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TWO WEEKS LATER

I was sitting at my desk at the detective agency, waiting for my next appointment to walk through the door. The woman was late. Seventeen minutes late, to be precise, and given I was a stickler for timeliness, I had a notion to cancel the meeting altogether.

Another eight minutes ticked by, and I decided to do just that.

Then the front door opened.

A disheveled woman with long, auburn hair, the likes of which looked like it had been through a windstorm walked in. Her boho attire included a pair of colorful striped leggings, a light blue, floral print, V-neck blouse, and brown, suede booties.

She grabbed a ponytail holder off her wrist, pulling her hair back into a loose bun.

“Are you Zoey Morgan?” I asked.

“I am.”

“You’re twenty-five minutes late,” I said.

She looked at me, blowing out a burst of air, and shrugged. “I am so sorry. I could have sworn I set my alarm last night, but this morning, it didn’t go off. I hope you’re not too upset with me.”

I was, but saying as much wouldn’t change a thing.

“Take a seat,” I said.

“Oh, yes, thank you.”

As she lowered herself into the chair, she reached into her oversized handbag, fumbling around for something. When she didn’t find what she was looking for, she began removing various items, piling them on my desk like it was a storage facility.

“Just a second,” she said.

Several seconds later, she pulled out a plastic baggie containing a handful of photos, and she handed it to me.

I glanced inside the baggie. “What are these?”

“Pictures taken the night my best friend was murdered,” she said. “Thought they might be useful.”

“Useful how? I’m not sure why you asked to meet with me.”

“Oh, isn’t it obvious? I’d like to hire you to investigate a murder.”

I nodded, opening my desk drawer and removing a notebook and a pen. “Why don’t we start at the beginning?”

Zoey took a deep breath in. “A couple of weeks ago, Noelle threw an engagement party for me at her house. As the night wound down, and only a handful of us remained, we decided to have a toast. Noelle went upstairs to get more bottles of champagne, and not long after, the electricity—and all the lights and music—went out.”

“For how long?”

“Five minutes, I guess. When all the lights came back on, Dominic screamed.”

“Who’s Dominic?”

“Noelle’s husband. I ran upstairs to see what all the fuss was about and found him hovering over Noelle’s body. At first, I thought she’d passed out. Dominic said she wasn’t breathing, and I called 9-1-1. Not that it mattered. She was already dead.”

“What was the cause of death?”

“She was strangled. And I ... I just can’t imagine why anyone would do something like that to her.”

The tears came fast, and Zoey shoved a hand back inside her bag, pulling out a small package of tissues. She blotted her eyes, and I waited.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“You’ve just lost a close friend. It’s understandable. Can I get you something to drink?”

“A glass of water would be nice. My throat feels like sandpaper.”

I nodded and headed for the kitchen, grabbing her a glass of water and iced tea for myself. I returned to my office and handed her the glass, and she gulped half of the water down, using her hand to wipe the excess moisture off her face.

“This past month ... it’s been hard,” she said.

“I bet.”

“Four weeks ago, I was about to get married, and then a single moment changed everything.”

“Did you postpone the wedding?”

“We did. I can’t think straight, let alone go through with the wedding right now. Lucas, my fiancé, has been great, and so supportive. If I’m being honest, I think he’s a bit relieved—about the wedding, not Noelle’s death. The truth is, I was the one pushing to get married.”

“Didn’t Lucas want to get married?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s just ... he’s been married before, and it didn’t last long. The marriage was over in less than a year, but the trauma he went through left him with emotional scars. He’d vowed never to marry again.”

“Why did he agree to give it another shot?”

“I’ve never been married before. It’s always been a dream of mine, and he knows it. The day he proposed he said he never thought he’d ever be able to love anyone enough to walk down the aisle a second time until he met me.” She looked at me, her eyes glossing over my left hand. “Are you married?”

“I was also married once before, and much like Lucas, I never planned to marry again either. Then I reunited with Giovanni, a man I went to college with, and ... well, we admitted we’ve always had feelings for each other. We’re getting married in August.”

“What a great love story.”

Indeed.

But she wasn’t here to talk about weddings.

She was here to hire me to solve her friend’s murder.

“Before the lights went out at your engagement party, how many guests were still at the house?” I asked.

She tapped a finger on the desk, thinking. “Let’s see ... including Noelle, Dominic, Lucas, and me, there were three other couples. Oh, and Kiera, Noelle’s daughter.”

“How old is her daughter?”

“She’s five. Cutest little thing you ever did see. I can’t imagine what she’s going through.”

“Where was Kiera when her mother died?”

“Upstairs, in bed.”

“Did she see or hear anything?”

“She said she didn’t.”

“What about everyone else?” I asked. “Where were they?”

“Dominic had taken Kiera to bed about thirty minutes earlier, and he was still upstairs when Noelle was murdered. He said he was in the bathroom. The rest of us were downstairs.”

“When the lights came back on, were all of the guests there with you?”

“Yes.”

“What about your fiancé? Where was he?”

“He was outside, smoking a cigarette. He came inside as soon as Dominic screamed.” She downed the rest of the water and cleared her throat. “Could I have some more water?”

I nodded and went to refill her glass.

Returning, I sat back down and said, “I’m assuming it was dark in the house when the lights went out.”

“It was, we couldn’t see a thing.”

“What did everyone do when the lights went out?”

“We stood there, chatting, and wondering what to do.”

“Did you hear anyone go up or down the stairs during the time the lights were out?”

She shook her head. “The stairs are made of solid wood. They’re creaky and loud. I didn’t hear anyone on them, but I suppose it’s possible. I doubt it, though. Would have been hard to get up or down them in the dark.”

Hard, not impossible.

“How’s the investigation going so far?” I asked.

“I don’t know. The first several days after the murder, Dominic was giving me updates. Then he stopped.”

“Any idea why?”

“As the weeks have gone on, he’s become more and more withdrawn. From what I understand, he’s not talking much to anyone.”

I handed her my notebook and pen. “Can you write down the names of all the guests who were there when Noelle died and their contact information, if you have it?”

“No problem.”

She dug her phone out of her purse, using the directory to match phone numbers with names.

When she handed the notebook and pen back to me, I said, “Including those guests who’d left before the lights went out, how many people were at the party?”

“Around forty of our closest friends and family.”

Forty.

A lot of people to interview.

The rest of them could wait.

I needed to focus on those who were there at the time of the murder first.

“Tell me about Noelle,” I said. “Did she have a lot of friends? Was she well liked?”

“Noelle had tons of friends. She was such a good person, always doing things for others. She had a feisty side, though. It didn’t come out much, but it was there.”

“How feisty are we talking?”

“Hmm, might be best to give you an example. One time we were at a Brazilian steakhouse for lunch. It had been a while since the waiter had returned to the table, and I was after another glass of wine, so I got up to find him. I saw him at the front, chatting with the hostess. On my way over to him, I bumped into a woman, carrying a plate of food back to her table. The food flew off her plate, and it went everywhere. I turned to apologize to the woman, and before I could get any words out, she raised her voice, scolding me, using just about every expletive in the book.”

“What did Noelle do?”

“She raced over, standing in front of me like a shield. She looked at the woman and said if she uttered another word to me, she’d take the exchange outside.”

“ Outside as in, she threatened to fight her?”

“Uhh, I mean, I feel like threatened is a bit harsh. She was being protective, that’s all. When a person is in Noelle’s inner circle, she has their back for life.”

Maybe so, but a threat was a threat.

“What did the woman do after Noelle stood up for you?” I asked.

“She rolled her eyes, swished a hand in my direction, and walked off without saying another word.”

“Sounds like Noelle shut her down.”

Zoey let out a small laugh. “She sure did.”

“Before she died, was there anyone she was feuding with ... anyone you feel might have had a motive to kill her?”

“I don’t know of anyone. Everything was going well in her life before she died. Her marriage was great, and they were talking about trying for another baby.”

“Well, someone had it out for her.”

“Someone did, which brings me to the reason I’d like to hire you. For one, I’d like to know what’s going on in the police investigation. And for two ... well, I’ve heard if the police can’t find the person responsible for her murder, you can.”

“I can, and I will.”

Noelle’s life was good.

Her marriage was good.

But something in her life wasn’t.

And I was determined to find out what.