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I think about how much to tell them. “He loved her, in his own way. And she used it to manipulate him for years.”
“Do you know what Saschaallegedlydoes for a living?”
I shake my head, maybe a little too quickly. “No. Toni blacklisted him from utilizing our services years ago. It’s the reason I know his name at all—it was a constant bone of contention between Lizzie and Toni.”
“Elizabeth kept in touch with him?”
“She did. I don’t know the details, but they had a relationship of sorts. And, as far as I know, he’d supply her.”
“Supply her?”
“Marijuana and cocaine, for sure,” I reply. “I’m not sure what else Lizzie used. I uh…” When he doesn’t push, I stick to a vague explanation. “I tried to stay away from it in general.”
“Okay, so why would he want to hurt her.”
“I don’t know,” I say again. “But Toni was afraid of him. And she’s not afraid of anyone.”
“And Nico Drakos? The nightclub owner?”
I touch the bracelet on my wrist, instantly guilty for mentioning Nico. “That’s part of Toni’s story too.”
“Can you give me the Spark Notes version?”
I look at Aiden Flint. He is watching for a reaction, but there’s no force in his gaze. “Elizabeth, Toni, Nico, andI, we go back. Almost four years now.” Again, my fingers find the pendant on my wrist.
I reach into my murky memories of the night we met. But filtering through the fragments doesn’t help. “He was a good friend for a short time, but Lizzie eventually came between him and Toni. I don’t know how, or why he left, but the last thing he said to Lizzie before walking out was, ‘If she ends up hurt because of you, I’ll finish you off myself’.”
I remember Lizzie laughing at his back as he left. And Toni…She was standing on the stairs, out of sight from both of them, and she looked like a woman who’d just lost everything. I often wonder if Nico would have stayed if he’d just looked back and seen her face.
“Senator Fletcher?”
“Think the Clinton Scandal but you pay a bribe to cover it up.”
“Cameron Klein?”
“Elizabeth got trashed in a bar and released some personal information. Shesupposedlydidn’t know it, but she happened to be sitting next to a writer who worked for Exposé Magazine. The scandal almost ruined his career.”
“I remember something about that,” Lieutenant Flint nods. “It was big news at the time.”
“She outed him. At the time he was Hollywood’s latest heartthrob, so when the article came out and people realized he was gay, he took a lot of public scrutiny. The straight community felt manipulated. The gay community felt that he’d had a responsibility as a homosexual man with influence to live unashamed…”
“How did Elizabeth have that information?”
“He was a client of hers. You know, maintaining appearances and all that.”
“Okay.” He looks back down at the notepad. “Winnifred Rusche?”
“Elizabeth accused George Rusche of raping her.” I pause for a small moment. “Her claims were never substantiated, and when the detective found out she’d tried to blackmail George before coming forward, it didn’t end well. The charges were dropped. He thought she was lying.” I remember back to those awful weeks on Clementine Lane. “But the damage had been done.”
“George Rusche killed himself.” He turns to look at Detective Sanchez. “What? A year ago now?”
“Yes, he did,” I confirm. “About two months after everything had died down. He…ah…” I swallow the lump in my throat and force out the words. “He shot himself.”
Aiden Flint must sense my stress because he changes the topic. “And then the four of you…”
“After what I’ve told you, you can hardly believe that living with her was easy. But like I said, wanting to harm her and-”
“Actually killing her are two very different sides of the same coin,” he finishes for me. “But that doesn’t mean any of you areincapable of it.”
