Page 84 of She Didn't See It Coming
“It’s almost like you were there,” Detective Salter says. “Is that how it happened, Lizzie? Were you there?”
“What? No!” Lizzie gasps.
“You offer an explanation for why the body was moved.” She readsaloud again.“ ‘And you have to ask, why move the body at all? Why not just leave her there, dead? Why bother putting her in a suitcase and taking her downstairs and risk being seen? I’ll tell you why. Because the killer didn’t want the little girl to come home and see her mother dead! It’s so obvious.’ ”
The detective stares at her. “Did you want the police dog because you knew your sister was there in the building? Did you know she was in the storage locker?”
“No, of course not,” Lizzie whispers.
“And you wanted her found, is that it?”
“No.”
“What were you doing looking at a YouTube video calledCan Adrienne Fit in a Suitcase?”
Lizzie whispers, “I did that after—after she was found.”
“Why did you write that post, Lizzie? It’s a little strange.”
Finally, she whispers, “I don’t know.”
“Do you know what I think? I think it’s possible that when your sister was murdered, you were unsettled, upset, you wanted to talk about it. And you found your people, and you got carried away with the drama, the excitement of it all. With being the center of attention. I mean, that’s perfectly understandable.” She adds, “Even if your parents can’t understand it, I can.”
Lizzie feels herself nodding silently along as the detective speaks to her in her calm, quiet voice.
“We know that you and your sister didn’t always get along.”
“That’s not true.”
“Sam told us,” the detective says.
“What? What did he say?”
“He said that sometimes you almost seemed to hate your sister, and that Bryden was troubled by it and didn’t know what to do about it.”
“That’s not true. Sisters fight sometimes, that’s all.”
“Had you fought with your sister recently?”
“No!”
“Were you jealous of her, Lizzie? Of her luxury apartment, her handsome husband, and adorable child?” She gives her a penetrating stare. “Or—the unthinkable—did you kill your sister so that you’d have something to talk about online? Is that what happened?”
•••
Donna paces the apartmentnervously until Lizzie returns home. When she finally hears the door open, she starts as if a gun has gone off. Donna watches her younger daughter drop her purse and her keys and come into the living room. She looks as if she’s made of glass and that she might shatter.
“What is it, Lizzie?” Donna asks. She glances at her husband, but he’s staring with concern at their daughter.
Lizzie drops into an armchair. She swallows.
“Honey,” Jim tries, “are you okay?”
“No.” She looks back at them, her eyes large in her pale face. “They seem to thinkIkilled Bryden.”
Donna stares back at her younger daughter. It’s as if time has been suspended. She forgets to breathe. Her mind is a perfect storm, all her fears coalescing. She can’t speak.
But her husband can. “What the hell are you talking about?” His voice is strange.
