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T he drive back to Harper had Lulu’s mind going a mile a minute. She wanted to talk to Kai about what had been weighing on her mind. Was it too soon after they’d said their I love yous ? Was there a polite standard waiting period after vowing love before burdening your partner with your doubts?

If there was, she was about to make Emily Post extremely upset.

“I’m ready to talk about it,” Lulu said before she could lose her nerve. She truly wanted to hear what Kai had to say about this. “I’m not so sure that Allie Baker is guilty. I have some doubts.”

If Kai was shocked, he didn’t act like it. He nodded in acknowledgment of her words before replying.

“I know that you thought the DA was jumping into arresting her a bit too quick. What are you thinking about this?”

He hadn’t told her she was crazy or not thinking things through. He hadn’t told her to take the win and move on.

“I know in a big way it makes sense,” she explained. “Allie had a motive, she had an opportunity, and the murder weapon was found in her apartment.”

“It does seem like a slam dunk,” Kai said. “But clearly you’re not sure.”

“Are you sure? And tell me the truth. If you’re sure, and I’m just making my life difficult, I need to know.”

“Like bet-my-life sure? No. I don’t think I could be that sure unless the person confessed. I understand why Tony wanted you to arrest Allie, but I’m open to hearing about your doubts.”

Be careful what you ask for, Kai.

“Okay, how on earth did she carry Dana’s body to the lake? And why did she do it in the first place? If I killed someone, the last thing I would be thinking was that I needed to transport a body somewhere, leaving possible forensic evidence in my car as well as the clothes I was wearing and the crime scene. Why spread your evidence to a third place?”

“Maybe she wanted to hide the body,” Kai suggested. “Hope it wouldn’t be found.”

“She didn’t hide it very well. Henry found it first thing in the morning,” Lulu pointed out.

“True,” he conceded. “As for the evidence transfer…well…there’s no such thing as the perfect crime. It’s the mistakes that allow law enforcement to catch the bad guys, right? Maybe she’s not very smart. Or she was panicked. She might not have gone there with the intention of inflicting bodily harm.”

“I agree with that,” Lulu replied. “They argued. It got heated. Next thing you know someone got clobbered with a pipe. But that begs the question, if it was an accident or Allie was defending herself - although we don’t have any evidence of that - why didn’t she call the police? Tell her story. Instead, she drags a dead body out to the lake to dump it, bringing all the forensic evidence with her. Make it make sense.”

“You’re being too logical,” Kai said. “If this was a crime of passion, born out of a disagreement, I’m guessing emotions were already running high. Allie wouldn’t have been thinking like a cold-blooded killer. She’d be panicking and doing all the wrong things. And let’s face it, some people don’t trust cops.”

Kai made sense. If Allie was an emotional mess after killing someone, she wouldn’t be checking the “killer handbook” for tips on how to get away with it.

“Let’s take the evidence one by one,” Kai suggested as they drove toward Harper. “First, she had motive. You have to admit that Allie is strangely bonded to Jay. Other people have noted her creepy possessive nature.”

“Second,” Kai went on. “She had ample opportunity. She went out for the night, supposedly driving, and no one can corroborate her story. She had plenty of time to kill Dana, transport her body, and then get back home.”

“If I was a killer, I’d make sure someone - anyone - saw me somewhere close to that time, even if I had to dance on top of the bar at the local honkytonk to do it,” Lulu observed. “I’d make sure the whole damn town saw me while I ran through the streets singing classic rock that my mom and dad used to play during my childhood.”

“Doobie Brothers? Foreigner?”

“Eagles. Bob Segar. Journey and Kansas, too.”

“They have good taste. Okay, the third and probably the most important piece of evidence. The confirmed murder weapon was found in Allie’s apartment. That’s pretty damning, Lulu.”

That was the big one. If Allie wasn’t the murderer, then how did she have the pipe?

“It is damning. I can’t argue that. Unless someone is trying to frame her?”

“Whoa, there,” Kai replied, shaking his head. “This is coming out of left field. Do you have any evidence that she’s being framed?”

“No, I don’t,” Lulu admitted. “Not a speck of evidence points to that. None except her absolute denial that she did it.”

“You believe her.”

He didn’t phrase it as a question.

“I don’t know, but my gut is screaming about this. If she did it, I just don’t think she did it alone. And let’s not forget Dana was seeing someone. A married man. Where in the hell is he? We still don’t know who he is, and he had a motive to kill her. A big one. She was pregnant and going to upset the apple cart of his comfortable family life. That’s just as big or bigger than Allie’s motive.”

“I agree, but we have no idea who he is or how to find him. One thing’s for sure, he’s not stepping up to tell us his identity. He wants to remain anonymous.”

“That’s exactly why I can’t let this go,” Lulu said, pouncing on that statement. “I get it. He’s married. But if he loved Dana, you’d think he might come forward to give us some details about her friends and life. I wasn’t going to run to his wife and tell on him.”

“He didn’t know that,” Kai pointed out. “And I think you’re giving a marital cheater way too much credit when it comes to bravery. If he’s chicken shit enough to cheat on his spouse instead of just manning up and telling her that he doesn’t want to be married anymore, he’s not going to have any sort of spine when his sidepiece gets killed. He wouldn’t want any of that suspicion aimed at him.”

“Even if he loved her?”

“Even if he loved her,” Kai confirmed. “He might have been sitting back waiting to see what happened in the investigation. If no one was arrested, and he thought he had important information, maybe then he’d come forward. But I doubt it. He might write a letter to the cops, or something bullshit like that. But I don’t see him stepping forward at all. You have much more faith in humanity than I have.”

“What can I say? I want to believe.”

“I admire your optimism regarding our fellow man. I wish I shared it. So, if you were to continue looking into Allie where would you start? You can’t change her motive. It is what it is. What about the pipe found in her closet? That’s something that could be manipulated by another person. Who else had access to Allie’s apartment?”

This was where Lulu’s mind had been going since Allie’s arrest.

Others couldn’t change Allie’s behavior regarding Jay Bradford. They also couldn’t change the fact that Allie had been out driving that night - unless they’d lured her into doing it, but Allie hadn’t said that it had been anyone else’s idea.

It was only the murder weapon that could be played with in some way.

“Exactly,” Lulu agreed. “Why on earth would Allie store a murder weapon in her closet? I know, I know. Stop thinking with logic. But come on…even a panicking killer would think to toss the pipe in the lake, never to be found hopefully. Getting rid of the pipe in the lake is the only reasonable explanation for moving Dana’s body there, although they could have thrown the pipe in the lake and left Dana in her garage. Once again, their logic escapes me. Would you store a murder weapon in your closet?”

“I’ll admit that it seems like a dumb move,” Kai replied. “Allie knew she was a suspect. Even after being questioned, she didn’t think to move it or get rid of it in some way.”

“Maybe she thought the police were watching her.”

“Whose side are you on?” Kai joked.

“Just playing devil’s advocate with my own theories. I don’t want you to humor me. Tell me if I’ve wandered into stupid territory.”

“A life in prison is on the line,” Kai said. “I don’t think you can be too careful. So, who did have access to Allie’s apartment?”

“Her roommate, but she didn’t have a motive,” Lulu replied.

“That we know of.”

“True, but I’m going on what we know. Jay probably had access, I’m guessing. Even if he didn’t have a key, he’s probably been there. No one would think it strange for him to be visiting her. He could have snuck off to the bathroom and hid the pipe in the closet. I’m just not sure how strong a motive he had. If what Dana’s friend says is true, he still had feelings for her.”

“I think we have to take that with a grain of salt,” Kai said. “We don’t know for sure that he did. But what about a maintenance person or Allie’s landlord? Wouldn’t they have access?”

“They would, but they don’t have a motive. Unless they were working with someone who did.”

“You’ve always thought that this might be a two-person job. Maybe our killer has an accomplice. Someone who helped him or her carry Dana’s body that night. Someone willing to help cover their crimes. But if we’re open to that theory, we have to be open to another. The accomplice might be Allie’s, and she was double-crossed. She thought she had an ally, but instead, they helped point the finger at her to the police.”

“With friends like that, who needs enemies?”

“There’s no honor among thieves,” Kai quoted. “That may have been the plan all along.”

“You’re giving someone a lot of credit here, when you warned me that criminals don’t always use logic.”

“You’re right,” Kai agreed. “But someone might have spent some time thinking this through, not under any pressure at all. Right now, we have four possible people who could have been Allie’s accomplice - her roommate Kathleen, her boyfriend Jay Bradford, a maintenance man, and a possible landlord, although that could be one and the same as the maintenance person. Who else might have access to Allie’s apartment?”

“Pest control?” Lulu suggested. “And any of Kathleen or Allie’s friends, too. It might be a long list. Maybe even neighbors.”

“Sounds like they need to be checked out one by one,” Kai replied.

The district attorney might be satisfied they had the right person, but Lulu still had some doubt. When they returned to town, she was going to dig a little bit into the unanswered questions.

Just to be sure.