“Maybe ten minutes.”
“You were in the area for ten minutes?” Durante pushed.
Zach shook his head, trying to clear it. “No. I was up there for maybe an hour. I didn’t notice the body until about ten minutes before you came, maybe less.”
“How could you be there andnotnotice a body hanging from the tower?” Disbelief roughened his voice.
“It was dark when I arrived, and I was organizing my work tools. It’s not like I expected to see someone hanging from the tower. It takes a sick person to display someone like that.”
“I agree with you there,” Durante said. “She’s impossible to miss, though. I find it hard to believe you could be there an hour without noticing her.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. It’s the truth.”
They stared at each other for several heartbeats.
“Were you alone the entire time?” Durante asked.
“I’m always alone.”
“That doesn’t answer my question. Were you alonethismorning?”
“Yes, I was alone.”
“And what were you doing up there?”
“I’ve been doing repairs all month,” he repeated.
“Oh, that’s right.” Durante’s tone suggested he hadn’t forgotten anything. He was trying to trip Zach up. He’d love to have a killer he could wrap this up with, nice and neat, bow and all.
“You want us to believe that you woke up before it was light, rushed to the tower to get to work, played around for nearly an hour, and thenfinallysaw a dead woman hanging for all the world to see?” Durante scoffed.
“I don’twantyou to believe it. It’s what happened!” Zach said, slamming his fist on the table as frustration rolled through him. He closed his eyes, then looked up again. “I never in my life thought I’d witness something so awful.”
“And this woman just so happens to be one you had a date with two nights ago?”
“Yes,” Zach said. He didn’t add more. He wasn’t going to pretend he had feelings for her. It was a fun night. That was all. If he’d never seen her again, he would’ve been fine. But he certainly hadn’t wanted harm to come to her.
“What was she doing on the island?” Durante asked.
“She was here with a friend. Vacation. We drank. We talked.”
“Did you do more?”
“It wasn’t anything that was going anywhere. We both knew that,” Zach said.
“So you didn’t go to her room?” Durante pushed.
“No.” Zach sighed. It wouldn’t be difficult to figure out they’d been together. No, they hadn’t gone to her room, but they had made love less than thirty-six hours before—twice—and he hadn’t used protection, which was beyond foolish. They’d do anautopsy, and if he wasn’t honest, that would make him look even guiltier.
“We did have sex,” he admitted. “Just not in her room.”
Durante smiled without warmth. “So, you had sex with a woman you don’t know anything about—not even her last name?”
He shook his head as if disgusted.
“Like you’ve never done that,” Zach said.
“I’ve never been found with a woman dead after having sex with her,” Durante replied.
