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Georgina.
    I began to gather up the dirty mugs.
    “Here, let me help you with that.” Sergeant Williams slipped her notebook into the pocket of her blazer and picked up the tray.
    “Uh, thanks.”
    Sergeant Williams followed me to the kitchen. As we passed the TV room, I could hear the blare of early-morning cartoons. I peeked in. Sean and Dylan lay on my unmade bed, chins cupped in their hands, watching Spider-Man. Julie sat cross-legged on the floor, drinking juice from a sippy pack, Abigail Rabbit resting between her knees.
    “The children should be getting ready for school,” I said.
    “It’s Saturday,” Sergeant Williams reminded me.
    I slapped my forehead with my palm. “So it is! All this has got me completely discombobulated.”
    In the kitchen Sergeant Williams set the tray down next to the sink, then leaned against the counter. “I’ve been watching you,” she said, “and I have the feeling there’s something you’re wanting to tell me.”
    I was dizzy with relief. “That obvious, huh?”
    She nodded. “I could see the war going on all over your face.”
    I paced back and forth between the stove and the refrigerator. “I don’t know quite how to put this …”
    Sergeant Williams simply stared at me, breathing evenly. I watched the gold necklace she wore move slightly with each throb of the pulse at her throat. I’d read about this technique. Keep your mouth shut and the suspect will keep talking just to fill the void.
    It worked. My brain churned through the silence, worrying about my sister, who appeared determined to paint herself into a corner with lies she’d never be able to explain away once the truth became known. I was little Miss Goody Two-shoes, about to spill the beans. Tough love, Hannah. You’ll have to do it .
    “I’m afraid my sister didn’t tell you the full truth just now.” My stomach lurched. I paused to take a deep breath, stalling for time. I wanted to put what we had done in the best possible light. “Georgina called me from Dr. Sturges’s in hysterics,” I babbled. “When I got there, we saw Dr. Sturges lying on the rocks. I was going to dial nine-one-one, but Georgina panicked and ran away. I found her by my car. After I managed to calm her down, we called nine-one-one from a nearby pizza place.”
    “What time was this?” As if she didn’t know .
    “About five o’clock.”
    Sergeant Williams made a notation in her notebook. “If your sister’s appointment was at three, that means she was alone in the doctor’s office for two hours.”
    “It took me almost an hour to get there.”
    “An hour ?”
    “I live in Annapolis.”
    Sergeant Williams raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Why didn’t she call her husband?”
    I shrugged. “He was watching the children.”
    Sergeant Williams slipped her ballpoint pen into her purse. “Thank you for telling me, ma’am. I know how difficult it must be for you.”
    “I honestly can’t figure out why Georgina didn’t tell you about this in the first place. She didn’t commit any crime.”
    Sergeant Williams’s face gave nothing away, so what she said next took me completely by surprise. “You’re not going to like this, but we’ll need to take your sister down to the station for questioning.”
    Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. “Oh, God! Please don’t tell her you learned anything from me! She’ll never forgive me.” I felt like Judas Iscariot.
    “I realize your sister’s not well. We’ll make it as easy on her as possible. We’ll need to take her fingerprints anyway, for purposes of elimination.”
    “But Georgina’s fingerprints will be all over the place! She visits Dr. Sturges two times a week.”
    “Then they won’t turn up where they shouldn’t,” she said reasonably. “Now, would you call your brother-in-law for me, please, Mrs. …?”
    I filled in the blank. “Ives. Hannah Ives.” When sheasked, I gave her my address and telephone number. I felt like a worm. A low-down,