First to Die

Chapter 98

"YOU BUY ANY OF THAT SHIT?" Jill smirked at me as we waited for the elevator outside Jenks's holding cell. "I might buy that he somehow believes it," I told her. "Give me a break. He'd be better off going for insanity. If Nicholas Jenks wants to narrow down a list of people who might want to set him up, he might as well start with anyone he ever fucked." I laughed, agreeing that the list would be long. Then the elevator door opened and, to my surprise, out walked Chessy Jenks. She was dressed in a long, taupe summer dress. I immediately noticed how pretty she was. Our eyes met in an awkward, silent moment. I had just arrested her husband. My crime-scene team had ripped apart her house. She would have every reason to look at me with complete disdain- but she didn't. "I'm here to see my husband," she said in a shaky voice. I stiffly introduced her to Jill, then I pointed her to the visiting area. At that moment, she seemed about as alone and confused as anyone I had ever seen. "Sherman tells me there's a lot of evidence," she said. I nodded politely. I don't know why I felt something for her, other than she seemed a young, vulnerable woman whose fate had been to fall in love with a monster. "Nick didn't do this, Inspector," Chessy Jenks said. Her outburst surprised me. "It's only natural for a wife to want to defend her husband," I acknowledged. "If you have some concrete alibi…" She shook her head. "No alibi. Only that I know my husband." The elevator door had closed, and Jill and I stood there waiting again. As in hospitals, it would take minutes for it to go down and come back up. Chessy Jenks didn't make a move to walk away. "My husband's not a simple man. He can be very tough. I know he's made enemies. I know how he came at you. From the outside, it must be very hard to believe this, but there are times when he's also capable of tenderness, incredible generosity, and love." "I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, Ms. Jenks," Jill stepped in, "but under the circumstances you really shouldn't be talking with us." "I have nothing to hide," she came back. Then she looked downcast. "I already know what you know." I was dumbfounded. I already know what you know? "I spoke with Joanna," Chessy Jenks continued. "She told me you'd been by. I know what she told you about him. She's bitter. She's got every right to be. But she doesn't know Nick like I do." "You should review the evidence, Ms. Jenks," I told her. She shook her head. "Guns… maybe, Inspector. If that's all there was. But a knife. That first murder. Slicing that poor couple to bits. Nick can't even fillet a fish." My first thought was that she was young and deluded. How had Jenks described it? Impressionable… but something struck me as curious. "You said that you and Joanna talk?" "We have. A lot more in the past year. I've even had her over. When Nick was away, of course. I know she was bitter after the divorce. I know he hurt her. But it's sort of our own support group." "Your husband knew about this?" I asked. She forced a smile. "He didn't even mind. He still likes Joanna. And, Inspector, she's still in love with him." The elevator returned and we said good-bye. As the door closed, I looked at Jill. Her eyes were wide and her tongue was puffing out her cheek. "Whole fucking family gives me the creeps," she said with a shudder.