna May Plenge alive.”

Melissa seemed to hold it together for a moment; she touched the corner of her eye, and then she nodded. “I had already heard that she was . . . she was the one you found, but I couldn’t believe it. She was so full of life.”

“Could you tell us a little about Donna May?”

“I’m sorry; she was a client, and our conversations were privileged.”

“Even after death?”

“Yes. That’s a recent policy change.”

“Pretty fucking convenient,” Dulac said.

This time, color came into Melissa’s cheeks, but she addressed Somers. “It’s actually very logical. Even after death, things that have been shared in session could be very damaging to a person’s reputation, or to the people around them. If a client has shared experiences with abuse, for example, that could negatively affect someone else, even if there was no way to confirm the experience.”

Somers nodded. “I understand. We may have to subpoena those records, though. Do you keep recordings?”

“Primarily notes. I don’t believe I have any recordings of sessions with Donna May.”

“Very fucking convenient,” Dulac said.

“Detective,” Gensler said, her dark eyes coming up from the phone.

“The notes, then,” Somers said with a smile.

“Of course. I’ll be happy to cooperate with a court order.”

“What about your interactions with Donna May outside of work? Those aren’t privileged, of course, so I’m sure you’ll be able to share your thoughts about her from that standpoint.”

“I’m afraid my interactions with Donna May outside of a session were very limited.”

“Really?”

Melissa smiled and nodded.

“That’s strange,” Somers said, unfolding the photograph Hazard had given him and displaying it. “This doesn’t look like a very limited interaction.”

“That,” Dulac said, “looks like best friends. Fuck, the three of you could be sisters. And, since you’re all fucking the same guy, I guess that’s more like sister-wives.

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