Page 85 of Passions in Death
A tight group, sure, but even tight groups had their issues.
Push the right buttons, she thought, and maybe some of those issues spilled out.
She heard Peabody coming back. She opened her eyes, but left her boots up.
“That’s your twenty, and DiNuzio’s out running errands. She can come by in about thirty. Decker said she can come in when Shauna leaves to go with Erin’s parents to make some arrangements. They’ve decided to have the memorial right away, like tomorrow.”
“Quick.”
“Yeah, they don’t want it any closer to the wedding date. Decker needs a few hours.”
“That works.” Eve lowered her boots, swiveled around. “Here’s how to play it.”
Chapter Thirteen
When a case bogged down, backtrack and look for an area to shake something—anything—loose.
To Eve’s mind, that began with the victim’s tribe, who stood as witnesses and the suspect pool. Becca DiNuzio and Angie Decker, the brides’ best friends, topped that list.
People knew things they didn’t realize they knew, saw things they didn’t register or remember without prompting.
Or, in her cop experience, did things only they truly understood, and hid those acts under the guise of innocence.
Becca DiNuzio spent her high school years outside the shiny circle of Shaunbar. Eve well understood standing outside that sort of circle as a teenager. While she hadn’t wanted entrée—anything but, at that point in her life—she also understood many craved it.
Had there been envy, some resentment? Maybe some careless act or a few careless words that had rooted inside?
Now the one outside stood inside. Best friend of one, cohab of the other. But how did it feel to have the man she lived with “hover”—her own word—over his high school love? Had the close relationship of the two halves of Shaunbar stirred up that resentment?
Now Shauna’s about to marry, and you’re not. She’s about to see a dream come true—and you’re not.
Again, in her cop experience, people killed for less.
Opportunity? No. Other witness statements put Becca onstage at TOD. But connections crisscrossed. And there was Barney.
Albright asks DiNuzio to deliver the case. DiNuzio conspires with Barney to kill Albright.
In Interview A, Eve sat back.
“Bullshit. Smells like bullshit.”
But she’d leave it open as a possibility.
More, she wanted Becca in the box to try to pry something—again, anything—she knew, had seen, sensed she didn’t realize or understand.
She wanted a better handle of the group dynamics, the pecking order, the allegiances.
When the door opened, Eve closed the file, rose as Peabody escorted Becca in.
“Thanks for coming in,” Eve began.
“No, it’s fine. I want to help, and I was out and about anyway.” With her strawberry blond hair pulled back in a tail, her blue eyes shadowed, Becca looked around the room. “Is this where you interrogate suspects?”
“Interview. It’s an interview room. Please, have a seat. We’ll try not to keep you long. We’re going to record this.”
“It helps keep the details straight,” Peabody added. “Why don’t I get you something to drink? I don’t recommend the coffee.”
“Oh, um, can I get a Coke? I could use the boost. None of us have been getting a lot of sleep.”
