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“Tara,” Nate resumed. “We’re very sorry for your loss. You were the older sister, is that right?”
“Yes.” Tara had a birdlike way about her, from her rapid movements to her thinness. Caroline had been a little bigger, which on balance made her look healthier. Ironic, considering the only time Laura had seen her so far, she’d been dead. “Oh, god. I’m sorry. I just still can’t believe it. I only spoke to her the night before. It doesn’t seem real.”
“When you spoke to her, did she seem any different than usual?” Laura asked, wanting to get a picture of her mental state. “Was she upset, tired, anxious, angry?”
“Nothing like that,” Tara said, with a less frantic tone, a more relaxed sag of her shoulders. Laura saw Nate close his mouth, leaning back against the chair, out of the corner of her eye. If Tara was more responsive to Laura’s questions, then he was obviously happy to let Laura do all of the asking. “She was normal. A bit annoyed, but not with anything that would make me think something was going on.”
“What was she annoyed about, then?” Laura asked.
“Oh, life.” Tara shrugged, then drew a tissue out of her sleeve and dabbed it against her eyes. “She was always complaining about that stupid little apartment. I can’t believe she… that that was the last place she saw.”
“Why did she have such a small place?” Laura said, her tone gentle enough that she hoped it didn’t sound like a rude question. “You seem to be doing better here, and Caroline lived alone. Was she single?”
“It wasn’t her fault,” Tara said quickly, shaking her head. “She got divorced a few years ago. Carrie and David just weren’t compatible in the end. But it left her without any savings, and so she had to start again from scratch. She was working her way up. Not much longer, and I think she’d have been on the path to getting out of there, getting somewhere nicer. Maybe finding love again.”
This seemed to set off a fresh round of tears, and Tara held the tissue against her eyes for a long moment, her shoulders shaking up and down. Laura glanced at the sheriff, giving her a moment to herself.
“David?” Nate asked, his voice low.
The sheriff shook his head. “We’ve already looked into him. He’s now happily settled with a new partner, and he has an alibi for last night. Absolutely solid. He was nowhere near the apartment when it happened.”
“Any children?” Nate continued, still keeping his head turned toward the sheriff. Tara was getting herself under control, sniffling and looking up from her tissue.
“No,” the sheriff said. “Both the parents are deceased, too, isn’t that right?”
“Yes, they passed away years ago,” Tara said. She had a weary look; she must have been up most of the night, crying and mourning her sister the whole time. She probably needed some rest. “That’s why there wasn’t anyone to give her any support. I would have if I could, but the kids…”
“She knew you loved her, darling,” the husband said, coming back into the room with two full mugs. He put one of them in Laura’s hand and the other in his wife’s before taking his seat again. Behind him, the deputy entered, handing a third mug to Nate while keeping a fourth for himself. “She knew you would have helped more if you could.”
Laura cradled the coffee in her hands, warming them on the surface of the mug. It wasn’t cold out, but sometimes the warmth of a cup of coffee was exactly what you needed when you had to sit and watch someone mourn the loss of a family member. It was hard to stay professional, and this little drop of comfort helped.
“I know…” Tara paused, sighing deeply. “I just… if we could have helped her get a bigger place sooner, she wouldn’t have been there…”
“It’s best not to dwell on what-ifs,” Laura said, not unkindly. She would know; that was part of why she’d spiraled over years past, how she’d struggled with alcohol and losing her partner and daughter. “Do you have any idea if there was anyone who might want to hurt your sister? Anyone at all?”
“No,” Tara said, looking down into her mug miserably. “No, I don’t know why anyone would. She was a good person. She was just living her life.”
“Anyone at all?” Laura prompted. “I know it can feel like you don’t want to get anyone in trouble, but it’s better that we investigate and clear someone from our inquiry than to have no leads to work on.”
“So you don’t have any leads?” the husband asked, his head snapping up.
“We have a working theory at this time, but any information we can get will always help,” Nate said, deliberately taking over as if he didn’t want them getting angry with Laura. He was always her rock. A wall between her and the very worst of people. Laura felt grief hit her like a knife to the gut. Who was going to do that when he was gone? “Not just for the arrest, but for help with a conviction, too.”
“There’s really no one,” Tara said, sounding a little distant. “Sorry. I wish I could help.”
“You’ve helped a lot,” Laura said softly. “You’ve given us a bit more of a picture of who Caroline was, and that’s really important. We want to catch the person who did this just as much as you do.”
The husband looked doubtful, but he no
dded. Laura turned her head slightly in Nate’s direction, catching his eye to form a question in her look. It seemed he had nothing more to add, taking a long sip of the coffee and then placing it down on the table.
“Well, thank you both for your time,” Nate said, making to stand. Laura did the same What a shame it was to waste the coffee. But that was law enforcement. They had things to do, and this killer was probably not going to wait around for them to refuel. “We’ll be in touch if we have any more questions.”
“If anything comes to mind, please do give us a call,” Laura added, dropping her card onto the table.
They left the grieving couple behind, and Nate stayed silent until the door of the house was closed behind them out of respect. “Back to the precinct?” he said then, raising an eyebrow to both the sheriff and Laura.
“Back to the precinct,” Laura agreed, with a weary note to her voice.
