LAFORGE DID A slow walk around the room, circling the single chair positioned in the center. "So it was you, Nicole and Rihanna," he said, struggling with the names. NEE-kole. RL-hee-ahn-nah.562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nC4y3AitZ
Lindsay's eyes dropped to the floor, in part out of shame, in part because of the blinding lights in her face. "Yes," she said quietly.
"Not Mischa. She did not---accompany you in the bedroom?"
Lindsay thought for a moment. She was staring into her lap, into the center of a gray smock that most clearly resembled surgical scrubs, which soldiers had thrown over her on the dock in Monte Carlo after pulling her naked from her bed. It did little to protect her from the cool temperatures in the room.
"Mischa slept somewhere else."
"You do not make excuse for her?"
"I don't----what?"
"You cannot account for her," said Picard.
"I---no. I don't know what Mischa did," Lindsay admitted. "But she's not capable of killing someone."
"Ah," LaForge bent down and spoke into Lindsay's ear. "She will not say the same of you. They will blame you."
"No they won't, you asshole!"
"You will be taking a chance, allowing them to give their story first," he hissed. "The first story will be the one that is----believed."
Lindsay closed her eyes. "I didn't kill anybody and neither did they."
"But you say you were----endormi. Asleep. Now you tell me you know for sure they are innocent. You are telling me lies. These are lies."
"Tell us who it was," said Picard, leaning against the wall. "The killer will spend a lifetime in prison. Those who help us? Not so long."
"Are your friends as brave as you?" It was LaForge, again, in her ear. "Can you be sure?"
Nicole Richie coughed as she tried to concentrate on the question. She was already sick from last night's events. After being roused from sleep at gunpoint and then seeing the photo of Renaud dead, it was all the poor lady could do to keep from upchucking. She'd collapsed into hysterical sobbing upon seeing that photo and took almost thirty minutes to recover.
"Mischa wouldn't hurt anyone," she said.
"That is not what I asked you," said LaForge. "Must I repeat the question?"
Nicole Richie struggled against her restraints. She had a pinched nerve in her shoulder that flared up ever so often, and now----when she was in the unnatural positon of having her hands restrained behind her back and cuffed to a small wooden chair---was one of those times.562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4YSgbxWrdu
"After we went into the bedroom, I didn't see her again. I can only assume that she went to sleep."562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJlL99kmKH
"But you cannot say for sure?"562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wFCKikoOv
She shook her head. "I don't know where she was," she said.562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ284YXEmOkE
They decided to interview Rihanna last. She'd been the most emotional and the most unglued of the four women during the trip from the harbor to headquarters. Let her stew in it, whatever it was----sadness, terror----so she would be ready to burst when it was her turn.562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyJdjvLrikR
Rihanna's head had fallen. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot from her constant sobbing.562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3obUUhWNr
LaForge approached her, squatted down so he was face-to-face with her. But she wasn't looking at him. She hadn't acknowledged their entrance at all.562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDt6WQElJkf
"He's dead, isn't he?" she whispered.562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRBbnW4qDT
