Faithless in Death (In Death, #52)(9)

“You were in shock.”

“Did you touch anything?”

“I don’t know. The door, the railing. I don’t know.”

“How did you get back here?”

“I got a cab somewhere. I don’t even know. I ran, I walked. I felt outside myself.” She pressed her hand with its dazzling diamond to her heart. “It didn’t seem real. It couldn’t be real.”

Eve gestured to another chair when Peabody came back in.

“How long have you known Ms. Byrd?”

“We met last fall—September, I think. It must have been September because Merit was on a business trip. I went to an art opening downtown. Ariel was one of the featured artists. I liked her work so much.”

A single tear slid rather beautifully down Gwen’s cheek. “I bought one of her pieces, and we talked. We just hit it off. I admired her fierce dedication to her art, but she also had a breezy side, if you know what I mean. We became friendly.”

“Friendly enough for you to drop by her apartment at seven-thirty in the morning?”

“I was early, as I said. I was supposed to be there at eight, but I was excited. I’d commissioned her to do a piece in marble for Merit, for a wedding gift. I was going to do a sitting.”

“Did she often leave her door unsecured?”

“I … I don’t know. I didn’t go to her place that often. We’d usually meet for drinks or to browse a gallery, have some lunch. Of course I’d been to her place, seen her work space, but I don’t recall her door being unlatched before.

“She could be careless,” Gwen added. “When her mind was in her work, she could be careless.”

“All right. You were friends. You met her other friends.”

“Not really. It’s not that she’s an unfriendly person, but she didn’t socialize much.”

“What about romantic partners?”

“She never mentioned anyone specifically. I used to tell her Merit had an adorable cousin, and I could fix her up.” She smiled a little now when she looked at her fiancé. “Henry. But she’d had a bad breakup a couple of years ago, and said she wanted to concentrate on her work. Romance could wait.”

“Did she mention the name of the ex?”

“No.”

“Okay, why don’t you tell us about your evening?”

Those soft and teary blue eyes widened. “My evening?”

“Where you had dinner, what time, with whom.”

“I don’t understand.” Once again, she looked at Merit.

“You’ve established time of death,” he said.

“We have. I’d like to get this out of the way, let Ms. Huffman have some quiet and some privacy.”

“Do they think I could do that to her?” Eyes wide, lips trembling, she clutched at Merit. “To anyone?”

Eve shot Peabody a glance so her partner leaned in, all understanding. “Ms. Huffman, this is such a difficult time for you. You suffered a shock and a loss. Everything you tell us helps us find out what happened to your friend, who hurt your friend. Maybe you talked to her last evening?”

“No, I … Did I? No. We texted! That’s right, in the afternoon. I texted her to confirm the sitting, and she texted back that she was looking forward to it. I was meeting with our wedding planner, Marjorie. Merit and I are getting married in July.”

“Congratulations.” Peabody added a smile.

“I came home after. Merit’s preparing for a court case, so he’d be working late. I got restless. It was such a beautiful day. I went out for a walk, some window-shopping. I guess about six? Six or six-thirty? I’m not sure. I ended up walking to the park. I’m not sure what time I got back here. Eight? Nine? Then I had a salad, a glass of wine. Two,” she corrected. “And worked on some of the things Marjorie and I had discussed. Between the wine and the long walk, I was in bed and asleep by eleven.”

“Did you meet anyone on your walk, buy anything while you window-shopped?” Eve asked.

“No. Oh, Merit and I texted, what, about nine-thirty?”

“About. I texted Gwen to let her know we were ordering in more food, and we’d probably be at prep for another two or three hours. Since we were taking a break, we texted back and forth for a few minutes.”

“Ms. Huffman, given this morning’s timeline, you didn’t call nine-one-one for approximately sixty minutes after you found Ms. Byrd.”

“I know. I’m sorry. So sorry. I’ve never in my life seen—I didn’t start to think straight until I was back home, and even then. Then it hit me. I’d left her there. Just left her. I started to take a pill, a sleep aid. I can hardly believe I nearly took a sleep aid so I could just make it all go away. I started shaking all over again, and I called the police. But I couldn’t stop shaking.”

“You put a Do Not Disturb on your room and ’links.”

“Yes, when I was going to take the pill. I nearly took it again after I called, but I just drank a soother, and I finally realized the police would need to talk to me, and I wanted Merit. I wanted Merit.”

She began to cry slow, graceful tears as she huddled against him.

“I should have stayed with her.” With pretty tears sliding, she turned her face up to his. “I should have stayed with Ariel and talked to the police there. I’ll be ashamed I didn’t for the rest of my life.”