“It was a week or so later,” I said, trying to remember back to the time immediately following the attack. “When you and your partner first came in to ask me questions. Drake told me that you thought Lisa had done it. You traced the rental car to her. She had no alibi.”
“And what did you think when he told you that?”
I sighed. “I felt incredibly bad. I mean, Drake did everything he could to keep her at arm’s length. He was going to withdraw from the Fellowship program because he didn’t think she could keep things professional between them. She kept insisting that they be friends. Friendly. You know, spend time together at work. Have lunch together. Get coffee. That sort of thing. He told her no, but she threatened him.”
“How did she threaten him?”
“She said that people would be interested to learn about their shared past. She even said something about it when they were out for drinks as a group.”
“What did you say to him about how he should handle the situation?”
I thought back to that time and how I’d encouraged Drake to stay in the program.
“I didn’t want her to ruin Drake’s chance to get his Fellowship,” I said. “I told him to humor her. Be nice, but don’t do anything that might encourage her. I know that’s hard to do with someone like her.”
That seemed to pique Detective St. James’s interest. “What do you mean, someone like her?”
I shrugged. “She was obviously obsessed with him. She wanted to have an affair with him and he refused. She wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“What did he tell you about his past relationship with her?”
I leaned back, thinking about what Drake had told me. “He said that he had topped her on a couple of occasions at a party he attended at her boyfriend’s house.”
“You didn’t think that was surprising?”
I shrugged. I knew what he was getting at. “If you mean, was I jealous? I knew about his past. That didn’t matter to me. In fact, it was a selling point.”
“How so?” he asked.
“Because I knew he had experience and knew who he was. I found that appealing. He told me everything when we became serious about each other. I knew all about his past sexual partners. I knew about his sexual interests. So, when he told me about Lisa, I wasn’t shocked.”
“You weren’t worried that he’d have an affair with her, given their past relationship?”
I shook my head. “Not at all. She was nothing to him. Nothing but a past sexual partner. He had no interest in her as a person. He’s in love with me. He loves me. He loves his life with me and our baby.”
“That’s what he told us. In fact, that’s almost exactly what he told us. Almost word for word.”
I frowned and turned to Dana. She raised her eyebrows. “I think Mrs. Morgan has answered enough questions along this line."
“I’m surprised at how closely her testimony mirrors Dr. Morgan’s.”
“It’s not testimony,” Dana said firmly. “It’s her statement. This isn’t a court of law.”
“No, it isn’t. We’re gathering information. I was merely noting how similar her statement was to Dr. Morgan’s.”
“Maybe that’s because it’s the truth,” I said, my heart rate increasing at the insinuation that I had rehearsed what I was going to say – or worse, that Drake had coached me. That we were getting our stories straight, like Dana suggested previously.
“Maybe,” Detective St. James said, pursing his lips as if he doubted it was the truth. “Or maybe you’re afraid of him and are telling us what he wants us to hear.”
“No--.” I said but he held up a hand.
“Mrs. Morgan, we know that Dr. Morgan was involved in the BDSM community prior to meeting you. We know that he’s what’s considered a ‘Dominant’ and has a very strong personality and likes to be in control.”
“He’s also a neurosurgeon and being in control is essent
ial to their success rate. One false move…” I said, angry at the suggestion that Drake was controlling me, manipulating me to say what he wanted me to say.
“Yes, I’m sure that’s the case,” Detective St. James said quickly. “But we also know that he likes to control the relationship he has with women.”