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bench several yards away and threw himself down onto it. I rubbed my forehead. It was going to be a long day.
    I sat down next to Detective Cromwell. “I didn’t do it,” I said wearily.
    Cromwell chuckled, breaking out of his hard-boiled cop persona. “I figured you’d say that. And since you had a police officer with you when you found the body this time, you’re nearly off the hook. I just have a few questions. Walk me through this morning.”
    I told him, in detail, what had happened between my arrival at the park and finding Cecilia. He nodded while I was speaking and took a few notes.
    “That’s exactly what Hamilton said. Good. And how do you know the victim?”
    “We went to college together, she’s—she
was
dating my best friend, and I’m kind of seeing her brother.”
    “So you were close, then?”
    “No.”
    Cromwell regarded me curiously. “Did you have a good relationship with her?”
    “Since I know how you hate it when I omit things, Detective…”
    “Oh, crap. Don’t tell me you’ve been in a public altercation with Ms. Hollingsworth recently.”
    I winced. “Well…”
    He shook his head. “What is wrong with you?”
    “If people would quit dying after I argue with them, it wouldn’t be a problem,” I huffed.
    He chuckled again. “That’s true. Now one more thing. Where were you between eight and ten o’clock last night?”
    “I was at work until nine, and then I went straight to Mixology with Stan Hollingsworth. We were there for about two hours.”
    “I’m glad you have an alibi this time, Ms. Langley.”
    “You and me both, Detective.”
    His mustache twitched as he tried to hide a smile. “Since you fancy yourself an amateur sleuth—”
    I cut him off. “No, I don’t.”
    My sleuthing days were over. I’d tried to do a little detective work to exonerate myself after Dave’s murder, but it only ended up getting me shot at, stabbed, and nearly arrested. Never again.
    “Humor me. Who do you think did it?”
    “Hell if I know. I’ll tell you who
didn’t
do it, though. I didn’t do it, and Pete didn’t do it.”
    “How do you know Bennett didn’t do it? Was he with you last night?”
    “No, but I know Pete. He doesn’t have it in him. Plus, if you’d seen his face when I broke the news to him, you’d know.”
    “Why didn’t you include your boyfriend, Stan Hollingsworth, in your list of people who didn’t do it?”
    “Um, well…” Truthfully, I hadn’t even given Stan a thought. My stomach tied itself in another knot as I thought about how this would affect Stan as well. Sure, he and his sister were anything but close, but they were still family. Now I had two men in my life to try to console.
    “Ms. Langley, would you answer my question, please?” Detective Cromwell said, breaking me out of my thoughts.
    “Sorry. Well, first, he’s not my boyfriend. And second, I wasn’t with him from eight to nine, so I can’t speak for him or his whereabouts. I’m…sure he didn’t do it, though.” Mostly sure. Stan didn’t seem to be the killer type, but I could certainly understand if he harbored murderous thoughts toward Cecilia. She did not treat him well.
    Cromwell narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re not defending him like you did your friend Bennett. Why?”
    I was treading on shaky ground here. Bottom line, I couldn’t imagine Stan killing Cecilia, and I had promised to defend him. However, in light of the fact that Stan’s character had been called into question after Abigail’s tumble down the stairs a few days ago, it didn’t look good for him that his other sister turned up dead. I knew exactly what Pete and Ryder were both going to think.
    “I don’t…I don’t really know Stan that well.”
    He pointed at me. “I think you think he did it.”
    “Aren’t you leading the witness or something, Detective?”
    He smiled slightly. “That will be all, Ms. Langley. Thank you. By the way, due to the violent nature of this crime and the