Lust and Lies 04 - Pretty Maids in a Row
truth out of her?"
Quick shook his head. "Not anymore. Rachel Greenley committed suicide a few hours ago. Left a deathbed confession—which is usually considered strong evidence—that she killed Ziegler and O'Day, and you murdered Frampton."
Holly wrung her hands together and looked from one man to another. "It's not true. I could never kill anyone. And even if I could, wouldn't it be stupid to let the authorities know what was going on right before I did it?"
Agent Thackery arched one eyebrow at her. "A very smart killer might do just that to throw us off."
Holly leaned toward Quick with a pleading expression. "Don't you see? She's done exactly what she threatened to do if I told anyone about the Little Sister Society."
"Personally, I think that's what it is. However, my opinion doesn't hold much weight in a court of law. We have to verify everything you said before you're off the hook. Of course, that automatically presents another problem. If Greenley lied about you killing Frampton, what else did she lie about? Maybe she lied about taking out Ziegler and O'Day. There's a possibility that she's protecting a third person."
"Erica."
"That was my first thought after what you told me about them, but Erica Donner has a solid alibi... for this morning, at least. We're still checking on the other times, but my instincts are telling me we're on the wrong track entirely."
Holly remembered what David had said about trusting his instincts. "Bobbi Renquist?"
Again Quick shook his head. "Not for Frampton. She was working in her office on a special project with several others until after midnight last night. By the way, she and Rachel were both suspended yesterday pending an investigation of their files. If Renquist tampered with any of the men's accounts on that list, she'll pay for it."
"Is that why Rachel killed herself?"
"In a case like that, the reasons have often been building up over many years, but there's always that one last straw. I guess for Greenley, getting caught was it."
"What about Bobbi's claim that Erica murdered her husbands?"
Quick shrugged. "The three cases will be reviewed, but it's unlikely that they'll be reopened based on an accusation from a confirmed schizophrenic. Donner will be questioned—politely—but unless she confesses, there's no new evidence against her. As to April MacLeash and Cheryl Wallace, we dispatched an agent to question them this afternoon, but he hasn't checked in yet."
"Rachel mentioned some suspects that the computer came up with."
Thackery responded to her. "We're still working on those as well. So far that angle hasn't panned out, but we aren't eliminating the possibility that the perpetrator is an outsider with a more obscure motive. We're just going to have to expand the area of our search for possibles."
Quick stood up and Thackery followed his lead. "Under the circumstances, Miss Kaufman, I see no reason to officially detain you at this time. However, I'm going to ask you to stay here while Agent Varden completes her verifications. Then she'll take you home and stay with you."
"Stay with me? Like, under house arrest?"
Quick waved his hand in a negative gesture. "Just a precaution. We don't want anything to happen to you while we're trying to unravel this puzzle."
Holly didn't want to think about what his words implied. She knew when she decided to talk that there were risks involved. "Wait," she said as Quick was about to close the door on his way out. "Please. Could you leave it open? I promise I won't go anywhere."
"Of course," he replied with an apologetic smile. "Can I get you a cup of coffee or a soda?"
"Coffee would be nice, light, no sugar. And I, uh, I need to—wash my hands."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll have Agent Varden escort you in just a minute."
The minute turned out to be twenty, but Quick did bring her a cup of coffee and several magazines to occupy herself in the meantime.
What she really wanted was to make a phone call, but she didn't have the nerve to ask. It wasn't that anyone was expecting her to call. She just wanted to hear a familiar voice tell her everything would be all right. She assumed her parents would be home from their trip by now and hoped it had been a pleasant weekend for them. But if it hadn't been, she certainly didn't want to burden them with her multitude of problems. Now that she thought about it, she hoped they hadn't been listening to the news either.
Philip would undoubtedly like to hear from her, but he
Weitere Kostenlose Bücher