Page 42 of Little Bitter Truths
As I walked to my car, I considered my list of suspects.Any one of them could have killed Wren.Any one of them could have returned to Mia’s house last night.
The problem wasn’t figuring out whether the killer would strike again.
It was figuring out who they were before they did.
16
Simone was sitting at her desk when I entered the office, her laptop open and a stack of files pushed to one side.She was dressed in black jeans, a faded Nirvana T-shirt, and a tailored black jacket.Hunter stood near the window, flipping through a folder.Her red hair fell in loose braids over her shoulders, her bangs brushing across her freckled face.She wore her usual overalls, one strap undone, paired with a long-sleeve shirt beneath.
“Afternoon,” Simone said, rubbing her hands together.“Sounds like we got ourselves another juicy case.”
I set my handbag down and took a seat, pulling out my notebook.“We do, and I’m here to get you both up to speed.”
I walked them through everything I knew so far, starting from the moment Mia hired me.
We talked about the police shifting away from the robbery angle and treating Wren’s death as a homicide investigation.From there, we went over Clive Simmons and the dartboard, Cooper visiting Wren the night she died, and Silas’s findings, including the blood droplets and the blood and skin cells beneath Coco’s nailbed.I also told them about the missing spare house key, the break-in the night before, my latest theory about the killer targeting the wrong sister, and Mia’s short list of suspects.
When I finished, Hunter took a seat next to me and crossed her arms, staring out the window like she was assembling the pieces in her mind.
“Okay,” Simone said.“What you just said, it’s a lot.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Hunter added.
“Do you have any questions?”I asked.
Hunter raised a finger.“I want to talk to Wren’s husband, Cooper.Even if we’re going to pursue the theory that the killer is after Mia, what’s with Cooper forgetting to mention he was the last person to see his wife alive?”
“I know, it’s suspicious,” I said.“But for right now, I still think we should focus on our new list of suspects.”
“Let’s go over each one of them,” Simone said.
“We’ll start with Karl Holland,” I said.“He works for the same hotel chain as Mia.She was hired as their director of analytics, a job he thought was supposed to go to him.”
“Corporate resentment,” Hunter said.“Classic.”
“When he found out she got the job, he caused a scene at the office,” I said.“He insisted Mia didn’t deserve the position.”
Simone winced.“That’s not good.”
“It gets better,” I said.“He’s still with the company, but they transferred him to another office.”
“And for all we know, he’s still holding a grudge,” Simone said.
“Let’s move on to the second suspect,” I said.“His name is Christian Shepherd, and he’s Mia’s ex-boyfriend.Based on how she described him, he was clingy, overbearing, and possessive.He didn’t take the breakup well.”
“Care to elaborate?”Simone asked.
“He started showing up everywhere, at her gym, at her work, and even outside her house on occasion.”
Hunter let out a low breath.“Sounds like a guy with an obsession.”
“Mia took out a restraining order.”
“Which doesn’t always stop a person who doesn’t want to be stopped,” Hunter said.“Who’s the third suspect?”
“Renee Parker.She’s Mia’s cousin.She disputed their grandfather’s will after he died.”
“What was at stake?”Simone asked.
