Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 02 - Necklaces & Nooses Read Free Page B

at all what I would expect from a cop. He was effectively ruining the stereotype I had of police officers, in a good way. My last experience with the police, one person in particular, had me believing he was a good cop, and he turned out to be quite the opposite. It made me a little sour on law enforcement.
    Willie noticed me staring and grinned sheepishly. “Surprised?”
    “A bit, aren’t you cop types supposed to be clean cut?
    “I get that a lot. You shouldn’t stereotype.”
    “Don’t get me wrong. I like tattoos, even have one myself. But I guess it seems out of the norm for a cop. To have full sleeves, I mean.” I sounded judgmental, or at the very least lame. Neither of which I was meaning to be. It had just taken me by surprise.
    “I had a bit of a wild youth, and this is one of those things that I did not realize at the time, how it would carry with me forever. Not that I regret getting them. I don’t, but there are many other things I did in my youth that now I just wonder what the heck I was thinking. Though, I guess I should be grateful it wasn’t much worse.”
    “We all do crazy things when we’re young.”
    “True. So, back to your boss, is there anyone you can think of who might want to hurt her? Or who disliked her in any way?”
    “Not really. I mean, she was going through a horrible divorce. She and her husband, James, seemed to hate each other and had constantly been fighting over money, but I can’t see him killing her.”
    “Really? Why not?”
    “Because he doesn’t do any type of physical dirty work. He’s a corporate lawyer with the firm Smith, Smith & Holt, and he seems like much more bluster than physical altercation.”
    “He could have hired it done. If he works at Smith, Smith & Holt, he probably has the connections.”
    I wouldn’t have even thought about that. “Yeah, I suppose so. I guess it just seems weird to even think of someone doing that. Especially someone I know. But I guess anything is possible.”
    “How well do you know him?”
    “Not extremely well, but he came into the store a lot to argue with Solange. If she tried to ignore his calls, he would call me and bother me until she finally got on the phone. So, I know him better than I want to.”
    He raised his eyebrows. “That’s pretty aggressive.”
    “I think it was his way of being controlling with her and the situation. Even then, he seemed all hot air. Solange was more annoyed by him than she was ever frightened or anything. That’s at least how it seemed.” Willie seemed interested in that, or at least he was writing something down. I would’ve given anything to see what he kept putting down on the yellow legal pad of his.
    “Can you think of anyone else, Presley, who might want to do her harm?”
    “No, although she fired an employee a couple weeks ago called Amy Irvin. But she’s a scrawny thing, so I sure couldn’t see her hang anyone against her will, if that’s what happened,” I said, fishing. Willie just looked at me, so I kept talking. “She probably doesn’t have the money to hire a killer, and this was a part-time job. I can’t see anyone killing over a part-time job. She’s still a college student. How do you know it wasn’t suicide?”
    “Until I officially rule you out as a suspect, I am not at liberty to say.”
    That caught me off guard. Way off guard. Holy crap. How in the world could I be considered a suspect? “What? Why would I want to harm Solange?”
    He could tell I was freaking out. “Calm down. You don’t seem to have an apparent reason to harm her, and I doubt you’re strong enough, which is why I don’t think you killed your boss. But I need to write up an official report so you’re officially cleared.”
    Whew. I slumped back in my chair. The quick adrenaline rush I got in that split second when I thought I might be a suspect left my body, and I just felt emotionally drained. I wanted my bed, a bath, and a glass of wine. Not necessarily in that order.