Chapter 28
Julie had stopped crying by the time Sean finished with Ben. She was alone in her room, sitting in the center of her bed, hugging her legs to her chest and resting her chin on her knees.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Sean said.
Julie wiped her eyes, even though the tears had already dried, but her mascara was still smudged. “It doesn’t feel real,” Julie said. “I keep thinking I’m going to wake up from a dream and find her drooling on her pillow and snoring.” She laughed. “She always snored so loudly.”
The laughter faded, and Julie scrunched her face as if she were about to cry again, but she held back her tears.
Sean reached into his pocket and removed the gold earring he found in one of the rose beds. “I think this might belong to you,” Sean said.
Julie looked up, and when she realized what was in the bag, her eyes widened.
“Mind telling me why there is blood on it?” Sean asked.
Julie twisted her mouth and shook her head. “It’s not what you think,” Julie said.
“Then explain it to me,” Sean said. “Because right now your sister is dead, and I know you’ve already lied to me about falling asleep in the room by two this morning.”
“What?” Julie asked.
“Someone heard you in the hallway at three,” Sean said. “So, who were you talking to?”
Julie opened her mouth, not expecting to be caught in the lie, but she quickly shut it. Sean let her linger with that decision for a moment, hoping she might speak, but she remained tight-lipped.
Sean had been in this profession long enough to know that a person’s survival instincts were strong.
When it came time to decide who survived in a crisis, Sean was never surprised by how often people chose themselves over their loved ones.
It didn’t matter if it was a brother, sister, spouse, or sometimes even a child.
“I’ll be holding on to this,” Sean said. “One way or the other, the identity of whose blood that is will be found. It would be better for you if you cooperated, but if you want to remain silent, that’s your right.”
“I didn’t kill my sister,” Julie said.
“Then what did you do?” Sean asked.
Julie’s fa?ade nearly cracked. She was barely holding on.
“I loved Karla more than anything or anyone. But sister relationships can be…complicated. It’s not something I would expect you to understand, Sheriff.
Now, you can arrest me, you can do whatever you want with that earring, but you’ll find no evidence that I had anything to do with Karla’s death. The truth will exonerate me.”
“Maybe,” Sean said. “But if you’re charged, you’d be surprised at how easily a jury can be convinced of what they might want to hear in place of the truth.” He pocketed the earring and left the room.
It was time to examine the bride’s body.