“Not only that. I hated the way she was always calling here on weekends, when Claire wanted Ash to take it easy. Like she needed to show everyone how important and involved she was with the business.”
I don’t press beyond that. It’s an additional hint of a more-than-professional relationship between Jillian and Ash, but I don’t want to plant any seeds with Bonnie. She could end up saying the wrong thing to the police, inadvertently casting more suspicion on Ash than there already is.
Bonnie scoops up the loose index cards into a pile and squares it off with a few taps on the table.
“And I know this is awful to say,” she adds. “But I’m glad for Nick’s sake it wasn’t Hannah. I was so sure it was.”
“Did I put that idea in your mind when we were down there?”
“No, that was my first reaction, too—before I even ran into you. Because of the hair. And the coat.”
“The slicker?”
“Mm-hmm. When Hannah came to get coffee this morning, she had one of the slickers on, too. I guess she assumed it might rain, just like Jillian did.”
My heart skips.
Hannah and Jillian were both wearing those tan-colored slickers. Which means that from the back, they looked even more alike this morning than I’d realized.
What if Bonnie and I weren’t the only ones to have mistaken Jillian for Hannah? And it was reallyHannahsomeone wanted dead?
24
As my mind races, I trace a couple of circles on the buffed wooden table.
“Did you notice where Hannah went when she left the kitchen this morning?” I ask Bonnie.
She shakes her head. “She left through the back door and I saw her strolling across the lawn, but I’m not sure where she was headed. I guess for a walk.”
“Do you remember what time it was?”
“Probably between nine thirty and ten. Maybe a little closer to ten.”
I trace more circles, trying to piece a puzzle together in my mind.
“How many of those slickers are in the side corridor?” I ask. They’ve hung there for as long as I’ve been coming to the house, though I’ve borrowed one only once, to race back to the cottage in when it was pouring.
“Six, I think.”
This morning with the promise of rain, both women must have thought the slicker would serve their needs.
“Are there enough in women’s sizes for Hannah and Jillian to have worn separate ones?”
Bonnie cocks her head, thinking. “Yeah, there are a couple of small ones. Though maybe Hannah came back and hung hers up, and then Jillian ended up taking the same one.”
Probably not, though. If Jillian was preparing to visit the burial site at around ten, she headed down there not long after Hannah left the house.
I know I need to let Bonnie go home, but I can’t quite drop this. “Did you tell the police about the slickers? And how we thought it was Hannah who was dead?”
“Yup, I told them about our mistake. And I think I mentioned the slicker, too. I was so nervous talking to them that my voice shook. They probably thinkIdid it.”
I shake my head. “Ofcoursenot. And how about the rest of the interview?” I ask casually. “Did that go okay?”
“Yeah, I guess. They seemed a little, what’s the word, impertinent? Asking about Claire and Ash and how their marriage was.”
My stomach clenches. “How did you handle that?” I ask, still trying to keep it light.
“I told them things were fine. And they wanted to know who was in the house and when, that sort of thing.... Does that mean they think someonehereis the killer?”
