“Sh-She said I was lucky someone like Luke Green would give me the time of day because she’d heard I was, erm, a cold fish.”
A cold fish?I’ve heard the expression before, but it’s strange hearing it from a twenty-one-year-old. “So she knew about your relationship with Luke?”
“I guess.” She shrugs.
That’s interesting. Kara had been gone for a while. “How do you think she found out about the two of you?”
“She may have seen us together. I don’t know.”
“What do you think she meant by ‘cold fish’?”
“I took it to mean in, um, bed.”
“Sexually?” I ask without thinking. “Why would she say something like that?”
“I havenoidea.” Tayler’s head moves from side to side. “Seriously. No idea.”
“What else was said? By either of you?”
“Not much. It was awkward. I could tell she wanted me to leave. She just stood there glaring at me with her hands on her hips, so I just shrugged, opened the door, and left.”
“What time did you leave the victim’s apartment?”
“I don’t know, but I couldn’t have been there more than ten minutes or so. I mean, it was pointless. I knew the girl wasn’t going to listen to me.”
Then why go there?“Where did you go next?”
“Home. I got into my pajamas and did some homework.”
“What time was that?”
“I think I opened my books at around ten thirty or eleven. I sent Luke a text at about the same time, so I can check that and let you know.”
I’m sure we’ve already requested her text messages and phone records. That’s one of the first things they would have done yesterday along with the warrant to search her apartment.
“Okay, well, thanks, Tayler. You were really helpful.”
“Can I go now?” Her voice breaks a little at the question.
“You’ll need to wait until the arraignment to see what the judge says.”
“Oh shit.” The tears start to fall in rapid succession. I reach behind me and pick up a box of tissues we’ve got in the room for just this type of thing.
“It’s gonna be okay, Tayler.”
“H-How do you kn-know?”
“If you’re innocent, our investigation will find the real killer.” At least I hope so. I believe her, which means someone else bludgeoned Kara Becker, and it’s our job to find them.
I watch as Tayler’s escorted from the interrogation room back to the holding cell. Once she’s out, Dan and the captain step in.
“Her story checks out,” Dan mumbles. “We were able to track her phone movements through pings, and her timetable was right.”
“That’s good.” I probably shouldn’t be expressing any feelings about this one way or another, but the captain is well aware of my friendship with Tayler.
“That doesn’t mean she didn’t whack her with a golf club,” Dan retorts. “Her little visit coincides with the time of death the coroner gave us.”
I sigh. “Well,Ibelieve her.”
