“So how did you see in the dark?”

“There’s a window on the other side of the bed and some light was coming in from it, moonlight or light from the houses, just enough to see something was wrong. And there was a funny smell. I knew it right away, from the OR. It was blood.”

Christine knew it, too. It rang true. “What time was this?”

“Around ten o’clock.”

“Why so late?”

“That’s when she said she was free.” Zachary shrugged.

“Then what did you do?”

“I went right to her, I grabbed her, I mean, I don’t remember exactly. Blood was everywhere, all over her, the bed, everywhere.” Zachary’s brow furrowed, even with the red scrapes. “I leaned over her, I lifted her up, I called her name, I felt her pulse, her carotid. There was nothing. She was dead.”

“Was she bleeding? Was blood spurting out?”

“No, not in the beginning. Her heart had stopped, so it wasn’t spurting out, and I don’t know why, I pulled out the saw. I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing, it was like I wanted it not to be. I wanted it not to be in her.” Zachary’s lips curled in revulsion. “But when I pulled the saw out, blood came out, gushed out, more of it. I even held her up, like, hugged her, God knows why, I was so shocked.” Zachary grimaced, recoiling. “Blood squirted all over me. It was horrible.”

Christine thought it explained the blood that was on him, a credible alternative scenario to his being the killer. And she realized something else, it also explained why there had been no blood on the top of his loafers. His shoes would have been out of the way or under the bed, from the way he described what had happened. She kept going. “Before we move on, let me ask you, you called it a saw. Did you recognize it as one of the types that you sell?”

“No, not at first. It was too dark, and I was too, like, upset.” Zachary shook his head. “I saw it had a stainless-steel handle. I thought it was a kitchen knife. When I pulled it out, the blood flew all over, I didn’t notice what kind of knife it was. That was the last thing I was looking at. But then when the police came, and they took photos of me and the knife, I realized it was one of ours.”

“Did you say that to the police?”

“No, I was, like, in shock, I was so freaked. I didn’t realize they would arrest me. I mean, I didn’t do it.” Zachary leaned over, his battered face a mask of anxiety. “Please, I didn’t. You have to know that.”

“I believe you,” Christine found herself saying. She thought that if Zachary was telling the truth, then he was terribly unlucky, being wrongly accused not only at the scene but in the prison yard. “Let’s go back to the saw, as you call it. What type of instrument is it?”

“It’s a metacarpal bone saw, for hand surgery or other small bones.”

“So hand surgeons would have that?”

“Yes, all hospitals would in their ORs and ERs. It’s for general surgery of the hand and other small bones.”

“Are hand surgeons your customers?”

“My accounts? Yes, but I don’t call on hand surgeons on their own. They’re in hospitals or affiliated with hospitals. I sell to the purchasing people at hospitals, not the docs.”

Christine had more questions about the saw and the customers he sold it to, but she wanted to get to why he’d lied to her about Gail. “Okay, sorry I interrupted. Then what happened, after you pulled the knife, or the saw, out?”

“I called 911, I told them what I saw, what I found.” Zachary frowned, his scrapes buckling. “I don’t know what I said, you can get the tape. Then the cops came.”

Christine decided it was time to go for it, because she had to know. “Let me ask you, when was the first time you met Gail?”

“I told you. Sunday, in the hospital.”

“Why were you there on a Sunday?” Christine tried to listen critically.

“It was the only time I could catch Dr. Malan-Kopelman. He’s a top doc in thoracic surgery and he’s wall-to-wall during the week. He’s impossible to catch, so I went in. He does rounds starting at 6:00 A.M. that day.”

Christine felt confused. “But when we were talking about hand surgeons, you just said you don’t sell to docs.”

Zachary blinked. “I do, when the docs have clout with purchasing. I don’t know any hand surgeons who have that kind of clout. Malan-Kopelman is major.”

Christine thought it made sense. “Okay, back to Gail. Do you know why she was there on a Sunday morning?”

“Nurses work every day. We were both in early. Her shift started at seven, and she was getting coffee. I was getting coffee because I was finished selling Malan-Kopelman. I got the order, by the way.” Zachary half-smiled, but Gail couldn’t be distracted.

“And your first date with Gail was that same night?”

“Yes, I told you.”

“And you went to her apartment?”

“Yes?”

“And you slept together?”

“Yes.” Zachary frowned, crumpling his bruises. “But why are you asking me all these questions? I told you all this.”

Christine searched his face to see if his expression had changed, but it hadn’t, and she couldn’t tell if he was lying or not. “Zachary, what would you say if I told you that one of Gail’s neighbors saw you at her apartment on Thursday night?”

“What? Who?” Zachary’s lips parted in outrage, and his blue eyes flashed like cold steel. “Are you trying to trap me? Whose side are you on? I thought you were working for me, not against me.”

Christine recoiled, surprised. “I am on your side, I’m asking you—”

“You’re not asking me anything!” Zachary raised his voice. “You’re accusing me. You’re calling me a liar!”

“No, I’m not. I’m asking you—”

“You’re trying to trick me, catch me!”

“Zachary, calm down. I’m on your side—”

“The hell you are! You don’t know what it’s like in here! I could have been killed! I can’t sleep, they scream all night! I feel like I’m going to explode! You have to get me out of here!”

The CO standing guard on the secured side swiveled his head to them. “Jeffcoat, no shouting!” he boomed through the window in the door.