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“We’re just trying to establish a timeline,” Lieutenant Flint replies. “Figure out where everyone was and when they last saw Elizabeth.”
He nods for me to continue and when Joan doesn’t intervene, I say, “I was alone, watching movies on my laptop upstairs until I fell asleep.”
“Can anyone verify that?”
“No.” I think back. “Lyla came home close to two. I went down to chat when I heard her come in.”
“Okay. Was last night the last time that you saw Elizabeth?”
“No.” The memory rises before I have a chance to bank it. Lyla and Lizzie standing on opposite sides of the living room, their voices raised as they screamed at each other. “The last time I saw Lizzie was the night before.” In a familiar gesture, one that’s almost unconscious, I find the bracelet on my arm and fiddle with the small, blue pendant.
“Could you describe the last time you saw her?”
“She was dressed to go out. She was wearing a black mini dress with her favoriteLouboutinheels.” I release an awkward breath, embarrassed that Elizabeth’s clothing is the first thing I remember. “It was a nice dress.”
Elizabeth’s high-pitched whine flashes in my memory. “She was talking to Lyla downstairs.” Before he asks forthe details of their conversation, I hurry on with, “I left them in the lounge and went up to my room to get ready to go out. I-”
Inexplicably, my eyes water. I blink furiously, trying my best to stave my humiliation.My nerves have pushed my carefully controlled grief to the surface. Taking a deep breath, I manage, “I never said goodbye.”
“I’m very sorry.”
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I ask. “How did she die?”
He hesitates for the first time. There is a beat of silence; it echoes in the room, loud in its emptiness. “We’re waiting to get the autopsy report back from the coroner to confirm the cause of death. But we have reason to believe she was murdered.”
I feel the first tear fall; it treks a cool path down my face, humiliating me. I quickly swipe it away, flashing a smile to try and distract from my momentary lapse. “Lizzie and I weren’t close.” I blink several times. “But she didn’t deserve that.”
“No, she didn’t. Nobody does.” He looks down at the stack of papers in front of him and takes a moment to pick up his train of thought again, or, maybe, give me a moment to compose myself. “Elizabeth’s body was found this morning, June twelfth, at around seven-thirty. But the last time you saw her was the night of June tenth; is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Was it normal for Elizabeth to not come home?”
“Yes. I would say that’s accurate. She spent a lot of time away from home. Sometimes she’d go off for days at a time…”
“Was that worrying for you?”
I shake my head. “Not really. If one of the others didn’t come home, I’d worry, but Elizabeth…She wasn’t,” I search for the right way to explain, “fragile.” I laugh, and the sound is sad. “That’s not the best word. None of us is fragile. Lizzie did what she wanted. When she wanted.” I look at Joan, who nods, telling me it’s okay.
Aiden Flint sees the gesture. “Miss…Catherine,” he corrects himself, “Elizabeth is dead. You don’t have to protect her, and anything you tell us could help find out who killed her.”
For a moment, it’s as if it’s only him and me in the room. He is watching me with a quiet intensity that, surprisingly, does not unnerve me. It makes me feel warm and safe. For some inexplicable reason, I trust this man. “Elizabeth was a very selfish person.”
I think back on everything she put us through. She lied to us. She stole from us. And she manipulated everyone. But I don’t say that to Aiden Flint. Instead, I say, “She constantly endangered us. We would have kicked her out of the house years ago if it weren’t for Toni.”
“Why, Toni?”
“They’d been through a lot together. It didn’t matter what Elizabeth did or how badly she screwed up, Toni would never have abandoned her.”
“Could you elaborate?”
“No.”
Both Detective Sanchez and Lieutenant Flint look up at me, surprised.
“You’ll have to ask Toni. It’s her story to tell and I don’t know the details.”
“Okay.” Lieutenant Flint smiles. “So, just to summarize: You last saw Elizabeth York two days ago before she went out for the night. Last night, you werehome alone. Nobody can verify that for the hours between ten and two, but Lyla Kaspar can verify that you were home between two and three in the morning. Is that correct?”
