Page 13 of Accidental Murder

“But she’s?—”

“No.”

Frustration gnawed at Kayla. If she hadn’t gone on the ridiculous date. If she hadn’t gone to the diner. If only she’d stayed home.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Within minutesthe EMTs pronounced Ashley dead.

Kayla sank to the curb and stared numbly at the strobe-like fixture on top of the emergency vehicle.Dead?She tightened the cashmere scarf covering her head and tugged at the collar of her sister’s coat to steady herself.Dead?

“Miss Macintyre, is it?” A fortyish woman with no-fuss short hair approached. “Inspector Sergeant Megan Hanrahan.” She displayed her badge. In taupe linen suit and heels, she towered over Kayla who remained sitting, knees tucked to her chest. “May we talk?” She pocketed the badge and sat beside Kayla on the curb, ankles crossed.

A policeman carrying an evidence kit climbed the stairs to Kayla’s porch. Another bearing a large roll of yellow crime scene tape followed.

Kayla juddered.

“How are you doing?” Hanrahan asked.

Kayla gaped at the inspector.How am I doing?My sister is dead. And it’s my fault.She didn’t speak. She couldn’t.

“Mrs. Tennyson, the neighbor in the blue robe, pointed you out,” Hanrahan continued, her manner gentle and kind. “Shetold us you’re the deceased’s sister. If you’re up to it, I’d like talk to you?—”

“Ashley, I’m so sorry.” A man squatted inches from Kayla, his big square face too close to determine features.

She tilted her head back and stiffened when she recognized Dennis Wald in a navy blazer over crisp white shirt and jeans. Though his braces had been removed, he looked as forbidding as ever. What was he doing here? Why had he called her Ashley?

“Captain,” Hanrahan said.

“Inspector.”

“Do you know Miss Macintyre?”

“We’ve met.”

It dawned on Kayla that she bore a resemblance to her sister in the fancy clothes and her long hair hidden beneath the scarf, plus Ashley had been wearing Kayla’s clothes and her hair had been tucked beneath a baseball cap. Why had she changed her appearance?

Kayla opened her mouth to correct Dennis but shut it as the memory of Ashley’s last words crashed in on her.He wanted you. Said your name.Ashley had been holding a notecard in her hand. An invitation to the Policemen’s Ball. Had she been trying to signal that Dennis attacked her?

“Do you remember me?” Dennis reached for her hand. “We met once before.”

She tucked her hands beneath her armpits.

“We need to ask you some questions about what went on inside,” he said.

Kayla felt her cheeks warm. “Why are you here?”

“This case will report to me.”

Bile rose in Kayla’s gut.Captain, Hanrahan had called him. How could Dennis have risen to that level with his emotional outbursts?

“I promise you everything will be done to the letter,” he added.

“To the letter,” Hanrahan echoed.

Dennis settled beside Kayla on the curb and stretched his long legs in front of him, legs that had once clenched her in the throes of passion. She inched away from him, craving distance.

“Did Kayla say anything to you before she died?” he asked.