The Best Man to Trust - By Kerry Connor Page 0,21

nodded. “I noticed that.”

“That’s strange, isn’t it? I’m no blood expert, but wouldn’t the killer have gotten some on him—or her?” Given Haley’s injuries, it seemed inevitable.

“I would say so,” Rick agreed.

“Yet they managed to not leave a trail leading back to them.”

“Whoever it is was very careful,” Tom observed. “Most likely, the killer knew what he was doing.”

Meredith didn’t miss the glance Tom shot at Rick, his steady gaze full of suspicion. A wave of indignation rose inside her, and she had to bite back the retort that rose to her lips, not wanting to say anything in front of Rick. In all fairness she knew Tom had every right to suspect him. Everyone had to be considered a possible suspect, but it only made sense that he would especially question someone who was a complete stranger to him.

But Meredith was equally convinced Rick couldn’t be responsible. “There’s something else,” Meredith said. She forced herself to look back at the body. “That knife,” she said, indicating the item still jutting out of Jessica’s chest. “I don’t recognize the handle. It’s definitely not one from the house.”

She watched Tom process that information in light of what they’d discussed earlier. “Which means it probably belongs to whoever did this. They must have brought it with them.”

It did seem like the most likely explanation. The only alternative she could think of would be that the knife belonged to Haley and it had somehow been used against her, but she couldn’t imagine why Haley would have brought a knife like that. No, the most reasonable explanation was that it had been brought here for this very purpose. “So this wasn’t something that happened on the spur of the moment. It was premeditated. Whoever it was came here intending to do this....”

Her voice faded as it hit her just how much worse this kept getting.

The killer wasn’t just careful and methodical. He—or she—was prepared. And if this was what happened on the first night, there was no telling what the killer had planned for the next few days.

She struggled to think of something, anything that might indicate who could have done this. “Do you think it’s a man?” she asked numbly. “It would have taken some strength to move the body, right?” Neither Rachel or Jessica was particularly big. She couldn’t see either of them having much in the way of arm strength.

Ellen, on the other hand...

Meredith tried to shut down the thought before it could form, not wanting to go there, even as a little voice deep inside whispered that she was going to have to at least consider the possibility.

All eyes went to the woman on the floor. “Not necessarily,” Rick said after a moment. “She’s not very big. It wouldn’t have taken much to move her. All the killer would’ve had to do is grab her under her shoulders and drag her out here.”

Meredith slowly raised her eyes to look at him, unable to resist the impulse. Out of the corner of her eye, she sensed Tom do the same.

Rick held up his hands, no doubt picking up on what they were so obviously wondering. “I’m just guessing here. I know about moving stuff. I’m saying that’s how I would do it, not that I did.”

“Nobody thinks you did, Rick,” Meredith said automatically, shaking off her momentary doubts and doing her best not to glance at Tom. “So it could have been anyone.” Even Rachel or—

Another thought occurred to her. “I didn’t see any blood on Jessica, did you?” Meredith asked Tom.

Tom was silent for a moment. Whether it was because he was thinking about it or because he didn’t like having to consider Jessica as a suspect, Meredith couldn’t tell. “No, but there’s always the possibility she quickly changed, then came back into the hall and started screaming to make it look like she’d just discovered the body.”

Her screams had seemed genuine, Meredith thought, the memory of them enough to send her skin crawling again. But that didn’t necessarily mean anything. “She is an actress, isn’t she?”

Tom met her eyes with clear reluctance. “Yes.”

“She was awful quick to start throwing accusations around,” Rick said.

Meredith couldn’t argue with him about that. He was right, and he hadn’t even been there when Haley’s body had been found and Jessica had first started accusing people. “I don’t know her well enough to know if that’s suspicious or typical of her personality.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t say, either,” Tom said. “Like Haley, I hadn’t seen her