Her Frozen Cry (Detective Amanda Steele)

“She really doesn’t like you.”

“From her viewpoint, for good reason.”

“Why? Did you have the affair with her, get her pregnant, and decide to stay with your wife?”

“Ouch.” She’d told Trent a while ago about her father’s affair and her half-brother—not long after she had found out, in fact. Hearing it put so straightforwardly took emotion out of the equation.

“Maybe I was too blunt?” Trent winced.

“You could have used more tact, but you’re right. And I understand why you said it.”

“You’re taking this on yourself and making excuses for her rude behavior.”

“True. And like you said it’s not like I’m the one who wronged her.”

“Right.”

She didn’t add anything else to the topic, but as she’d thought before, at some point she’d have to have that conversation with CSI Blair. It would be extremely uncomfortable, but maybe a single moment of awkwardness would be better than what was happening? Then again, maybe talking with Blair about the affair, etcetera, would make things between them worse. Enough about Blair… “Alicia had a visitor who poured her wine, possibly tried to clean up after themselves.”

“And a stalker? Someone waiting for her to die, for the drug to take effect?”

“Not that they’d necessarily know when that would be.”

“True enough, and if her mystery visitor was her killer, why leave the tampered sleeping aid for us to find?”

“They might have been hoping we wouldn’t look at it? Or that we’d take it to mean she did this to herself? Hard to say.” Amanda massaged her forehead. “But we need to stop with all the questions.”

“Hard to get answers, then.” He smiled at her, and she relented, returning the expression.

“I know, it comes with the job,” she said. “And here’s another one. Who all knew that Alicia took a sleeping aid and would have motive to add the pentobarbital?”

Trent opened his mouth to talk, snapped it shut.

“You don’t have to say it. But expanding our horizons beyond Tony and keeping an open mind, who else might know?” She paused there, realizing how rhetorical it was at this moment. “At least we have one answer. Alicia Gordon was murdered.”

“How do you figure that?”

“If she laced her own Sleep Tight with pentobarbital, why not down the entire bottle? Ensure death.”

“Good point.”

Not that it sat well with her. Her former friend just became the prime suspect.