Page 29 of She Didn't See It Coming
“Yes, well. Apparently, she’s gone missing.”
“Missing?”
“Yes. And the detective was questioning everyone who had come into contact with her for the last few weeks.”
“I think I saw something about a missing woman on the news. What a small world. Well, it’s not like you knew her.” She pauses. “You didn’t know her, did you?” She can feel her own eyes narrow, her smile falter.
“No, of course not.” He looks back at her guilelessly. “I only met her twice, you know that—the time she hit me, and then later when we met up for her to give me the money for the repairs.”
“Are you absolutely sure?” she asks.
“Of course I’m sure.”
“Was she attractive?”
“Not really.”
She pouts and grabs her phone from her nightstand. “I’m going to google it right now and see what she looks like, so I’ll know if you’re lying.”
“She was attractive, but not as attractive as you.” He kisses her.
She smiles at him, puts her phone back down. “Is she married?”
“I think so. Yes, she mentioned a husband and a child.”
“Then if she’s missing, my money’s on the husband.”
He kisses her on the mouth, and she feels his warm hand slip beneath the pink satin to caress her breast. She forgets about the missing woman.
•••
Sam lets himselfquietly into the hotel suite that Lizzie has arranged. He knows she’s already there. She’d texted him the information, and the detectives had provided an officer to drive him there. It’s almost ten thirty. He uses the key card and slips in the door as if he is in disgrace.
Lizzie hears him, creeps toward the door to meet him, and whispers, “How did it go?”
“Fine.” He realizes that he sounds abrupt. He doesn’t want her to think he isn’t grateful for all she’s done. “Thanks for arranging this,” he adds after a beat. “I don’t seem to be able to manage anything right now.” He rubs his hands over his face in exhaustion.
“I understand,” she says.
“I’ve got to get some sleep,” he tells her. His nerves are shot. He’s not thinking clearly, and he needs to keep his wits about him. That detective thinks he murdered his wife, and she’s not going to let up. He must be careful, not give her anything she can use against him. But he can’t tell Lizzie that. Lizzie seems to be the one who’s coping best—perhaps it’s her training as a nurse, Sam thinks; she functions well in a crisis.
He looks in on Clara, in the hotel room cot in the room that Lizzie has taken; there’s an adjoining door between them. Clara is asleep, at least for now. She doesn’t know her mother is dead. He doesn’t know how he’s going to tell her. But he has to, soon. He whispers to Lizzie,“We have to tell her. Tomorrow morning. The two of us, before we go back to the condo.”
Lizzie looks back at him and nods gravely.
He makes his way to his own bed and sags down onto it, overwhelmed, trying to think.
He is afraid of what the police might discover.
•••
Jayne rubs her temples wearily.She and Kilgour have stopped at a coffee shop after leaving the condo. It’s late, and she ought to be going home. The story of the dead woman in the suitcase will probably lead the eleven thirty news. She’s tried to keep the information given to the press to a minimum, but the fact that the body was found in a suitcase in the basement of the condominium building has been released.
The body is now with the coroner, awaiting autopsy. She hopes forensics will come up with something useful. Perhaps they’ll find something in the apartment that wasn’t visible to the naked eye. She’s hoping they can find something on the body, the suitcase, or in the storage locker.
The finding of the body has made things less urgent. It’s no longer a missing persons case; Bryden can’t be saved. Jayne nurses her cup of coffee and talks it over with Kilgour, who looks as if he’s ready to go home too. The adrenaline of a missing persons case has evaporated, and now they’re in for the long haul of a homicide investigation.
“It’s Sam Frost’s suitcase that we found her in,” Jayne says. “He has no alibi.” She thinks it through. “He might have driven back to the condo once he picked up his lunch. It would take less than ten minutes. We know he didn’t use his key card to gain access to the garage, but she might have buzzed him in.”
