The sunroom was at the back of the house, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a meticulously landscaped yard and the desert beyond. Diana sat at a glass table with her laptop open and papers spread around her, looking every inch the business consultant she claimed to be. She was dressed casually today—jeans and a silk blouse—but still perfectly put together.
And on her left wrist, catching the afternoon light, was the silver bracelet with its small turquoise stone. It matched Tessa's description perfectly.
"Detectives." Diana closed her laptop and stood, smiling tightly. "I have to admit, I'm surprised you wanted to speak with me again so soon. I thought I'd answered all your questions the other day."
"Some new information has come to light," Maria said, settling into a chair across from Diana. Kari remained standing, a deliberate choice to create subtle pressure. "We wanted to follow up on a few details about your relationship with the victims."
"Of course." Diana sat back down. "Though as I said before, I only knew them through Charles's business dealings. We weren't close."
"What about Victor Sheridan specifically?" Kari asked, watching Diana's face carefully. "You mentioned meeting him at business functions. How many times would you say you encountered him?"
"I'm not sure. Several times over the past eight months?" Diana's hands rested on the table, the bracelet visible. "He came to dinner here twice, I attended construction meetings where he presented progress reports. Maybe six or seven interactions total?"
"Did you ever meet with him privately? Outside of those business contexts?"
Diana's pause was fractional but noticeable. "I visited his office once or twice to discuss construction timelines. Charles asked me to coordinate some scheduling issues."
"Just his office?" Maria asked. "Never his home?"
"No, never his home. Why would I?" Diana's voice remained steady, but something shifted in her expression—a tightening around her mouth. "Detectives, what is this about? You're asking very specific questions about Victor, and I'm not sure why that's relevant to your investigation."
"We have a witness," Kari said. "Someone who saw a woman matching your description leaving Victor Sheridan's house several months ago. Around six PM on a weekday evening."
Diana stared back silently. Fear and calculation warred behind those carefully controlled eyes.
"I... I may have stopped by his house once," she said slowly. "To drop off some documents Charles needed him to sign. But I didn't go inside, just left them at the door."
"That's interesting," Maria said, her tone conversational. "Because the same witness also found something at Victor's house around that time. Something that suggests you did go inside."
Diana's hands moved to her lap, out of sight beneath the table. "I don't understand what you're implying."
Kari moved closer, standing where Diana would have to turn her head to maintain eye contact. Classic interrogation positioning, creating discomfort. "We have a witness who founda bracelet at Victor Sheridan's house. Tucked between couch cushions in his living room, like it had slipped off someone's wrist. A delicate silver chain with a small turquoise stone."
Diana's right hand moved unconsciously to her left wrist, touching the bracelet. Then she realized what she'd done and froze.
"That's a common style," she said, her voice less steady now. "Lots of people own bracelets like that."
"Do they?" Kari asked. "Because the witness described it in very specific detail. And you're wearing a bracelet that matches that description perfectly right now."
The silence stretched. Diana looked between them, a vein pulsing in her throat.
"I need to know what you're accusing me of," she said. "If you think I had something to do with Victor's death—"
"We're not accusing you of anything yet," Maria said. "We're just trying to understand the timeline. You visited Victor's house. You lost your bracelet there. When did you realize it was missing?"
"I didn't—" Diana stopped herself. "I mean, I don't know that it was my bracelet. Like I said, it's a common style."
"Ms. Gray, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," Kari said. "The easy way is you tell us the truth about your relationship with Victor Sheridan. The hard way is we get a warrant, search this house, confiscate that bracelet, and have forensics examine it for trace evidence that places it at Victor's home."
Diana's hands were trembling now. She clasped them together, trying to regain control, but the trembling continued. "You don't understand. It's not what you think."
"Then help us understand," Maria said gently. "Tell us what your relationship with Victor really was."
"We were..." Diana's voice cracked. She took a breath, steadied herself. "We were working together. Not romantically, not... not anything inappropriate. But we were in contact more than Charles knew about."
"Working together on what?" Kari asked.
Diana stood abruptly, walking to the windows and staring out at the desert landscape. Her back was to them, shoulders tight with tension. "Victor had concerns. About the resort project, about some of the practices Charles was using. He came to me because he knew I was close to Charles, knew I had access to files and communications."
