“This was at a quarter to twelve?”
“Around then.”
“What time would it have been exactly?”
Ehrenberg was going after facts again. An autopsy was mandatory in a murder case, that much I knew. If he did not already have the information in his possession, Ehrenberg would soon have from the coroner an approximate time of death. If the coroner said Maureen and the girls had been killed sometime between eleven and midnight, for example, and Michael now stated he’d got there at...
“It would have been about a quarter to twelve, maybe a little later,” he said. “I told you, I don’t have a watch.”
“So at a quarter to twelve, you rang the doorbell—”
“Yes.”
“And your stepmother answered it.”
“Maureen answered it, yes, sir.”
“What was she wearing?”
“A nightgown.”
“Just a nightgown?”
“Yes... ah... a pink nightgown.”
“She opened the door wearing just the nightgown.”
“Yes.”
“A long nightgown or a short nightgown?”
“Long.”
“Did it have sleeves?”
“No, no sleeves.”
“Can you tell me anything else about the nightgown?”
“I think... yes, there was a sort of a little rosebud thing here at the... where the... the neck, this part of the gown.”
“You’re indicating an area... oh, midway on your chest.”
“Yes.”
“Where a woman’s breasts would be.”
“Yes.”
“And you say there was... a rosebud, did you call it?”
“I don’t know what it’s called, it’s a little sort of... the fabric is gathered, it looks like a flower.”
“Would you mean a rosette?”
“Yes, that’s right, a rosette.”
“What color was the rosette?”
“Pink, same as the gown.”
“What else was your stepmother wearing?”
“That’s all, I think.”
“Slippers?”
“No.”
“Jewelry?”
“A wedding band.”
“Anything in her hair?”
“No.”
He had just described exactly what Maureen was wearing. I’d heard this same description from Jamie two hours earlier, when he was telling us about walking into that bedroom and finding his wife in the closet. Even the rosette, Michael had just described even the goddamn rosette. I had to make another try. This time, I directed my plea to Ehrenberg.
“Mr. Ehrenberg,” I said, “on behalf of my client, I’d like to protest strongly this continuing interrogation after I’ve advised him to—”
“Listen,” Michael said, his voice rising, “you just shut the fuck up, okay?”
“Everything you say is being taped—”
“I know it is.”
“And can be used later as—”
“Damn it, will you please let me—”
“Mr. Ehrenberg,” I said, “can you stop the tape a minute?”
Ehrenberg immediately pushed the STOP button.
The room went silent.
“Michael,” I said, “I’m going to ask you just one question. If you answer yes to it, I’ll keep still for the rest of this interview, you can say whatever you like, I won’t interrupt, I won’t try to stop you. But if you say no—”
“What’s the question?”
“Do you want to go to the electric chair?”
“Yes.”
Ehrenberg visibly flinched. I don’t think he was expecting Michael’s affirmative reply; I know I wasn’t.
“So can we please get on with it?” Michael said.
Ehrenberg looked at me, waiting for my permission to continue. I said nothing. He nodded helplessly and pressed the RECORD button. His voice was softer when he began questioning Michael again. “Would you tell me what happened next, please?” he said.
“Maureen told me my father wasn’t home, and ah... asked me if I wanted to come in.”
“Did you go in?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Through the front door?”
“Yes.”
“Where did you go? What part of the house?”
“Well... ah... first we went into the kitchen.”
“Yes, go on.”
“We sat down in the kitchen.”
“Yes.”
“There’s a table there in the kitchen.”
“Go on.”
“And while we were sitting there... it’s hard for me to remember all this.”
“I know it is. But while you were sitting at the kitchen table...”
“I guess I saw the knives.”
“What knives?”
“There’s a rack on the wall. In the kitchen. It’s a magnetic rack, there’re four or five knives on it. You know, different kinds of knives.”
“What happened when you saw this rack with the knives on it?”
“I guess I... ah... got up and grabbed one of the knives from the rack.”
“Which knife?”
“It had to be one of the big knives.”
“Can you describe the knife more particularly?”
“No, I don’t really remember what it looked like. One of the big ones on the rack. I just... I just reached up and grabbed the... nearest knife.”
“But you don’t remember which knife it was.”
“I know it was one of the big ones.”
“How many big ones were there on the rack?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you reached for one of them.”
“Yes.”
“Reached how? Can you show me where the knife rack was in relationship to the table here in this room?”
“Yes, it was... it would have been to the right. I got up, and I walked to the right, and I took the knife off the rack.”
“What did Maureen say when she saw you doing this?”
“Nothing. I don’t remember.”
“What were you talking about before you reached for the knife?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Well, was it a pleasant conversation?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Would you remember why you got up and reached for the knife?”
“I just got up and grabbed it from the rack.”
“What did you do then?”
“I stabbed her.”
“Were you still in the kitchen when you stabbed her?”
“Yes. Well, no, actually, we were... it was in the bedroom.”
“How did you get to the bedroom?”
“I don’t remember. I guess she ran in there.”
“And you followed her?”
“Yes.”
“With the knife?”
“Yes.”
“In which hand were you holding the knife?”
“My right hand.”
“Are you right-handed?”
“Yes.”
“Were you holding the knife in your right hand when you stabbed her?”
“Yes.”
“Did she scream?”
“Her mouth.”
“What about her mouth?”
“It was open.”
“She was screaming, is that it?”
“No.”
“But her mouth was open?”
“Yes.”
“Did she say anything to you?”
“No.”
“Where was she when you stabbed her?”
“On the... near the... she was... in the... in the... I didn’t see her at first, she was... there was...”
“All right, Mr. Purchase, calm down now. Calm down, please.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
“Would you like a glass of water?”
“No, thank you.”
“Just try to...”
“Yes.”
“Compose yourself.”
“Yes.”
“When you’re ready to continue—”
“I’m ready now.”
“Just tell me again what happened in the bedroom.”
“I stabbed her.”
“Where was she?”
“In the closet.”
“What was she doing in the closet?”
“I didn’t see her at first. I was looking.”