Chapter 13
The beauty mark above her lip on the left side may have been a tattoo. "If I knew you were coming, I would have dressed appropriately.”
"Sorry to disturb you at this late hour," I said.
"It's no big deal, really." She leaned in and spoke in a hushed tone. "To tell you the truth, I was already up. A friend called and told me about the gossip.”
"So, you were aware of Hannah's demise?”
"Nothing happens in Stingray Bay without me knowing about it.”
"What are you? The head of the Stingray Bay Mafia?”
She laughed. "Well, now that you put it that way, maybe I am.”
I smiled. "I just have some standard questions for you.”
"Ask away. I'm an open book,” she said, letting her sheer robe fall open slightly. Not too much, just enough. She let it linger a moment before adjusting her attire.
"When was the last time you saw Hannah?”
She pretended to think about it and took a deep breath. "Oh, I don't know. Don't hold me to this, but I think I saw her a few days ago in the grocery store."
"You do your own grocery shopping?”
"You can't always rely on delivery services. They get everything wrong. All the time. Plus, I needed something right away.”
"Did you happen to go by her house earlier tonight?”
"No. I've been home all night.”
"By yourself?”
Her seductive eyes narrowed. "Yes. My husband is out of town at the moment.”
"No other visitors?"
"What exactly are you getting at, Deputy? What kind of woman do you think I am?”
"You’ll forgive me. I just have to ask.”
She sighed. "You're forgiven.”
"Did you murder Hannah Quinn this evening?"
She chuckled. "While there are many times where I would have liked to, sadly, I did not.” She forced a frown.
"I guess that makes me a shoo-in to win the competition now. Which is kind of sad because I wanted to see the look on her face when I beat her fair and square. But knowing Hannah, there was nothing fair about that competition.”
"What do you mean?”
"My God. She was insufferable. I hate to talk bad about the dead, and I wouldn't do it about anybody else other than Hannah.”
"Of course,” I said, going along with it.
"I don't know why the competition was so important to her. It really didn't mean all that much to me,” she said, trying to dismiss it, but it meant a lot. “That girl would do anything to win, and I do mean anything,” she said with dramatic eyes.