hire a full-time dog walker for Scout because I don’t know if I can safely walk the streets. I don’t even recognize my own neighborhood anymore.”
“Lila, I don’t think these streets are any more dangerous now than they’ve ever been,” Carol said.
“Well, I just don’t know.”
“Has anyone heard anything about how Audrey Marshall was killed?” Kate asked. She was hoping to get some confirmation of what she’d heard earlier from the girl in her class.
“No, even Bob said he wasn’t sure, and if Bob doesn’t know . . .”
“With a knife, and she was mutilated,” Alan said, as casually as though he’d just revealed that the five-day weather forecast was looking good. All eyes turned to him.
Chapter 20
Mrs. Anderby actually placed a hand against her chest and gasped a little after what Alan had said. “Well, that’s what I read,” Alan continued. “Online.”
“Was it on Reddit?” Kate asked.
“No, it was in the comments section of a Globe article. I realize that doesn’t sound very reliable, and it probably isn’t, but one of the commenters said he knew the ambulance driver who took her to the morgue. He said it was the worst crime scene he’d ever seen.”
“Good lord,” Carol said.
“I heard the same thing today,” Kate said. “Not from online but from this girl in my class. She said she read it on Reddit. I don’t even know what that is.”
“Well, let’s hope that it’s not true,” Carol said. “If that gets out we’ll be absolutely swarmed with gawkers and reporters. It’ll be just like what happened over in Charlestown after the, after the . . .”
“Have they arrested anyone yet?” Mrs. Anderby asked, directing the question midway between Kate and Alan.
“No,” Alan said. “At least not that I read about. I really don’t know much of anything.”
“Did you know her?” Carol asked.
“Um . . .” Alan glanced in Kate’s direction. “I didn’t really. I mean, I saw her around like everyone else, but no, I didn’t know her.”
“We had her over here, right after she moved in, didn’t we, Bill?”
Bill Valentine was settling back into his seat after handing Kate her fresh drink. “She was very pretty,” Carol continued, “but I can’t say that I came away from the evening with any real sense of what she was like. What was it she even did, Bill, was it publishing, or something like that?”
Bill shrugged and shook his head.
“I got the feeling that she was—”
“I don’t understand what he means by mutilated,” Mrs. Anderby, her voice a deep croak, interrupted Carol.
“Honestly, it’s just a rumor,” Alan said. “I’m sure it’s actually not true.”
“They did spend an awfully long time at the crime scene,” Carol said.
“Have the police come and spoken with you yet?” Kate asked.
“They came and took a statement. They took a statement from everyone in the building.”
Kate told the group how her place had been searched immediately after the police had first arrived on the scene.
“Did they have a warrant?” Bill asked.
“They didn’t. I didn’t know what to do. I’d just arrived here, and I wasn’t sure—”
“Oh, I’m sure Corbin has nothing to hide,” Carol interjected. “He wasn’t even here when it happened, was he? But I wonder why they searched his place and no one else’s.”
“It was probably just because he was the direct neighbor,” Alan said.
“I’m sure that was it. Did they know one another, Kate? Audrey and your cousin?”
Kate glanced at Alan. “They did know one another. I don’t know exactly how well, but the police e-mailed Corbin to let him know what had happened. I don’t think they’ve asked him to come back to Boston, or anything.” Kate took another sip of her second martini and told herself to slow down, even though it tasted far more delicious than the first.
“I still don’t understand about this mutilation,” Mrs. Anderby said.
“No one does, Lila,” Carol quickly said. “We don’t even know if it happened. But maybe we should change the subject to something else. Kate, tell us all about yourself.”
All eyes turned to Kate, and she felt her cheeks flush red. She put her martini down on the coffee table and opened her mouth to say something, although she didn’t know what. Carol prompted her further, asking what part of England she was from.
“Braintree, Essex,” Kate said, “but don’t hold that against me.” Judging from the blank stares, she didn’t think any of the guests had any opinion whatsoever of Essex. Kate talked a little about her upbringing, and how she’d done some portrait painting