The Perfect Couple(11)

“I’m wondering why she was wearing it this morning. I’m wondering why she had her purse and her overnight bag. I’m wondering why she was awake at quarter to six in the morning, dressed that way, on the beach.”

“We’ll ask her,” the Chief says. “It does seem odd.” He thinks about what Roger is telling him. “Maybe she and the groom had decided to elope at the last minute?”

“I thought that too, but her parents are here… her mother… something about that doesn’t feel right to me. But she’s such a good kid, Ed. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation. It’s probably nothing.”





Initial questioning, Abigail Freeman Winbury, Saturday, July 7, 7:15 a.m.


Nick’s choices with the women are sparse. The bride, Celeste, has gone to the hospital; the mother of the groom, Greer Garrison, is busy on the phone contacting guests to relay the tragic news; and the mother of the bride, who is quite sick, is still in bed. It’s unclear if she has even learned what’s happened.

This leaves Abigail Freeman Winbury—Abby—who is the bridesmaid and the wife of the groom’s brother.

Abby is short with auburn hair cut bluntly at the shoulders. She has brown eyes and freckles. She is cute, Nick thinks, but not beautiful. When she walks into the formal living room where Nick is doing the questioning—it has glass doors that close, sealing it off from the hallway, the stairs, and the rest of the house—she is holding her breasts up with her hands. Nick blinks. It’s okay; he has seen stranger things.

“Hi, Abby, I’m Nick Diamantopoulos, a detective with the Massachusetts State Police. Thank you for talking with me.”

Abby lets go of her breasts to shake his hand. “Just so you know, I’m pregnant. Fifteen weeks along. I had an amnio a few days ago, and the baby’s fine. It’s a boy.”

“Oh,” Nick says. That, at least, explains why she was holding her breasts. Right? Nick doesn’t have children, and he has never been married, but his sister, Helena, has three kids and what Nick remembers from Helena’s pregnancies is that a certain amount of personal dignity goes out the window. Helena, who had always been rather private and discreet about her body and its functions, had complained about her aching (and then leaking) breasts as well as the frequency with which she had to pee. “Well, congratulations.”

Abby gives Nick a tired but victorious smile. “Thank you,” she says. “It’ll be the first Winbury heir. That’s important, I guess, to British people.”

Nick says, “I have some water here, if you’d like any. I’m sure you must be pretty shaken up.”

Abby takes a seat on the sofa and Nick sits in a chair opposite her so he can face her. “My stomach has been funny for weeks,” she says. “And this news is so terrible. I can’t believe it’s real. This feels like a movie, you know? Or a dream. Merritt is dead. She’s dead.” She pours herself a glass of water but doesn’t drink. “So do we know… is the wedding canceled?”

Nick says, “Yes, I believe so.” That’s what he overheard Greer saying on the phone, he’s pretty sure. That they’re canceling the wedding.

“Okay,” Abby says, but she sounds a little deflated. “I figured. I mean, Merritt is Celeste’s best friend, her only friend, really, and she’s dead.” Abby shakes her head as if to clear it. “Obviously the wedding is canceled. I don’t know why I even asked. You must think I’m some kind of monster.”

“Not at all,” Nick says. “I’m sure it’s come as a shock.”

“Shock,” Abby says. “The wedding is a big deal—very expensive, you know, for Tag and Greer—and Celeste’s mother isn’t well and I just wasn’t sure if… if maybe they would just go through with it anyway. But of course not. Of course not. Please don’t tell anyone I asked.”

“I won’t,” Nick says.

“So… what happened?” Abby asks. “You’re a detective? Do you think someone killed Merritt? Like a murder?”

“By law, with unattended deaths, we have to rule out foul play,” Nick says. “So I’m going to ask you some questions. Easy questions. Just answer as honestly as you can.”

“Of course, of course. I just… I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this is happening. I mean, intellectually my mind knows it’s happening, but my heart is resisting. She’s dead.”

Nick says, “Tell me what you know about Merritt.”

“I’m not really the best person to ask,” Abby says. “I only just met her in May. We had a little bachelorette weekend here and it was the three of us—me, Celeste, and Merritt.”

“That’s all?” Nick says. “Nobody else?”

“Well, Tag and Greer were here. Greer kind of arranged it, just like she arranged the rest of the wedding. So my in-laws were here, but, like… no other women. It’s kind of weird? Celeste doesn’t have a lot of close female friends. When I got married, I had eleven bridesmaids. Some from St. Stephen’s, some from UT. I was president of the Tri Delts, that was my sorority. I could have had thirty bridesmaids. But Celeste had only Merritt, who was a friend she met in New York. Merritt does PR for the zoo where Celeste works.”