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“Wouldn’t they notice the blood running down his head?” Naya wanted to know.
Bodhi shrugged. “Sure, if he was walking around with blood gushing out of his wound, presumably someone would’ve mentioned it. But it’s hard to say how much he would’ve been bleeding. It’s also possible most of the blood came from falling to the floor—a secondary injury, if you will.”
An uncomfortable silence descended over the kitchen as they imagined the scenario of a fatally wounded Rex wandering around, unaware that he would be dead soon. After a moment, Maisy shook her head, sending her blonde curls bobbing, as if to drive the image from her mind.
“Let’s have a drink,” she chirped slightly too brightly.
Chris helped her uncork two bottles of wine, and they started pouring.
“We might as well move this party into the breakfast nook,” Leo said. “Everybody grab a plate or a platter.”
Once they’d all squeezed around the table and started passing the platters and filling their plates, Sasha ticked off the elements of a crime on her finger. “We need motive, means, and opportunity. What’ve we got so far?”
Leo waved a piece of bread and said, “Tessa has a motive—Rex assumed she was going to sleep with him this weekend and tried to manipulate the situation so she’d have no choice but to share a room with him. By all accounts, she was angry and disgusted.”
“And she has the means,” Sasha added.
“Tessa? She’s just a tiny little thing,” Carl said.
“This little thing takes offense,” Sasha told him.
He laughed sheepishly. “I’m assuming she doesn’t know Krav Maga. My apologies if I’m wrong about that.”
“She didn’t mention any self-defense training, but she rows crew. Carrying those shells and pulling the oars through the water takes considerable upper-body strength.”
“Surely enough to give someone a good whack,” Bodhi agreed.
“So Tessa’s a suspect?” Carl asked.
Leo shook his head. “Nope. She was with Leeza. Motive, means, but no opportunity.”
“Then I guess Leeza’s out as a suspect, too,” Daniel said.
“Unless the two of them did it together or one of them’s covering for the other,” Maisy offered, popping a grape into her mouth.
Everyone turned to gape at her.
“What?”
“You’re so innocent-looking,” Chris told her. “Then you open your mouth and say the darkest, most wicked thing that nobody else even considered.”
Unfazed, Maisy sipped her wine. “Really? I mean, it’s not that farfetched.”
“You’re right. It’s a possibility. But for now, let’s assume everyone’s telling us the truth,” Sasha suggested.
Now it was her turn to be on the receiving end of the incredulous stares. She huffed out a breath, “I know, I know. Just like all clients lie, all witnesses lie. Just for the time being, we should accept the stories at face value.”
“Does Leeza even have a motive?” Aroostine asked.
“ShehatedRex Stoddard,” Leo said. “She didn’t even bother to hide it.”
“Why? What did Rex do to her?”
“Nothing. It’s what he did to Paul. He bullied Paul. To hear Leeza tell it, his behavior bordered on emotional abuse.”
“Plus,” Sasha added, “Paul has a gambling problem that he thinks Leeza doesn’t know about. Rex lent him money and then held it over his head, threatening to tell Leeza.”
“So Paul has a motive. He certainly has the strength,” Hank said. “What about opportunity?”
