"So why did you do it?" he asks me.

I look up at Lieutenant Briggs, a dark-skinned man who's bald on top and sporting a formidable moustache, and I can't help but chuckle. He probably thinks he's tough, world-weary. He's but a child in the face of the things I've done and seen.

He ignores my chuckle and repeats the question, more forcefully, in the attempt to intimidate me. I take a long drag on my cigarette and sit back in my chair.

Finally, I speak. "Lieutenant, have you ever been in love?" I ask him. I know he's tempted to tell me that I'm not in the place to ask questions, that I'd better answer his first and foremost. But, I've been so reticent all this time, he's grateful for any response from me and decides to oblige.

He gives just the faintest hint of a smile and answers, "I've been married eighteen years now."

"That's no answer," I counter. "Marriage and love are two very different things. One is a matter of politics and law. The other is an irresistible force. You may be married to your wife, but do you love her?"

He cocks an eyebrow and wishes to himself that someone else could have interrogated me. But he acquiesces and replies, "I wouldn't have married her if I didn't."

"So, in loving her, you'd do anything for her?"

He shrugs. "Yes, I believe I would."

I lean forward slightly, smiling. "So, you would kill for her?"

He shifts uncomfortably. He doesn't like this conversation, and he feels he's losing control. I let him off the hook by saying, "I know, certain circumstances, you would. If it went against your morals, you wouldn't."

I take another drag from my cigarette, and put it out. "But, if it meant saving your wife's life, if it meant alleviating her suffering and adding years, happy, fulfilling years, to her life, would you do it then?"

He considered it for a while, then said, "Yes, I believe I would."

I smiled and sat back in my chair. "Well, then, detective, there's the answer to your question. I'm sorry if I took the roundabout way to getting to it, but I hoped it would help you with establishing motive."

"That's very generous of you," he said with a certain measure of sarcasm. "And in an isolated incident, I might sympathize with you. But from the research I've done on you, you may be guilty of more than one murder. Do you mean to tell me every crime you've committed has been for love?"

I looked up to the ceiling, considering my reply. "No, I can't say that. I've killed several times for my own personal gain. But that was my past. Now, I only kill to protect the one I love."

He sighed. I'm sure he was hoping that he'd break me early, but now he knew that wasn't going to happen. "Why don't you start from the beginning? I'm all ears."

I smiled, and reached for another cigarette. "This—this here—it's such a nasty habit," I told him, placing the paper tube in my mouth and lighting the end. "You know, there was a time in my life I'd never think of smoking. Always considered it…below me. But now…well, it seems to be the only thing that calms my nerves."

He just stared at me. "From the beginning," he repeated pointedly.

I blew the smoke from my lungs and smiled. "Very well. Make yourself comfortable, Lieutenant. It's quite a long story."