“Perhaps if you had done the fitting, and not Mrs. Fish, you would have known. The baby was a cushion, perfectly shaped and fitted to make the presence of a developing child look real. Even Ridley did not suspect. Death made the discovery easy.”
“So it was all a lie to get you back.”
“Seems that way.”
“She must have truly loved you.”
“Lily, a little while ago, you called her a hateful woman. Keep that thought. She never loved me. Maybe she allowed herself to believe it, but she played herself false. I don’t know if she was capable of loving anyone but herself.”
“That’s a cruel thing to say, Roen.”
“Is it?”
Lily stood and went to him, took his hands, and held them in hers. “If it’s true, then she was horribly, utterly alone. That’s sad. Terribly sad.” She raised Roen’s hands to her heart. Tears glistened in her eyes and made her lashes damp.
“You have a tender heart, Lily. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have said yes to my mad proposal.”
Her smile was watery as she blinked back tears. “I thought I made a rational, well-conceived decision. What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that you felt sorry for me. It was pity that allowed me to get a foot in the door.”
She snorted softly and bent her head to his shoulder.
“It’s all right,” he whispered against her hair. “It’s good of you to grieve for her. Someone should, and I can’t. Not yet. Maybe never.”
Lily nodded. Her tears dampened the lapel of his jacket. He gave her his handkerchief and she pressed it to her eyes and then crumpled it in one fist as she stepped back. She breathed in, settled herself, and released the breath slowly. She met Roen’s dark eyes.
“Are there suspects?” she asked. The answer was in the shadow that crossed his face. “Oh, no.You’rea suspect, aren’t you? Ben’s lost his mind if he thinks you killed Victorine.”
Roen placed a finger over her lips. “Hush. He doesn’t think I’ve done anything of the kind, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have to eliminate me. You’re my alibi, by the way.”
She pushed his finger away. “I should hope so. Where else would you have been?”
“Well, there was a time I would have been on the sofa.”
“One night.”
“See? That’s your tender heart at play again.”
“It wasn’t that tender. You spent time on the floor after that.” Now she put a finger to his lips when he would have spoken. “I suppose Ben will want to speak to me.”
“I don’t know when, but yes.”
“He won’t want to question Lizzie, will he?”
“No. I told him she got into bed with us.”
“Lizzie hasn’t had a bad dream for almost a year. What Victorine did to Fedora was awful but to do it while Lizzie was standing right there was unconscionable.”
“You’re right. It was.”
The space between Lily’s eyebrows narrowed as she pulled a thoughtful frown. “AmIa suspect?”
“No. Anyway, we share the same alibi.”
She challenged that. “How do you know I didn’t leave the house after you fell asleep?”
Roen used his fingers to make furrows in his hair. “Jesus, do youwantto be considered a suspect?”
