You Owe Me a Murder(49)
Now that I had an address for Nicki, I’d decided—?at one a.m. when I’d been unable to sleep—?to talk to Detective Sharma. She was the kind of person who didn’t like loose ends. She might not believe anything I said, but she’d check Nicki out just to make sure she’d done her due diligence. My real stroke of genius came an hour later, around two, when I realized I didn’t need to tell her the whole story. This was a case when the truth was way too weird to be believed.
Instead I’d talk about how Nicki and I had met on the plane and that she had been really interested in Connor. And how I’d seen her around town—?almost as if she were following me—?so when I got the clipping, it seemed as though it must have come from her. It wouldn’t be enough to get Nicki in any trouble, and she could easily come up with an excuse to explain everything, including why she had given me a fake name, but having the cops show up to ask questions would give her pause.
What I was really proud of was the fact that my plan stopped her plan in its tracks. There would be no way her mom could be murdered once this happened. The police wouldn’t think Nicki had done anything to Connor. There was no reason to suspect her. But if her name came up connected to Connor’s death and then her mom ended up at the bottom of a staircase with a broken neck? Well, that was going to raise some serious questions.
Nicki wouldn’t be able to go through with her plan to kill her mom, or at the very least she would have to leave me out of it. Once I was safely back home, I’d mail a letter to Nicki’s mom warning her. She might not believe me either, but she’d be more careful. If she had any suspicions about her daughter, it might be enough for her to take the step to kick her out. I was absurdly proud of having outmaneuvered Nicki. And after I’d thought that far, I’d finally been able to fall asleep.
When we left the museum, Alex went with Jamal to a game store. We had plans to meet up for dinner, but I told him I had something I needed to do first. I didn’t tell him that I’d made a call that morning and I knew the police would be waiting for me at the dorm. I was nervous, but also excited. I didn’t want this hanging over me anymore. When Alex got back, I’d tell him that I talked to the cops. It would be out of my hands. I could move on. We could move on. There wouldn’t be anything standing between us anymore.
Detectives Fogg and Sharma were in the lobby of Metford. Detective Sharma pushed herself up off the sofa, tucking away her phone as soon as she saw me.
I took a step toward her. The front desk clerk called out, “Kim? You’ve got a phone call.” She held out the receiver. I opened my mouth to tell her to take a message. “They say it’s important,” she said before I could speak.
I waved at Detective Sharma to let her know I saw her and jogged over to the desk. My stomach felt as if it were full of lead. I could think of only one person who would call me.
I took the receiver as though it were a poisonous snake. It was still warm from the clerk’s hand. “Hello, this is Kim.”
“You let me down,” Nicki chastised.
“I told you I wasn’t going to do it,” I said.
Nicki sighed as if I were a difficult toddler having a meltdown in the candy aisle. “You can’t just decide that you don’t want to. We had a deal. What kind of person would I be if I let you walk away from that agreement?”
“I’m not going to debate this with you.”
“I had a hunch you might do something stupid and I was right. Why in the world would you call the police? You must realize that won’t go well for you.”
“How do you know—?”
“Look toward the library.” I spun and peered down the hall. Nicki was leaning against the door, holding her cell phone to her ear. She waggled her fingers at me in greeting. “I saw the police as soon as I walked in. Trust me, that’s the luckiest thing that could have happened. I’m guessing you haven’t told them about me yet?”
I swallowed hard. “I wouldn’t do that.”
She cocked her head with one eyebrow raised. “Liar, liar, pants on fire.”
“Leave me alone,” I whispered.
“I thought we could be friends, but if that’s not what you want, that’s fine. However, it seems to me you could use a few people in your corner.”
Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow in disbelief. “You’re not my friend.”
“Of course I am. Otherwise I would have given it to the police right away.”
Frost crept over my heart. “Given what to them?”
“Ask the clerk. I left something for you.” Nicki paused, watching me from down the hall. “Go on, ask her.”
I turned around slowly. I cleared my throat. “Excuse me, did anyone drop anything off for me?”
The clerk looked up from her desk as if surprised to still see me there. “Let me look.” She checked the cubbyholes where they slotted our mail. The clerk pulled out a plain white envelope with my name on it and passed it over. “Here you go.”
The thick envelope felt almost oily to the touch. I tucked the receiver under my chin and tore open the letter. There was a single sheet of paper inside. I unfolded it carefully, as if it were a ticking bomb. It was a photocopy, slightly crooked and a bit blurry, but there was no mistaking my handwriting.
WHY I HATE CONNOR O’REILLY AND WHY HE DESERVES TO DIE