Page 21 of The Perfect People

She was debating whether to reach for her gun or her Taser when a wicker chair appeared out of nowhere, flying across the patio and smashing into the back of Richie’s legs, knocking his feet out from under him. He landed flat on his back. Susannah looked in the direction where the chair had come from to see Jessie, standing at the edge of the patio, a pained look on her face.

Susannah nodded and returned her attention to Richie, flipped him over, jammed her knee into his back, and slapped on the other cuff.

“You alright?” she asked Jessie, who was leaning against the patio gate.

“Yeah, I think so,” the profiler said unconvincingly. “When everyone hit the ground, I got knocked over too, and I wasn’t really prepared for it.”

“You didn’t hit your head, did you?” Susannah asked, remembering the concussion-related issues Jessie had been dealing with in recent months but had been keeping from the rest of the HSS team. She’d only learned of them because they cropped up while they were investigating a case together, after which Jessie had sworn her to secrecy. As far as she knew, only she and Ryan Hernandez were aware of the problem.

“I might have bumped it,” Jessie admitted, “but I don’t think it was too bad. I slammed my shoulder pretty hard though.”

Susannah wasn’t sure if she bought what her partner was selling but now wasn’t the time to push the issue. They had to deal with Richie Boy.

“Now Iamgoing to read you your rights,” she told him, “and depending on what happens after that, we’ll see if you get arrested for murder.”

“What?” he shouted.

“First things first,” she told him, reading him his Miranda warning as she lifted him up and sat him in the wicker chair that Jessie had thrown at him, before asking if he was willing to talk to them without a lawyer present.

“Wait, are you saying that you think I killed Shasta?” he demanded.

“I need an answer to my question before I can answer yours, Richie Boy,” she reminded him.

“Yes, yes, I waive my right to be silent and to the lawyer,” he said. “Now you gotta know I didn’t kill her.”

The sliding door opened and Ilana Owens, now with her hair down and wearing a lovely floral sundress, stared at them with her mouth agape. After a large gulp, she managed to form words.

“I just went to change clothes and I come back to…what now?”

“That’s what we’re hoping to find out, Mrs. Owens,” Jessie said. “Now Richie, if you would please answer Detective Valentine’s question from earlier: did you see Shasta Mallory at the party?”

“Yes,” he said. “I saw her in the kitchen talking to the caterers.”

“You were at her party?” Ilana asked.

“Please, Mrs. Owens,” Jessie said, “I know this is a lot, but hold your questions for now if you could. Richie, did you interact with her at any point?”

“No way,” he said. “When I saw her, I steered well clear. I walked the long way around to stay out of her sight, and then left.”

“What time was that?” Jessie asked.

“I don’t know for sure,” he said, “maybe between eleven-thirty and midnight?”

“Can anyone confirm this?” Susannah asked.

“Sure,” he said, suddenly developing a modicum of confidence. “I ran into some buddies at the party, Breezy Ted and JoJo. I left with them and we all went over to Tortoise Tavern on the main drag for a few beers.”

“How long were you there?” she pressed.

“We closed the place down at two,” he said. “Then we hung out by the lifeguard station near the pier until a cop kicked us out. After that I came back here.”

Susannah looked over at Jessie and could see she was thinking the same thing. If Richie Boy’s alibi could be verified, it would be near-impossible for him to have snuck back to Shasta’s place to kill her within the estimated window of death.

“We’re going to need the contact information for Breezy Ted and JoJo,” Jessie said with a wince, probably at having to say those names out loud, before turning to Susannah. “Do you want to do the honors?”

“What honors?” Richie Boy wanted to know. “I’m off the hook, right?”

Susannah smiled at her partner. Jessie knew just what a girl needed to make her feel better.

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