Could Scarlett be in on it? I studied her from the corner of my eye. She'd been trespassing, had lied about staying in the Inn. Wouldn't be the first time someone grabbed cheaper accommodations and tried to use the Inn's amenities. It happened all the time.
She'd been awkward, embarrassed, and charmingly clumsy as she'd tried to lie her way out of my accusations. Then, she'd seen Vanessa's body and puked all over me. I flexed my toes in my soiled shoes, my stomach turning at the faint squish. The second we were done with West I was finding a hose.
Scarlett was still pale, still shaky. It was possible she was the best actress I'd ever met, but I doubted it. My bet was that she was in the wrong place at the exact right time to keep me out of jail.
Pretty, lying Scarlett wasn't going anywhere. Not any time soon.
Chapter Four
TENN
"What the hell, Tenn?" West strode down the gravel path, his eyes hard. "Who's this?" he stopped in front of us, looking over his shoulder at his lead deputy. "Get the scene secured. Coroner is on the way." His deputy nodded and turned, barking orders at the rest of her team.
West didn't wait for me to respond, scanning the gravel path as he approached. "She over there?" I pointed. West leaned into the bush and swore. "Should have stayed in jail," he said under his breath. Raising his head, he zeroed in on Scarlett. "Name?"
"Scarlett," I answered. "We ran into each other on the path."
West didn't acknowledge my comment. Eyes on Scarlett, he brought out his pad and pen, then clicked open his phone and hit the red 'record' button. "I'm recording this for accuracy. This is police chief Weston Garfield—" He went on to list the date, location, my name, and Scarlett's first.
At his raised eyebrow she said, "Hall. Scarlett Hall."
"Scarlett Hall," West repeated. "Are you a guest at the Inn, Scarlett?"
"No, sir," she said, her voice soft and scared in a way it hadn't been when I'd interrogated her. Then again, I hadn't had a gun on my hip or the ability to throw her ass in jail.
"Then why don't you tell me what you were doing on the garden path this morning," he prompted, holding up his phone so it could catch her answer.
I already knew whatever she said was going to be a lie. She surprised me just a little. I don't think she lied so much as left out most of the truth. "I was thinking about getting a room at the Inn, but it's kinda pricey, you know?"
West nodded. Rooms at the Inn started at $350 a night and went up sharply from there. Cheap, it was not.
"I wanted to check out the place, see if it was worth springing for a few nights, so I decided to go for a walk. I was on the path, back that way." She pointed toward the cottages, near where I'd first run into her. "I was off to the side, looking at the roses, when I saw her—Vanessa?— go by. She looked angry. A few seconds later, I bumped into Tenn."
"And where did Tenn come from?" West asked easily as if my freedom didn't rely on her answer.
"He was behind me, I guess." Scarlett knew exactly what West was asking. She pointed ahead of us at the Inn. "Vanessa walked off that way." Turning back to the cottages, she pointed again. "Tenn came from behind me, the opposite direction as…" A slight hesitation before she said the name. "Vanessa." Scarlett glanced at the bushes where deputies swarmed the area around Vanessa's body. She swallowed hard.
"And then what happened?" West prompted.
Eyeing the recorder, Scarlett went on, "I bumped into Tenn. Wasn't watching where I was going. It's so beautiful here," she said weakly. She was good, believable and way less sketchy than she had been when I'd questioned her. "I was nervous once he told me who he was since I was, you know, not really a guest. I, uh, I lied about staying here, and he knew I was lying. He got, um, angry, and I'm pretty sure he was going to call you and report me for trespassing. He was dragging me back to the Inn…" A baleful glance in my direction from both West and Scarlett.
"He dragged you?" West asked.
"Yes. He had his hand on my elbow and was pulling me down the path. I tried to get away because he was freaking me out, and I tripped, fell in the bushes." Abruptly, Scarlett stopped talking. She swallowed hard again after another quick glance at where she'd fallen on Vanessa's body.
Taking pity on her, I finished, "She fell on top of Vanessa's body. I helped her up, and then she puked all over my shoes."