Santiago

The elevator dinged, and Mabel stepped back toward the door, her eyes straight ahead again.

Damn it.

I’d been sure that I was close to getting her to open up. She seemed like she was going to say something important. My fists tight by my side, I let it go because I had to. Suspects like Mabel Hampden didn’t do well with pushy interrogations.

With the moment lost, Mabel hurried out the second the doors opened, and I had no choice but to follow her. Clearly, she was eager to get this over with. She led the way to the door and then stopped cold.

“Okay,” I said, noting the way she edged around the doorway nervously. “Walk me through everything you did this morning.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Everything?”

“Everything. Where were you before you came upstairs? Start there.” Many witnesses were annoyed when we asked for small details like that. But when you thought about things like a detective, you started to realize that sometimes the small details were what made the biggest difference.

She leaned her back against the penthouse door and looked up, recalling her morning. “I was at the front desk in the lobby. I was on the computer trying to get tickets to the new Hockney museum exhibit. That’s what I was doing until Maurice interrupted, anyway.”

“What did Maurice want?”

Mabel came as close to smiling as I’d seen all day. She looked like she was remembering something. “He wanted me to do my job.”

I chuckled under my breath. “Did he often feel like you weren’t doing your job?”

She looked away and shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m good at this job, for better or worse, and he knows that. But it’s more than a job to Maurice. It’s—or, it was—his whole life. He was obsessed.” She turned back to meet my eyes, and that same fire from the elevator was back.

“His whole life was catering to the people here, and anyone less dedicated than him was a loser. So, really, I think he saw all of us as losers because no one could ever measure up.”

I nodded. “Sounds like a hard job to live up to.”

Mabel swallowed, and I wondered for the dozenth time where her head was at. “Yeah,” she agreed, “some days it was impossible.”

“What did you do next this morning?” I prompted.

With a big breath in, she put her hand on the door and pushed it open. “I brought a case of waters upstairs. I knocked right here.” She demonstrated with her fist. “But I didn’t hear anything, and then I realized that the door was already partially open.”

Interesting. I took down a note as we stepped inside of the penthouse. “I walked in just like this,” she said, “and then I went into the kitchen to put down the waters, and…”

I followed her closely, letting her take the lead and stopping when she stopped. Like I’d been trained to do, I studied her face for any signs of remorse or guilt. If there was any to show, walking the steps that led to finding the body would be the time. Mabel stared at the spot on the floor, still bloodstained.

When she stayed silent, I decided to push some. “Are you sorry that he’s dead?”

She whirled, eyes narrowed. “Yes, of course I am. That’s a horrible thing to even have to ask. I didn’t think cops were allowed to say something like that!”

I lifted one shoulder, trying to assess her reaction. “Is it horrible to ask? You and your friend made Maurice sound very unlikable. You made it pretty clear that your jobs would be easier without him. I’m trying to get a lay of the land here, Ms. Hampden.”

Mabel’s lips pursed together like she wanted to argue, but someone called out from the doorway. “Santi?”

We both turned as my partner, Detective Declan Lewis, stepped into the kitchen next to us. “Chief is downstairs,” he said, running a hand over his shirt. He nodded toward Mabel. “He wants us to let her go.”

I wanted to protest, I couldn’t argue with a direct order like that, even though I still had questions. “Fine. You heard him. You’re free to go,” I told her. “But I suggest that you stay in town. Don’t take off or anything.”

She looked between me and Declan with a worried expression. “What does that mean? You think I need a lawyer?!”