Evidence by Jonathan Kellerman

“She said he did her standing up behind a trailer. Facing her, it was
real friendly, almost like they were having a conversation, except they
weren’t.”
    Bettina
Sanfelice said, “She made it sound like his being inside her was a surprise.”
    The
three of us stared at her.
    She
burst into tears. Retched and slapped her hand to her mouth and motioned
frantically with the other. Milo scooted out and she ran to the bathroom.
    Sheryl
Passant said, “She always had a bad stomach.”
    I
said, “She said the same about you.”
    “Me?
No way. I’ve liked chili and spicy my whole life.”
    “After
Marjorie told you about Des, what else did she say?”
    “Nothing.
She just shut up and drank some more. We had to sit there a long time until she
could drive. Helga left first, me and Tina and Ms. Holman sat there looking at
each other, like no one had anything to say anymore. There was CSI: Miami on a big plasma and we just watched then we all drove home.”
    “What
happened the next day?”
    “What
do you mean?”
    “No
mention of the discussion?”
    “Nope.”
Her hand dropped to fool with her napkin, again. This time she lingered at my
crotch.
    I
shifted away. “I’m going to make sure Bettina’s okay.”
    “Don’t
bother, she’s okay—all right, fine, but she’s really okay.”

    It took nine minutes for Sanfelice to emerge from the
ladies’ room. Her steps were wobbly and her eyes were raw. When she saw me, she
gasped.
    “You
all right?”
    “I’m
terrible,” she said. “That was terrible.”
    “Sorry.
I didn’t intend for it to get that detailed—”
    “With
Sheryl it would have to. She likes to show off. Her dad’s a drunk and he beat
her mom all the time, Sheryl never did well in school and her mom died a few
years ago. My mom says she’s a slut but she’s had it hard.”
    Glancing
toward the booth. “You won’t tell my mom, right?”

CHAPTER 8
    Passant
and Milo weren’t talking. Passant looked bored.
    When
Bettina Sanfelice settled back in, Milo said, “A woman died with Des—”
    “Omigod—”
    “—and
I’ve got a picture of her. It’s not disgusting or bloody, but it was taken
after death. Can you handle looking at it?”
    Passant
said, “I just saw it, Teen, it’s no big deal and you don’t know her.”
    Sanfelice
took a deep breath. “How can you be sure?”
    “I
didn’t know her, so no way you did.”
    “That
makes no sense, Sher. Show it to me, sir.”
    Milo
produced the death shot. Sanfelice studied. Smiled triumphantly. “I’ve seen her
with Des.”
    Passant
said, “Sure you have.”
    Milo
said, “Where and when, Bettina?”
    “Just
once, sir. It was after work. Des and me were the last ones in the office. I
was sweeping up and Des was drawing stuff on the computer.Our
cars were parked in the lot out back and we walked out together.” Tapping the
image with a finger. “She was there, standing next to his car. Waiting for him,
he wasn’t surprised or anything.”
    “Was
he happy to see her?”
    “He
wasn’t happy or unhappy. Kind of … in the middle.”
    Passant
murmured, “Once upon a time …”
    Sanfelice
said, “I definitely saw her. I can tell you what she was wearing, sir.
Tight jeans and a black tank top. She had a real good body. I remember thinking
Des had himself a hot one.”
    Glaring
at Passant. As opposed to…
    Passant
huffed and slurped her drink.
    I
said, “Did Des address her by name?”
    “Nope,
they didn’t talk at all. He just kind of nodded at her and she nodded back.”
    “Did
they leave together?”
    “I
can’t say for sure. I drove off first and didn’t see.”
    Sheryl
Passant picked up the photo. “I wouldn’t call her hot.”
    Milo
said, “How long ago did this happen, Bettina?”
    “I
can’t tell you exactly when but it was way before GHC closed down, I’d guess
two months, maybe a little longer, like two and a half.”
    “Anything
else you can tell us, Bettina?”
    “No,
sir.”
    “Okay,
thanks, you’ve been