Robert Tanenbaum - Outrage

“Okay,” Felix echoed.

“Good, good. Do you remember what you were doing on One Hundred Fourteenth Street in Manhattan last July?” Graziani asked.

Felix scratched his head. “One Hundred Fourteenth?”

“Near Columbia University.”

Looking over at Detective Brock, who’d remained standing and leaning against the door, Felix shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

“Just answer his questions, Felix,” Brock said, but then looked away.

“Felix, over here,” Graziani said, snapping his fingers in front of Felix’s face. “I asked what you were doing on One Hundred Fourteenth Street near Columbia University last July.”

“I don’t think I was,” Felix replied.

“Sure you were, Felix,” the detective said, nodding his head. “I have a witness who says he saw you leaving the apartment building where Olivia Yancy lived.”

“I wasn’t in Olivia’s apartment,” Felix said.

“You’re lying, Felix,” Graziani said. “We showed a witness your mug shot; he’s sure it was you he saw coming out of the apartment building. Don’t bullshit me, Felix.”

“Okay, I won’t,” Felix replied.

“You remember being in Olivia’s apartment, right?”

Felix picked up on the detective’s tone and nodded his head. “Yeah. I remember now. Olivia.” This seemed to please the detective so much that he added to his story, “She’s my girlfriend.”

Graziani paused and tilted his head. “Your girlfriend?”

“Yes.”

“So what? Were you guys having some sort of kinky sex and it got out of hand?” Graziani asked.

Felix, a virgin and worried he’d be asked about the act, replied, “No. We don’t have sex.”

“But you tied her up and put duct tape over her mouth?”

Felix glanced again at Brock, who was looking at the floor. “I guess.”

“You guess?” Graziani said with a scowl. “Or you know?”

“I know.”

“And you cut her clothes off with your knife,” Graziani said.

Yet again, supplied with the answer, Felix agreed. “Yes.”

“And what about Beth Jenkins?” Graziani asked, then when Felix looked confused, he added, “The woman you stabbed when she came in on you and Olivia.”

“I didn’t stab her.”

“Oh? Did someone else stab her? A partner?”

Felix shrugged. Somebody must have stabbed the woman. “I guess so.”

“Who? Give me a name.”

“I don’t know,” Felix replied.

Graziani looked hard at Felix and tapped his pencil on his notepad as if growing impatient. “That’s because there wasn’t anybody else, was there?”

“I guess not,” Felix said, rubbing his eyes. He was tired and all these questions were giving him a bad headache. He had no idea why these police detectives kept thinking that he killed women, but he wished they’d figure out soon that he hadn’t.

“So did you stab this woman, Olivia, who you had tied up on the bed?”

“No.”

Graziani sighed. “Come on, Felix, remember what we said about how good it feels to tell the truth.”

“Yes,” Felix said.

“Then why won’t you admit that you stabbed Beth Jenkins when she discovered you in the room with Olivia?”

Felix thought about it. The question seemed to imply that the problem wasn’t so much that a woman had been stabbed but that he wouldn’t admit to it. “Okay, I did it,” he said.

“How did you stab her?”

“With a knife.”

“Okay, but I mean, show me how you stabbed her. How many times?”

Felix made a slashing movement. “Twice.”

Graziani frowned. “That’s slashing, not stabbing, Felix. Now, think hard; how did you stab her?”

Felix made a poking motion and was rewarded with a nod from the detective.

“Okay, that’s more like stabbing. How many times?”

“Twice” had not seemed to satisfy the detective, so Felix changed his answer. “Three?”

The detective pursed his lips.

“Four.”

Graziani stood up and rested his knuckles on the table as he leaned closer to Felix. “So maybe you’re not quite sure how many times you stabbed her. Is that right?”

Felix nodded. “I don’t know how many times she was stabbed.”

Graziani looked at him like he was getting mad. “You know what I think, Felix?”

“Yes. I mean no.”

“I think you’re lying to me about Olivia being your girlfriend.”

Caught, Felix thought. He decided he’d better tell the truth. “She wasn’t my girlfriend.”

“So how did you get into her apartment? Did you break in?”

“Yes.”

“How? We didn’t see any signs of you forcing the lock.”

Felix thought for a moment. “The door wasn’t locked.”

“So you just walked in.”

“Yes.”

“How did you get past the security gate at the front door?”

“Somebody let me in.”

“They saw you?”

“Yes.”

“Can you describe them? Man or woman? Old or young?”

Felix tried to imagine who might have let him in an apartment security gate. “An old man.”

“So then you tied her up, put tape on her mouth, and cut her clothes off?”

That sounded like what he’d said so far. “Yes.”

“Then Beth Jenkins came in and you stabbed her.”

“Yes.”

“And then you raped Olivia,” Graziani said. “You remember that, right?”

“I don’t remember that,” Felix said. He pressed his fingers against his temples.

“Are you saying you blocked it out?”

Felix looked away from Graziani and saw that Brock was watching him again with that same questioning expression. He looked back at the first detective. “I must have blocked it out.”

“Felix, I want you to really concentrate, okay?” Graziani said.

“Okay, I will.”

“Good,” Graziani replied. “Now, I want you to recall as best you can what you did to Olivia after you raped her.”

“Okay, well, maybe I left,” Felix replied.

“Maybe you left?” Graziani scowled and looked meaningfully at Brock.

“Felix, remember how relieved you felt when you admitted that you killed Dolores Atkins and got that off your conscience?” Brock said.

Felix hesitated. He didn’t like this new detective; he acted like a bully. “Yes, sir.”

“Then think about how much better you’ll feel when you tell the truth here,” Graziani said. “And the truth is, after you raped Olivia Yancy, you killed her. Isn’t that right, Felix?”

Felix shrugged. “I guess.”

Graziani sat back down in his seat and stared at the ceiling. “You guess,” he said after a moment, “you fucking guess.” He leaned forward to look his subject in the eyes. “Well, I guess I’m going to have to walk out of that door, Felix, and whatever happens to you after that will be your own damn fault. Do you want me to walk out that door?”

Felix panicked. He had no idea what would happen to him if the detective left, but it couldn’t be good. “No. Please don’t go.”

“Well, then tell me the fucking truth,” Graziani snarled. “What did you do to Olivia after you raped her?”

“I killed her.”

Graziani smiled. “Well, now we’re getting somewhere. And how did you kill her?”

There was only one answer that made sense to Felix. “With a knife,” he said, making the same stabbing motion he’d imitated for Beth Jenkins.

“Was this the same knife you used to kill Dolores Atkins?” Graziani said. “The one you looked for with Detective Brock?”

“Yes. We couldn’t find it.”

“So I’m told,” Graziani replied. “So tell me about the ring.”

“The ring?”

“Yes, the little diamond ring that was found in your wallet.”

Felix brightened. “I told Detective Brock I bought it for my girlfriend, from Al in the park.”