Every Step You Take
Tracy Seeger
CHAPTER ONE
"The last time I saw Darren he was disappearing beneath the waves of the Pacific Ocean," said Eric calmly.
"What?" gasped Grace. The bruises and swelling around her mouth had gone down considerably, making it much easier to understand her now. When she had arrived at St Mercia Hospital two weeks ago she was unconscious and badly beaten. The police had allowed Eric to travel to the hospital in the ambulance with her, but as soon as she was taken into surgery they insisted he go with them to the police station to give a formal statement.
Eric was quickly checked in at the reception counter by the officer in charge of the investigation, then led to a nearby interview room. The room consisted only of a small table, two hard chairs, and a tape recorder. There were no windows. The officer sat down in one of the chairs, and indicated Eric to take the other. Eric sat, wondering why he felt guilty. The officer switched on the tape recorder.
"Friday October second 2006. Interview with Mr Eric Lincoln in connection with case F-948-5507, Benson, Grace. Detective Mark Currie officer in charge."
Currie took out a large notepad from the folder he had with him, and a pen from his top pocket.
"Now, Mr Lincoln, let's go over everything from the beginning. Please don't leave anything out, no matter how insignificant or unimportant you believe it to be. Start by telling me how you came to know Mrs Benson."
Eric cleared his throat and began to tell Currie everything he knew. "I met Grace, Mrs Benson, in my Spanish class. It's an adult education class at Greenley College on Monday afternoons. We're in our second semester now, we first met in March this year."
Currie interrupted. "How many students are in this class? Who is the professor?"
"About 15 I think. Professor Legge is the tutor."
"Ok. Continue."
"During the first semester she kept mostly to herself, just making polite conversation with me and the other students, but at the end of that semester we all went out for a drink. Grace and I were the only two about the same age, most of the others seemed either a lot younger or older than us, so we ended up talking to each other for most of the evening. She told me she was married, and did not work, but other than that she didn't talk about herself much. We talked more about Spanish, and trips we had taken to Mexico. She had only been once, just after she graduated high school. Her mom took her. I've been several times though, and she was very interested in the places I've visited there. Anyway, the next semester we talked more often, and sometimes went for a coffee during the week to talk about our assignments."
"Was there any romantic involvement?" asked Currie. He looked up from his notepad to witness Eric's reaction. Eric couldn't help flushing a little.
"Well, I was attracted to her, definitely, but she was obviously in love with her husband, Darren. She talked about him all the time, and she even invited me to her home to meet him. I did sometimes think about saying something to her about how I felt, but I never got up the courage. I hoped it was just a crash, and anyway, I didn't want to be a marriage wrecker."
Currie looked at Eric for a moment, then nodded and looked back down at his notepad. "Tell me about the time you went to Mrs Benson's apartment."
"I actually went a couple of times. The first time she invited me over for lunch. She wanted to see some photos I took on my last trip to Mexico, and she wanted me to meet Darren."
"And when was this?"
"Early August. I can't remember the exact date off the top of my head, but it was a Wednesday. I was surprised her husband wasn't at work, but she said he often took time off to come home for lunch. I gather he is some sort of salesman."
"And how did the meeting go?"
"Well, at the time it seemed pretty normal. Grace seemed a little nervous, but I assumed she was just excited about me meeting her husband. We had some kind of salad for lunch, and I showed them my photos. Grace seemed really interested, but Darren didn't say much. I was there a couple of hours, and I was surprised he didn't have to get back to work, but he stayed until I left."
Currie paused his pen again. "Nothing else about that meeting seemed out of the ordinary?"
Eric thought back for a moment, then shook his head. "No, it all seemed perfectly normal."
"Ok. What happened after that?"
"Things more or less went back to normal. Grace seemed a little quieter in class the next week, and we didn't meet for coffee for a couple of weeks after that, she made excuses about being busy, but then everything just went back to the way it had been before. About a month ago during one of our coffee dates I offered to lend her a book Professor Legge had referred to during the class that week. She really wanted to read it before the next class, so I offered to drop it off at her apartment on my way to work the next day. She seemed a little hesitant, then asked if I could bring it in my lunch break instead, which was fine with me. So when I got there, her husband was there again. I remembered she had said he often came home for lunch, so I wasn't that surprised to see him. She was very subdued though, and she didn't even invite me in this time, which surprised me. She said she had a headache, and just thanked me for the book, told me she'd see me in class the next week, and closed the door on me."
"Did Mr Benson say or do anything?"
"No. He was standing in the kitchen in view of the door. He didn't move or say anything, just watched Grace the whole time. When she didn't come to class the next week I got a little worried. I called her the next day, but there was no answer. So I called again the next day, and she was there this time. She said she'd been sick and had gone to stay with her mom for a few days. I asked her what was wrong and she said it was just a migraine. She said she used to get them a lot when she was younger, and going to her mom's house in the country always helped."
"Had she ever had a migraine before during the time you had known her?" asked Currie.
"No, she never even mentioned having them before this. But like I said she didn't open up much about her past, even after we got closer during our coffee dates."
"And how did she seem the next time you saw her?"
'She looked fine, and she seemed to be back to normal. Again our coffee dates dried up for a couple of weeks, but we had just started having them again, and I didn't think there was anything wrong. She seemed fine."
Eric stopped and leaned forward onto the table, putting his head in his hands. What had he missed? There must have been signs. He should have pressed Grace about Darren's behavior. He should have called someone.
"So what was your reason for visiting Mrs Benson today?" asked Currie.
Eric looked up from his hands, but Currie was looking down at his notepad. "She had some notes on our homework assignment I had asked to borrow before our next class. She seemed nervous about me going to her apartment again, but today was the only time I could pick them up, I didn't have time for another coffee date. She told me to come at three pm. I assumed she wanted to make sure Darren would be back at work, and I couldn't help being a little excited that maybe she was interested in me after all."
Eric looked down at his hands again in embarrassment, remembering. "As soon as I reached the door though, I knew something was wrong. The door was ajar, and there was no sound from inside. I knocked and called out Grace's name, but there was no answer, so I let myself in. At first I didn't see anyone, and I called out again. Then I went into the kitchen, and saw her laying on the floor."
Eric's voice caught in his throat, and tears came to his eyes. "She...she was covered..."
He couldn't go on; he put his head in his hands again. Currie put the notepad down and went to the door. He opened it and spoke quietly to someone outside, then returned a moment later with two paper cups of water. He put one on the table in front of Eric, and sat back down in his seat, saying nothing. Eric gratefully took a sip of the cold water, then a bigger gulp. He rubbed his eyes, and said "Thanks."
Currie nodded and smiled slightly, then looked back down at his notepad, his signal that Eric should continue.
Eric cleared his throat and tried again. It was still hard to speak about what he had discovered only a couple of hours ago, but he knew it was important.
"Grace was laying on the kitchen floor. There was blood all over her face. Her eyes were closed and she was not moving. I think I called her name again, probably several times, and I shook her, then checked her pulse and breathing. She was still breathing, but her pulse seemed weak, and I could not wake her up. I didn't want to move her too much in case her neck or back were damaged, I heard that's a bad thing to do."
Currie said nothing.
"So I grabbed the nearest phone and called 911. I gave the operator the details, and she told me to stay with Grace until the paramedics arrived. They got there in about five minutes, just before you did, so I guess you know the rest."
Eric flopped back in his chair, and finished off the water. Currie flipped back through his notes. He asked Eric a few more questions about Grace's behavior towards her husband, and Eric recalled noticing something in her voice when she spoke about him, a hesitancy. He also remembered that she often used to fold her arms around herself protectively while she was talking about Darren. Finally Detective Currie seemed satisfied with the report. He read back his notes to Eric, then asked him to return to the station in 24 - 48 hours to sign the report when it had been typed up. Eric stood wearily to leave, then paused. He looked at Currie, who had also stood.
"Do you think it was Darren who did this to her?"
Currie looked at Eric. "We are very interested in talking to Mr Benson at this point," he said officially. "We have officers out looking for him right now."
Eric frowned. "He's not at work?"
Currie hesitated, realizing he might have given away more than he should. "He did not show up at his office after lunch, and he's not answering his cell phone," he said cautiously.
"Do you think he'll go to the hospital?" asked Eric.
"We have an officer there and at his home," said Currie, gathering up his file. "When Mr Benson shows up, we'll be ready to talk to him. Thank you again Mr Lincoln for your time. Sergeant Andrews will show you out."
Currie left quickly without another word, and Eric slowly followed. At the reception counter he paused and called a cab to take him back to the hospital.