Page 65 of He Doesn't Deserve You

“No.”

“Who did?”

“Roman.”

“What was Roman doing there?”

“I don’t know. Emily must have called him.”

“What happened when he arrived at the house?”

“Lily was holding me at gunpoint with her back to him. He raised his gun and ordered her to lower hers, but she refused. She turned and fired at him, hitting him in the chest. He managed to get off a shot before going down.”

“And then what?”

“I called 911, performed CPR on Lily, and then applied pressure to Roman’s wound.”

“Do you think Lily was responsible for killing Maggie?”

“Yes. She admitted it.”

“And how did Lily know Maggie?”

“The ransom note said she was watching Emily. She must have known Emily was staying at the Ritz-Carlton. I guess she must have been at the bar that night and saw Emily confront Maggie.”

Looking at Gabriel with disgust, Detective Martin finally broke his silence. “You’re a real piece of shit, you know that? Do you realize the danger you put your family in?”

Gabriel hung his head. “I know.”

“Two women are dead because of you. A man is barely holding on to life. You may not have killed them, but you are the one responsible for their deaths.”

Tears welled up in Gabriel’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I never intended for any of this to happen.”

“Save your apologies for your wife,” Detective Martin stood abruptly, his voice filled with scorn. “I’m not buying any of this bullshit,” and left the room.

Detective Johnson followed him out of the room. Once they stepped into the hallway, Detective Martin turned to him and said, “I’m goinghome. Tomorrow, I’ll visit Maggie’s neighbor. I’ll show her a picture of Lily and see if she recognizes her.”

Detective Johnson patted his visibly shaken partner on the back. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Get some rest.”

34

The following day, Detective Martin received an email from the medical examiner with Maggie’s autopsy results. Eagerly, he opened the attachment and scanned the report for key details. The first significant finding was that Maggie was not pregnant. The cause of death was confirmed as asphyxia, resulting from ligature strangulation with a rope.

He quickly picked up the phone and called the medical examiner’s office. When the phone was answered, he glanced at the medical examiner’s name on the report and said, “May I please speak to Ronald Downing.”

“One moment, please,” the woman said.

A minute later, a man’s voice came through the phone, “Ronald Downing, speaking.”

“Yes, this is Detective Martin calling about the autopsy report I received for Maggie Culliver.”

“Yes, what can I do for you detective.”

“Your report states that Maggie died from ligature strangulation by a rope. Are you certain? Could another item have been used for strangulation?”

“I’m sure. There were rope burns on her neck.”

Detective Martin’s first thought was that the scarf was planted to frame Emily.

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