An Unwanted Guest(66)

‘So she didn’t have to die at all,’ Gwen whispers.

Sorensen comforts her as best she can.

When she finally sends Gwen back out to the lobby, Sorensen feels slightly overwhelmed for a moment by the situation she finds herself in, but she thrusts the feeling aside and refocuses on the job in front of her.

When Sorensen calls in Matthew Hutchinson for questioning, she watches him get up stiffly from his chair and make his way to the dining room.

Normally they would separate witnesses into different rooms, but it’s easier to have them stick around the fire. She relies on the vigilance of her officers, Perez and Wilcox, to make sure they don’t talk among themselves.

After advising him of his rights, Sorensen takes her time going through what happened over the weekend with Matthew. She can tell how upset he is. His fiancée is dead. But he answers all of her questions willingly. He has nothing to say that contradicts what the others have told her.

She asks, ‘You had no reason to kill your fiancée?’

‘What?’ He looks wary now. Afraid.

‘Beverly says she heard you arguing earlier that night. Tell me about that.’

He drops his head, but he doesn’t deny it. She thought he might. It’s only Beverly’s word against his.

‘Yes, we did argue that night, but it was nothing serious. Just a bit of tension, wedding jitters, you know? She was finding it stressful.’

‘She was finding what stressful, exactly?’

‘The wedding preparations. Dealing with my family. They can be a bit … difficult. Intimidating.’

‘Your family wasn’t happy about the wedding?’

‘I wouldn’t say that, exactly.’ He looks away. ‘My mother wasn’t one hundred per cent on board, but I loved Dana. And she knew I was going to marry her.’

‘Okay.’

‘I didn’t kill her, or anybody else,’ he says truculently.

‘But you could have.’

‘What?’

‘You could have committed all of the murders. There is no one who can swear to being with you when any of the victims were killed.’

‘Why the hell would I do that?’

‘I don’t know. You tell me.’

He stares at her in dismay.

‘Why would your fiancée have left your room in the middle of the night?’

‘I – I don’t know.’

‘You admit you had an argument. You didn’t go after her, and perhaps – in a moment of anger – push her down the stairs? And then – in for a penny in for a pound – when you saw that she wasn’t dead, you didn’t grit your teeth and smash her head against the bottom step?’ She knows she’s being rather harsh. She wants to see how he’ll react.

‘God – no!’ He looks appalled. ‘I didn’t kill her!’

‘And then, perhaps someone here knew. Maybe someone found out. Maybe Candice knew what you’d done, or suspected it, at least. Or maybe Bradley saw something. Did one of them try to blackmail you? Were they both trying to blackmail you?’

‘No! That’s outrageous!’ he manages to splutter.

‘Is it?’

‘Of course it is! I didn’t kill my fiancée! I loved her.’

She gives him a long, thoughtful look.

He looks back at her, uneasy.

‘Candice was writing a book. Was that book about you? Or about Dana, perhaps? Something that would be damaging?’

‘No. I’d never heard of her. We didn’t know anything about a book. And Dana and I have nothing to hide. Why would anyone write a book about us?’

She waits, lets him squirm. ‘Okay. That’s all for now.’ She gets up and opens the glass dining-room doors. ‘You may go back to the lobby.’





Chapter Thirty-three


Sunday, 12:45 PM


SERGEANT SORENSEN RETURNS Matthew to the lobby and asks for Lauren.

She watches Lauren rise and walk past her into the dining room. Lauren takes her seat at the table. Sorensen sits down across from her, cautions her, and they begin.

Sorensen gives her a small smile. ‘You okay?’ she asks.

Lauren nods. ‘I guess so, considering.’ She accepts a glass of water from Officer Lachlan and takes a sip. She adds, ‘It will probably all hit me later.’

Sorensen nods. ‘Shock.’

Lauren nods back. She seems tense. They have all been tense.

‘You discovered Dana?’

‘Yes. I went down early to see if I could find some coffee. I didn’t even know if anyone would be up yet.’

She says, ‘Go on.’

‘When I got to the landing, I saw Dana lying at the bottom.’ She glances at Lachlan, as if embarrassed. ‘I’m afraid I screamed. I could tell she was dead. She was so still. I ran down to her and – then the others came.’

‘Did you touch her at all?’

‘Yes, I did. I felt for a pulse.’ She hesitates before going on. ‘Then the others arrived. We were all very upset. You don’t expect something like that to happen. We thought she’d fallen down the stairs. And then David – later, David said he thought it wasn’t an accident.’

‘When did he say that?’