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“No,” the detective says. “Of course, we will have to wait for the autopsy to confirm the cause of death, but it appears he was stabbed in the heart with a knitting needle. It has since been…removed.”
Apparently, the latch on Amelia’s bedroom door is broken, and when the police barged in, it spooked the dogs. They got into the bathroom where Gus proceeded to cause havoc with a melted canister of ice cream while Shawn stole the knitting needle from Justin’s chest and ran all over the apartment with it. Amelia puked again. It was quite the ordeal.
Serena leans over the body to get a better look. “Why does he smell like vomit?”
Another evil glance from the detective. “Miss Quinn was so caught off guard when she discovered him, she…” He doesn’t finish.
Cruz turns and looks back at me with a look that says “Seriously, your girlfriend threw up on a dead guy?”
I’ll admit. It doesn’t look good for her. “You can’t tell me you didn’t feel a little queasy when you found your first dead body.” I give her a pointed look.
She grunts and continues to scowl at me. “So, the girl’s our main suspect?” Cruz asks the detective.
“It would appear so.”
I can’t believe they are going down this line of thought. “You do realize Amelia is five foot nothing and Justin here is six two.” That would have been an impressive feat for her to gain enough of an advantage over him to kill him, then stick him in the tub.
I can tell both of them are thinking the same thing when Amelia pipes up from the kitchen. “I’m five one and a quarter!”
Serena cocks her head to the side. “That could make all the difference.”
“No way.” Amelia bursts into the room. “I’d have to stand on the couch or something to kill him and then what, how did I get him in the shower? Unless I lured him into the bathroom under false pretenses and stood on the edge of the tub—”
“Amelia!” I stop her before she can fully sell them on the idea that she did this. “Why don’t you look for your laptop?” And exercise her right to remain silent.
Her eyes go wide and her face pales. “Yeah. I’ll do that.” She backs out of the bathroom.
“Keep an eye on her. I don’t want her destroying more evidence,” the detective calls out to the junior police officer.
“It was an accident!” Amelia calls back.
I massage my neck. As cute as her rambling is, this is the absolute worst time for it.
“We’ll question her,” the detective says.
I don’t think protecting Amelia will ever get easier.
Chapter 28
Amelia
I’ve never been questioned for murder before. I’m trying hard to remain focused, but I’m distracted by everything in the interrogation room. The stainless-steel table and matching chairs, the two-way window. Even the lighting choice captivates me. Every last detail serves a purpose in getting the bad guy to confess. And this time the bad guy is me! Wait, no, I’m innocent.
I know I shouldn’t be excited about this, but heaven help me, I am.
It’s wrong though. Who finds this kind of thing exciting? Especially when someone I once loved is dead.
Caleb turns his body, angling himself between me and the window.
“You should stop smiling. It’s making you look suspicious.”
My hands fly to my face. “I can’t. I know it’s morbid. And it was Justin! My former fiancé! What’s wrong with me?”
He squeezes my shoulder. “I think you’re in shock.”
Shock. Yes. That’s what this is. I’m not a psychopath.
Which is good to know because I work with a lot of dangerous equipment and chemicals and could do some serious damage if I wanted to. Okay…maybe my intrusive thoughts are a bit psychotic.