CHAPTER SIX

Jessie let Ryan take the lead as they prepared to enter the bedroom. She wanted to focus her attention on the witness"s demeanor.

"Let's see what we're dealing with," he said to the sergeant.

Cutter nodded and turned to the officer guarding the door.

"Is Medina still in there with her?" he asked.

"Yes, Sergeant," the officer said.

Cutter turned to Jessie and Ryan. "I left her with Officer Medina. I always like her on my detail because she's great at calming down upset witnesses."

He opened the door to the bedroom. It was nicely appointed with a full-sized bed and a plush ottoman, an oak dresser with a polished silver-framed mirror above it, and a small balcony with two patio chairs. Jessie noted that everything was immaculate but characterless. The art on the walls—all seascapes—was intentionally bland, the vase had inoffensive fake flowers, and there were no personal touches to speak of. It was clearly intended as a guest room that could safely appeal to anyone.

Sitting on the bed, facing the balcony and the view of the canyon were Officer Medina and a pale blonde woman with a shawl wrapped over her shoulders. They both turned around at the sound of footsteps entering the hardwood-floored room.

Jessie could tell that Nikki Fleetwood had been crying. Her eyes were red, and she had tissues balled up in one fist. A box with more lay on the bed between her and Officer Medina, a dark-skinned woman in her thirties with short black hair and kind eyes.

"Hi Nikki," Cutter said. "These are the investigators I told you about. They have a few questions for you if you're up to it."

Nikki nodded weakly but didn"t speak. Jessie looked at Ryan, who silently indicated with a familiar glance that she should take the lead. She walked over and kneeled down in front of the young woman.

"Hi Nikki," she said. "My name is Jessie. I work with the police. And that's Detective Hernandez. He's leading this investigation. How are you doing?"

"I"ve been better," Nikki said, using the bundled-up tissue in her hand to wipe her nose.

"We get that," Jessie said, "but we're hoping you can help us. All indications are that your boss was murdered, and we believe that you can offer valuable information that will allow us to find out who did it."

"I'll do whatever I can," Nikki said, pulling the shawl more tightly around her shoulders.

"Great," Jessie replied, "so I'm going to ask you a series of questions. Just answer them to the best of your ability, all right?"

"Uh-huh."

"When did you find Erin?"

"Just after nine," Nikki said. "I had just gotten here for the day. I looked around the house but couldn't find her, so I went out to the guest house where she likes to write, but the door was locked. When I turned around, I saw her by the pool."

Ryan joined Jessie but remained standing.

"Was it common for her to lie out by the pool when it was so chilly?" Jessie asked.

"Sometimes," Nikki said. "She once told me that she found the cold air bracing. She said that when she was struggling with her material, it jumpstarted her brain. So even though I was surprised to see her there, it wasn't crazy."

"When was the last time you communicated with her?" Ryan wondered.

"The last time we actually talked was when I left for the day yesterday, a little after five," she said, pulling out her phone and scrolling through it. "But she did text me just after 6 p.m. to ask me to add an event to her website calendar. She was invited to speak at some young women writers event at USC tomorrow afternoon. I told her I would add it, which I did right away. That was our last communication."

She handed over the phone. Jessie looked at the text exchange, which was just as Nikki had described.

"Was it unusual for you not to hear from her later that night or this morning?" Jessie asked.

"Not really," Nikki replied. "She mostly kept work stuff to work hours. In fact, a message like this was uncommon. She was a pretty easygoing boss. Most days, I didn't get any assignments until I arrived in the morning. And typically, when I left here at five, that was it for the day."

"Can you tell us a little more about her work and day-to-day life?" Ryan asked. "Was she a workaholic? More relaxed? Have friends come over during the day? Or family? Maybe a romantic partner?"

"Um, I'm not sure what to say, really," Nikki told him. "I was excited to work for her because I had read her book, How to Be Young, Beautiful and Cool, in my senior year of college. When I met her, I thought she'd be really edgy because the book was this sarcastic take on what is expected of young women in modern society. But she was really nice, especially for someone who was so rich and successful. She"s from this really wealthy family, you know. Anyway, she told me once that she didn"t expect the book to be a bestseller, but after it was, she decided to work hard to publicize it, going to events like the USC one I mentioned. She did readings, and signings, and was always being asked to do interviews or comment on some hot button cultural issue. But she was pretty chill about the whole thing, way more than I would have been in those circumstances."

"And what about the relationships that Detective Hernandez mentioned," Jessie prodded, "with her family, friends, and potential love interests?"

"She almost never had anyone over to the house," Nikki said. "She considered the time from about seven in the morning to 1 p.m. to be exclusively for writing, and she didn"t want that interrupted. She has a late January deadline for her new book, and she took it seriously. I mean, she would occasionally take calls from people. She"d speak with her agent or her editor, and sometimes break things up with calls to friends or family, but she didn"t have many people over. And I handled all the appointments with folks like the gardener, the pool guy, and the housekeepers, so that she could stay focused. As to romance, that wasn"t really a priority for her at the moment."

"What do you mean?" Jessie asked.

"Well, I only started working for her about three months ago, but she never mentioned that she was dating anyone or asked me to put anything like that in the calendar. And I think she would have because she would request me to put in similar things like drinks with her girlfriends, dinner at her mom"s even though she hated to go over there— stuff like that. I do remember that she mentioned that she had a breakup after the book came out, which was like ten months ago. Apparently, the guy couldn"t handle her success. She said he wanted a girlfriend who was a socialite, not a social issues writer. She said she was on a romance hiatus for a while."

"What about feuds with other writers or social commentators," Ryan wondered, "or maybe hate mail from folks who didn't appreciate her perspective?"

Nikki shook her head. "Even the people who disagreed with her during appearances liked her. And she's very supportive of other writers. I think because she was already independently wealthy and the book's success was such an unexpected surprise, she just wanted to pay it forward. She did a lot of free writing workshops for aspiring writers at underfunded public high schools. There was some hate online—mostly incel-type guys who thought she should keep her mouth shut. But I helped maintain her socials and checked her fan e-mail. I don't remember any threats. It was mostly just nasty insults and name-calling."

"All the same, we'd like to get access to those so our research people can take a look," Ryan said.

"Not a problem," Nikki replied. "I'll give you all that."

"Great," Ryan said, "and we'd like a list of all the service providers who came to the house as well, along with contact info. People like those you mentioned, the gardener and pool guy, etc."

Nikki nodded, making a note on her phone. Jessie waited until she was done to ask the question that had been noodling in her head.

"You said she hated going to her mother's for dinner," she noted. "Why was that?"

"She said that her mom was overbearing," Nikki explained, "and since the book became a hit, she was also competitive, always trying to one-up her."

"How so?" Jessie wondered.

"I guess that ever since Erin got out of college and came back to L.A., she'd have these semi-regular dinners with her mom, who lives in Pasadena," Nikki said. "But according to Erin, what had once just been exhausting experiences that she felt obligated to attend had morphed into something worse. They became an excuse for her mom to offer a litany of Erin's failures and her own victories. I mean, I never met the woman, so I don't know how accurate Erin's take was, but that was her perspective. She dreaded going but felt bad for her mom ever since her dad divorced her, so she suffered through the meals."

"How often were these dinners?" Ryan asked.

"Usually every two weeks," Nikki said. "I know she was there last Sunday."

"That's very helpful," Ryan said. "We're almost done here. I was just wondering what you did after you left work last night."

It wasn't the most subtle attempt to lock down Nikki's alibi, but the young woman seemed oblivious to the implication as she looked at her phone again.

"Oh yeah," she said, her memory jogged as she looked at the screen. "I went to the grocery store and got gas because I was almost out. Then I went home and made dinner. That"s when I got the text from Erin. I ended up burning the chicken cutlet I was trying to pan roast. I set off my smoke alarm and everything. I"m not a very good cook. So I gave up and ordered a pizza. Then, I spent the evening streaming episodes of Parks and Recreation. Pretty exciting stuff, huh?"

"It actually sounds like a nice night to me," Jessie told her sincerely. "Do you mind if we check your checking account records and geolocation on your phone and car to confirm all that?"

"Why—" Nikki started to ask before she figured it out. "Oh, I see. Of course. Whatever you need."

Thanks," Ryan said. "We'll have Officer Medina help you get that information to our research team."

He handed Medina a card with Jamil's contact information as Jessie got to her feet. "Thanks for all your help, Nikki," she said.

They waited until they were outside the closed door of the bedroom before anyone said anything else.

"What can I do for you now?" Sergeant Cutter asked.

"I think we'd like you to continue to supervise the scene," Ryan said. "Keep us apprised of any developments. Stay on top of the coroner and pass along any updates from him. If you can make sure that Nikki gives our folks in research everything they need as well, that would be great. Not just her alibi, but also the passwords to Erin's socials and e-mail so they can start reviewing them for possible threats that Nikki might have missed or dismissed."

"And please keep on her for that list of all of Erin's home service providers," Jessie added. "Not just gardeners and pool guys, but the security alarm company, internet maintenance techs. If she has a personal in-house masseuse or yoga instructor, get that too. Anyone who came over here. It seems pretty clear that whoever did this had access to the home."

"Will do," Cutter promised. "What do you plan to do?"

Ryan looked at Jessie, and she could tell he was wondering if they were on the same page.

"I was thinking that we should talk to Mommy Dearest," she suggested.

When he smiled, she knew that he'd had the same idea.

"Really?" Cutter asked, surprised. "You think her own mother would kill her out of jealousy?"

"It wouldn't be the first time," Jessie told him with a sad shrug. "I'm sure you've seen it too. Even in families, competition can turn poisonous. We need to find out if it turned murderous."