Liquid Lies by Lois Lavrisa

Really.” Shit oh shit.
    “Ms. Coe, could you think of why she wished you’d drowned? And what does she mean that someone knew what happened? And why does she want to spare you more pain?” he asked.
    Oh yeah, I can definitely think of why she did. “I have no idea,” I said.
    “Isn’t that odd though? You told me you hadn’t seen her in four years, and then when you finally reunite, she wishes you would’ve drowned. Then later on she’s found dead. Ms. Coe, you can certainly understand why that sounds out of the ordinary. Very perplexing.” He took a deep breath and extended his arms above his head in a stretch. “What occurred to create the four year rift?”
    “Nothing really. I mean, we graduated. She left for Europe and I stayed and went to college.”
    “Hmm.” Then he stood and poured another cup of coffee. “We’ll be going over the victim’s journal in detail. What I read was just a recent entry in it. If there is something you need to tell me, you should do so now. Do you want to recant any part of your story?”
    “No, sir.” Not until I got some facts. Then if my hunch was correct, he would arrest the blackmailer. How could I get the facts? Where could I start? I still hadn’t worked that out yet. However, I had a feeling that time was running out.
    “Was there someone in her life named or called Ace? There was a recent entry about him too,” he said.
    “Nope. I don’t know anyone called Ace,” I said. “What did she say about him?”
    “I’m sorry, I can’t disclose that.” He scratched his head and furrowed his brows. “Do you know if she was involved in a romantic relationship with anyone recently?”
    “How could I? I told you I hadn’t seen her in four years. That is, until yesterday.” Was she involved with Ace? Who was Ace?
    “Can we go over the events last night again? I want to make sure I have all my facts correct.”
    “Yes sir.”
    “You said you saw Ms. Pike at H&K’s around nine in the evening. After you had dinner with your friend and your mail boat co-worker, Mark Stevens, is that correct?” he asked.
    “Yes, sir,” I said.
    “Are you in a relationship with Mr. Stevens?”
    “No. Just really good friends.”
    “Let’s move on. Then you and Dr. Wilson were on his boat a little after ten that same evening. Dr. Wilson told us you were on the water an hour and a half or so. Then sometime after eleven thirty he said you found the victim. Correct?”
    I did a quick mental time check of last night’s events. “Yes, sir, that sounds pretty close.”
    “Where were you from nine until the boat ride?”
    Having a fight with Francesca and paying off a blackmailer. “I can’t remember.”
    Detective Wurkowski flipped through the pages in his little black notebook. “Were you in H&K’s the whole time?”
    “No sir,” I said.
    “Then where were you?” he asked.
    I took a sip of now cold coffee. “I had to get some fresh air. So I went outside for a while.”
    “Outside? Where?”
    “Sitting on a bench by the pavilion dock.” This was partly true. The other part of my time was spent putting on a disguise, then making a drop of twenty thousand dollars for the blackmailer.
    “How long were you outside?” he asked.
    “I’m not sure. For a while I guess,” I said.
    “Can anyone corroborate your story? Did you see anyone else, or talk to anyone while you were sitting outside?”
    My hands tightened around the coffee mug. I hoped he didn’t see it.
    Mayor Pike walked in the kitchen. “Detective, I have to make arrangements at church for a memorial. Juanita is here if you need anything.”
    “I have to leave too,” I offered.
    “Thank you mayor. We certainly appreciate your cooperation.” Detective Wurkowski looked over at me with slit eyes. “We need all the cooperation we can get.”
    I said to Mayor Pike, “Please let me know if I can do anything for you. Feel free to call or drop over. Anytime at all.”
    “Thank you CiCi. I’ll let you