code to unlock the door, and went in.
"Hello, Mrs. Elliott. I'm Inspector Bill Roberts. Is it all right if I call you Sarah?"
She nodded.
"Sarah, I'm trying to figure out what happened tonight. I'm hoping you wouldn't mind talking about it."
She started to tear up but tried to hide it by looking away and wiping her eyes.
"Inspector, I've put in a call to a lawyer, but they haven't arrived yet."
"I don't want you to say anything you're uncomfortable with, but if there is any way we could help you, the sooner we can act on it, the better for everyone."
He pulled a chair around to her side of the table instead of sitting across from her. He sat beside her keeping a respectful distance to put her at ease.
He looked her in the eyes and said, "Sarah, I know this has been one heck of a night for you, and I really want to help, but I have to ask a few questions. Would that be okay? You can stop at any point, if you are uncomfortable with what I'm asking."
"I don't know what I can tell you, Inspector."
He leaned forward. "Please, call me Bill."
"Okay," she said.
"I'm told you don't remember what happened. I'm sure it's stressful for you, but can you elaborate a bit? Can you tell me what you meant by that?"
"I was on my way to meet a friend for coffee, and the next thing I know, I'm sitting in the chair in the foyer, across from my dying husband. The look in his eyes will haunt me forever." Her eyes moistened and when she blinked, a tear ran down her cheek.
Bill reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved a travel pack of tissues.
"You come prepared," she said.
"Allergies," Bill responded.
He rotated in his seat to face her straight on. "I know this is difficult Sarah," he said, passing her a tissue.
She looked at him and got a perplexed look on her face.
Hoping some memory had jogged free or she was willing to give up more information, he asked, "Is there something else? Did you remember something?"
She frowned, looking at his forehead. "What's that on your head?"
"Pardon me?"
"I asked what it says on your head? It looks like naps."
He rolled his eyes and sighed. His face getting hot, he knew he had gone a bright shade of red. She smiled and he couldn't help but smile himself.
"You have a thing about napping?" she asked. When he began laughing, she said, "You can put your head down for a while, if you'd like."
Bill shook his head both in embarrassment and in disbelief, the memories of the treadmill coming back to him. "Fate was getting in the way of me exercising earlier tonight. A feeble attempt to return to the gym."
She looked at the clock on the wall, and said, "I'm supposed to be at the gym right now, training with friends."
Bill was happy to have her talking, and especially to change the conversation away from his head-wound. "What gym do you go to?" he asked.
"The Ellington Athletic Club -- been a member for four years. You ever been there?"
"A bit out of my price range, I'm afraid. Is there something in particular you're training for, or do you just like to work out?" he asked.
"I've got a triathlon in a week, and I'm on track for this to be my best one yet -- well, it was going to be," Sarah said.
She looked like she’d just realized she wasn't going to make the finish line. Seeing her reaction, he thought to himself...
The only triathlon I'm fit for right now is an Eat, Drink and Sleep triathlon.
He decided not to share his own personal struggles and instead asked her how many triathlons she had done.
"This will be, or would have been, my fifth. I'd reached a plateau of three hours and fifteen minutes, and this was the one to break through the barrier." She slumped. Defeated. Sitting in the chair.
Bill looked at her for a moment, then asked, "Sarah, were you upset with your husband?"
She looked him in the eyes, and said, "I don't understand this Inspector. I loved my husband. We've been married for over eighteen years and have been together for twenty-two. We were happy, did almost everything together, and loved being with each other. There was no reason for me to be upset with him." Tears now filled her eyes. She looked away and blinked, trying to stop the flow. There were too many for blinking, so she