Page 59 of What They'll Say About Us

"Of course, you did," she said dryly.

"When I got into the room, Barclay was giving Cabot CPR. He knew it was too late, but he was still trying. He had told me earlier that Cabot was a mentor to him. It was already bad enough that he was going to have to challenge his investigation into Paige, and then finding him dead… He's going to have a lot to deal with."

"He's probably more convinced now that Paige's death wasn't an accident."

"I think so. I have a feeling he's going to try to keep us out of the investigation, especially after what happened tonight."

"You can't blame him. He could have been taking you into a dangerous situation tonight. He won't want to do that again."

"No, he won't. But we don't need him to. If this was Hale, there has to be another way to get to him. Maybe through his wife."

"Or Carrie?" Morgan suggested.

"Or Carrie," I agreed. "If I could convince her that Hale might be dangerous?—"

"You can't accuse Hale of murder with what you've got," Morgan interrupted.

"I wasn't going to accuse him."

"Even implying that he's behind this is a step too far. We don't have any evidence beyond the fact that they were chess buddies."

I frowned, but she was right. "You're right. I need to think of a good angle without actually accusing him."

"Maybe someone will send us a message or contact you directly after they see our post tonight."

She'd no sooner finished speaking when my phone buzzed with a call. "That's spooky," I said as I looked at my phone. "It's Alina."

"Put it on speaker."

I put the phone on the kitchen counter between us. "Hello?"

"Cabot is dead?" Alina asked in lieu of a greeting. "How? What happened? Who did it?"

"I assume you heard our podcast."

"Yes, but you should have called me first. What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know, but the police are investigating."

"I can't believe it, Tessa. What does this mean?"

I repeated what I'd said on the podcast, ending with, "It feels like Cabot knew more about Paige's death than he put in his report."

"As in someone bribed him to call it an accident?"

"Possibly. We need to see how this plays out."

"I was right, wasn't I? Paige was killed. Ray said I was crazy. And my parents were so angry when they found out I went to you. But I knew something was off, and I was right," she repeated.

As Alina mentioned her brother, I thought about Ray and his level of physical anger. I couldn't see why he'd go after Detective Cabot. Although he seemed more likely to attack someone than Hale.

"What's going to happen next?" Alina demanded.

"I'm not sure. The police will definitely look at Paige's death again, especially after what happened to the lead investigator and the increasing public interest in the case."

"You did get people to pay attention; I'll give you that," she grumbled.

"I hope you know I had nothing to do with Paige's death," I said. "I may have been a shitty friend, but I didn't hurt her."