“But she’s not in any trouble.”
“Of course not, but this way we won’t have any trouble getting in to talk to her.”
“All right.” I needed the information, and there was no reason Marie wouldn’t give it to me. Gina was gone.
We drove in separate cars to the real estate office where Marie worked as a receptionist. When we walked in, there she sat right in the front. She was a pleasantly attractive young woman with light-brown hair and hazel eyes.
“May I help you?” she asked us.
Ruby whipped out her badge. “I’m Detective Ruby Lee with the Grand Junction Police, and this is Dr. Melanie Carmichael. Are you Marie Cooke?”
“Yes.” She bit her lip timidly.
“You’re not in any trouble, ma’am,” Ruby said, “but we need to speak to you. Is there a place where we can talk privately?”
“Uh…sure. I guess.” She picked up her phone. “Megan? Can you cover for me for a few minutes?”
Another girl came and took over the phones.
Marie came out from behind her desk and led us to a conference room. “Is this okay?”
“Yes, this is fine,” Ruby said. “We won’t take up much of your time.”
Marie was still looking nervous.
I smiled at her. “It’s okay. You’re not in any trouble, like Detective Lee said.”
“All right. It’s just…weird when the police come looking for you.”
“I know.” I patted her arm.
“We’re actually here to ask about a friend of yours. Gina Cates,” Ruby said.
“Oh. Gina is…”
“We know she’s dead, ma’am,” Ruby said.
I wanted to intervene. Ruby was just doing her job as professionally as she knew how, but her formality was freaking out Marie. I could see it in her eyes.
I looked to Ruby, and she nodded slightly. I hoped that meant I could take the lead here.
“Marie,” I said, “Gina’s father told us that you told him that Gina had been in love. Is that true?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Did she tell you who she was in love with?”
“No. She didn’t. It was in the beginning phase, you know? She just said it was someone she’d met recently who made her toes curl. They’d only been out together a couple of times.”
A-ha! “You mean she had gone out with this…person?”
“Yes.”
“Was this person a man?” I asked.
Marie smiled. “I’m assuming so. Are you asking if Gina was a lesbian? Because she wasn’t. She was straight.”
“We have reason to believe that Gina might have been in love with a woman. Is this something she would have told you?”