CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Kari had interviewed enough guilty people to recognize the signs—the micro-expressions, the defensive body language, the careful parsing of words to avoid outright lies while still deceiving.
Diana Gray had displayed all of them during their first conversation, and now they were returning with evidence that would force her to stop performing.
The question was whether Diana would break or whether her control would hold.
Maria drove through Paradise Valley's increasingly expensive neighborhoods, past estates hidden behind walls and gates, past the kind of wealth that insulated people from consequences. Or at least made them believe they were insulated.
"You think she'll lawyer up immediately?" Maria asked.
"Maybe. But she's been living with this for over a week, carrying the weight of three murders while pretending to be the supportive girlfriend.
That kind of pressure builds." Kari thought about the way Diana had deflected questions about Victor, the tightness around her eyes. "Everyone has a breaking point."
They pulled up to the Sterling estate's gate and Maria pressed the intercom button. The same voice as before answered.
"Detective Santos and Detective Blackhorse to see Ms. Gray. She's expecting us."
The gate opened without the interrogation from Kari's previous visit. They followed the winding driveway to the house, where a different security guard met them at the door—younger than before, less suspicious.
"Ms. Gray is in the sunroom," he said, leading them through the house. "Mr. Sterling and his daughter are out walking the property, but they should be back within the hour if you need to speak with them."
Kari felt a pang of disappointment. She'd wanted to see Sterling's reaction when they confronted Diana, wanted to watch his face when he learned what his girlfriend had done.
But maybe this was better—Diana alone, without Sterling's protective presence, without the buffer of his wealth and authority.
The sunroom was at the back of the house, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a meticulously landscaped yard and the desert beyond.
Diana sat at a glass table with her laptop open and papers spread around her, looking every inch the business consultant she claimed to be.
She was dressed casually today—jeans and a silk blouse—but still perfectly put together.
And on her left wrist, catching the afternoon light, was the silver bracelet with its small turquoise stone. It matched Tessa's description perfectly.
"Detectives." Diana closed her laptop and stood, smiling tightly. "I have to admit, I'm surprised you wanted to speak with me again so soon. I thought I'd answered all your questions the other day."
"Some new information has come to light," Maria said, settling into a chair across from Diana. Kari remained standing, a deliberate choice to create subtle pressure. "We wanted to follow up on a few details about your relationship with the victims."
"Of course." Diana sat back down. "Though as I said before, I only knew them through Charles's business dealings. We weren't close."
"What about Victor Sheridan specifically?" Kari asked, watching Diana's face carefully. "You mentioned meeting him at business functions. How many times would you say you encountered him?"
"I'm not sure. Several times over the past eight months?" Diana's hands rested on the table, the bracelet visible. "He came to dinner here twice, I attended construction meetings where he presented progress reports. Maybe six or seven interactions total?"
"Did you ever meet with him privately? Outside of those business contexts?"
Diana's pause was fractional but noticeable. "I visited his office once or twice to discuss construction timelines. Charles asked me to coordinate some scheduling issues."
"Just his office?" Maria asked. "Never his home?"
"No, never his home. Why would I?" Diana's voice remained steady, but something shifted in her expression—a tightening around her mouth. "Detectives, what is this about? You're asking very specific questions about Victor, and I'm not sure why that's relevant to your investigation."
"We have a witness," Kari said. "Someone who saw a woman matching your description leaving Victor Sheridan's house several months ago. Around six PM on a weekday evening."
Diana stared back silently. Fear and calculation warred behind those carefully controlled eyes.
"I... I may have stopped by his house once," she said slowly. "To drop off some documents Charles needed him to sign. But I didn't go inside, just left them at the door."
"That's interesting," Maria said, her tone conversational. "Because the same witness also found something at Victor's house around that time. Something that suggests you did go inside."
Diana's hands moved to her lap, out of sight beneath the table. "I don't understand what you're implying."
Kari moved closer, standing where Diana would have to turn her head to maintain eye contact.
Classic interrogation positioning, creating discomfort.
"We have a witness who found a bracelet at Victor Sheridan's house.
Tucked between couch cushions in his living room, like it had slipped off someone's wrist. A delicate silver chain with a small turquoise stone. "
Diana's right hand moved unconsciously to her left wrist, touching the bracelet. Then she realized what she'd done and froze.
"That's a common style," she said, her voice less steady now. "Lots of people own bracelets like that."
"Do they?" Kari asked. "Because the witness described it in very specific detail. And you're wearing a bracelet that matches that description perfectly right now."
The silence stretched. Diana looked between them, a vein pulsing in her throat.
"I need to know what you're accusing me of," she said. "If you think I had something to do with Victor's death—"
"We're not accusing you of anything yet," Maria said. "We're just trying to understand the timeline. You visited Victor's house. You lost your bracelet there. When did you realize it was missing?"
"I didn't—" Diana stopped herself. "I mean, I don't know that it was my bracelet. Like I said, it's a common style."
"Ms. Gray, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," Kari said.
"The easy way is you tell us the truth about your relationship with Victor Sheridan.
The hard way is we get a warrant, search this house, confiscate that bracelet, and have forensics examine it for trace evidence that places it at Victor's home. "
Diana's hands were trembling now. She clasped them together, trying to regain control, but the trembling continued. "You don't understand. It's not what you think."
"Then help us understand," Maria said gently. "Tell us what your relationship with Victor really was."
"We were..." Diana's voice cracked. She took a breath, steadied herself. "We were working together. Not romantically, not... not anything inappropriate. But we were in contact more than Charles knew about."
"Working together on what?" Kari asked.
Diana stood abruptly, walking to the windows and staring out at the desert landscape.
Her back was to them, shoulders tight with tension.
"Victor had concerns. About the resort project, about some of the practices Charles was using.
He came to me because he knew I was close to Charles, knew I had access to files and communications. "
"He was building a case against Sterling?" Maria asked.
"Not against him exactly. More like..." Diana turned back to face them.
"Victor wanted to protect himself. He kept records of everything—every corner that was cut, every inspection that was rushed, every material substitution.
He said if things went wrong, if there was a lawsuit or investigation, he wasn't going to be the only one taking the fall. He wanted insurance."
"And he shared this information with you?" Kari kept her voice neutral, not revealing how significant this confession was.
"Some of it. He wanted me to know that he had it, that if anything happened to him, there were copies.
He said..." Diana's voice dropped. "He said he was worried.
That the project had gotten out of control, that too many people knew about the problems. He was scared someone might try to silence him. "
The room felt charged, Diana's words hanging in the air. Kari and Maria exchanged glances. This wasn't the confession they'd expected, but it was revealing something crucial about the dynamics leading up to the murders.
"When was the last time you saw Victor?" Maria asked.
"Two days before he died. I went to his house to pick up copies of some documents he'd prepared.
" Diana's face was pale now. "He gave me a thumb drive.
Said it had everything on it—emails, photos, financial records.
Told me to keep it safe, that if anything happened to him I should take it to federal authorities, not local police. "
"Where is that thumb drive now?" Kari asked.
"I destroyed it." Diana's voice was barely above a whisper. "After Victor died, after I realized what was happening, I got scared. Scared that having that information made me a target too. So I destroyed it."
"You destroyed evidence in a murder investigation," Maria said flatly.
"I didn't know it was evidence! I thought—" Diana stopped, seeming to realize she'd said too much. "I need to talk to a lawyer. I shouldn't be saying any of this without a lawyer present."
"Ms. Gray, if you know something about why Victor Sheridan was killed and you're not telling us, you're potentially protecting a murderer," Kari said. "Is that what you want?"
Diana turned back to the windows, her arms wrapped around herself. The afternoon sun illuminated her profile, highlighting the tension in her jaw, the way she was barely holding herself together.
"I thought I was protecting myself," she said quietly. "I thought if I just stayed quiet, stayed close to Charles, acted like I didn't know anything, I'd be safe. But I can't anymore. I can't keep pretending."
She turned back to face them, her eyes bright with unshed tears.
"There's something I need to confess."