It was three days before the police showed up at Joel’s door, but it wasn’t him they were looking for. It was me.
The rain was still hanging around, spotting the court in dribs and drabs as I ran through my drills. Sandra appeared and Joel turned away to speak with her. I continued with the drill, turning all my focus onto the movement of my body – it helped me cope.
That was until I saw the others who had come down with Sandra. I’d hoped never to have to deal with them again.
Joel walked back over to where I had frozen. “They just want to ask you a few questions.”
I gritted my teeth. Joel put a hand on my arm.
“Stink, I’ll come sit with you if you want,” he offered.
I shook my head and pulled my arm away from him. “It’s okay, I can handle this.”
I walked stiffly over to Taylor and Coughlin, nodding politely at the man, not really acknowledging his partner.
“Mel, we’ve got some questions for you about Ben Herbert.” Coughlin sounded almost apologetic. I walked past them, taking a seat on the edge of the big lounge in the rumpus room. They followed and sat across from me. I glanced outside; Joel was watching me from the tennis court.
“Okay, can we get this over and done with quickly, so I can get back to work?” I asked primly. Taylor glared at me.
“Miss Black, when was the last time you saw Ben Herbert alive?” she asked, leaning forwards like a hunting hound on the scent.
“Why? I thought he fell?” I asked. “Is there something I don’t know about this?”
Coughlin cleared his throat. “Mel, the autopsy –”
“Shut up, Coughlin!” hissed Taylor, “Melanie, answer thequestion! When did you last see him alive?” Taylor grated. I focussed on the reason they were here and took a deep breath.
“About eight o’clock the night he died,” I replied. They would make more of that than was necessary. Well, Taylor would; she definitely had it in for me.
“And where was this?” Taylor continued.
“At his apartment.”
“What did you two talk about?”
I sighed shakily. I didn’t want to rehash this. “We argued about his reasons for coming back to Australia, and I told him that I didn’t want to see him anymore.”
Taylor looked triumphantly towards Coughlin, who was pinching the bridge of his nose.
“How would you describe your relationship with Ben Herbert, Melanie?”
“Brief,” I snorted. Coughlin smiled and looked outside so that Taylor wouldn’t see it.
“He pursued me for a while after Steve’s death, and then while I was competing in Dubai, but I shut him down. Apparently not forcefully enough – he thought that if he moved back here there was a chance for us.”
“Did you have a sexual relationship with him?”
I nodded. “We slept together once in Dubai.”
“Was there any physical violence during your argument?”
I held my arms out, so they could see the bruises that were changing from purple to yellowish green. Coughlin leaned forward to look, a disapproving set to his mouth. Taylor gave the bruises a cursory glance.
“And what about you, Melanie? Did you defend yourself in any way?”
I grunted. “I kneed him in the balls. That was enough to make him let go of me so that I could leave.”
“And what time did you leave?”