Page 59 of A Winter of Discontent for Henry Milch

“Me? What did I do?”

“You were asking all those questions at trivia night. I just had the feeling you’d figure it out eventually. So, I confessed.”

Bernie glared at me for a moment. I thought he might fire me on the spot. He turned back to his aunt, and said, “Tell us everything that happened the night of the murder.”

“Well, I knew Patty went to Main Street Café most nights. I waited until around two, two-thirty in the morning, and then I drove over to the Campbell compound. I turned off my lights a couple houses away. Left my car out on the road and walked up the driveway.”

“Was Patty’s car there?” I asked. I knew it hadn’t been so if she said…

“No, it wasn’t there.”

“But you thought Patty would be?”

“When she lived with me, I’d have to drive her into Masons Bay to get her car in the mornings. I knew what she was like.” She took a deep breath and continued. “I walked up the driveway to the RV she was living in, I opened the door and went in?—”

Shaking my head, I said, “The door was unlocked. Oh my god, when are people up here going to learn?”

Ignoring me, Bernie asked, “You’re in the trailer. What happened?”

“I strangled her.”

“While she was laying down? Did she get up? Was she asleep?” Bernie shot questions at her.

“Stop, please.” Patty steadied herself. “Bobbie was drunk… and she may have taken something. She did that, a lot when she lived with me. She’d mix alcohol and OxyContin. She didn’t wake up. While I was strangling her, she didn’t wake up.”

“Could she have been dead already?” Bernie asked. I was glad he asked that and not me. The whole thing was making me uncomfortable.

“I don’t know. It’s possible. I didn’t check to see if she was alive before I killed her.”

“Pity. It might have saved a lot of trouble.” Bernie frowned obviously unhappy with the whole thing. Then, “Never mind. The autopsy should tell us if she was already dead. And even if it doesn’t… Were you wearing gloves?”

“Yes. I didn’t bother to take them off.”

“Why didn’t you use a pillow?” I asked, trying to make myself useful.

Patty looked confused for a moment. Lehmann must not have asked her this. Then she said, “It’s an RV. Getting around was awkward. But I’m not sure I thought about it at the time.”

“And then you carried her to your car?” Bernie asked.

“I tried to carry her. And did, for a bit. I also dragged her part of the way.”

“And then?”

“I put her in my trunk. Drove to Three Friends. And then rolled her down the slope to the front door.”

Having been there later that morning, I had a very clear visual of Bobbie’s body, making me ask. “What about the parka? When did you put it onto her?”

“She was wearing it.”

“She was wearing the parka in bed?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent,” Bernie said.

“Why, why is that excellent?” I asked.

“She passed out before taking her coat off. It suggests she was heavily drugged. It supports the idea she was already dead.”