Page 44 of Betrayal In The Bay

Aiden shrugged. “It depends if she states in the description that it’s not real. Then, it’s up to buyers to read the fine print.”

“I don’t understand why she was selling fake stuff online in the first place.” Julia picked up her wallet for closer inspection. I held out my hand for Julia to give the wallet to me after she was done looking at it.

While I was admiring the handiwork of the fake Louis Vuitton, Aiden said, “Annisa said that she wanted to make some easy money. Selling the stuff online was her cousin’s idea.”

“Was that the same person who wrote the note in Korean?” I wondered aloud.

“Good point!” Julia snapped her fingers as I brought up the note we found in Annisa’s closet.

“To be honest, I didn’t ask about her cousin because I was more concerned about any connection with Trevor,” Aiden admitted regretfully.

“That’s okay. We can ask her when we see her,” Julia said resolutely. “Claire, let’s make a list of things to ask Annisa.”

I smiled as Julia’s efficiency was taking over despite being blindsided by Annisa.

“Good idea,” I said and opened the notes app on my phone. I typed in a few words to remind me.

Ask about the cousin.

I gave her a thumbs-up when I finished. Then, I turned to face Aiden.

“Did you get a chance to ask her about the scuba diving stuff in her guest room closet?” I asked, remembering the other stuff Annisa had in her apartment.

“I did. She said that the scuba diving stuff belonged to Trevor,” Aiden answered.

“That’s strange. Why did Annisa let Trevor keep his stuff in her closet? I didn’t think she knew him that well.” I thought back to the conversation I overheard at the beach when I heard her tell Trevor that she wasn’t so keen to continue dating him.

“According to Annisa, she forgot about the stuff. Apparently, when Trevor asked her to a date, he asked if he could store some stuff at her place because he was looking to open a dive shop soon. However, after the date, Annisa wasn’t interested in him anymore and stopped taking his calls, forgetting that she still had his stuff at her apartment.”

“That’s rude!” I was incensed by her callousness, but it explained why Trevor wanted his stuff back.

“I wonder if Trevor’s death had anything to do with the fact that he was going to open his own dive shop,” Julia said.

We looked at each with blank looks, and I said, “We should stop by Sully’s shop tomorrow.”

Aiden nodded and said, “The police said that if they could corroborate Annisa’s explanation about Trevor and the scuba equipment, they would let her go tomorrow.”

“I definitely want to talk to Annisa when she gets out.” Julia’s mouth was set in a thin line. She didn’t get angry often, but finding that Annisa had hidden her activities as well as given her presents that were fake must’ve made her question if she really knew her friend.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Julia left after agreeing to pick me up in the morning, leaving Aiden and me alone.

This was the first time besides driving to Monterey that we were by ourselves. Of course, we weren’t completely alone because Grumpy was also there. He had been napping on the couch while the three of us were eating and talking, but now that Julia had left, he leaped off the couch and looked at me with his alert round eyes.

“Hey, little guy, do you need to go out?” I wasn’t expecting an answer, but he let out a few short barks.

“Do you want to take Grumpy on a walk with me?” I asked.

“Sure, a walk will be nice after eating the Chinese food,” he said.

When I put Grumpy’s harness on, he wagged his tail in excitement.

“Where to?” Aiden asked, looking around the neighborhood. Unlike Julia and Tristan’s new apartment in Russian Hill, her current place was in a residential area further away from the restaurants and coffee shops. The street was empty, and Aiden and I were the only two people walking at night.

“Let’s head toward the park.” I pointed in the direction of a local place that I usually walked Grumpy to. It was only a few blocks away, and although it wasn’t a large area, it was well lit.

With Grumpy leading the way, Aiden and I fell into a comfortable silence until I brought up Annisa again.

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