Page 33 of Sweet Like a Psycho (Secrets of Suburbi 2)

“And why would you say that?”

“I’m good at reading people, Detective Reed.”

“So what did Adeline do that led you to believe she disliked these women?”

“Well, on several occasions I literally saw her hide from them. Or she wouldn’t answer the door when I knew for a fact that she was inside. She rarely ever came to the civic association meetings. And there’s a neighborhood book club that she refused to attend as well.”

“Did she like you?”

“Of course. Everyone likes me. Cookie?” She slid the plate toward me.

I lifted one off the plate so she’d focus. “And you mentioned the first night we met that Adeline had blonde hair.”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes? Why, what color does everyone else think it is?”

“I thought maybe it was more of a brown.”

She stared at me. “You’re mistaken, Detective Reed. She was a natural blonde. A beauty. That’s how she got that wonderful, sweet, handsome gardener to enter a scandalous affair with her. Speaking of Ben Jones…how is he doing? No one around here has heard a word. We’re worried sick.”

I didn’t bother correcting her. T

he detective’s name was Benjamin Harlow, but he had been undercover here. It was bad enough I had told her his real name once. I didn’t need to do that again. I was trying to keep this whole thing as under wraps as possible. The last thing I needed was Sally showing up at the hospital with a bouquet of roses for a Ben Harlow instead of a Ben Jones. And she was derailing the topic. Ben was a dead end. I wasn’t here to talk about him. “He’s unresponsive.”

She gasped and put her hand over her mouth.

I was as upset as her. If I could just talk to him, I could piece a few things together. As it was, I was stuck with Sally.

“Then why haven’t they let me visit him? I go almost every day but no one will let me see him.”

“They transported him to DC.”

“Why on earth would they transport him there? This is where he lives. You must know something.”

Something that she can tell everyone in town? But the woman truly did look upset. “He was placed in a medically induced coma. No one knows for sure if he’ll recover.”

“Dear me.” She shook her head. “You should eat your cookie. It will make you feel better about all the terrible things that keep happening here.”

I took a bite as she started to talk and then stopped mid-chew. Terrible things? Plural? I swallowed, ignoring the jagged corners I hadn’t fully chewed. “What other terrible things?”

She leaned forward slightly like she was about to tell me something top secret. “Someone’s been stealing my lawn gnomes.”

For the love of God. “Did you file an official complaint at the police station?”

“Of course. But they won’t even put a patrol car outside my house. It’s rubbish.”

“Sally, if I could ask you a few more questions about Adeline. Were her eyes green by any chance?”

“No.” She shook her head. She looked disturbed by my sudden change of topic.

“I have a few other questions about someone I hope you know. Violet Clark.”

Sally raised her eyebrow at me. “Brown hair. Green eyes. Ah. You’re not asking about Adeline at all. You’re asking about Violet.”

“Is there any chance that they’re the same person?”

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