Lotus Effect

He matches my smile with a snide one of his own. “Okay then. Can you tell me if you noticed the similarities between the Delany murder and your attack before you signed on to the case?” He reaches down to a binder and plucks out a manila file.

Marks, Cynthia is written on the tab.

My shoulders tense. I’m not surprised that he connected the similarities. I’m alarmed that he went there so quickly. No preamble.

“You’re not one for foreplay,” I say. I stole that line from Rhys. He used it on a cop we interviewed on a previous case, and it worked then, just as it’s working now.

Detective Vale cocks his head, annoyed. “I like to get to the point. Again, time is of the essence, Ms. Hale. Or should we cut the shit completely and I refer to you as Ms. Marks?”

“Hale is my name now, detective. And no,” I say, propping my elbows on the table. “I didn’t read the whole case file prior.”

The truth.

He looks dubious at my response. “So you’re saying that you just blindly accept a case without first knowing all the details?” He shakes his head. “You must trust your partner very much.”

“I do. Don’t you trust yours?”

His gaze narrows, then he says, “At any time after you arrived in West Melbourne, once you were aware of the Delany case details, did you suspect Agent Nolan chose it because of the similarities to your attack?”

His questions are going to keep getting longer and more detailed until he gets the answer he wants. “Again, I trust my partner. If he’d done such an obtuse thing, he’d have discussed it with me beforehand. What is the baby’s name?”

This catches him off guard. “What?”

“Cameron’s baby. The name?”

He frowns. “Doesn’t have one yet. The husband claims the name they had picked out was her choice, and he can’t bring himself to use it now.”

Elton. That’s her husband’s name. The fact that Detective Vale refers to him as “the husband” means Elton is at least a suspect, if not the prime.

“When did you realize the parallels between the cases?” he fires back.

About the time I was staring at my dead friend on an autopsy table.

“Many cases that involve stabbings appear similar,” I say. He’s like a dog with a bone.

“You don’t find it odd or…coincidental that Cameron was killed in nearly the same method that you were attacked?”

I quirk an eyebrow. “Nearly?”

He clears his throat. “Eight stab wounds. The murder weapon was measured to be the same width, inflicting similar lacerations. The only difference is that the victim’s abdomen was left undamaged.” He pauses a beat. “As I suspect you already know, seeing as you spoke with the ME this morning.”

“Is that a question, detective?”

“What were you doing at the medical examiner’s office this morning, Ms. Hale?”

“Agent Nolan and I were there to interview Dr. Keller on the Delany case.”

His dark eyes hold mine for a second too long, then he flips open my case file. “Would you consider yourself and Cameron Ortega friends?” He switches gears quickly.

I hike an eyebrow. “You mean, did I consider us friends before she was murdered?”

“Right.”

I sit back. I don’t like where he’s taking this interview. “We were college friends.”

Interrogation trick: Like being on the witness stand in court, never offer more information than what’s being asked.

“Cameron’s phone records show a text message she sent you with her address, confirming a visit to her home yesterday.”