Read Dead Women Tell No Lies for Free Online

spotted the slight jolt of her body.
    “She did? I’d no idea.”
    “I reviewed her W2 Forms and bank records. The Ledgeview lease money wasn’t from her savings.” His pulse picked up. Something wasn’t right here.
    “Maybe she stashed away a rainy day fund.” Rose avoided his gaze again.
    “Where do you think she got her additional funds for the New Hampshire rental?”
    “I don’t know.” Rose crossed and uncrossed her ankles and finally heaved a sigh. “All right, you might as well know though I’ve never discussed her problem with anyone. Dahlia helped herself to small items.”
    “She stole?” He was getting a different picture of Dahlia now, and one that might have led to her unhappy ending.
    “Not exactly, she took little objects like pens or a salt shaker from a restaurant. She worked on controlling the problem. There’s no way she’d steal the amount you mentioned.”
    “Her dishonesty must have caused problems for you.”
    Rose shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “Gram and I had a few tense confrontations with Dahlia and her victims. We always tried to watch her, encourage her and have her replace the items. And as I said, they were small objects.”
    “She helped herself to a couple of grand from your business. It sounds like she graduated to taking larger amounts.”
    “The boutique theft was a one-time thing. In the past, Dahlia stole these small things to get people to see her for herself. She felt everyone saw us as a pair, a set.” She shrugged. “That’s what a counselor told Gram when Dahlia was first caught shoplifting. She was twelve.”
    Follow the money trail. “Who would loan her the rest of the payment for the apartment?”
    “I can’t think of a soul.” Rose wrinkled her brow.
    “The cash could be a motive for her leaving home. She met someone, maybe online, who was financially well off, and your sister came to meet her online friend. Then she took too many little things from her network pal, who punished her by a swim in the river.”
    Her face paled, and she shook her head. “You’re describing a big time thief, not Dahlia.”
    “What about the stolen engagement ring?” he asked in a quiet, challenging voice. “I read the report. She stole it from the pawn shop, and it was worth more than a pen.”
    Rose sat forward on the edge of the chair. Her hands fisted in her lap. “I can explain.
    When she and A.J. broke up, she returned the ring to her fiancé. He didn’t want it, so he pawned it. When Dahlia spotted the ring in the pawn shop window, she was hurt. She didn’t think. She just grabbed it.”
    “Did your sister sell the ring?”
    “No, she cooled off and returned it the next day, but while she was at the pawn shop, a cop arrested her for shoplifting. Believe me, my sister’s not a big crook.” She paused and fanned her face with a hand. “Is it hot in here?”
    She didn’t’ look well. Her face was the color of beach sand. She closed her eyes and her shoulders hunched forward as though she was in pain. A shiver shook her body.
    “Miss Blue?” He jumped out of his seat and reached her in two seconds. “Rose.”
    She glanced up at him, her eyes glazed.
    “I’ll call a doctor.” He reached for his phone.
    “No, don’t.”
    “What is it?”
    She straightened in the chair and ran a shaking hand through her hair. “I just saw my sister for a moment. I’m okay now.”
    “Saw her where?” What was she talking about?
    She waited a beat. “How about I give you unknown details about my sister’s death?”
    “You mean what exactly?”
    Her eyes narrowed, and he felt her take an emotional step back for a second before answering. “I was there the night Dahlia died.”
    He had witnessed unexpected confessions when he worked in Buffalo, but he had to use all his willpower to keep his jaw from dropping. “You went with your sister when she was killed?” He sobered.
    Was she a co-conspirator? He’d investigated the insurance angle. Rose received