Tanya was a beautiful middle-aged woman. She invited me into her house and gestured for me to take a seat. She got some water for me; I thanked her and drank the water.227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYG4k5Fnjq0
“I was down with your aunt a few minutes ago,” She said, her voice soft and low. “She always talks about you and…” And my sister. No one wanted to talk about her to my face; it was better they didn’t. The whole experience had been traumatising. It made me hate her.227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0SApyzDvp
“Oh. So I guess I don’t have to tell you I’m Angela.” I didn’t know what to say. I now realised I didn’t know why I was here. Could it be because I wanted to ask her about her husband? Or was it to see what kind of woman she was. “I… It was getting too stifling in the house with everything that’s happened…”227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLMo8eA9oG
“You mean the woman?” I nodded. “I know. And I suppose you’ve heard the rumours.”227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzOJhbRoOO
Time to play dumb; “What rumours?” I must be fantastic at playing stupid because she looked like she believed that I had heard no rumours. That I had dropped at her doorstep for a chat.227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxy8CdP6p8O
“About my husband.” Her voice was flat and devoid of all emotion. “He’s out of town for now, but when he gets up; they’ll be hell to quench. And it’ll be so hard for him considering he’s actually out of town because of his father; he passed away a few days ago. The thing is… people think he did it.”227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nYm1Jyvz9
“Killed the woman?” She gave a small nod. “Why would they say that?”227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfoKCOzmiy
“Because he’s… people around here think he’s ill-tempered and unfriendly. But he’s a nice man; he has hurt no one, keeps to himself, and does his job well. And he knew the woman… I don’t understand why… Why am I telling you this, anyway?” Tears brimmed in her eyes.227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIJY3wOJKd
“Sometimes it helps to let out frustrations on…” The doorbell rang and she stood up to get it. I looked around her kitchen as she opened the door. I heard muffled voices, but I couldn’t tell who it was. Then the person entered the house, and I knew exactly who it was.227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22fyWRKISx
I stood up from my chair and panicked. Okay, calm down. He’s only human, he can’t arrest you. Can he? I looked at him with my most innocent face; I was here visiting a friend. The detective glowered at me, so he wasn’t happy.227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJcCuKzmk83
“Miss Blackburn.” He gave me a brief nod.227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIfRF3psXlX
“Detective,” I said, unsure of whether he expected me to explain why I was here. But I intelligently kept my mouth shut, fearing I could dig myself a deeper hole if I did any explaining.227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBCDerjTR9
“Angela here dropped by for a friendly visit,” Tanya said. I thanked her in my heart, she’d saved me for about two minutes, until the detective left and I also had to leave. At which time I’d have to talk to him alone. “How can I help you?”227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHDNzLCGCB
“Hmm, I’m sure she did.” The detective sneered. He looked like he could smell the real reason I was here through my skin. “Miss Blackburn, would you mind stepping out for-”227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNt9ncymOj
“Oh no! I need her here.” Tanya exclaimed. “Please stay, Angie.”227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVlD0ZD6pj
So I stayed. I was grateful for her invitation because I wanted to stay. Part of the reason I stayed without arguing with her was that I was quite interested in what they would talk about.227Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxwu2Cy8gF
And how she’d answer the questions. Or I love meddling in people’s business… which is nothing to be proud of.
“Okay.” He drawled. Irritation laced every word he spat out. Well, we deal with what we’ve got, don’t we, detective? “I have a few questions for you. I won’t take much of your time, then you two can continue your visit.”
“Sure.”
“As I suspect you already know,” He cast an accusatory glance, I shrugged. Everyone knew about it. “A woman’s body washed up on the beach. I wanted to ask you a few questions, we’re doing that to most people who can help us.”
“Am I a suspect?”
“No,” The detective said. “Do you know this woman, Miss Morgan?” He took out the same picture he’d shown me of the strangled woman. I watched her reaction, it startled her. At first, she looked genuinely confused and sickened, and I expected those reactions. I’d have been suspicious if she hadn’t reacted that way.
But then she took the phone and stared at the picture for an insane amount of time. She frowned, then her eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and I knew. “No, I don’t know her. I’ve never seen her before.” She blurted. She cleared her throat after the statement and wrung her hands in her lap.
“Okay.” He pocketed the phone but Tanya’s eyes followed the phone and I could feel the terror radiating off her body. “Where were you last night?”
“I was… I was here. Asleep.”
“And your husband? Where was he?”
“He’s out of town. He left a few days ago.” She gave a look that begged for support. I moved closer and squeezed her hand.
“Why did he leave?” His leaving put him in a rather dim light. It made his intentions… murky.
Tanya’s reply was nothing short of bewildering to me. What bewildered me more was that detective Lawrance seemed to believe her. “I don’t know.” Said Tanya.
“When will he be coming back?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay. Thank you.” Detective Lawrance said and stood, getting ready to leave. He’d figured out that he wasn’t getting anything other than an ‘I don’t know’ from Tanya today. “I’ll be keeping in touch with you. Please don’t leave town unless you have to, and even then, tell us where you’re going and how we can reach you. And please call me when your husband returns.” He nodded and walked out. He was as stiff as a board as he left. I felt he would break in half if he didn’t fix it.
“I’d better get going, Tanya. It was great talking to you,” I made a pretence of looking at the time and gasping. “My aunt will need me.” She gave me an absent-minded nod, and I had a weird unfounded thought if I’d stayed, I’d have been ignored or sent away.
I followed the detective out of the house and waited for him to give me a piece of his mind, and he didn’t take much time at all. He turned around and gave me his most spiteful look; telling me exactly how much he despised me at that moment, I felt a strong, uncalled-for emotion; I wanted to say “oops!”. Luckily, I still had enough dignity, and I didn’t say it.
“What were you thinking coming here like that, miss Blackburn?” He bit out. “We both know this wasn’t some ‘friendly visit’ or whatever you led her to believe. This is a police investigation. We’re dealing with a murderer here, and he won’t hesitate to do it again when given the chance.”
“I thought this was a suicide.” My voice came out flat and uninterested.
“Don’t.” He held up a hand. “It doesn’t matter what you thought. Now, you need to go home and take care of your aunt. The real reason you’re here in town.” I hated him for saying that, but I didn’t show him that because he didn’t need to know that he had an effect on me. A negative one, but a reaction none the less.
“Well, then, I suppose you don’t want to know the two colossal lies she told you,” I breathed. He watched me intently for a minute as I got into my aunt’s car, hoping he would be curious enough to stop me. And he did.
“What?”
“What do I get for telling you?” I asked. “You could let me be a consultant.” He continued regarding me with a shrewd look that made me squirm. “Can you stop staring? It makes you look way older than thirty-five.” I mentally facepalmed, I hadn’t put reins on my mouth then.
“I’m not thirty-five.” He mumbled. “Why should I let you consult?”
“Well, for starters; I told you she couldn’t have committed suicide and now, I’m going to tell you the two big lies she told,” I said. He seemed to consider my argument, then waved his hand in a go-ahead motion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means to go on, then if the information you’re about to give me is convincing enough for me, then I might consider your offer.”
I shook my head but continued to speak, anyway. “She said she didn’t know the woman, but she did. Before you came, she told me her husband knew the woman.”
“Who was she?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t say who it was because guess who showed up?” I said, my tone accusatory. “But anyway, the other thing is she said she didn’t know why her husband is out of town; but she told me that his father passed away.”
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