Page 90 of Kiss Marry Kill

“To put it bluntly, I need to verify your story. I can’t just take your word for it. I need to be sure there’s no blood spatter on your dress.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I had to do the same thing with everyone in the wedding party, Mrs. Raiden. I’m not singling you out. The only reason this has become a thing is because you’re refusing to let me see the dress. If you’d just shown it to me the day of the wedding, this would all be over with.”

“I’ve told you what is on that dress, and it isn’t blood,” she hissed.

“And I’ve told you I can’t just take your word for it.”

Her face was red now, and her eyes glittered with anger. “Fine,” she snapped.

“Shall I send a deputy to your home to pick it up?”

“No need. It’s in the trunk of my car. I was going to have it dry-cleaned.”

Was she for real? “That would have been a mistake. It would have made you look guilty. As if you were trying to destroy evidence.”

She sniffed. “Well, I didn’t drop it off yet, so there.”

Hanging on to my temper, I said, “Great. We can get the dress from your car when we’re done here.”

She straightened, lifting her chin. “Can I go now?”

I almost laughed. Was she loco? “I’m sorry, no. We’ve just started.”

“I don’t know anything,” she wailed. “Why are you harassing me?”

I counted to ten and then asked politely, “How about you tell me what happened immediately following Kobe’s drunken speech?”

“Nothing happened.”

“That’s not completely true.”

“Oh really?”

I nodded. “Remember you met up with Archie in the gazebo?”

“What are you insinuating?” she demanded.

This time, I counted to twenty.

“Instead of getting upset, how about you just tell me what happened between you and Archie in the gazebo.”

She pursed her lips, her eyes glittering with animosity. “My husband was right about you.”

“In what way?” I was pretty sure a compliment wasn’t coming.

Her gaze was cold. “You don’t seem to understand that there are some people in the community you need to go easy on.”

“Is that what you think?” I was a bit taken aback that she’d just come out and said that to my face. Her arrogance was mind-boggling.

“I absolutely think that.”

“I disagree. That wasn’t what I was elected for. I’m here to protect the citizens of Rainy Dale. I can’t do that if my hands are tied.”

She narrowed her eyes. “There are lines that you should know better than to cross.”

“There’s nobody in town who’s above the law,” I said gruffly.