Kill the Competition (31 page)

Meanwhile, Salyers and Truett had strolled off in different directions—Salyers into the living room, and Truett toward the kitchen.

"What are they looking for?" she whispered to Wade, and watched while Salyers picked up the throw cushion in the chair and inspected it.

"Just following procedure," he assured her. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine," she said, although her head pounded. "Do they think I did this?"

"You've been very cooperative, and you don't have a motive."

"You didn't answer my question."

His mouth formed a flat line. "They need to eliminate obvious suspects first."

"Meaning me."

"Yes, since you found the body and you're acquainted with the victim."

The victim.
Belinda puffed out her cheeks in an exhale. "What now?"

"We'll follow up on all the information you gave us. People, places, things."

"What do you think happened?"

His shoulders rose in a shrug. "Maybe the Newberry guy came back and they had another confrontation."

"But that doesn't explain how her body got into the trunk of my car."

"Was your car parked close to the stairwell?"

She nodded.

"Maybe he carried the body down the back stairs with the idea of putting her in his car. Maybe your trunk had sprung open, and he decided it was a better hiding place."

She brightened. "Aren't there cameras in the parking garage?"

He shook his head. "No, just on the outside of the building, directed toward the sidewalks. But we'll check the records of the parking garage booth—maybe Newberry kept his electronic badge and got in that way."

"But after five-thirty, the gates are open for public parking—anyone can get in and out with no badge."

He nodded. "Maybe we'll get lucky."

Salyers walked around them, her mouth curving into a sly smile as she addressed Wade. "Is the bedroom upstairs?"

"I wouldn't know, Detective."

Belinda cleared her throat. "Yes, the bedrooms are upstairs. I'll show you." She climbed the stairs self-consciously, wondering why the woman would imagine she was involved with Lt. Alexander, and thinking about stupid things like what kind of mess she'd left the upstairs. Wade followed them, making her feel even more uncomfortable. She pointed to the right. "This is an extra room that I don't use."

Salyers walked in, peered inside the empty closet, then returned to the hall.

Belinda led them to the left. "This is my room." She saw the leopard-print comforter on her queen-size bed through the eyes of strangers and cringed inwardly.

Detective Salyers pointed to the bed. "May I?"

For all Belinda knew, the woman was going to take a nap, but she nodded.

Salyers pulled back the comforter to expose the one pillow in reverse animal print. "Where's your other pillow?"

"I only have one," Belinda said, feeling the splotchiness coming on.

"Why is that?"

"Because I only need one," she said, wondering if she could broadcast her singledom any louder.

Detective Salyers frowned. "Who has only one pillow on a bed this size?"

"Ms. Hennessey does," Wade said pointedly.

The woman pursed her mouth, then crouched down when something caught her eye. She pulled Downey's pale blue satin pillow from beneath the bed and held it up by the corner. "What's this?"

Belinda stared at the ripped-out threads and grew even warmer. First, Wade Alexander had hand-delivered the pillow to her, and now he was witness to the result of her juvenile rampage. She cut her gaze to him to see if he recognized the pillow.

He did.

"Um, that's my cat's, um, toy."

"What's this stain?" Salyers turned over the pillow and pointed to a dark reddish smudge.

Belinda shook her head. "Cat food? I'm not sure."

Salyers pulled an evidence bag from her pocket and sealed up the pillow.

It dawned on Belinda that the woman thought the stain might be Margo's black cherry lipstick. Her next thought was how contrary Downey was going to be when she couldn't find her satin sidekick.

The bathroom was free of embarrassing items, if Belinda didn't count the birth control pill pack on the vanity, and the little smiley face she'd drawn in the steam on the mirror that now stood out like a flare. Wade seemed to soak in every detail, down to the frumpy peach-colored robe hanging on the back of the door.

"Do you have a pair of nail clippers?" Salyers asked casually.

Belinda nodded and rummaged in her makeup bag until she came up with them. Salyers promptly bagged them. In the hallway laundry closet, the woman also seized the lime green cardigan sweater with the red sauce stain.

"Stromboli sandwich," Belinda explained, but it went into a bag anyway.

"Where are the clothes you were wearing when you fell in the stairwell?"

Belinda fished them out of a bag that was bound for the dry cleaner's. They went into evidence, along with the shoes she'd been wearing—her best pair, of course.

When Detective Salyers started downstairs, Belinda glanced at Wade. He gave her a reassuring wink, but his grim expression belied his offhand gesture. As she descended the stairs, her stomach began to roll, and she prayed she didn't get sick again.

Salyers was in the living room, rifling through the Goodwill boxes. She looked out the bay window. "Truett, the van from the morgue is here. Are you ready?"

"Yeah." Truett came strolling through the hall carrying the rolled-up DOs and DON'Ts manuscript. A dark reddish stain marred the back of the papers—she hadn't realized what a sloppy eater she was.

"I'd like to take this if you don't mind," he said, then dropped it into an evidence bag. He glanced at the pillow and clothing that Salyers held. They held a whispered conference. Belinda squirmed and looked to Wade for another reassuring wink. She didn't get one.

"Ms. Hennessey," Salyers said, "are you willing to take a polygraph test?"

"Yes, of course."

The detectives walked to the front door. Truett turned. "Lieutenant Alexander, will you keep Ms. Hennessey company for a little while?"

"Yes, sir."

The door closed behind them, and Belinda looked at Wade. "What?"

"They don't want an audience when the body is moved."

"Tell that to the people across the street."

He walked to the window and looked to the sky. "Or to Hardeman."

The faint
whop, whop
of the helicopter blades sounded overhead. She joined Wade at the window and looked up. "He doesn't know this is where I live."

"Are you sure?" he asked in a sharp tone.

She frowned. "Well, I suppose my address is a matter of public record, but to my knowledge, he hasn't been here."

"When Hardeman dropped you off last night at your friend's house, did he leave immediately?"

"No. I went inside to talk to Libby for a few minutes, and he waited."

"Near your car?"

She angled her head. "You aren't suggesting that Julian—"

"He had access to your car. Did he know about the trunk latch?"

She put her hand to her temple. "I mentioned having my car repaired today, but that would mean..." Then she sighed. "Look, Wade, I know there's no love lost between the two of you, but whatever problem you have with Julian—"

"He had an affair with my wife." He looked away. "I mean, with my ex-wife."

She blinked. "I'm sorry."

He waved off her sympathy. "It was a long time ago, and he didn't force Tania into anything. But the man's a player and I don't like him."

Tania.
What was the woman like who had turned the head and heart of this man?

And she suddenly felt grubby for falling under Julian's charismatic spell. "Julian told me last night that he had been sleeping with Jeanie Lawford."

"I know. And I was never convinced that the woman's death was an accident."

She balked. "Do you think that Jeanie's death and Margo's could be related?"

He held up his hand. "I'm just saying that two deaths in six months at the same company is quite a coincidence."

"A serial murderer?"

"I didn't say that."

"But you think it."

He set his jaw. "I think you should be careful. Do you have a security alarm?"

"No."

"I can install sensors on your windows and doors—basic stuff, but it's better than nothing."

"You're scaring me."

"If that's what it takes to make you cautious, then I don't feel the least bit guilty."

She pursed her mouth, half irritated by his big macho Southern boy routine, half flattered that he cared what happened to her potentially endangered behind. Two news camera vans had arrived, and the bevy of neighbors had increased. She spotted Perry in the crowd and winced—the man would pester her ad nauseam for all the gory details.

Additional police officers had arrived to keep cars and foot traffic at bay. A gurney sat behind her car, draped with an unzipped black body bag. The body movers, Dr. Janney, and the two detectives used the tarp and their bodies to shield Margo's removal from prying eyes and camera lenses. Despite their best efforts, though, one of Margo's arms fell off the gurney and hung down. Cameras went off. Belinda stared at the lifeless hand, and the composure she'd managed to regain slipped. She turned her back to the scene and covered her mouth with her hand.

Next to her, Wade shifted from foot to foot, and she could feel that he wanted to comfort her. And she wanted him to, but right now she needed his objective expertise more than physical consolation, so she spared him the decision by walking to the kitchen to find aspirin for her pounding head. He followed her and leaned against the counter, watching, waiting, accessible.

"When will her name be released to the press?" Belinda asked softly.

"As soon as they notify her next of kin. Do you know who that might be?"

Belinda shook her head. "I honestly didn't know her that well." How sad to wind up in the trunk of someone who doesn't even know you that well. Insult added to injury. "When will
my
name be released to the press?"

"The reporters have had time to talk to your neighbors and your landlord. Don't be surprised to see it on the six o'clock news."

Belinda closed her eyes briefly, then tried to smile. "For once I'm thankful that my television is on the blink. When will the detectives question my coworkers?"

"They'll probably visit the women you carpool with tonight at their homes to question them separately, Newberry too. They'll talk to other employees as needed."

"Julian?"

His mouth tightened. "He's on the interview list."

"Will they tell everyone why they're being questioned?"

"Yes. Belinda, how well do you know the women you ride to work with?"

She shrugged. "I've only been riding with them for a little over a week. They seem nice."

"Did any of them have issues with the victim?"

"Well... Margo wasn't the most popular of bosses."

"You mentioned something about performance evaluations and jobs being cut."

She chewed on her tongue.

"Belinda?"

She sighed. "Rosemary was afraid for her job, and Libby and Carole were both denied raises, but the rumor was that almost everyone in the department was denied a raise."

"If you know anything else, tell me."

She closed her eyes and repeated the story that Rosemary had told them about how she and Margo had once been friends, and how the relationship had eroded. "Rosemary is the executive assistant to the CEO, who is rarely in the office. She thinks Margo was trying to take over the company."

"Is there a chance these women could have been in on this together?"

"You mean a
plot
to murder Margo?" Belinda shook her head. "No."

"If one of them had a confrontation with the woman that ended badly, would the other two cover for her?"

Belinda stopped. Libby and Carole were fiercely loyal to Rosemary—would their allegiance extend to covering the murder of a women they all detested, and framing her, the new girl? The day Libby had come to her house and suffered the mini breakdown came to mind. "I... don't know."

"How, um, close are you and Hardeman?"

Her pulse picked up. "Is that relevant to the investigation?"

"It could be."

The front door opened and closed. They looked up, and Detective Salyers appeared in the opening between the hall and the kitchen. Belinda straightened—the woman made her feel as if she had to account for her time with Lieutenant Alexander. Salyers stared, then pointed to the drinking glass Belinda had set on the counter.

"Did you use this glass?"

"Yes."

"May I take it with me for prints?"

Belinda swallowed and nodded. "But my prints are already on file."