Read Online Aphrodite by Russell Andrews - Free Book Online Page B

eyes, which had started to tear.
    “Did you see him leave?” Justin asked her now.
    “No. I was too afraid to move.”
    “So you didn’t see the car he drove away in?”
    She nodded. “I did. When I heard it start up, that’s when I went to the edge of the roof, the back edge. I guess I felt safer. Thought I should try to see something, you know, like the witnesses on
Law & Order
or something. So I saw it pull away. But I don’t know cars. I don’t know what it was.”
    “Do you remember anything about it?”
    She thought, closing her eyes as if that would help her picture it. Then she frowned and shook her head. “Not much. It was kind of boxy. Not sleek or anything. Not a sports car.”
    “Color?”
    “Dark. Not red. Black maybe. Or dark green or blue.”
    Justin exhaled a long breath. “Deena, you’ve been incredibly helpful. I’m sorry you had to go through it, but maybe it’ll help us find whoever killed Susanna.”
    “Can I go now?”
    Leggett looked at Justin, who nodded and said, “You can go.” As she stood up, he said, “Where’s your daughter?”
    “At the yoga center. She hangs out there. I’ve got another teacher who watches her.” Deena smiled now, for the first time since Justin had seen her on the roof the night before. “Her name’s Kendall. She’s going into second grade in another couple of months. In September.”
    “Do you want someone to drive you home?” Justin asked.
    “I can walk. It’s just a few blocks.”
    “Do you want someone to walk you home?”
    She smiled again and nodded. Chief Leggett opened the door to his office and called out, “Brian, I want you to walk Ms. Harper home.”
    Brian sauntered over and stood in the doorway.
    Justin saw Deena Harper look over at the young cop, then back over at him. She smiled at him one more time and walked over to her escort. Justin wondered if he was reading too much into her expression. He also wondered at the feeling of pleasure it gave him.
    When she realized that Brian would be the one walking her home, Justin was certain she looked disappointed.

5
    After Deena Harper left the police station, Westwood and Leggett huddled behind closed doors for almost half an hour. The first thing the chief asked was, “Do you believe her?”
    “Don’t you?”
    “I don’t know. Why’d she wait so long to say anything?”
    “She was terrified, Jimmy, that’s why.”
    “Pretty weird, being up on that roof and all.”
    Westwood chewed on the inside of his lower lip. “That girl wasn’t lying.”
    “What about the roof thing? Maybe she’s the killer.”
    The briefest of smiles crossed Westwood’s face. “She’s about thirty pounds too light to be a viable suspect. If that girl killed Susanna Morgan up close, which is how Susanna was killed, there would have to have been a struggle. She’d be scratched, a couple of nails would be broken, there’d be some physical sign.”
    “How do you know there isn’t?”
    “Because when I saw her up on the roof she was wearing a T-shirt and shorts, no shoes. Not a scratch on her. And I made sure to take both her hands in mine when we were climbing down the fire escape. Nothing there either.”
    Jimmy Leggett bent his head forward and shook it. His back was stooped, as if the weight of what was happening had already aged him. “Jesus, you actually checked her hands? I
never
woulda thought of that.” He kept quiet for a few moments, fidgeting, his fingers tapping nervously. “Should we do an autopsy?” he finally asked. “You know, on this Susanna Morgan?”
    Justin tilted his head as if to say
Good question
, but then he shrugged and said, “Too late. Unless we want to dig her body up.”
    “She’s buried already?”
    “Yesterday morning. Turns out she was Jewish. They bury quickly.” Leggett puffed out his cheek with his tongue and looked embarrassed about something. Finally, he said, lowering his voice, “I’ve never been involved in a murder investigation. To be