Chapter 10

“Dead?!” Jessica Hill’s eyes widened. Gayle Norton’s eyes narrowed. Dashiell could almost read her thoughts. She was redesigning the cover in her mind. Last interview with Elaine Scofield. But she was also clearly thinking of something else.

“What does this have to do with my reporter?” she asked.

“The information we have indicates that she was one of the last people to see Mrs. Scofield alive,” Regina replied. Dashiell hung back, leaning against the wall. He was watching Miss Hill while Regina was talking to Ms. Norton.

“Well, Jessica will be happy to answer any questions you have, so long as they don’t compromise any of her sources.”

Jessica leaned forward in her seat, nodding. Her hands were now clenched in her lap. She looked nervous, but Dashiell didn’t think it was the nervousness of someone who’d been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. It looked more like the nervousness of someone who felt the police thought she had her hand in the cookie jar.

“Very well,” Regina said. “What can you tell me about your interview with Mrs. Scofield?”

Dashiell crossed his arms across his chest, a silent mass leaning against a wall, eyes boring into Jessica. He was playing bad cop. He was also waggling his fingers under his arm, hiding the gesture with his elbow. It wasn’t a fool proof spell, even when done on a large scale. And as a small cantrip, it was likely to be almost entirely ineffective. But it would sharpen Jessica’s mind on key details and encourage her to speak the truth, if it worked, and it certainly couldn’t hurt.

“We arrived just before 10 o’clock. Research told me that Mrs. Scofield was very punctual,” Jessica began.

“We?” Regina prompted.

“Myself and Carolyn Bartlett, who the magazine had hired for this shoot.” Regina nodded and indicated Jessica should continue.

“I interviewed Mrs. Scofield for about 15 minutes, while Carolyn set up, then continued as Carolyn shot her. She likes to work with subjects in their personal spaces, and she likes to shoot them as they talk. Additionally, we’d only been given one hour for the whole affair, so we had to work quickly.”

“What was the interview about?” It was a classic policeman’s ploy, pretending not to know as much as you did, in order to try and catch a suspect out in a lie. Dashiell didn’t really think she was a suspect, but knew it was never good to jump to conclusions.

Jessica looked over at Gayle, who nodded. “Go ahead and tell them.”

“It was about her autobiography,” Jessica replied. “It was due to come out later this summer and this was a teaser interview.”

Gayle broke in. “Now, mind you, we don’t go for gossip. But Mrs. Scofield was one of the premier players in Washington life for the last forty years. Her book is going to be a best seller.”

Regina nodded, as if she didn’t blame Gayle Norton for descending into what was essentially tabloid journalism. Dashiell tried not to smile as he sensed Regina fighting not to roll her eyes.

“What happened next?” Regina asked.

“Nothing. We concluded the interview around 11. Carolyn got some great shots. We left.”

“And Mrs. Scofield? How did she seem?”

“Perfectly fine. She was the picture of health, as far as I could tell.”

Regina nodded and got up to leave. She turned toward Gayle Norton. “Would you mind setting up an appointment with Carolyn Bartlett for us? We’d like to speak to her as well.”

“Of course,” Gayle replied. She buzzed out to her secretary and began to make arrangements. Regina turned back to Jessica.

“Just one more thing, Miss Hill. Did Mrs. Scofield show you her manuscript?”

Jessica’s brow furrowed. “No. We talked about it, but that’s it.”

“Thank you for your time, Miss Hill.”

Regina collected Dashiell with her eyes as she headed out the door. They stopped at the secretary’s desk to get Carolyn Bartlett’s address and a time when it would be convenient to drop by, then they left the offices of Washington Woman.

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