“This here’s the husband here,” Ehrenberg said.
“Sorry,” the ME said. “Anyway, the coroner’ll pinpoint it for you. Sorry,” he said again, and walked to where a blue Chevrolet was parked at the curb.
Ehrenberg went over to where his partner was standing with the technician from Criminalistics. I hadn’t caught the partner’s name. He was a small dark man with intensely blue eyes. Ehrenberg said a few words to him, and he nodded and then went into the house with the technician. Ehrenberg came back to Jamie and me.
“Would it be all right to ask Dr. Purchase some questions?” he said.
“He’s not a suspect here, is he?”
“No, sir, he’s not. I can read him his rights if you want me to, sir, but this is just a normal field investigation, and I’m really not required to. If you want me to, though, I’d be happy...”
“No, no, that’s all right,” I said.
“Well then, is it all right, sir? To ask him some questions?”
“Yes, go ahead,” I said.
“Dr. Purchase, I’m assuming you didn’t kill your own wife and kids, am I right in assuming that?”
His voice was only mildly southern, with scarcely a trace of dialect. You had to listen very closely to catch the occasional softened vowel or missing final consonant. His manner was friendly and pleasant, even though he was here to ask about bloody murder.
“I didn’t kill them,” Jamie said.
“Good, and I’m further assuming you want to help us find whoever did kill them, am I right in assuming that, Dr. Purchase?”
“Yes.”
“Can you think of anyone who might have done a thing like this?”
“No,” Jamie said.
“Have you had any threatening letters or phone calls recently?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“You’re a physician, is that right, sir?”
“Yes.”
“Do you practice here in Calusa?”
“Yes, I have an office in Belvedere Medical.”
“Would any of your patients have had reason to be angry at you, or to...?”
“No, none that I can think of.”
“How about your nurses? Any arguments with them recently?”
“No.”
“Do you pay them good salaries?”
“I do.”
“Any of them ask for a raise recently?”
“I gave them both raises only last month.”
“What about your associates?”
“I’m in practice alone, I have no associates.”
“Do you have any professional rivals who might want to harm you or your family?”
“None that I can think of.”
“How about any recent disputes with the families of patients you’ve treated? Anything like that?”
“No.”
“Have you been dunning anyone for nonpayment of bills?”
“No.”
“Dr. Purchase, I’m going to ask you something personal now, but I need to know the answer because it’s important. Were either you or your wife fooling around outside the marriage?”
“We were very happily married.”
“How long have you been married, Dr. Purchase?”
“Eight years.”
“This your first marriage?”
“No.”
“Is your first wife still alive?”
“Yes.”
“She live here in Calusa?”
“Yes”
“Any children by the first marriage?”
“Two.”
“Where do they live?”
“My daughter’s been living in New York for the past three years. My son’s here in Calusa.”
“How old are they?”
“My daughter’s twenty-two. My son is twenty.”
“Had any family arguments with them lately?”
“No.”
“You get along fine with them, is that it?”
“I get along...” Jamie shrugged. “Well enough,” he said. “They didn’t much like the idea of my divorcing their mother, but that was eight years ago, and I’m sure they’re over it now.”
“When’s the last time you saw your daughter?”
“At Christmas.”
“Here in Calusa?”
“No, in New York. I went up there to see her, we exchanged gifts. It was very pleasant.”
“And your son?”
“He was here for dinner last Tuesday night.”
“He get along with your second wife?”
“Yes, they got along fine.”
“What’s his name, sir?”
“Michael.”
“And he lives where?”
“On a boat. It’s docked at Pirate’s Cove.”
“Out on Stone Crab Key?”
“Yes.”
“Does he live alone?”
“There’s a girl he lives with.”
“What’s her name?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never met her.”
“How about your daughter? What’s her name?”
“Karin.”
“And your former wife?”
“Betty.”
“I’ll need their addresses later.”
“Fine.”
“Dr. Purchase, from what I understand, you weren’t home much of the night tonight. Is that correct?”
“That’s right, I was out playing poker.”
“What time did you leave the house, sir?”
“At twenty to eight.”
“Where did you play?”
“On Whisper Key.”
“Somebody’s house?”
“Yes. A man named Art Kramer. On Henchey Pass Road.”
“What time did you get there?”
“A few minutes before eight. The traffic was very light.”
“Went over the Santa Maria Bridge, did you?”
“Yes.”
“How many players in the game?”
“Seven.”
“I’ll need their names. I’d appreciate it if you wrote them down for me later, Dr. Purchase. Their names and addresses.”
“I don’t know all the names. There were some new players.”
“Whichever ones you remember.”
“All right.”
“What time did you leave the game, Dr. Purchase?”
“A little before eleven.”
“How come?”
“I was losing heavily.”
“You came straight home, did you?”
“No.”
“Where did you go?”
“I stopped for a drink at The Innside Out.”
“How long were you there?”
“I left there at about twelve-thirty. A little before twelve-thirty, I guess it was.”
“How many drinks did you have?”
“Two.”
“You got there at what time?”
“At about eleven.”
“And you left at twelve-thirty.”
“A little before twelve-thirty. About twenty after.”
“See anyone you know there?”
“No.”
“No one who might recognize you, huh?”
“No. Unless... I don’t know. I was sitting at the bar, maybe the bartender would remember me. I really couldn’t say.”
“But you don’t know the bartender personally, do you?”
“No, I don’t.”
“What time did you get back to the house, Dr. Purchase?”
“About twenty to one, I guess it was.”
“See anything unusual when you drove up?”
“Nothing.”
“Anybody outside?”
“No.”
“Were the lights on?”
“Yes.”
“Was that usual?”
“Maureen always left them on when I wasn’t home.”
“How’d you enter the house, Dr. Purchase? The front door?”
“No, I put the car in the garage and then went around to the side door. The kitchen door.”
“Was the door locked?”
“Yes, it was.”
“You used your key to open it?”
“Yes.”
“Do you play poker every Sunday night?”
“Every other Sunday night.”
“That’s a fixed routine, is it?”
“Yes, more or less. We sometimes have to cancel a game because we can’t get enough players that particular week.”