"You went with him to Meg's party."

"No, I lied about that. He called Meg and told her he was coming alone. She was nice, phoned me immediately and said, of course I was invited. I knew then I was out. He was serious about her. About a month ago, I got a call from a real estate friend in Tampa who said Al and some young woman were shopping for condos and had made an offer. I knew he was setting her up in a love nest. I swore to myself the deal was never going to go through. Go to hell, Al Towson and take your Latina hottie with you."

"You wanted him dead."

"It was just a hateful thought in the back of my mind. Then that day, he phoned and said he argued with you. You showed up with your crazy story. Fate was telling me I had my opportunity."

"Your vague idea of seeing Towson dead became clear."

"I went home, got the gun and went to his apartment thinking I'd never have the nerve to use it. I started in with all my protests."

"What did he say?"

"He said we could talk later, he had to go out. In other words, he was too busy for me. I said no, we would talk now. Why couldn't he have just smiled and taken me in his arms? It would not have been too late. None of this would have had to happen. You know what he did? He laughed at me. He told me I was being silly. He laughed like that time when I made a fool of myself offering him my keys. It was that same laugh. That set me off. I lost it. I took the gun out, closed my eyes and tried not to think about what I was doing."

"After he buzzed you into the building, he had plenty of time to put something on before answering his door. Why did you want him found dead in his underwear? To humiliate him, the dignified man found dead with his pants off?"

"To make it look like an affair. He had on his Kaftan when he opened the door. I made him take the robe off, as if a husband or boyfriend had surprised the lovers. I wanted to call attention to the affair: wine glasses, unmade bed and caught undressed. I wanted a scandal. A scandal that would be a permanent footnote to his life. And I wanted confusion to divert attention from me. Maybe even get her arrested. They can't prove any of this."

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"So it was you who Mrs. Crawford saw leaving the building not the lover."




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