Derick could see the rain pouring down outside through his barred window. It hit the trees with such force that the branches bent as if they would snap at any second. Derick cringed. "Would you really like to help me?"
"That's why I'm here. To help you and everyone else understand why you took Maria's life."
"You mean, you want to know why the other doctor quit?" Derick asked. He noticed he was more perceptive since he entered the hospital.
"Did the other doctor quit because of your wife?"
"Not because of her, but because of what that doctor found out."
"And what was that, Derick?"
Derick smiled. "You'll have to see for yourself."
"Doctor, Lydia Lombasto will be here at three tomorrow to meet with you." The nurse said as she walked back into the room.
"Thank you, Jessica." Dr. Staetman replied.
"You'll find out." Derick said.
* * *
"Mrs. Lombasto. Good to see you. I'm Dr. Staetman." The doctor offered his hand to Lydia.
"Hi." She took his hand and shook it.
"Please, sit."
Lydia sat.
"Mrs. Lombasto, your husband might be suffering from mental instability. My job is to assess his ability to stand trial for the murder and assault charges."
"I know what your job is, doctor." Lydia said as the lit a cigarette.
"I'm sorry, but you can't smoke in here."
"They why do you have an ashtray?" Lydia indicated the glass ashtray on top of a stack of papers.
"I use it as a paperweight. It was a gift."
"Ahh. I see." Lydia snuffed out the cigarette on her shoe.
"Thank you. Now, what is your relationship to Mr. Lombasto?"
"Estranged wife. Mother of his children."
"Yes, but, how are you connected to the murder of his girlfriend?"
"The whole, sordid story?" Lydia smiled.
Dr. Staetman look surprised, then quickly recovered. "Yes."
Lydia sat back in the chair positioned in front of Dr. Staetman's desk. She crossed her legs. "I ran into him when he was walking home from work one day. About three or four days prior to Maria's murder. I wanted him to come back. So I bugged the shit out of him so his children could see him again." Lydia stopped.
"What about the night he killed her?"
"I stopped by his apartment, wanting to bug him some more about coming home. I saw that a doctor was leaving his apartment so I rushed inside. When I entered the apartment, he was moving toward Maria with a knife. I stepped back, and thought that I should just stay out of it. Then I realized why he was probably going to kill Maria; so me and him could be together. But then he stopped and dropped the knife. It looked like to me that he didn't have the balls to do it. But I did. I picked up the knife and finished what he had started. He tried to stop me, but this was for us. We both knew that. He wanted me back, we couldn't be together with that bitch around.