Oh, I recognized the big sister over-protective look in a second. I had two of those. “I’m Anna.”
“That’s right. The youngest Albertini?” She walked toward the compact kitchen and dumped several grocery bags on the counter. “I’m Krissy. I played volleyball against your sister Donna when I was a senior and she was a freshman, I think.” Krissy’s eyebrows lifted. “How is she, anyway?”
“Good. She’s selling real estate in town and is doing well,” I said. “How about you? She’ll ask when I see her.”
Krissy started unpacking the goodies. “I’m great. Took over the business for dad two years ago.” She shrugged. “Being a mortician grosses some people out, but I like it. There’s peace and comfort with helping people through grief, and I like working with Kelsey, who manages scheduling and the office.” Her voice didn’t change. “Why are you here, Anna?”
I cleared my voice. “I’m not here officially.”
“Yeah. I figured.” Her eyes sparkled. “Sisters, right?” She shook her head. “Kelsey has an alibi for when Danny was killed, and the police have cleared her.”
I couldn’t help it. “What about you, Krissy?” I kept my voice calm, too.
Her grin was instant. “Well, given the chance, I would have absolutely put a bullet in Danny Pucci’s head, but unfortunately, I was at the park concert with Kelsey that night and have about a hundred alibis to prove it.” She started putting groceries away as if she knew exactly where everything went. “Although I wouldn’t mind shaking the hand of whoever did end that loser’s life.”
I nodded. I’d felt the same way after he’d hurt my sister. “Where’s the rest of the family?”
Krissy chuckled. “You’re barking up the wrong tree for suspects, though I get it. I don’t remember Tessa well, but she certainly never seemed like a murderer.” She shook out a bag of grapes into a bowl and set it on the table. “Kami is in New York at graduate school, Kylie is in London on an externship, and Katrina is still in Malibu learning how to surf.” She shook her head. “I’ve always loved the free spirit of my twin, but I don’t get how she doesn’t settle down with some security.”
“Anybody else in the family who might’ve wanted to hurt Danny?” I asked.
“Everyone,” she said easily, looking at her sister’s bruised face. “But our folks are traveling through Europe with a group of friends and have been for a month, and any distant cousins we have don’t live here. If I were you, I’d look more into that motorcycle gang Danny kept hanging around with.”
“Club,” I said absently. “They’re motorcycle clubs.”
“Whatever,” Krissy said. “But for now, how about you leave my sister alone about it? She wasn’t involved, and she has some healing to do.” It was said as a question but sounded like an order. A big sister order.
Kelsey shifted on the sofa. “She’s just trying to helphersister, Kris.”
“I get that,” Krissy said. “However, Danny Pucci was into some dicey shit, and the last thing you need is for his enemies to come after you.”
Kelsey paled. “That’s true. Although I don’t know anything about what he was in to.” Her gaze shuttered. “Except for Tessa. He definitely seemed to still be into her, even though it sounds like she wasn’t on the same wavelength, according to you, Anna.”
“I hope not,” I said, meaning it. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of this.”
“It’s my own fault,” Kelsey said.
“It is not,” Krissy and I said in unison.
Then Krissy sighed. “Since you’re talking to Anna, you should tell her everything, Kels.”
My stomach clenched. “Everything?”
Kelsey ducked her head and stared intently at her pillow. “Fine. Your sister is lying to you, and I told the police the full story. But it doesn’t mean she killed him, you know?”
I couldn’t breathe. “What do you mean that Tessa is lying? She never lies to me.”
“She’s probably embarrassed,” Kelsey said, still not looking at me. “The whole thing is embarrassing, and if she feels half as stupid as I do about Danny, then I’m sure she wouldn’t want you to know they were on a date last week and got into a big fight at Dunphey’s Bar. He came back with a split lip and said Tessa hit him, and he also had fingernail scratches down his neck.”
So that’s what Detective Pierce left out of the pink file folder. “Are you sure it was Tessa?” I asked. My sister didn’t lie—especially to me.
“Yeah. Danny told me that.” Kelsey plucked at a string on the pillow. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I said, angry with a hint of hurt. “I don’t know the right way to ask this, but is it possible Danny lied to you? I mean, he knew you weren’t happy he was talking to Tessa, and it seemed like he enjoyed causing pain.”
She swallowed. “Yeah, it’s possible. But there’s something about Danny, you know? I mean, therewassomething about Danny. No matter how mean he got, he could turn on the charm in a second and convince you that he’d change. That you could help him be a better person. He really wanted Tessa back, I think.”
Until Tess told me otherwise, I believed her story. So the question was, who’d hit Danny? “Was he interested in anybody else? With the fingernail scratches, maybe there was another woman?”
