everything about this sucked. the chair sheâd been given was short on one leg, and sekiâs leg had fallen asleep about ten minutes ago. someone had carved the word âpussyâ into the table, and the edges of the letters were just rough enough to irritate the soft part of her forearm after the first twenty minutes. the room was just slightly colder than was comfortable, and the distance to the bar in the center of the table was far enough that, short as she was, she had to lean over the table awkwardly.Â
it had been a long week.Â
tuesday had begun just after dawn, with breaking news of a tragic murder â a woman in her thirties and her five-year-old daughter. the victim had confided to her boyfriend that she thought she was being stalked, and her video doorbell confirmed it; every food or package delivery sheâd received for the last two weeks had been the same young woman in a blue 1992 subaru. when the victim confronted the stalker late monday afternoon, neighbors reported a shouting match, and the doorbell footage caught her, furiously shouting at the closed door before flinging the meal delivery onto the lawn and hurling a chocolate shake at the door. the next footage was of that same young woman returning later that night and leaving again just as quietly. the last person to leave the house alive.
the detectives had knocked on sekiâs door by tuesday at noon, pulled her in for questioning, and in eighty-two minutes she had been arrested for murder. a full 30 hours later, and she was being asked to speak to someone new. she patently refused, but apparently that wasnât an option. so sheâd elected not to say a word.
the state of delaware had no death penalty, but seki was beginning to wonder if this might be worse.
she snapped her head up to glare at the speaker; the first time sheâd bothered to look directly at him since he had leisurely strolled into the interrogation room and attempted to endear himself to her by arguing with the cops. it hadnât worked.Â
â are you screwing with me?  i donât want to talk to any more pigs. i donât want to bond with pigs over puzzles. you think you are smarter than me, but i could turn you inside-out. i donât want to talk about your puzzle. i donât want to talk about the dead people. i want to be left alone. âÂ
  â now, miss otanaâ â blancâs eyebrows raised slightly with the kind of easy smile that only seemed to work when paired with a thick mississippi drawl, â to be verbally assailed upon with such an⊠unearned moniker, why, it brings sadness to my heart. â he paused, looking down again at the crossword, mouthing the letters as he tapped the boxes with the pencil. â well iâll be damned- thatâs it right there. a - s - s - a - i - l. assail. â Â
  triumphant, blanc set the pencil on top of the crossword, now folding his hands together as he focussed entirely on seki otana across from him. if he was honest, benoit was surprised she had spoken. sheâd been secure in her stony silence right until that moment. it might have been a mistake, born of haggard exhaustion, or perhaps heâd genuinely tried her patience. as uncomfortable as benoit was, he could only imagine how disagreeable her current position might be.
  he was less surprised that she obviously saw him as just another police officer. that wouldnât do- after all, he wasnât one. nor had he been brought onto the case by the police. no, his hiring was now of a far more tenuous nature. technically his job had ended monday night â but he wasnât the type to just walk away just because a case grew cumbersome, especially when there were still so many loose ends to tie together.
  â allow me to introduce myself, and i am sorry for not doing so until just now. my name is benoit blanc. now, you notice, i do not introduce myself as detective, or officer. i am what most would call a private investigatorâ for hire. i am here today because i was employed for sophia florianâs case⊠i am not, however, here at the⊠behest⊠of the department. â
  blanc watched seki carefully. she was smart, of that he was sure. she could put the pieces together.
  â i do believe you now have a question for me. â Â