Holiday in Death (In Death #7)(8)

“It’s my job to find out. I will find out.”

Something in the way she said it had him looking over at her. His eyes were red and desolate. With an obvious effort he drew in a deep breath. “I — She was so special.” He groped in his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. “I was going to give this to her tonight. I’d planned to wait until Christmas Eve — Marianna loved Christmas — but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t wait.”

His hands trembled as he opened the box to show Eve the bright flash of diamond on the engagement ring. “I was going to ask her to marry me tonight. She would have said yes. We loved each other. Was it…” Carefully he closed the box again, slipped it back in his pocket. “Was it a robbery?”

“We don’t think so. How long have you known her?”

“Six months, almost seven.” He stared at Peabody as she came in and held out a cup of water. “Thank you.” He took it, but didn’t drink. “The happiest six months of my life.”

“How did you meet?”

“Through Personally Yours. It’s a dating service.”

“You use a dating service?” This from Peabody with more than a little surprise.

He hunched his shoulders, sighed. “It was an impulse. I spend most of my time on work and wasn’t getting out much. I was divorced a couple years ago, and I guess it made me nervous with women. Anyway, none of the women I met… Nothing clicked. I saw an ad on screen one night, and I thought, what the hell. Couldn’t hurt.”

He did drink now, one small sip that had his throat working visibly as he swallowed. “Marianna was the third of the first five matches. I went out with the first two — drinks, just drinks. There was nothing there. But when I met Marianna, everything was there.”

He closed his eyes, struggled for composure. “She’s so… wonderful. So much energy, enthusiasm. She loved her job, her apartment, she got a kick out of her theater group. She does community theater sometimes.”

Eve noted the way he switched back and forth, past and present tense. His mind was trying to accustom itself to what was, but it wasn’t quite ready yet.

“You started dating,” she prompted.

“Yes. We’d agreed to meet for drinks. Just drinks — to scope each other out. We ended up going to dinner, then going for coffee. Talking for hours. Neither one of us saw anyone else after that night. It was just it, for both of us.”

“She felt the same way?”

“Yeah. We took it slow. A few dinners, the theater. We both love the theater. We started spending Saturday afternoons together. A matinee, a museum, or just a walk. We went back to her hometown so I could meet her family. The Fourth of July. I took her to meet mine. My mother made dinner.”

His eyes unfocused as he stared at something only he could see.

“She wasn’t seeing anyone else during this period?”

“No. We’d made a commitment.”

“Do you know if anyone was bothering her — an old boyfriend, a former lover? Her ex-husband?”

“No, I’m sure she would have told me. We talked all the time. We told each other everything.” His eyes cleared, the brown hardening like crystal. “Why do you ask that? Was she — Marianna… Did he… Oh God.” On his knee his hand balled into a fist. “He raped her first, didn’t he? The f**king bastard raped her. I should have been with her.” He heaved the cup across the room, sending water splashing as he lurched to his feet. “I should have been with her. It would never have happened if I’d been with her.”

“Where were you, Jerry?”

“What?”

“Where were you last night, between nine-thirty and midnight?”

“You think I — ” He stopped himself, holding up a hand, closing his eyes. Three times he inhaled, exhaled. Then he opened his eyes again, and they remained clear. “It’s all right. You need to make sure it wasn’t me so you can find him. It’s all right. It’s for her.”

“That’s right.” And studying him Eve felt a new well of pity. “It’s for her.”

“I was home, my apartment. I did some work, made some calls, did a little Christmas shopping via computer. I reconfirmed the dinner reservations for tonight because I was nervous. I wanted — ” He cleared his throat. “I wanted it to be perfect. Then I called my mother.” He lifted his hands, rubbed them hard over his face. “I had to tell somebody. She was thrilled, excited. She was crazy about Marianna. I think that was about ten-thirty. You can check my ‘link records, my computer, anything you need to do.”

“Okay, Jerry.”

“Have you — Her family, do they know?”

“Yes, I spoke with her parents.”

“I need to call them. They’ll want her to come home.” His eyes filled again, and he continued to look at Eve as tears streamed down his cheeks. “I’ll take her back home.”

“I’ll see that she’s released as soon as possible. Is there someone we can call for you?”

“No. I need to go tell my parents. I need to go.” He turned toward the door, and spoke without looking back. “You find who did this. You find who hurt her.”

“I will. Jerry, one last thing.”