Rogue Angel 53: Bathed in Blood by Alex Archer Read Free Book Online Page A

suddenly sharpened. “Blood loss? What are you talking about?”
    “Her skin was so pale, with a gray undertone to it,” Annja told him. “I took that to mean she’d lost a lot of blood.”
    The detective relaxed. “Just a result of being exposed to the elements, I’m told. We’ll know more after the autopsy.”
    The explanation didn’t make sense to Annja—she’d seen the effects of exposure before and was convinced this was something else entirely—but she wasn’t willing to raise Tamás’s ire by continuing to pursue the issue. When he moved the conversation to another line of questioning, she let him do so without protest.
    “What do you know about Miss Polgár?”
    “No more than I’ve already told you,” Annja said.
    “To be clear, you’ve never spoken to her nor met her prior to tonight when she flagged you down to rescue the victim. Is that right?”
    “Correct.”
    “What makes you think she had nothing to do with the victim’s injuries?”
    The question made Annja hesitate. “I’m sorry?”
    “You said earlier you thought Miss Polgár had spotted the victim’s upraised hand while hiking down the road and flagged down the first passing vehicle for assistance, which happened to be you.”
    “Yes, that’s correct.”
    “So what made you believe Miss Polgár was traveling alone, instead of with the victim? Couldn’t she have easily pushed the other woman over the edge?”
    Annja distinctly remembered wondering if the two women had been traveling together, but she didn’t mention that to the detective. There didn’t seem to be much point, given that the injured woman was found nude. If it had been an accident, the woman would have been dressed in her hiking clothes. Annja said as much to Tamás.
    “Not if Polgár knocked her unconscious and then stripped her before pushing her over the edge,” the detective replied. “Polgár had several sets of clothing in her backpack, including another pair of hiking boots in a different size than those she was wearing.”
    Annja thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. “I didn’t get that sense, Detective, sorry. She appeared genuinely concerned for the injured woman and was extremely helpful during the rescue.”
    “What better way to throw the authorities off her trail than to assist in the rescue of the woman she attacked and left for dead, no?”
    The cynicism inherent in that line of thought made Annja happy she didn’t have the detective’s job. Still, she just couldn’t see that young woman as the culprit.
    “Thank you for your patience. We appreciate your help with this investigation. Will you be staying in Nové Mesto much longer?”
    “I have at least another day of shooting at Csejte Castle, and then some archival research at the state museum in Bratislava, so I’ll be here for a few days yet.”
    Tamás nodded. “Please be sure to leave your contact information with the desk sergeant so I can get in touch if any more questions arise.”
    “Of course, Detective. I’m happy to help in any way I can.”
    “I appreciate that, Ms. Creed. Good day.”
    A uniformed officer escorted her down the hall, past another interview room where Polgár was being questioned by two plainclothes detectives. At the front desk a sergeant took down her cell phone number, the name and room number of her hotel, and asked her to keep them informed of when she intended to leave the country. Annja agreed to do so and five minutes later was standing on the steps of the police station, suddenly exhausted from her ordeal.
    It had been a long day and night. It was time to get some sleep.
    That, however, was easier said than done, as her rental car had been confiscated by the police as part of the murder investigation.
    The rental car company was going to love this, she thought as she flagged down a cab for a ride back to her hotel.

6
    Annja awoke the next morning with an uneasy feeling in her gut. The comments Detective Tamás had made