Page 126 of Another Girl Lost

“I think Lynn saw what she wanted to see.”

“Why wrap the body and hide it around the corner from your mother’s house?”

“Tanner was renovating the property. We all gravitate toward the familiar, don’t we?” she asked. “He knew the neighborhood. And he knew I lived close.”

“Maybe you helped him put the body in the wall?”

“I didn’t, but maybe Lynn did. They were dating then, and she said she’d do anything for him.”

“When did she say that?”

“Something I overheard while we happened to be in the same coffee shop.”

He shook his head, knowing none of this would be admissible. “Tanner didn’t kill Tiffany, though, did he?”

Silent tension rippled through her body.

“You were the last person to spend any time with Tiffany.”

“But not the last to see her,” she said. “Tiffany was a drug addict. Addicts always need money. Maybe she threatened to stir up the past and make life miserable for Lynn. Lynn said it took her years to live down her relationship with Tanner.”

“Maybe Tiffany knew more about your history with Tanner. Maybe she was blackmailing you and you got tired of paying.”

“It’s all guesswork, Detective.”

“I have you on video trespassing into Margo’s apartment. Leaving her a Della portrait.”

Scarlett was silent long enough for him to think she’d shut down. And then: “Did Margo tell you I called her Della?”

“She did.”

“Margo reminds me of Della. It’s unsettling.”

“You’ve made this mistake before.”

“Not like this.”

A note in her tone struck a deep chord. His ex-wife had kept secrets, and his denials, and ultimate cover-up, had enabled her addiction and nearly ruined him. Was he on the same path and again ignoring warnings? “How does she remind you of Della?”

“Under the blond hair, I see the dark roots. She’s had her nose done, but the eyes,” she said softly. “It’s always the eyes that give us away.”

The comparison soured his gut. Not for the first time, he wondered why Margo had picked him. “Della was never found. She doesn’t exist.”

“She did and does.”

“There’s no proof. There’s no missing persons report on anyone matching Della’s description.”

“She said she was initially with him out of choice. And then he kept her locked in the house. And then he locked her in the basement.”

“Why didn’t she try to escape the night Tanner snatched you?”

“She believed the Other Girl was still alive. She thought if she ran, the Other Girl would die.”

“Why would she care about Sandra?”

“Hell has a way of bonding scared, desperate people.”

“Is that why you didn’t run right away? Were you worried about Della?”

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