“Neither will I!” Coco said quickly. And just as quickly, she whirled in Madison’s direction. “I thought I was your BFF!”
“You are,” Madison answered shakily. “Both of you are my friends. Really, you are. But right now, just stay cool and answer the detective’s questions.”
Detective Roan’s face took on the expression of a pit bull. “I’m only going to say it once, got it? The only people I want here with me are Tallula Kayson and Coco McKaid. That means anyone named after an avenue has to leave!”
Lex clucked her tongue. “Can’t you be more original than that?” she snapped.
“I agree,” Madison said firmly. “There’s no reason to resort to clichés. I mean, really.”
“Detective, may I ask you a question?” Park took a step in his direction. “Are you conducting an official police interrogation here? Because if you are, I believe Coco and Tallula have the right to have an attorney present.”
His lips curled in a little snarl. He stayed quiet.
“That’s right!” Coco snapped. “And a publicist! I’m being made to feel like a criminal!”
“And you can’t expect me to answer any questions!” Tallula wailed. “I’m in shock!” She stumbled toward a chair and plopped into it, covering her face with her hands.
It was a clear defeat for Detective Roan, and he knew it.
But Park didn’t give him a smug expression. Instead, she smiled brightly, dug into her purse, and pulled out a roll of Life Savers. She popped one into her mouth and then gingerly offered him one.
The snarl still in place, he grabbed a piece and crunched down on it.
“Now,” Park said firmly. “We need some questions answered, right? Let’s start with you, Coco. Tell us exactly what happened, please.”
“It happened just like I said,” Coco explained. “When I left the luncheon I went to the bathroom, and I…I saw the chain on the floor and I picked it up. End of story.”
Madison looked at Lex, who looked at Park.
“Where’d you go after the bathroom?” Park asked.
“Madison, you told me that Lex went to the bathroom when I first arrived at the luncheon,” Tallula said.
“So the two of you went to the bathroom together,” Detective Roan stated. “Is that right?”
“No, it’s not.” Lex sighed. Damn. She didn’t want to have to speak up about Coco’s whereabouts just yet. But she knew she had no choice. “I went looking for Coco because Coco never came back from the bathroom. I looked for her for nearly an hour.”
Coco blushed.
“So then where did you go during that time, Miss McKaid?” Detective Roan asked.
“I…I was just wandering around.” Coco cleared her throat nervously. “I had a little too much to drink at the luncheon and I was annoyed and I—”
“Elijah went to the luncheon before I did,” Tallula interjected. “Did any of you see him?”
Madison bit down on her lip.
Lex played with the strap of her purse.
Park didn’t bat an eye. She stood as calm and unshakable as ever. “Yes. In fact, we met him. And Coco was with us.”
Coco shot Park a how-could-you-do-this-to-me? look.
“Park, did you or your sisters see Coco leave the room with Elijah?” Detective Roan asked.
“No,” Park replied. “Elijah left a few minutes before she did.”
“But then Elijah came back up to the penthouse just as Ina and I were leaving to come to the lunch—” Tallula started as if she’d been pricked with a needle. She shot out of the chair. “Oh my God! Ina! I completely forgot about Ina! She was up in the penthouse! She had to have been there when Elijah fell! Oh my God! Where is she?”
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Madison said soothingly. “The police are probably up there right now talking to her.”
“But what if she’s been hurt?” Tallula cried. “I have to get upstairs!”
Madison grabbed Tallula’s hand and held her back.
Detective Roan was already rattling orders off on his cell.
“Tallula, what happened after you and Ina left the luncheon together?” Park asked coolly. “I know you don’t feel like answering questions, but please try.”
“We walked down the hall to the elevator,” Tallula began, wringing her hands. “Ina hadn’t felt so good this morning, and then it just got worse—she must’ve eaten something at the luncheon that didn’t agree with her. We rode upstairs and went into the suite. Ina went right to her room and told me she wanted to take a shower and lie down.”
“And where was Elijah?” Lex asked.
“He was in the bedroom.” Tallula paused, as though trying to recall every detail of those critical moments. “He was on the Internet, sitting at the desk. He asked me if I’d go back downstairs and buy him a pack of cigarettes, and that’s exactly what I did. I left the penthouse and got back into the elevator—but the elevator got stuck on its way down. I was in there for at least ten minutes before it started moving again. I made it to the lobby, and that’s when I saw all the commotion. That’s when I…”
When I came outside and saw Elijah dead on the pavement, Park thought. She smoothed a hand over Tallula’s arm. “And is there any possibility that Elijah…took his own life?” she asked gently.
Tallula shook her head. “No, never. Someone had to have…pushed him.” Tears spilled over her cheeks again.
“Well then, I guess it’s Ina we should be speaking to,” Madison said quietly, insinuating the obvious.
“That can’t be,” Tallula whispered. “It just…can’t be.”
Detective Roan snapped his cell shut. “Ms. Debrovitch is being questioned in the penthouse by my partner. She’s okay, but very shaken up.”
“I have to see her!” Tallula cried.
“Not yet.” Detective Roan trained his eyes on Coco. “Tell me something, Miss McKaid—where were you for all that time after you left the luncheon? Lex said she searched for you for about an hour.”
“I was…just walking around,” Coco said, and not very convincingly.
“Is that right?” Detective Roan sounded purposely skeptical. “No chance you met up with Elijah while Tallula and Ina and your friends were all at the luncheon, is there?”
“Of course not!” Coco shot back. “Are you crazy?”
Madison stood up. “Detective, why would you ask a question like that?”
“I was drunk!” Coco ranted, sounding more and more panicked. “I…My head was spinning and I even felt like throwing up. I was probably in that bathroom when Lex came looking for me—she just didn’t know it.”
“I thought you said you were walking around.” Detective Roan smirked. “I’m pretty sure that’s what you said.”
“No…yes. I mean…” Coco raked a hand through her hair. She had begun sweating. She stared beseechingly at Madison, at Park, at Lex. Her breaths came sharply.
“Think, Miss McKaid,” Detective Roan pressed. “Maybe there’s something you’re just not telling us.”
“I’ve told you everything!” Coco snapped. “And I’m tired of answering your stupid questions. I want to get out of here.”
Detective Roan held up the gold chain that had fallen out of Coco’s purse. The chain that had belonged to Elijah Traymore. “You see this?” he said. “The latch on the back of this chain is completely bent, and it looks to me like there’re a few specks of dried blood on it. As if it was yanked off Elijah’s neck. By force.”
Park leaned forward and tried to get a good look at the chain without upsetting Detective Roan. “Oh, yes,” she whispered. “I see that. But—wait. Then you’re saying Elijah was involved in some sort of physical confrontation. You’re saying he was pushed.”
Detective Roan smiled and gave Park an exaggerated wink. “You might make a good cop one day, little lady.”
“Only if they change the uniform,” Madison commented.
Under normal circumstances, Coco would have laughed at the comment. Or added someth
ing to it. But now she was frozen, staring at the floor like a kid who’s just been caught going through her mother’s jewelry safe.
“A whole hour,” Detective Roan continued, circling her as he held out the chain. “Unless you have an alibi, I could probably place you just about anywhere. A lot can happen in an hour.”
Madison reached out and tapped Coco’s shoulder. “Why aren’t you saying anything?” she asked frantically. “What’s wrong with you? Don’t you understand what he’s trying to imply? Tell him where you were so you’re not a part of this whole mess.”
Coco remained silent.
Just then, the elevator behind them yawned open and a uniformed officer stepped out of it. He walked up to Detective Roan, held up a small plastic bag, and said, “We found this in the penthouse, just outside the terrace. Looks like evidence of a struggle.”
Detective Roan held up the plastic bag; in it was a gold cell phone. “This look familiar, Miss McKaid?”
Madison gasped. Lex grabbed Park’s hand.
“It’s mine,” Coco answered, her voice barely audible. Then her eyes glassed with tears. “It’s…mine.”
Tallula lunged forward, but the shock of the moment got her, and she stumbled back into the chair. “Murderer!” she shrieked, pointing at Coco. “Murderer!”
“Ina, are you okay?”
Park kept her voice gentle and soothing, not wanting to add to the chaos happening all over the hotel suite. She, Madison, and Lex were standing in the small study just off the main foyer. They were clutching their purses as they stared down at Ina—a trembling, pathetic figure of a girl slumped on the couch. They each had the instinct to reach out and comfort her, but Park knew playing that card wouldn’t be a good idea. There was a lot of work to do, and they had to maintain a low profile.
It had been a feat to get in here in the first place. Detective Roan had protested all the way. Madison and Lex—both in shock from watching Coco be escorted to a police cruiser in handcuffs—had nearly fallen apart. Park had assumed the role of leader and muscled their way into the hotel suite. Thankfully, Tallula had agreed that extra company would be good for her and Ina.
But getting in was only half the battle. Now Park had to find a way around all the crime-scene technicians. Not to mention Detective Roan, who had gotten a lot meaner in the last half hour.
“Ina?” Park said again. She tapped the girl’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Ina Debrovitch trembled and played with the edges of the quilt that had been draped around her shoulders. She didn’t touch the cup of tea on the table before her, nor did she look up at Madison, Park, or Lex.
“You’re just in shock,” Madison said, kneeling down beside her. “But you don’t have to be afraid to talk to us. We’re Tallula’s friends.”
“That’s right,” Lex chimed in. “You just need to relax. Here, let me help you.” She opened the magic purse and pulled out her small bottle of custom-mix perfume. She reached down and gently took hold of Ina’s left wrist. “This is one of the rarest and most expensive perfumes on the planet. Some of the botanicals come straight from the Amazon. Trust me—once you get a whiff, you’ll feel a lot better.”
Ina stared up at her. Dark circles rimmed her eyes. There were blotches on her forehead. “But I don’t like perfume,” she said quietly. “I—”
Lex aimed the nozzle at Ina’s wrist and spritzed. “Mmmmmmm!” she said immediately, sniffing the air. “Spectacular.”
“Glorious,” Madison agreed, raising her nose.
Park waved the scent over to her. “Like standing in a Parisian garden in springtime.”
“But I—” Ina caught a whiff of the perfume and cracked a smile. She sniffed her wrist. The look on her face went from disinterested to immensely pleased in a matter of seconds. “That’s amazing. It’s so…so beautiful! Oh, wow!”
“See?” Lex nodded. “I told you—it’s impossible to smell this custom mix and not feel better.” She sprayed the air again for effect.
Ina tried to keep the brave expression in place, but it collapsed quickly and she began sobbing. Heavy, choking sobs that racked her body. She felt as if she were floating out on the open ocean in the middle of a storm—it was all dark skies and dangerous waves, with no chance of ever being rescued. And she heard the lonely whisper of the wind too, like a voice that kept saying Elijah is dead, Elijah is dead, Elijah is dead. She pulled the quilt tighter around her shoulders. Almost ninety degrees outside, and yet she was trying to stay warm.
Madison and Lex patted her shoulders.
But then Park pulled them both away and shook her head, indicating that they were taking the wrong actions. She sighed inwardly. Madison and Lex were dumb with shock. Though Madison had managed to fix her tearstained face with a quick flash of her compact, she was still operating in slow motion. Park knew that much. If Madison had her brains together, she wouldn’t be commiserating with Ina. Same went for Lex. Technically speaking, they were standing in the vicinity of the crime scene—the balcony from which Elijah had been pushed was only a few rooms away—and getting a good look at it was crucial to their investigation. And that meant keeping a distance from any potential suspects.
At the moment, all they knew was that Ina had been showering when someone—or, according to the cops, Coco—shoved Elijah to his death. Ina had removed her hearing aid and left it on her nightstand. She hadn’t been able to hear any fighting or screaming. When she emerged from the shower several minutes later, the hearing aid was broken on the floor. She walked out of her room and saw that the balcony doors were open. The suite, of course, was empty. She hadn’t known anything was wrong until hotel security burst through the door.
That little configuration of events made sense to Park, but when it came to crime, there was always more than met the eye.
The way it looked now, Coco had been in the suite with Elijah while Ina was showering. There’d been some sort of struggle. Coco had done the deed and then split, all before Ina made it out of her bedroom. Possible, yes. But Park couldn’t bring herself to believe that it had happened that way. And neither could Madison and Lex. Coco, a killer? No way. It was easier to believe J.Lo had actually designed her own clothing line.
Park was about to begin one of her interrogations when Tallula came striding into the study. She was still wearing the vermilion dress, but the head scarf had been replaced by a black hat to which she had pinned a long piece of black lace. The lace acted as a veil, obscuring her face so she looked like a widow in mourning.
“Ina!” she cried, sitting down on the couch and throwing her arms out wide. “Oh, honey—I know!”
Ina heaved a sigh. Another cry escaped her lips. “I’m…so…scared,” she said, her speech more slurred than usual.
“Don’t be,” Tallula replied. She wiped the tears from Ina’s cheeks, despite the fact that her own tears were flowing past her chin. “Everything will be okay. You’ll see.” A piece of the lace caught in the side of her mouth, and she flicked it away with her tongue.
“I wish I could have helped,” Ina whispered. “But I didn’t know. I couldn’t hear….”
Tallula began sobbing again. “It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” She looked up at Madison, Park, and Lex. “I just can’t believe this is happening. I don’t know what I would do if you girls weren’t here.”
Madison gave Tallula’s shoulder a squeeze as she held back her own tears.
It was, according to Park, another bad move. Duh, she thought, looking at Madison. Tallula thinks your best friend is a killer. You have to stand back from this. But even as the words pranced through her brain, she knew it was hopeless. And she really couldn’t blame Madison for being confused: it wasn’t every day that one of your closest friends was accused of cold-blooded murder.
“Um, Tallula?” Park asked gently. “Where did it happen? I mean, where’s the balcony?”
“Down at the other end of the suite,” Tallula answered, flicking another piece of lace away from her mouth. “I
n the east wing. Oh—it’s a mess! Broken glass, two vases trampled like little ants. The phone’s been knocked off the hook too. It looks like a disaster area!” She sniffled. “And those CSI people—they have no respect for Queen Anne–period furniture! You should see them—throwing white powder everywhere, spraying chemicals on the floor! You’d think they’ve never been in a penthouse suite before.”
“Most of them haven’t,” Lex muttered. Then she bit her lip. It had been a stupid thing to say, but someone had to defend the forensic techs just a little bit. Lex had a lot of respect for people who worked crime scenes—they had to wear plastic bags over their shoes and slip their hands into uncomfortable latex gloves. Not exactly glamorous.
“You have to stay calm, Tallula,” Madison said evenly. “For all of us.”
Tallula nodded weakly. “I know. I just don’t think I can stand any more of it.” She had answered only a handful of questions so far. She told the detectives that she didn’t want to imagine how it had happened, and submitting to their heartless demands did just that. Even now, sitting quietly beside Ina, the vivid scenario flashed in her mind like slides from a horror movie—how Elijah had probably slammed against the concrete railing after being pushed, how he had obviously struggled to stop his weight from pitching over the side, how his palms and fingernails had scraped helplessly in those final seconds before he plunged through the air. The images made her throat close.
She held Ina tightly against her chest. In the nine months since she’d become Tallula’s assistant, Ina had never once cried. She had a stalwart demeanor. She acted like a little soldier, getting the job done and getting it done efficiently. She never said more than was expected of her. She didn’t dish her personal opinions.
Tallula. Elijah. Ina. They had become something of a family, albeit an untraditional, odd family. And Tallula had known it would be that way from the moment Ina walked into her life. Like her and Elijah, Ina was alone in the world: her parents were gone and the cousins she had back home weren’t really close. Ina had been orphaned at a young age, and living with Tallula and Elijah had given her a true sense of security. Of friendship and love.
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