Page 47 of Little Empty Promises

“Why.Are.You.Here?”

He was fidgeting, running his fingers up and down his pants like a nervous tic.Looking at him now, at how agitated he seemed, it didn’t seem normal.It crossed my mind there might be some mental issues at play.

If I was right, I wanted to exercise caution.I didn’t want to push him or put him in a position where he felt more heightened than he already was in this moment.

Kayla offered him a sympathetic smile and said, “Georgiana is here to talk to us about Cordelia Bennett, honey.”

“Why?How does she know Cordelia?And why does she care about what happened to her?Was she a friend?Because I’ve never seen her at Cordelia’s house before.”

“My mother is one of your neighbors,” I said.

“Who is your mother?”

“Darlene Kennison.She’s married to Harvey.”

“Good man, good man.But your mother …” He shook his head.“Your mother, she’s … don’t mind my bluntness, but I find your mother to be a ridiculous, dramatic woman.I try to avoid her.”

“I don’t mind.I think she’s a lot sometimes too.She’s a good person.If you got to know her, you’d see that.”

“I’m not sure I agree.I still don’t understand why you’re here, asking about our neighbor.What’s it to you?”

“She’s a detective,” Kayla said.“A private eye.”

He turned toward me, blinked a few times, and then said, “Yes, I knew you looked familiar.I’ve seen you in the paper and on TV in the past.You used to work as a detective for the county.Why’d you quit?”

“I wanted to start my own detective agency.”

“You still quit, which makes you a quitter.”

Kayla looked my way, mouthing a silent,I’m sorry.

“After Harvey stepped down as chief of police, the man who took his position was someone I didn’t trust.We didn’t work well together, and you’re right, I quit.Not too long after, I discovered he had a dark secret, and he’d been murdering people to cover it up.”

“I remember,” Seth said.“They got rid of that guy, and Rex Foley is the chief of police now, which makes him your brother-in-law.Seems like a decent man.”

“He is a decent man,” I said.

“If he’s so decent, why don’t you go back to work for the county?”

It was interesting being on the opposite side of an interrogation.

I wasn’t sure I liked it.

“I like having my own detective agency,” I said.“Speaking of which, I’ve been questioning some of Cordelia’s neighbors.Her sister hired me to investigate what happened to her.”

He was pacing the room now, his hands still running up and down his legs.

My attempt at explaining things in a calm manner had failed.

“Cordelia was keeping an eye on one of her neighbors before she died,” Kayla said.“She kept notes, and Georgiana found them.”

“I don’t understand,” Seth said.“Cordelia wouldn’t do such a thing—spy.”

“Well, she did,” Kayla said.“She must have been able to see into one or both of our homes somehow, and she wrote down some of the things she saw.Georgiana was just telling me about it.”

“What did she see?”Seth asked.

“The couple wrote about wasn’t getting along, and there was mention of possible abuse.”

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