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"I'll help you as I can, Detective Lopez, but I'm afraid there won't be much I can tell you", she said. Being in the police headquarters was rather intimidating, and she was uncomfortable.
"Well, it's hard to say what information will be or won't be useful to us Mrs. Stanton, so please just answer our questions as honestly and completely as you can.", Detective Lopez said, as Lieutenant Murien watched silently.
"Ok", Mrs. Stanton said.
"Great", Lopez said, "Now Mrs. Stanton, when did you lose your husband?"

"About three years ago"
"I'm sorry. Have you been alone since?"
"I have not remarried"
"Yes, but have you began any other relationships?"
Mrs. Stanton paused, "yes, but you know that"
"I know, please bare with me, this is SOP"
"Yes, I have been in relationships since then"
"Was one of those relationships with Sean Koepp?"
"Yes, I dated Sean"
"When did you begin dating him?"
"Seven months after I lost Harry, my husband"
"Are you still dating him?"

"I am not. We haven't spoken in two months"
"Why did you end things?"
"Why are you after Sean?"
"We just want to talk to him, that's all"
"About what?"
"That's police business ma'am"
"Until I know what this is about, I don't feel comfortable answering anymore questions without my lawyer."
Lopez was surprised that this nervous little housewife type was taking such a strong stance. It was a pain though, the last thing he needed was to

get into was some overpriced lawyer trying to muck up a pretty routine investigation.
"Mrs. Stanton, I can assure you there is no need for an attorney, you are in no way a suspect in any case. We are just trying to figure out how we can find Mr. Koepp to speak with him. You can trust us.", Lopez said.
"How can you expect me to trust you when you won't even tell me what this is about?", Mrs. Stanton said, diggin in her heels even more.
:Lopez had a busy afternoon ahead of him, so he relented, "Fine Mrs. Stanton. We believe

Mr. Koepp may be involved in an embezzlement scam from your late husband's firm"
"What?!", Mrs. Stanton said, shaking her head in disbelief.
"That comes as a surprise to you?"
"Yes, and I also don't believe it for a second"
"Why is that Mrs. Stanton?"
"Because Sean is slated to become the Senior Partner at the firm. He would never do anything to screw that up when he is so close to it. Plus, Sean just isn't that kind of person!"
"I understand how this can be hard. It may be that

we are offbase. We do have reason to believe he may be involved though, so we do have to check it out, so we do have to talk to you."
"Now, why did you say you ended things with Mr. Koepp?"
"I wasn't interested anymore I guess."
"Can I ask why?"
"He wasn't my type."
"In what way?"
"I like stronger men, men who are protectors. Someone you can feel safe with. Sean wasn't that man.", Mrs. Stanton said, looking into Lopez's

eyes for the first time. He noticed her glance and wondered if she was flirting.
"I haven't felt safe for a while", she said under her breath as she glanced down.
Lopez caught it, "How do you mean"
"Nothing, nevermind. Am I done here Detective?"
"You are, but I would like to ask why you don't feel safe anymore"
"Well, there was a break in on my estate last night"
"Did you report it?", Lopez said.
"No, I didn't think anything was taken"
"You should still report these kind of things, Mrs.

Stanton", Lopez scolded.
"I know, I guess I was afraid."
"Are you alone at the estate?"
"Well, my staff is there, except for tonight, they are all going into the city for the weekend"
Lopez thought there might be more to her relationship with Koepp, so he decided to make an offer, "Ma'am, I'd like to offer to escort you home tonight, I can check out the estate, make sure everything is OK What do you think?", he said. He did have one more motivation... he found her quite attractive. Though his offer was purely business.

"I'd actually appreciate that quite a bit Detective. Thank you", Mrs. Stanton said. She gave him one more silent look. Her eyes sparkled as they met his. The reserved policeman couldn't help but notice how her stare lingered. He was made arrangements for a squad car to drive back to her estate.

"I hope you don't mind the walk, Detective", she said. She had explained to him that the neighbors across the bay were very nosey, and quite prone to gossip. Seeing a squad car in front of the Stanton Mansion would feed their gossip for months.
"Not in the least, Mrs. Stanton, I certainly shouldn't be passing up any chances for exercise these days.", he joked.
"You don't look like you need it", she said to him, in a way that was not overly flirtatious, but still made the most of the compliment, "and by the

way, please call me Sara"
"All right Sara, I will. Thank you", he said as they slowly strolled through the estate.
"Is your first name Detective?", she hinted.
He hadn't necessarily wanted to go down this route, but it looked like he would have to now, "My first name is David"
"Ah, I see. Well David is a nice name Detective Lopez."
"Thank you", he said. He was starting to get nervous. Flirting had never been his forte`.
"You have beautiful gardens here Mrs. - Sara"

"Thank you Detective Lopez. My staff tends to them though, so they deserve the credit. Do you like to garden Detective Lopez?", she said again with a smirk, heavy on the hinting.
Lopez took the hint, "Please Sara, call me David.", he relented with a smile.
"Well, that is very nice. Thank you David."
"You're welcome. And yes, I do like to garden. I don't get to it as much as I'd like these days though."
"That's too bad. Is your wife able to handle the garden then?", she fished.

It didn't take long for someone who made their living as a detective to figure out what was going on here, "I am not married - anymore - and I live by myself, so unfortunately the garden is quite lonely these days"
"I'm sorry to hear that David."
"Well, maybe this summer...", he said.
"I feel bad for the garden. Being lonely is a terrible thing. I should know."
"Are you ever alone? What about your staff?"
"Well, they live in a guest house... and we are not that close. They've worked for my late husband's

family for generations. They've always seen me as an outsider I guess. I considered letting them go, but this is the only life they have ever known. This is their home too. So... it's just me, alone in the big cold house. It does get terribly lonely."
"Enter Sean Koepp", David said without really thinking. He realized immediately that it sounded kind of crass.
Sara said nothing for a moment, then simply said, "Loneliness is hard."
"I didn't mean to be insensitive, I apologize"
"Please, don't worry about it. In fact, you sort of

hit the nail right on the head. Sean's biggest selling point was that he was around at a time when I needed someone to be around", she told him as they approached the house.
"David, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?", she asked.
He was caught off guard, "I-Well, I ..sure. I'd love to", he said. He normally didn't date people involved with his cases. Actually, he just plain didn't date much. But, what the heck? She was very attractive, and she seemed nice. Besides, he had no other plans for the evening.