Beth stared at her for several seconds before answering. It was the first time Jessie got the impression that the girl was calculating her response.
“I didn’t feel any kind of way. She’s a person I knew for about a month six years ago. My experience with her was negative. But I didn’t really know her well enough to have a strong reaction to her death. Should I have?”
Trembley piped up.
“It’s just that this woman, in your words, gave you the shove that led to you being kept in the hospital. It wouldn’t be crazy to think you’d feel strongly about it.”
Jessie’s heart sank, sensing what came next. Sure enough, Beth didn’t reply to his words. But her body responded. Her eyes welled up with tears as she got up from the plastic table and shuffled over to the corner of the room. She sank down into a crouched ball in the corner, looking at the wall, hugging her knees. Jessie could hear Lenore fumbling with the keys, trying to get into the room.
“What’s wrong?” Trembley asked.
Lenore finally got the door open, hurried over to Beth, and whispered something in her ear. Then she stood up and pointed to the door.
“I think we’re done,” she said quietly. “I’ve seen this before. She’s not going to answer any more questions at this point.”
They got up and followed her out. Trembley looked confused. Jessie tried to hide her frustration. It was only when they’d rounded the corner out of sight of the girl that anyone spoke.
“What happened?” Trembley asked.
“What happened, Detective,” Lenore began, stern for the first time since they’d arrived, “is that in one sentence you reminded her that she was stuck in a mental hospital and talked about what would and wouldn’t be considered crazy. For someone in her position, that’s the grand slam of offensive, triggering statements.’
Trembley stood there silently as he processed the impact of his insensitivity.
“Is there any chance she’ll calm down enough for us to try again?” Jessie pleaded.
“She’ll never talk to him again,” Lenore said, nodding at Trembley, whose head was down. “She might give you another shot, if she doesn’t associate you with his comments, but not for a few days at least.”
Jessie didn’t want to get bogged down in that and moved on quickly.
“Lenore, be straight with us. It sounds like Beth had a long stretch of unsupervised time on the evening that Corinne Weatherly was murdered. In your opinion, is it logistically and temperamentally possible for her to have gone to Sovereign Studios and done this?”
Lenore sat with the question for a second before answering.
“Logistically, I don’t know. I mean, could she technically have somehow gotten a ride to the studio, snuck in, killed a famous actress, snuck back to the hospital, and gotten into her room before lights out? I’m not knowledgeable enough to know if that’s possible. What I do know is that Beth hasn’t had an unsupervised, solo outing in the time I’ve been here. Even if she had the desire and the knowhow to make it happen, both of which I question, I just don’t think she has the intestinal fortitude for it.”
“What do you mean?” Jessie asked.
“Like I said before, she’s very fragile. Just the thought of her getting a rideshare or cab seems unlikely. I could see her having a breakdown if it arrived a minute late. I’m not saying it’s inconceivable. But it’s pretty darn close.”
As they left the long-term care unit and returned to the main office to get their guns, Jessie turned over all the details in her head. By the time they left the hospital, she was inclined to agree with Lenore.
Petra Olivet, aka Beth Stanard, almost certainly hadn’t done this.
They were back to square one.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Trembley disagreed vehemently.
At first, as they drove from away from the hospital, he projected a hangdog vibe. But not for long.
“How can you just dismiss her as a suspect?” he demanded. “She has no alibi!”
Jessie tried not to let her own irritation bubble over and kept her tone as calm as possible.
“I’m not dismissing her,” she said. “We should run her story down, see if there are any provable contradictions. But I think the chances that she did this, rather than someone who was in active contact with the victim, are pretty remote.”
“We don’t know how remote,” he insisted. “Maybe a cab dropped her off in front of the studio and she walked in