Natalie answered a telephone call from inspector Lee who had some interesting questions she was unable to answer about Ben. She denied any contact with him. However, Lee wanted to meet up to deliberate over other aspects of the case. In reality, he wanted to hash out what happened, as he felt she wasn’t being altogether upfront about Mariano’s death.
What weighed on Mark was the fact she denied all knowledge of knowing Ben when it was mentioned once during a conversation, so that echoed she could easily be lying about what really occurred and didn’t shed light on the real conclusion. He was determined to get to the bottom of the truth.
They met up later that same day down at the precinct (police station). His casual professional inspector attire; pressed blue slacks, yellow shirt, yellow and blue striped tie, green jumper and a thickset grey jacket to ward off autumn’s breezy chilly weather. She wore skimpy clothes under her fluffy full-length red overcoat.
When she arrived, inspector Mark Lee, “Hello Natalie! Nice to see you again.”
Natalie, “Likewise, Mr. Lee!”
Mark asked her to sit in front of his desk, and then started off by saying, “When I mentioned Ben and the incident with Mariano the last time we met, you denied any knowledge of the incident. That is correct, isn’t it Natalie?”
She paused for a moment while gathering herself, “Actually, at the time I may not have been totally upfront, as I was still deeply disturbed by the tragic death of my husband.”
She had perceived he must have suspected she was lying.
Inspector Lee unsympathetically asked, “Are you saying, you lied to me?”
Thinking on her feet Natalie responded, “Of course not Mr. Lee, but I didn’t want to mention something that had nothing to do with my husband’s disappearance and his brutal murder, as our neighbor most definitely had nothing to do with it in the first place!”
At this point Lee realized she was making excuses when the reality of his probe was to define her personality trait; falsehood that could mean she had lied about other things relating to what really happened to Mariano.
Take care!
Prof. Carl Boniface
Vocabulary builder:
Deliberate (v) = debate, converse, confer, discourse, chat, hash out. “We need to deliberate over a way to resolve this case.”
Hash out (v) = thrash out, hammer out, resolve, solve, discuss. “We are going to hash out a plan to make the company profitable.”
shed light on (idiom) = also throw light on, elucidate, make clear, help to explain (something) by providing further information about it. "No one could shed any light on the mysterious car accident."
Striped (adj) = barred, banded, lined, stripy, streaked. Not to be confused with double pp (Stripped) which means bare, exposed, unprotected, uncovered, unpainted, or naked.
Jumper (n) = pullover, jersey, in the UK it is also known as a sweater for men or women, but North American’s call it a collarless sleeveless dress, typically worn over a blouse. Jumper can also mean an athlete who is a hurdler, steeplechaser, showjumper, high jumper, long jumper.
Thickset (adj) = heavy, hefty, bulky, solid, husky (ant) slight, slim (of a person or animal) heavily or solidly built; stocky. "He was a thickset boy with dark greasy hair."
Ward off (v) = phrasal verb meaning to prevent someone or something from harming or affecting one. "She put up a hand as if to ward him off." As a verb ward is also used to guard, protect. “It was his duty to ward the child.” As a noun (n) WARD can mean a separate room in a hospital, typically one allocated to a particular type of patient, "a children's ward". Or as an administrative division of a city or borough that typically elects and is represented by a councilor or councilors as in "the second most marginal ward in Westminster."
Chilly (adj) = used above as cold, can also be used when frosty or icy. Additionally, it can be used when someone is unfriendly, frigid, formal, supercilious, aloof, or detached.
Skimpy (adj) = meagre, meager, insufficient, scanty, inadequate, sparse, scant, (ant) generous
Fluffy (adj) = cottony, feathery, soft, fleecy
Precinct (n) = North American meaning a district of a city or town as defined for police purposes. The "precinct" may also refer to the main police station. Additionally, it can refer to the area within the walls or perceived boundaries of a particular building or place in the sense of "all levels of society live within these precincts."
Think on one’s feet (idiom) = means to react quickly, be mentally agile, as in the inspector bombarded her with difficult questions, but Natalie was very good at thinking on her feet. This expression uses on one's feet in the sense of “wide awake, alertly.”
Falsehood (n) = lie, untruth, story, tale, fiction, fib, misrepresentation, fabrication, myth, fairytale