'Til Death Do Us Part by Kate White Read Free Book Online

you know?” Peyton asked almost desperately.
    “That really can’t be determined until our people have studied the scene and an autopsy has been performed,” said Pichowski in the kind of gravelly voice that made you want him to clear his throat.
    “Who was it that discovered the body?” he asked.
    “We did,” Peyton said, gesturing toward me. “She’d been gone too long and we went to check on her.”
    “And you are . . . ?” he asked, turning to me.
    “Bailey Weggins. I drove over to the farm with Ashley today.”
    He shut down any more talk about Ashley right then and asked Peyton about the layout of the barn. When he learned there were rooms in the back, he asked the officer to accompany everyone back there—except me. He told Peyton he would speak to her next and asked that she provide a phone number for Ashley’s next of kin to the officer.
    As soon as the three of us sat down at the wooden table, I felt my stomach start to churn. I’d become infatuated with the last cop who had questioned me at a murder scene, and now I was experiencing a discomforting flashback. I told myself to stay calm and focus on sharing every single detail I could recall.
    After asking for the spelling of my name and my address, they got right to the point. What could I tell them about what happened today? I started instead with yesterday, with Ashley’s call to me, her concerns about the two dead bridesmaids, my decision to come to Greenwich, and how I’d waited for Ashley in the kitchen. Their eyes seemed to widen as I unfurled the whole story, though I couldn’t tell if it was from concerned interest or skepticism.
    “What was Miss Hanes hoping
you
could do?” Pichowski asked when I finished.
    “I’m a reporter,” I revealed. “I write true crime articles, and I think Ashley thought I might be able to offer some insight. She told me she’d shared her fears with the police here, but they hadn’t seen any evidence of foul play.”
    I saw Michaels shoot a glance at Pichowski. I figured they had to be familiar with Robin’s death, but they didn’t give any verbal confirmation of that. They asked me then for anything I knew about Jamie’s situation, which of course wasn’t much.
    “Let’s get back to today,” Pichowski said. “Did you see anybody around when Miss Hanes headed over to the silo—or when you went back there looking for her?”
    “No, it looked deserted over there. But I find it hard to believe that this could be a
third
fatal accident. Don’t you?”
    “What about the people who work here?” he asked, ignoring my question. “Did you see anybody leave the kitchen when you were sitting here waiting?”
    I thought carefully about how to answer because I didn’t want to get anyone in trouble needlessly. I stated that Phillipa and Mary had gone off at some point but I wasn’t sure if they’d left the building entirely.
    Suddenly I remembered the incident with Robin’s ex-husband, and I told the detectives about that as well. Michaels stopped his note taking to shoot Pichowski another fast look.
    Pichowski went through a few more basic questions—had Ms. Cross and I touched anything, had the lights been on, had we noticed anything odd or heard any sounds? As he was finishing up, he took his wallet from his jacket pocket and, with a hand the size of a bear paw, withdrew one of his business cards.
    “If you think of anything else over the next few days, I want you to call me. I’d also appreciate it if you hung around for just a bit today. Once I hear what the others have to say, I might want to ask you another question or two.”
    By all appearances he was a decent guy, a straight shooter, yet I couldn’t tell how he was viewing the situation.
    “Doesn’t it all seem odd to you?” I asked, trying to feel him out again. “I mean, the first two deaths could be considered a horrible coincidence, but three—that seems to defy the laws of probability.”
    “Well, we’re certainly going to