by Maeve Hart
It was then I remembered we were arguing about me seeing Jacques Hunter. Don thought I was having an affair with him. Staring back at the policeman, I wondered if I should mention Jacques.
“Now I remember.” He looked up at me and I continued, “I was working on Sunday. I got a call out for a job. Don was always suspicious of me and always thought I was having affairs.” I grimaced at the thought. “He didn’t believe I was seeing a client on a Sunday.”
“What is it you do?”
“I’m an interior designer.”
“Who do you work for?”
“Myself.”
“Do you normally see clients on a Sunday?”
“The truth is, things haven’t been going so well for me lately, so I see clients whenever they ask.”
He scratched his head with the end of his pen. “I have a problem with what you just said. You said ‘the truth is.’ Does that mean you weren’t telling me the truth before?”
“No, absolutely not. I mean, yes, I was telling you the truth before.”
He looked back at his notes and then back at me. “Did you kill Donald Farrell?”
“No, I did not. I would never do anything like that to anyone. I was annoyed with him. We had a bit of an argument and that’s all.” I put my elbow on the desk and cradled my chin in my palm.
He stared at my arm. “How did you get those bruises on your wrist?”
I straightened up and turned my wrist over. Sure enough, there were bruises. “I didn’t even know they were there.”
He frowned and his mouth formed a straight line. “Start from the last time you saw the deceased.”
I licked my lips. I was going to have to tell him Don had gotten violent with me. “Well, you see, we had an argument and then he grabbed my wrist and pushed me to the ground and I pushed him away.”
“Are you saying you killed him in self defense?”
I frowned. “No, he was alive when I left. I didn’t do anything to him at all. He pushed me to the ground and I struggled to get away from him. When I got to my feet, I grabbed my bag and ran out the door. Then I called my friend Abbie right away and went to her place.”
“Did you call from your cell phone?”
“Yes. That’s right. There’d be a record of it.”
“Go on.”
“She suggested we go to the cabin. When we got there, her boyfriend arrived and stayed that night. I felt I was in their way, so I came home about lunchtime.”
He kept staring at me, waiting for me to continue.
“I was in their way at the cabin. They’re boyfriend and girlfriend and then there was me. Besides that, there was nothing to do at the cabin. I’m not a hunter or a fisher. It was probably a mistake to go there. Anyway, it should’ve been a girls’ weekend.”
“You’re saying Donald Farrell was alive when you left?”
“Very much so.”
“I’m going to need you to sign an official statement.”
“Of course. Have you notified Don’s mother yet?”
“Are you able to provide us with her details?”
“Yes.”
“Are you close with his family?”
“Sometimes. I think his mother thought I was taking him away from her. And that’s why we haven’t always gotten along.” Andrews didn’t like that answer either. “Everything I’m telling you is true. I’ve got no reason to lie.” I wondered which neighbors told the police there was an argument. They didn’t need to say anything at all.
“Have you ever met the CEO of the company the deceased worked for?”
“Jacques Hunter?”
“Yes.”
“I met him at the engagement party just briefly. I’d never met him before that.”
He stared at me and I said no more. He noted Donald’s mother’s phone number and address. When I’d signed a statement they’d transcribed from the interview, I was free to go.
Andrews walked me to the door of the room. After opening the door, he stepped back and placed his hand gently on my back. His touch sent a sensation through my body similar to the feeling I’d had when Jacques had touched me. All I could do was hurry away.
The first thing I did when I got out of there was call Abbie to let her know everything that had happened.
Chapter 13
Abbie told me they were coming back and I should go to her place and wait there. I wasn’t certain when I could go back to my apartment, or even if I’d ever want to go back there, so I agreed. The lease on the apartment was coming to an end and I sure as hell wasn’t going to renew.
I called my mother, not sure how she’d respond.
“How come you don’t sound shocked?” I asked her after I announced I’d found Don dead.
“I had a feeling it wouldn’t work out. I knew you’d never marry him.”
“Mom, he’s dead.” Hadn’t she heard? She was talking as though I’d told her we’d broken up.
“You know I just know these things sometimes.”
“Okay.” It was late in the day. I assumed she’d had a few champagnes by now. Tomorrow would be a better day to speak with her—as long as it was in the morning.
“Do you want me to come and get you? Where are you?”
“No thanks, Mom. I’m going to stay tonight at Abbie’s house.” I put my hand to my head, wondering if somebody had killed Don deliberately. What did Detective Andrews mean about working on a matter closely related to Don’s death? Was there a serial killer on the loose?
“How are you going to get there?”
“I’ve got Abbie’s car.”
“Where’s Abbie?”
“She’s at Steve’s cabin. Don’t worry. She won’t take long.”
“You shouldn’t drive when you’ve had a nasty shock.”
“I’ll be okay. It’s not far away.”
“Call me when you arrive, okay?”
When I agreed with my mother, I ended the call.
All I wanted to do was curl up in a ball somewhere and wind back the last forty-eight hours.
I managed to park the car in Abbie’s garage without scraping the sides. When I pushed her key in the front door I turned it and had flashbacks. The last time I’d unlocked a door, I’d found a dead body seconds later. I pushed the image of Don’s lifeless corpse out of my head, locked the door behind me, and made my way to the couch.
Flopping down, I was relieved I’d gotten out of the police station before they found something to arrest me for. As I sat, I remembered the bruises the officer had seen. I turned my hands over to study my injuries. When I heard a car, I jumped up and looked out the window pleased to see it was Abbie and Steve.
Abbie burst through the door and opened her arms. I sobbed against her shoulder. We both sat down on the couch and Steve walked in after a few minutes.
“I’m sorry about Don, Destiny,” Steve said. “It must’ve been a horrible shock.”
“They think I had something to do with his death. The neighbors said they heard an argument. The police think he might have been poisoned but they don’t know yet.”
“Do you need a good lawyer?” Steve asked.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Abbie shaking her head at him.
“I hope I don’t need one.” I wiped my eyes. “It was a terrible shock. And then the police—the police are suspicious of me. They think I had something to do with his death.”
“Are you sure?” Abbie asked.
“They made me feel like it.”
“Why? What did they say?”
“They… I just can’t talk about it at the moment.”
Steve walked forward a few more steps. “I think I’ll leave you both to it.”
“Thanks for coming back here. I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t ruin your weekend,” I said to Steve.
“We would’ve had to come back tomorrow anyway,” Steve graciously said.
Abbie and Steve smiled at each other and then Steve left.
“It was just dreadful, Abbie.”
“It’s terrible. How come they don’t know how he died?”
“They’re waiting on a report to come through. They said they might have some information from the coroner in a few hours.”
“I’ll get you another tissue.”
While Abbie went into the kitchen looking for a tissue, my thoughts turned to Maggie, Don’s mother.
“The police asked for Maggie’s phone number and address.”
“That’ll be hard for her, hearing the news at her age.”
“Yes. She adored him. He was everything to her.”
Don and his mother were very close. But I wasn’t sure whether she liked me or not. I remember the first time Don and I took Maggie on an outing with us. It was to a pop-up farmers market held every six months. It seemed everyone turned out to go there and it was crowded. We must’ve arrived at the most popular time of day at around eleven in the morning. Don let me and his mother out of the car at the entrance while he found a parking spot. He instructed me not to let his mother out of my sight. The plan was he’d find us when he parked the car. I helped his mother out of the car and I walked with her to the main area.
After quite a while, Don hadn’t shown up so I thought it best to go and find him. Knowing his mother couldn’t walk a great distance, I asked her to stay where she was while I went to find him.
I found him after I’d gone about a hundred yards. He wasn’t pleased to see me alone and was worried about his mother. I told him I’d asked her to stay put and I knew exactly where I’d left her. When we got to the spot, his mother was nowhere to be seen.
He was furious and told me again I should’ve stayed with her. Needless to say Don was even more furious when we found her a good ten minutes later and she was in a different area altogether. I could tell by the smirk on her face and the way she grabbed onto her son’s arm, she had done it deliberately for attention. She ignored me totally when I asked her why she hadn’t stayed put. Don glared at me for losing his dear mother and all the while his mother was staring up at him adoringly.
From that day on, I knew his mother saw me as a threat, or at least competition for her son’s attention. We got along on the surface, just as the old woman had pretended to get along with his first wife.
Abbie said, “It’s hard to think he’s been murdered.”
“Yes, that’s what they think.”
She patted my shoulder while handing me a box of tissues. I pulled a couple of tissues out and blew my nose. “There’ll be a funeral.”
“Yes, but you don’t have to worry about that today.”
“But who will organize it? Me or his mother? We never got married, so it’s not up to me to give him a funeral, but his mother might want me to make all the arrangements. Then again there’s Jennifer and Peter. They might want to do it.”
“That means you’ll have to speak to Maggie soon, but not right now.”
“Okay.”
“Give it a few days. I wouldn’t go calling her just now.”
“No, I won’t,” I said. “I can’t think who would’ve wanted him dead. I mean, he got a lot of people offside, but he got on well with his work colleagues. There were plenty of people at the engagement party. Come to think of it, his mother wasn’t there, which is strange, and his sister wasn’t there.”
“That is odd. Is he close with his sister?”
“Most of the time he is, but sometimes he has arguments with her too.”
“Have you told your mother?”
My mother—I knew she would be calling my grandmother and her sister, telling them all about what happened.
“Yes, I called her when I came out of the police station. She wanted me to go to her place but I couldn’t face it. Thanks for having me here. I just couldn’t go home. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go home knowing he died right there in the living room.”
“Would you like coffee or something stronger?”
“I don’t know. I can’t make any decisions right now. Whatever you think.”
My phone rang and I pulled it out of my bag to read ‘Mom’ on the screen.
“Hello.”
“Are you at Abbie’s now?”
“Yes.”
“I’m coming over.”
“No, Mom, don’t. I’m alright here. I don’t want any fuss. I’ll just go to sleep. Please don’t fuss, Mom.”
My mother was silent.
“I’m okay. Please; I just need some quiet,” I insisted.
“But you haven’t told me anything that’s happened.”
“I’ll call you when I know more. The police don’t know why he died yet. As soon as I know anything, I will call you. I promise.”
“Are you sure you’re okay there?”
“I’m fine.”
“Okay. I’ll go, but call me if you need anything.”
“I will.” I ended the call.
“Your mother is welcome here if that’s what you’re worried about,” Abbie said.
“No. It’s just too much drama when my mother gets involved in things. If I tell her what’s really going on she’ll be down at the police station in a flash telling them off, and knowing her, she’ll put a hex on them.”
Abbie gave a little laugh. But I wasn’t joking.
Police sirens sounded outside Abbie’s house.
Abbie jumped up and looked out the window. “They’ve come here. What are they doing here?”
“I think they want to ask you a few questions,” I said to Abbie.
“Well why have they got the sirens on?”
“I don’t know.” Abbie rushed to the door and opened it. I was right behind her.
Detective Andrews stood outside.
“Destiny Stephens, you’re under arrest for the murder of Donald Farrell.”
Everything around me spun. I backed away. “No, no it’s not true. I didn’t do anything to him.”
“You’ve got nothing to worry about then.” The beautiful blue eyes I’d once admired were now icy cold.
“Why are you arresting her?” Abbie asked.
He stepped forward and unclipped handcuffs from his belt.
Abbie put her hand out in front of me. “Surely you don’t need to use handcuffs? This is just a mistake and we’ll sort it out soon.”
The detective took yet another step forward and I could see he was going to use those handcuffs no matter what Abbie said.
“It’s okay, Abbie.” I put my hands out so he could slap the cuffs on.
Detective Andrews stuck the cuffs back through his belt and took hold of my arm. I was sure he had a twinge of a smile touching his lips.
As I was led away I said to Abbie, “You’d better get the name of that lawyer for me from Steve.”
“Don’t you worry about anything. I’ll bail you out.”
Detective Andrews looked back, and said, “Not before the morning you won’t. She’ll go before a judge tomorrow and bail will be set.”
“I’ll be there first thing.”
Chapter 14
On the way to the station in the back of the police car, I tried not to worry. I ignored the cage-like barrier that separated me from the detective and the officer in the front seat and turned my attention to wondering who’d killed Don. So many weird things had happened and I knew I couldn’t let the authorities find out about my blackouts or I could spend the rest of my life in jail. Trouble was, I wasn’t a good liar. Was it possible I could have killed him while I was having a blackout? Surely not if he was poisoned… No, I couldn’t have. But Don and I were the only ones who had keys to the apartment unless he’d made another copy. Then again, would the poisoner have needed a key?
I was taken to a cell in a row of five, where I was glad to be alone. There was a small toilet on one side that had a tap over the top of it and I hoped that wasn’t where I was supposed to get my drinking water from. There was a two foot wide by one inch thick mattress. I hoped my bail wouldn’t be very much because I knew Abbie didn’t have a lot of money and neither did I.
If worst came to worst, I would have to ask my grandmother to bail me out since she was the one in the family who had all the money.
Desperate for something to do with no TV and no books, I started counting the bricks along the wall. That was until I was distracted by the deathly cold of the place. I rubbed my arms briskly to warm them. My chances of getting a blanket would be slim but if the place didn’t warm up before night, I’d have to ask for one.
After a while of pacing up and down the cell, I heard people at the far end of the row of cells getting food and I wondered what it would be like.
When an officer opened the door, I thought they would be passing me a tray of food.
Instead the officer said, “Destiny Stephens?”
“Yes?”
“You’re free to go.”
I just looked at him, wondering why they were letting me go. Something wasn’t right.
“Are you sure?” I hadn’t even been questioned again and I still didn’t know what had prompted the sudden arrest. Why hadn’t they arrested me right after I’d made my statement if they thought I was guilty?
“Come on.” He jerked his head back and signaled for me to go with him.
I jumped to my feet and followed him past the other cells and past the interview rooms through to the main part of the station. I didn’t dare ask him why I was being let go just in case it had all been a mistake. Perhaps they’d confused me with someone else who should’ve been set free. When he arrested me, Andrews had said I wasn’t going to get bail until I went before a judge in the morning.
The officer took me to a counter. “Sign here for your things.”
I signed on the bottom of the document and another officer passed me my bag.
“Make sure everything’s there.”
I looked in the bag and saw my makeup bag, coin purse, credit card folder and phone. I looked up and nodded.
“You’re free to leave. The exit’s right out that door.” He pointed behind me.
I walked through the door confused and dazed, and that’s when I saw Jacques Hunter. I knew he’d used his influence to get me out of jail and I was never more pleased to see anyone.