Page 73 of The Matchmaker

“Ms. Khan,” says Kirkpatrick. “Wearelooking into your accident, but we’re here for a slightly different query. It’s aboutLena Kamdar and Tanvir Bashir. We were hoping you could tell us where you were the afternoon of June thirteenth.”

“Hold up,” Azar interjects. “As I told you at the door, she’s been in a traumatic accident. She is still recovering. The last thing she needs is you interrogating her.”

“Whyareyou interrogating me?” I ask slowly.

Kirkpatrick pulls out his notepad. “We’re trying to piece together the day they went missing so we can have the most comprehensive portrait we can. You worked directly with Lena and Tanvir, didn’t you?”

“I set them up through my matchmaking agency,” I tell him. “But I wasn’t with them the day they went missing. If I’d known anything useful, I’d have reported it.”

“You were following along quite closely, though,” he says. “We heard you were listening on a police scanner.”

“I have private investigators on staff. We were concerned about the disappearance and wanted to help.”

“I understand,” Delray says. “That’s whatwe’retrying to do. Get a full timeline of the day.”

I suppress an eye roll, but if they need this information to move along, there’s no harm in telling them where I was. “I was probably at home getting ready for the event.” I check my agenda on my phone. “And then around six o’clock I was at my aunt’s home, getting jewelry for the evening.”

“Do you have any way for us to verify that?”

“I can verify it,” Khala says sharply.

“My phone would also confirm where I was.”

“Can we see it?” Kirkpatrick asks quickly. Too quickly.

“And the oxycodone,” Delray asks. “Where did you procure it?”

“I told you already.” I grit my teeth. “Idon’ttake oxy. What conclusion are you trying to reach here?”

Delray glances at Kirkpatrick. “The reason we are inquiring is that the couple was forced into the back of their own vehicle at gunpoint. They were ordered to take oxycodone.”

Blood rushes to my head. They had the same drugs in their system as I did?

“But…Farhan did it…. He kidnapped them.”

“We are trying to determine if he was a solo actor or if he had assistance.”

The way they look at me…

“Wait. Are you implyingIassisted him?”

They do not reply.

“Do you hear yourselves?” Azar glares at the officers. “She’s going to overtake two people? She doesn’t even own a gun.”

“We didn’t say she did anything.”

“That’s enough now. Time for you to go,” Azar tells them.

“Before we leave, we had one last question,” Delray says.

She reaches into a bag and draws out a silver bracelet etched with flowers.

My bracelet.

“Does this look familiar to you?” Delray asks.

“Wh-where did you get that?” I feel woozy. I move to reach for it, but Delray takes a step back and shakes her head. “We’re holding on to this. It’s evidence.”

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