He noticed that her eyes were red. “I don’t know how he died.”
“How could you not know?”
“Only the killer knows for sure. And considering that I didn’t kill him, I can only speculate as to the cause of death.”
“All right, go ahead and speculate.”
“I can’t do that. It’s an ongoing police investigation.”
She snapped, “I can’t believe you’re falling back on that pathetic line.”
“I used to be a cop and I know how leaks can screw up an investigation. The police are treating it as a suspicious death.”
“But that could mean he was murdered or died accidentally?”
He smiled. “Or it might be determined that he actually died from natural causes.”
“You said someone killed him.”
“And I could be wrong.”
“Oh thank you for being such a big help,” she said.
Sean leaned forward, his features no longer jocular. “The fact is I just met you and don’t know you from Eve. For all I know you could be the murderer.”
“I didn’t kill anyone.”
“I never met a murderer who said otherwise. That’s why we have defense lawyers.”
“Do you think this is connected to Monk’s death?”
“You must have missed my last point. Would you like me to repeat it?”
Now Alicia sat forward. “Monk Turing’s last will and testament was discovered in his house last night. I was just told that in that will, Monk named me as his daughter’s guardian. I intend to carry that duty out to the fullest. If the girl’s in danger I want to know about it.”
“Monk named you guardian? I didn’t think you two were that close.”
“Monk knew that I cared about Viggie. Her well-being is my top priority.”
“Well, with Rivest getting killed, Babbage Town doesn’t seem to be all that safe.”
Alicia put a hand over her eyes and moaned, “Poor Len! Oh, God, I can’t believe he’s dead.”
Sean sat back. “You seem to be taking Len’s death really hard. Any particular reason why?”
She grabbed a tissue from a box on her desk and blew her nose. “Len and I were friends.”
“Friends. Good friends, or something more?”
“That’s none of your damn business.”
“If you had a relationship with Len Rivest, it will be the business of the police to look into that.”
“Okay, we were seeing each other, so what?”
“Casual dating? Deeper than that? Wedding plans?”
“You are an obnoxious prick!”