Down to the Wire by Patricia Sargeant

Author:Patricia Sargeant
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-07-10T14:55:21+00:00

* * *

“Have you seen this before?” Detective Eriq Duster slid a clear plastic bag diagonally across the table to Grace. The word EVIDENCE was stamped in large, red-block capital letters on both sides.

Grace sat with the veteran homicide investigator and his partner, Taylor Stenhardt, in the Columbus Police Department’s local precinct’s brightly lit interrogation room late Thursday morning. They’d asked Mal to wait in the break room. Grace’s muscles were so stiff with tension she could barely move.

Eriq pinned her with cynical dark eyes. He had the appearance of a former heavyweight boxing champion who’d eased up on his fitness regimen. Grace guessed he was a handful of years from retirement. Would his experience help the investigation, or was he eager to wrap up his cases and walk out? His bolo tie detracted from his otherwise menacing image in his dark suit and white shirt. Grace focused on it.

She leaned over the table to get a closer look at the bag’s contents without touching it. It held a thumb drive stamped with the Buckeye Dynamic Devices and Central Columbus Science University logos. Images from her alma mater’s recent donor event flashed in front of her mind’s eye. “This looks like the thumb drive given to guests who’d attended CCSU’s Spring Science Fundraiser. Buckeye Dynamic had been the event’s lead sponsor.”

She shifted her attention to Taylor, who was seated across the table from her. The detective’s wide jade eyes returned Grace’s attention with the dispassion of a lab technician studying a specimen on a petri dish.

Taylor was an attractive woman, perhaps in her late forties. Her honey blond hair was swept back and collected into a bun at the nape of her long, slender neck. Her drab, dark suit was reminiscent of Eriq’s attire, but her jewel-toned blouse screamed individuality.

Grace gestured toward the bag. “Is this what you found at the site of Verna Bleecher’s murder? Where was it?”

“Near the body.” Taylor spoke without moving her eyes from Grace. It was intimidating. “When did you last use it?”

Grace shook her head. “I’ve never used it. In fact, I haven’t seen it since the event two weeks ago. I assumed I’d left it on the table.”

Eriq grunted. “Your prints are on it.”

“I didn’t say I hadn’t touched it.” Grace searched her memory. “I probably picked it up to look at it when I took my seat. But I didn’t bring it home.”

“You’re saying someone stole it from you after you’d touched it so they could use it to frame you for Verna Bleecher’s murder.” Eriq sounded skeptical. “Who?”

That wasn’t what she was saying—but that’s what had happened.

“I don’t know.” Grace spread her hands. They were going to believe what they wanted to believe. All she could do was tell the truth. “Everyone who attended the event knew these devices had been given out.” Her voice slowed as pieces of the puzzle moved closer together. “But your finding it at the murder scene proves I’m right.”

Taylor jumped on her declaration. “About what?”

Grace gave the detective a confident look.

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