Page 25 of Little Bitter Truths
If Silas was right, and he almost always was, someone had stood over Wren’s body.Someone had touched her.But why?
“Is there anything else I should know?”I asked.
“There is one thing.Mia’s dog had blood on her paws.”
“She mentioned that to me.”
“The blood was matched to Wren, which makes sense, but I also removed blood and skin cells from beneath the dog’s nailbed.”
“And?”
“They were not a match to either Wren or Mia.”
“Are you suggesting the dog scratched Wren’s attacker?”I asked.
“I am.”
I closed my notebook, allowing a few theories to fill my mind.
Somewhere out there was a person walking around with a secret.
And sooner or later, that secret would lead me right to them.
10
The neighborhood looked peaceful and quiet when I reached Mia’s house, the kind of place where residents expected bad things to happen somewhere else, but never here.
As I stepped out of the car and reached for my handbag on the passenger seat, my eyes fell upon a man standing in a yard across the street.His arms were folded, and he was just staring in my direction.I pulled my bag out of the car, and it tipped over, spilling everything inside onto the pavement.As I bent down to gather my things, a shadow fell across the ground in front of me.I looked up to see the same man who’d been staring hovering over me.I guessed he was in his late thirties, and he was tall and broad-shouldered, with trimmed, dark hair.Not a single strand was out of place.
He bent down beside me.“Need some help?”
“I’ve got it, but thank you for offering.”
He ignored my comment, reaching for a few items and handing them to me.
“Do you live around here?”I asked.
He tipped his head toward the house across the street.“I’m Adrian.”
“Georgiana.”
“You a friend of Mia’s?”
“I’m a private investigator.”
“Are you investigating her sister’s murder?”
“I am.”
“I see.”
I slid the last of the items into my bag, and we stood.
“Thanks for the assist,” I said.“How well do you know Mia?”
“We’ve talked a few times, but I wouldn’t say we know each other well.I’m new to the neighborhood, just like her.How’s the investigation going?”
“Mia hired me yesterday, so I’m just getting started.”
