Page 38 of I'm Watching You

Shrugging, she feigned disinterest. ‘Nope. I can just spot you guys a mile off.’

‘Tell us what happened,’ Zack interjected.

Lindsay drew in a deep breath. ‘I had just returned from taking the last of my residents to the Riverside shelter and was headed into my office. Ruby told me someone had sent me flowers. I opened the box and saw the irises.’

If Zack had remembered that he’d once sent her irises he gave no indication. ‘And?’

‘And I picked up the flowers. That’s when I saw the second package. I opened it and saw the hand. I dropped the package. I ran straight to the police car outside.’ No need to mention her scream could have shattered glass.

‘Do you know who might have sent the flowers to you?’ Warwick said.

‘If I had an idea I would have shared it with the other six officers who asked me the same question in the last fifteen minutes.’

Warwick let his doubt show. ‘Would you have told the police?’

The challenge caught her off guard and irritated her.She stepped forward. ‘Yes, I would have. Do you think that this is fun or that I want this kind of drama in my life?’

‘That’s a good question,’ Warwick said.

‘What about Jordan Turner?’ Zack countered.

Her defenses rose. ‘What about her?’

‘Harold Turner was smacking her around. Not only did she run into you at that charity fund-raiser, but apparently you two had a long conversation about Harold’s abuse at the party. And you called her today.’

‘I’m not about to apologize for doing my job. I consider her a client. Our conversations were – are – privileged.’

‘Not legally,’ Zack said.

She raised her chin. ‘Morally.’

‘Do you think she could have done this?’ Warwick asked.

She shifted her gaze from Zack to Warwick. ‘No.’

‘But you thought she could have killed her husband,’ Zack said. ‘That’s why you didn’t share the details about your conversation with her two weeks ago. It’s why you called her this morning.’

No sense denying what Zack already knew. ‘I wasn’t sure what she’d done at first.’ She sighed. ‘When I realized it was Harold, I was afraid she’d snapped. But after seeing the hand, I know she didn’t do it.’

Zack’s eyes narrowed. ‘Why do you say that?’

‘Because cutting off Harold’s hand was some kind of public declaration. The killer is making some kind of statement.’

‘And Jordan wouldn’t do that?’ Warwick said.

‘She wouldn’t. Above all else, Jordan Turner is a very private woman. Appearances are important and this kind of drama is not her style. She’d find it tacky, for lack of a better word.’

Neither cop looked convinced.

‘Unless she thinks we’ll never catch her,’ Zack said.

Zack knew Lindsay put her heart and soul into her work. It didn’t make sense that she’d trash it all. But he’d come across crimes before that made little or no sense.

He and Warwick walked into Lindsay’s cramped office, made more claustrophobic by Sara as she snapped pictures of the scene with her digital camera.

Sara glanced up at them and smiled at Zack. ‘So we meet again.’

Stoic, Zack pulled out his notebook. ‘Yeah.’

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