Page 53 of It's a Wonderful Knife

Amelia’s face was so red, it concerned me. “No he wasn’t. You’re a liar. You’re all liars.”

Max stood, and he moved to Amelia. “You shouldn’t get so excited. You have a head injury, Amelia. Who cares what they say? You need to stay calm.”

“Stay calm?” She widened her eyes. “How? They’re accusing me of murdering the man I loved.”

Grimacing, Max said, “Did you kill him?”

“No, of course not!”

“Then why do you care what people say about you? People talk about me all the time. I couldn’t care less.” He shrugged.

“Do they call you amurderer?”

“They have.” He grimaced. “It’s a long story.”

She scowled. “And you don’t care?”

“No. I know I’m innocent.” He studied her. “I believe you’re innocent too.”

“You think I’m… innocent?”

Max shrugged. “You asked us to go look for Santiago.”

“Maybe that was just so you’dthinkshe’s innocent,” Richard said.

“Perhaps. But when she heard Santiago was dead, she fainted.”

“Pfft, please. She could have faked that,” Richard groused.

Max shook his head. “I don’t think she did.”

“Then you’re even more naïve than I thought.” Richard gave a hard laugh.

“No, I’m simply making observations. I’ve noticed that Amelia is very concerned with her appearance. She checks her makeup a lot during the day.”

Richard scowled. “And that means she couldn’t commit murder?”

Max sighed. “My point is she’s rathervain.”

“I am not,” Amelia hissed.

“Not in a bad way.” Max grimaced.

Amelia fingered the bandage on her head, scowling.

“What does being… vain… have to do with anything?” Gianna asked, frowning.

Max shrugged. “I would think if a person was to fake fainting, they’dinstinctivelytry to shield their head and face. I don’t think they could help it. Amelia didn’t do that. She went down like a redwood, and she smacked her head on the floor.”

Richard mumbled, “She seems fine.”

Max nodded. “I think she is okay, but she could have seriously injured herself. I mean, just look at that bump on her forehead. I think we can all agree that bump isnotattractive. As vain as Amelia is, I don’t think she’d want to look that unattractive.”

“For the last time,” Amelia said through gritted teeth. “I’mnotvain.”

“Tactful as usual, Maxwell.” River’s snide voice cut through the stunned silence.

Max winced. “I’m trying to defend you, Amelia.”