Page 19 of The Perfect People

“Do you want to explain, Jessie?” Susannah asked.

“Wait, you’re Jessie Hunt?” Owens suddenly exclaimed. “I knew you looked familiar. You’re the profiler I always see on the news.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jessie said, clearly uncomfortable with the notoriety.

“To be honest,” Owens said, “with everything you’ve been through, I’m amazed you’re here in our little beach town handling a case. If I was in your shoes, I’d have retired and moved to a tropical island by now.”

Jessie forced a smile.

“But if I did that,” she said, “who’d be here to help Detective Valentine assist you and the fine folks of Manhattan Beach get to the bottom of the crime we’re investigating?”

“What crime?” Richie asked from behind them, now dressed in gray silk slacks and a sleeveless, torso-hugging white shirt.

“That’s what we were about to get to,” Jessie said. “Feel free to have a seat if you like. Richie, is it?”

“That’s right,” he said warily, joining Ilana.

“Well,” Jessie continued, “sometime last night, your neighbor down the way, Shasta Mallory, was murdered. Had you heard about that?”

“Oh my god, no!” Ilana exclaimed, bolting upright on the sofa. “That can’t be!”

“I’m afraid it’s true,” Jessie said.

“Oh dear,” Ilana said, putting her hands to her cheeks. “I went to bed early last night and haven’t left the house yet today. I heard some sirens earlier this morning, but I had no idea what it was about.”

Susannah took note of Richie’s silence, his squinty eyes, and his cloudy expression.

“Did you know her?” she asked Ilana, though she kept her eyes on the man beside her.

“A little bit, just from the neighborhood,” she said, “but you used to date her for a little while, didn’t you, Richie?”

Susannah turned to him as if this was completely new news.

“Is that right?” she asked mildly.

“Briefly, yeah,” he said, the relaxed charm from before nowhere in sight. His brow was furrowed, and his eyes were steely. “For like a month, maybe. That’s really terrible to hear. Have you caught the person who did it?”

“No, actually,” Jessie told him. “That’s why we’re canvassing the neighborhood. We’re hoping to get as much information as we can. You might actually be able to help us out, Richie. Since you dated her, you’d probably know her routine better than most, maybe even be able to share the names of folks that she had conflicts with, that sort of thing. Maybe we could talk to you separately for a few minutes.”

“I don’t know,” he replied hesitantly. “I haven’t seen her since June, and we only went out for a month or so. I don’t think I’d be of much help.”

“You’d be surprised, Richie,” Jessie pressed. “Sometimes people don’t even realize how much they really know until they’re asked the right questions. Your help could be the reason we catch this bastard or not. What do you say?”

“Richie, you should do it,” Ilana implored, tapping him on the knee. “It can’t hurt, and you could end up being the hero of this thing if what you say helps. Remember, this is Jessie Hunt. She catches serial killers for a living. They call her the Angel of the City of Angels. Don’t you want to be able to say you made a difference in her nailing a killer around here?”

“Yeah, Richie,” Susannah added, unable to stop herself, “don’t you want to make a difference? Let’s just have a chat out on the patio and see if you have any nuggets in that brain that could break this case open.”

Richie stared daggers at her. Then without any warning at all, he stood up. Susannah felt the urge to reach for her gun and let her fingers inch in that direction. Unexpectedly, she felt a hand on her own, preventing her from grabbing her weapon.

CHAPTER TEN

Despite her best efforts, Susannah flinched.

Glancing to her right out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jessie imperceptibly shake her head, warning her not to take any action. She didn’t trust Richie, but she did trust Jessie Hunt, so she returned her hand to her lap.

Richie, still hovering over them with a hostile glower on his face, raised his arms with his palms up and muttered, “I give up already. Are we doing this or what?”

“We are,” Jessie said sweetly, standing up and heading for the sliding door that led to the patio. Richie reluctantly followed her. Susannah walked behind him, just in case he made an unexpected move.

---