Page 192 of The Woman Left Behind

She let out a huge sigh and picked up the pen.

Rus stuck his head in. “Get Polly ready to type.”

Harry lifted his chin.

Rus disappeared.

“You good?” Cade asked him.

“We’re getting there, we only need Abernathy,” Harry replied.

Cade clapped him on the shoulder.

Harry turned back to the window to see Dietrich bent over the pad, writing.

He then left observation to find Polly himself and get her ready to type out the statement so that woman could sign it.

Forty-five minutes later, they were all back in their places. Harry and his crew in observation, Rus, Patterson and Bakshi with Mrs. Dietrich.

She was signing the statement she just read that Polly had typed out from her handwritten confession.

The empty Aromacobana cup was set aside, the brownie just nibbled on, and she ended her signature with a flourish and put the pen down.

“Oddly, that’s very relieving,” she declared.

The cops in the room stood.

“Michelle Dietrich, you’re under arrest for insurance fraud, accessory after the fact of a double homicide and obstruction of justice,” Bakshi announced to Dietrich’s face under her expertly applied foundation and blush going white as a sheet. “Please stand so I can handcuff you and take you for processing.”

“But…I just helped with your investigation,” she protested.

“No, you just confessed to three crimes,” Bakshi refuted. “Agents from our fraud division will be discussing with you the part you played in that. Warning, insurance companies tend to like us to go hard with people who steal their money.”

“I…this…that wasn’t my intention!” she yelped. “I was helping.”

“She helped,” Jess said. “Helped put her own Pilates ass right in the slammer.”

“Please stand,” Bakshi requested.

“We’re the victims here!” she exclaimed, stabbing her chest with a perfectly manicured finger. “He’s been demanding money from us for years. Tens of thousands of dollars!”

“You should be aware that the police in Aspen are moving on apprehending your husband. He’ll be extradited from Colorado to Misted Pines,” Bakshi went on.

“What?” Dietrich whispered.

“And your son is being picked up for accessory after the fact and obstruction as well,” Bakshi finished. “Now please stand.”

“My boy had nothing to do with this!” she cried.

“Did he provide you with a safe house after you found you were wanted by the police as a person of interest in a variety of felonies?” Bakshi asked.

“Of course you help your parents when they’re in a jam,” she sniped.

“You can talk to your attorney and a judge about your concerns. Now please stand,” Bakshi requested once more.

“This is outrageous!” she shrieked.

That was when Patterson had enough.

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