âDonât you love it, how men want to have guns around?â Not Richard, I thought quickly. And not Jimmy. âBig bad Dennis.â Her voice oozed sarcasm. âTough guy. Stud. Ready to screw any slut whoâd give him five minutes. And Iâd had it, had it up to here.â Her hand jerked up to touch her chin. âI wasnât going to let him get away with it. Not again.And not that day. Not that day of all days.â âYou got Dennisâs gunââ She nodded wearily. ââand where did you go?â âHer apartment. I got the address from the campus directory. The bitchâs apartment.â Ritaâs eyes blazed. âIf Iâd caught them there, I would have shot him. I would have. But nobody came to the door. I banged and banged. Some neighbors came out and then the manager. I asked her why she had a whore living there. She told me she was going to call the police. I told her to go to hell. I kept banging on the door, but she said the bitch wasnât there, that she was at school.â âIs that why you came to the campus?â âI knew he was supposed to be at work. Sure, Iâve heard that one before. But I thought maybe he was still at the newsroom and she was there with him.â Sudden awareness flickered in her eyes. âYou were there, werenât you?â I nodded. âI didnât see a gun.â âIt was in my purse.â Her expression curved into cunning. âI was saving the gun for him. That would have got me in a lot of trouble, waving a gun around. But the bastard wasnât there. Just you and some of the kids. So I thought maybe he was in his office with that girl. But nobody was in his office. I wonder how many of them heâs screwed in there?â âThe offices have windows that look out on the newsroom.â My voice was mild. âIf nobodyâs around, so what?â Her heavy shoulders shrugged. âHell, heâd like that. Make it more fun.â Iâd never heard the word fun sound uglier. âOkay, Dennis wasnât there. Where did you go then?â I looked at her and felt unutterably sad. Rita had stormed out of the newsroom around half past six. Early evening, that was when Lieutenant Urschel said Maggie was strangled. So this was the time that mattered. Rita didnât hesitate. Her tone was unchanged, aching with resentment, surly with frustration. âI went down to the parking lot. His car wasnât there. So I got into my car. I drove around. God, I donât know where. Everywhere. By the motels first. But I didnât see his car anywhere. I went back to her apartment, looked over the parking lot. But Dennisâs car wasnât there either. Then I went to the Green Owl. He loves the Green Owl. It lets him pretend heâs young.â âWhen you were in the parking lotâby the J-Schoolâdid you see anyone?â She pushed back a sagging swirl of hair. âIt was dark. I didnât notice.â âDid you see Maggieâs car?â âI donât know her car.â âAre you saying you didnât find Dennis or Maggie at any time during the evening?â âNo. I donât know where they were. I couldnât find them.â Her face crinkled in thought. âBut,â she said slowly, wearily, âI guess Dennis wasnât with her after all.â âWhy not?â Her eyes flared wide. âSomebody killed her! So Dennis couldnât have been with her.â I looked at her curiously. Dennis was a major slime in his wifeâs eyes. But not a killer! âDennis could have killed her. He wasnât in his office. Hesays he was driving around.â I deliberately made my voice skeptical. âDennis didnât strangle that girl. Not Dennis.â She was sitting up straight, staring at me with outrage in her eyes. âWhy would he?â âI donât know, Rita. What if