CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

C HAPTER S EVENTEEN

Early Thursday morning, Shannon pulled into the first empty parking space in front of the police station. Feeling anxious, she climbed out of the car, locked it, and headed for the entrance. Her heart was beating fast. The billowy clouds overhead blocked the sun, but the chill in the air didn’t stop her palms from sweating.

Detective Seicinski had called after Mac had left for school and asked if she could come to the police station since they had a few more questions. Hadn’t she told them everything she knew? Maybe they wanted to show her the voodoo doll Holly had mentioned, to see if they could get a reaction. Or somehow, they had found out about the envelope stuffed with random paperwork that Rosella had given her, which was why she’d brought the manila envelope with her. She would hand it off and let them deal with Rosella’s scribbles. They didn’t need to know she had scanned and printed Rosella’s notes for her own use.

Less than a minute after walking through the door and giving her name to the clerk at the front desk, she was taken to the interview room and directed to take a seat at the rectangular wooden table in the center of the room. There were two empty chairs across from her. It wasn’t long before Detective Seicinski, dressed in the same dark suit she’d worn to the murder scene, entered the room, followed by Detective Toye.

“Can I get you anything?” Detective Seicinski asked. “Coffee, tea, water?”

“No, thank you.”

“You should know,” Detective Seicinski said next, “that we will be digitally recording our interview with you today.”

Shannon had seen the camera in the corner of the room near the ceiling. She nodded.

“You’re free to leave at any time.”

“Okay.”

“Whether or not you decide to leave before the interview is over, we’ll need you to be fingerprinted before you go.”

Shannon winced.

“It’s standard practice in a homicide case, allows us to eliminate the innocent. You are innocent, correct?”

“Of course. It’s fine. I have nothing to hide.”

Both detectives kept their eyes on her, as if trying to read every twitch, every breath she took. It was disconcerting, making her lose all train of thought.

Detective Toye took note of her hesitation. “But?”

“But,” Shannon began again, “you should know that on Monday, when I met Rosella for the first time, I touched the letter opener.”

“Touched or held?” Detective Toye asked.

“Um ... held would be more accurate, I guess.”

“You guess?” he asked. “Why didn’t you mention this the other day?”

“I didn’t think of it.”

Detective Toye’s eyes narrowed. His shoulders were squared and broad, and even sitting, he towered over her. Shannon was afraid to look away, afraid to blink.

“When you walked into Rosella Marlow’s office on Tuesday morning and saw she’d been stabbed in the neck with a letter opener,” he said, “it never dawned on you that it might be the same letter opener you held in your hand less than twenty-four hours before?”

She shook her head. “No. It never dawned on me.”

“Why were you holding the letter opener?” The words flew from his mouth like bullets. “Did Rosella Marlow ask you to open her mail that day?”

Shannon swallowed. “No.”

Detective Toye lifted a curious brow. “Maybe you simply decided to help her tidy up her desk?”

Shannon noted the glint in his eye and the sarcasm lining each word. It seemed Detective Toye was enjoying himself. He kept shooting off the next question before she could answer the first. She preferred talking directly with Detective Seicinski. When Detective Toye opened his mouth again, Shannon beat him to the punch with an answer: “Rosella’s arm accidentally brushed the letter opener off her desk when she handed me a note. So I did what anyone would do. I walked over to where the letter opener had fallen, picked it up, and placed it back on her desk.” Shannon tilted her head. “Do we—I mean you—have any idea when the murder took place? Some sort of time frame?”

Detective Seicinski didn’t have to look at her notes. “We all know she died while you were there with her on Tuesday morning. According to the ME, the body was warm and no rigor was present.”

“Does that mean I’m not a suspect?”

Detective Toye shook his head. “At this point in time, you’re the number one suspect on our list.”

“What? Why? I called 911.”

“A common practice among first-time killers,” Detective Toye said. “They kill out of anger or frustration, and when anger turns to shock, they call for help.”

Shannon’s eyes widened. “Are you going to arrest me?”

Detective Seicinski said, “It was also determined, based on the blood flow, clots, and congelation, that she was stabbed within a possible twelve-hour time frame prior to death.”

Shannon visibly relaxed. “That proves my innocence, right?”

“Not necessarily,” Detective Seicinski told her. “But it does expand the pool, so to speak.” The detective opened her arms as she might do if she were going to hug someone. “It makes more room for additional suspects.”

Shannon decided to keep her mouth shut.

“I’d like to back up a bit. You mentioned a note,” Detective Seicinski said. “What did the note say?”

Shannon was digging herself a hole, and it was getting deeper. She sighed. “The note consisted of five words, written in big red, capitalized letters. It said, I know what you did .”

Detective Toye rubbed his face. Clearly, he had a few things to say.

“Do you know why Rosella showed you the note?” Detective Seicinski asked.

“Yes. She thought she was being followed and that whoever had left the note in her mailbox was probably the culprit. She wanted me to help her figure out who might have left the note.”

“I’m confused,” Detective Toye said. “Why was none of this mentioned when we questioned you on Tuesday?”

Shannon straightened her spine. “Because Detective Seicinski asked me to take her through the morning when I found Rosella slumped over her desk, and that’s what I did.”

“You’re right,” Detective Seicinski said before turning her attention to her partner. “Detective Toye. When I’m in need of your assistance, I will let you know.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Detective Seicinski stiffened, apparently put off by her partner’s use of an outdated honorific. Once again, she set her gaze on Shannon. “About the note. What did you think after you read the note Rosella handed you?”

“I felt bad for Rosella. The note bothered her. She felt threatened.” Shannon reached into her bag, pulled out the manila envelope, and set it on the table in front of the detectives.

“What’s this?” Detective Seicinski asked.

“Rosella gave it to me at the end of our first meeting. She said it would help me get to know the neighbors. Most of it looks nonsensical to me.”

“And why didn’t you give this to us earlier?”

“Because I had tossed it in the garbage and forgotten about it,” she lied.

Shannon spent the next forty-five minutes relaying her first meeting with Rosella in detail, including everything Rosella had said about the neighbors and why she didn’t like them.

Detective Seicinski’s head tilted to one side while maintaining eye contact. Detective Toye folded his arms in front of his chest. They appeared to be not only bored but also skeptical. She didn’t care. They were going in circles and getting nowhere.