The Burnt House

“Just leave me alone for a few seconds, okay?”

Decker complied. After the minutes passed, Dresden raised his head. He looked pale and dank. Decker offered him water and the stockbroker eagerly drank it up. “How are you holding up?”

“I want to go home.”

“Just let me finish and then we can talk about that.”

“I still feel sick.”

“I’m sure you do. It’s nauseating to hear all this, but for your own protection, you should know what’s going on. I’m trying to clue you in so you know what we’re after, okay?” Dresden nodded, although his eyes looked a bit dazed. “We know that something bad happened in that car. We know that for sure. We know that because we found other things besides the blood.”

Dresden stared at him, sweat pouring down his brow. Decker offered him a paper towel.

“We found fingerprints, Ivan. Not just your normal fingerprints, because we know that you drive the car. We expected to find your fingerprints. But we found bloody fingerprints.”

Decker began to tick off his fingers.

“We’ve got witnesses that saw Rosea

“What?”

“She’s not feeling very kindly to you right now-”

“I don’t know what that bitch is saying, but she’s a pathological liar!” Dresden blurted out. “She’s been arrested for prostitution! She’s on drugs!”

Decker said, “You see, that’s precisely why I want to hear your side of what happened. Because what she’s been telling us isn’t good for you. So set the record straight and tell me what happened.”

“I don’t know what happened,” Ivan yelled out. “Why don’t you believe me?”

“I do believe you, Ivan,” Decker said. “So let’s go back to my first couple of questions. Tell me why you got the car reupholstered.”

“I told you; because Marina left it out in the rain.”

“So you gave the car to Marina?”

“No, she took it…she…”

Decker said, “Ivan, why don’t you start at the begi

Suddenly Dresden’s eyes watered. He slumped in the chair and shook his head. The next time he spoke, his voice was soft and defeated.

“What’s the dif? You won’t believe me anyway.”

“Why don’t you start with the truth and let me decide. Despite what Marina’s been saying, I haven’t arrested you. I’m a fair guy. Help me out so I can help you out.”

Dresden took in a deep breath then let it out. “This is all I know, okay? And it isn’t much.”

Decker waved his hand, signaling for him to continue.

“After Rosea

“She didn’t die in the crash, Ivan.”

“I know, I know.” Dresden mopped up his sweaty face with the provided paper towels. He took another drink of water. “After I thought she died in the crash, I was a basket case, you know. Everything was like a blur. Especially…” He held up his hand and swallowed with difficulty. “Especially because Rosea

He buried his head in his hands, holding up a single finger indicating he needed a minute. Decker waited him out. Again, he lifted up his face.

“Rosea

Decker nodded encouragingly. “Makes total sense.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. But…” Dresden shook his head. “Rosea

“Where?”

“In the condo.”

“I mean what room?”

“Oh…not in bed,” Dresden told him. “Thank God for that. I had to go into work early that morning…I told the police that.”

“Yes, you did.”

“So we were already dressed and I was making coffee when she came in. But then she saw Marina and saw that her hair was wet. Rosea

Way more than just a simple assumption, Decker thought. “What happened next?”

“The marriage was over anyway,” Dresden said. “But I didn’t want it to end…I didn’t want her having ammunition against me in divorce court, actually. And if that sounds bad, well, she wasn’t the saint that everyone says she was. She was fucking around on me just as much as I was screwing around on her.”

“I know that,” Decker said. “So what did Rosea

“She made some little snide comment about how she hoped I liked my whore because I was going to need a place to stay very soon.” He shook his head. “I went nuts. I grabbed her. I shouldn’t have done it, but I was angry. Like I said, she was fucking around, too.”

“I understand. She got your goat.”

“Man, did she ever, the little bitch! So I grabbed her and shook her hard and said something like, ‘Talk about whores.’” His eyes welled up. “I don’t remember what happened after that. My recollections get a little fuzzy. I was furious and she was furious. I remember that we tussled. I think I must have pushed her. Her purse fell to the ground and opened up…that must have been when her phone dropped out. I don’t remember if she said anything to me…maybe she whispered ‘bastard.’ But as soon as she was free, she picked up her purse and stormed out of the condo.”

He was breathing hard.

“I was so mad I was shaking. I wanted to kill her!”

He looked at Decker.

“But I didn’t. I remember Marina telling me to calm down and that she’d handle it. Then she picked up her own purse and left. I sat down on the couch, waiting for Marina to come back. I was trying to get a grip on myself. A few minutes passed, a few more passed. I suddenly realized that my shirt buttons had popped off and there were scratch marks on my chest. Rosea

Decker nodded. He had taken two confessions in two days. His hand was going to fall off soon from writing so much. “You pushed her to get her off, not to hurt her.”

“No, not to hurt her.” He glared at Decker. “And I didn’t hurt her. She was fine when she left. I mean she was mad but she wasn’t hurt. I went into the bedroom to change my shirt. I was starting to focus on what happened. Then I realized that about a half hour had passed and neither one of the bitches had come back. After I changed my shirt, I put on my suit jacket and decided to go to work. I looked around the condo’s parking lot before I left. There was no sign of Marina or Rosea

He shrugged.

“I went to work. About a half hour later I heard about the crash. I think a coworker told me. I don’t remember too clearly. I went numb when I heard the news! I wasn’t sure where Rosea

Decker said, “So what did you do?”

“I tried calling Rosea

He swallowed again.

“At the time, I wasn’t thinking that Rosea

“You honestly thought that?”

“She was still my wife.” He drank more water. “I really don’t know what I was thinking! But then Marina told me that Rosea