Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
She was asleep at Wick’s place when this happened.
Except…
She told me she slept in Wick’s bedroom. That Wick crashed on the couch.
If he left in the middle of the night, maybe in a shitty mood because his hook-up for the evening changed her mind…
She’d have no way of knowing.
I don’t think he and his brother ever really got along. I always got a frosty vibe when I watched them interact.
But because Thea spent the night with Wick…
The cops might think she was involved as well.
I pound on the door. “Let me in, you motherfuckers! Let me in!”
21
THEA
“I’m sorry?” I ask.
Officer King flips through her notebook again. “We looked through the news footage from this morning. You were wearing a pair of silver tennis shoes, were you not?”
“I was, but I didn’t—”
“And we confirmed with your co-anchor, Mrs. Fields, earlier this afternoon that you were wearing the same shoes when you left. Your makeup artist confirmed you were wearing them when you got to the station as well.”
“Yes, but there’s a logical explanation for all of that. I lost my shoes last night. The heels I wore to the club. One of them broke off in a grate. Surely that’s happened to you before. It’s a universal experience for women.”
I’m hoping that’ll crack a smile out of Officer King, but her face remains stony as ever. “Both of your heels broke?”
“No, just one of them. But I ditched the other one so I wouldn’t be walking lopsided.”
“And these were heels?”
“Correct. Louboutins.”
Officer King lifts an eyebrow. “You threw away a pair of Louboutins because the heel on one of the shoes broke off?”
“I was drunk. I wasn’t thinking straight.”
Officer King jots some more notes down in the notebook. “So how did you end up wearing Kin Blackwood’s shoes?”
“I spent the night at Wick’s. And I woke up later than I meant to. I had to leave quickly to get to my job on time. So I threw on the first pair of shoes I could find that were close to my size. I found the silver sneakers by the door. They were clearly smaller than Wick’s feet, so I figured he wouldn’t miss them.”
“So you stole the shoes?”
“Oh, for God’s sake. I borrowed them. I was going to bring them back.”
“Where are the shoes now?”
“They’re at my house. I changed before I came to the gala.”
“And was Mr. Blackwood aware you were borrowing his brother’s shoes?”
“He was not. It was too early. I didn’t want to wake him to ask. Plus I just wanted to get the hell out of there. I was embarrassed by my behavior the previous night.”
“Because you felt you had been acting promiscuously?”
I sigh. “Yes. I was feeling bad about the date falling through and I went home with the first man who gave me some attention. I was going to write a note to let him know about the shoes, but then my Uber arrived and I completely forgot. I got to work by the skin of my teeth. I was barely out of makeup when we started this morning’s broadcast.” I grab my phone out of my purse, open the Uber app. “See. Here’s the proof. I ordered the Uber at five fifteen in the morning.”
Of course, if the murder occurred around three, this doesn’t do much in the ways of an alibi. But still it’s proof I’m telling the truth about this.
“Tell us about your upbringing,” Officer King continues. “We looked up your profile on the ChicagO2 News website. We understand you grew up in a rural area. Kettle Springs, is that correct?”
Alarm bells go off in my head. Why is she asking about Kettle Springs?
What does this woman know?
“Yes, but what does that have to do with—”
Officer King holds up a hand. “Please, ma’am. We’re not trying to waste your time. All our questions are relevant. So please answer. Did you grow up in Kettle Springs?”
I sigh. “Yes.”
“On a farm?”
“Yes. My father’s farm. My stepmother took it over when he died.”
“While you were working on the farm, did you ever operate any heavy machinery? A tractor, for instance?”
Holy shit. Holy shit. Why is she asking about this?
There’s no way.
There’s no way they know about what happened in Kettle Springs.
“I was pretty young when I left to live in a foster home. I worked some of the machines on the farm, mostly under direct supervision.”
“But you never handled a tractor on your own?”
“No.”
That’s a lie. The first one I’ve told this whole interrogation.
“Are you—”
Heavy pounding on the door. A man yelling. “Let me in, you motherfuckers! Let me in!”
Aus’s voice. My heart jumps.
Why is he trying to get in?
What does he know?
One of the cops standing behind Officer King cracks the door an inch and Aus bursts in, nearly knocking him off his feet.
Officer King turns toward him. “Sir, this is a private questioning. Please go back to the ballroom.”