Dead Guilty

suddenly, blocking her exit. She had on her blue police uniform, her light brown hair pulled back into the same French twist she wore when she was a detective.
    ‘‘I know you think I blame you,’’ Warrick said, ‘‘and maybe I do a little, but Neva tells me you treat her fairly and take up for her with him.’’ She nodded toward Garnett’s office.
    ‘‘I try to treat all my employees fairly. Neva does a good job.’’
Janice Warrick stood for a moment, still in front of Diane, hesitating. ‘‘There’s something that’s been bothering me. I’m not usually a cruel person, but I said something cruel to you that had to do with your daughter being adopted—about your picking up strays. It’s weighed on me.’’ She hesitated a moment and Diane thought she might actually get teary. ‘‘I’m sorry about that. I was sorry as soon as I said it.’’ She turned abruptly and walked off before Diane could respond.
Diane left Garnett’s office and wove her way through the squad room. She stopped at the whiteboard a mo ment, looking for anything they might have thought of that she and her team hadn’t. But there was noth ing, no pattern or startling revelation jumping out at her.
On the steps outside the police station, she ran into Kacie Beck. Her blond hair hung in limp sections, and she pushed a lock of it out of her eyes when she saw Diane. Her blue eyes looked bluer, set in her blood shot sclera. She looked at Diane a moment, as if not remembering where she had seen her.
‘‘I was at the crime scene,’’ offered Diane.
‘‘I didn’t kill Chris. If you think I did, you’re letting the real murderer get away.’’
‘‘I don’t think anything. I just worked the crime scene. Can I ask you some questions?’’
‘‘I’ve told the police everything I know. I’m tired and I want to go home.’’
‘‘I can see you need some peace. I just have a few questions.’’
Kacie looked around. ‘‘Shit, I don’t have my car.’’ She dug in her purse and brought out her phone and scowled at the display. ‘‘They let the damn thing run down. The least they could do was turn it off for me.’’
‘‘Let me take you home.’’
‘‘Why not? But you aren’t going to get me to admit to anything I didn’t do.’’
Diane led her to her car, and Kacie got in on the passenger’s side and sat slumped in the corner. She looked even smaller than she did sitting on Chris Ed wards’ couch at the crime scene.
‘‘Buckle your seat belt,’’ said Diane.
‘‘What does it matter? It would at least end it if I went through the windshield.’’
‘‘Maybe not. You might just end up scarred and brain damaged. Besides, if we’re involved in an acci dent, you might flop around inside the car and hurt me.’’
Kacie laughed despite herself and clicked her seat belt in place. Diane drove to a Waffle House close to Kacie’s apartment. Inside, Diane selected a booth in the rear of the diner. Kacie ordered a hamburger. Diane ordered a slice of pie and coffee.
When the waitress left the table, Kacie said, ‘‘I gotta go to the bathroom and wash my hands and face. I’ve never been in a jail before. What a nasty, stinking place.’’
After several minutes, Diane wasn’t sure she was coming back. But eventually, Kacie slid back into her seat, looking marginally better. Little strands of moist hair bordered her face. As they waited for their order, Kacie nervously turned the engagement ring on her finger.
‘‘That’s a nice ring,’’ said Diane.
Kacie stopped turning it and looked at the ring—a diamond solitaire set in either platinum or white gold.
‘‘Chris gave it to me the morning before he died.’’
It looked like a rather large diamond to Diane, but she didn’t know jewelry and it had been quite a while since she had an engagement ring. The waitress brought their food and drinks. Kacie nibbled at her hamburger, put it down and picked up a fry.
‘‘I’m sorry about Chris,’’ said Diane.
‘‘I hate this. The police don’t know what they are doing. Sometimes they acted like Chris was involved in something and caused this himself.’’
‘‘They’re just trying to find out what happened to him.’’
‘‘It looked like one of those home invasions to me.’’
‘‘Did Chris have a lot of valuables? Do you know what they might have been looking for?’’
Kacie shrugged her shoulders and nibbled on her fry. Diane tried another tack.
‘‘He must have paid a lot for that