Page 9 of Deadly Sins: Lust
“And was it an accident?”
“It was a homicide, but proving it wasn’t easy.”
Maddie and Victoria exchanged a silent, understanding glance. They were on the same wavelength. I wasn’t.
“Why was it hard to prove?” I asked.
“The process of determining a person drowned by force or by accident is the same,” Victoria said.
“Take me through it so I can understand,” I said. “I want to know as much as I can about what Marissa experienced.”
Victoria nodded. “The way it usually happens, at first Marissa’s lungs would have filled with water, making it hard for oxygen to get to the bloodstream. When water reached the airway, her larynx closed, stopping more water from reaching the lungs. Water then entered her sinuses, the oxygen in her blood declined, and she most likely lost consciousness. Once breathing ceased, her heart would have continued to beat at an accelerated rate until it stopped beating. At that point, she died.”
“How much time would have passed from beginning to end?”
“Not much. Minutes at most. You ask a lot of questions. What is it you think happened?”
“I’m not sure. I just want to make sure Nick has all the details, no matter what they are.”
“Let’s say hypothetically that it was something more like foul play. Proving it will be hard, Sloane,” Maddie said. “For starters, Victoria would hope to find physical wounds on Marissa’s body, any cuts or bruises that can’t be explained.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
“Then we need a witness. Someone who saw what happenedbeforeMarissa died.”
“I still have a lot of examinations to do,” Victoria said. “Right now, I don’t have a lot of answers either way.”
“How long will it take?”
“I’m doing my best. I don’t want to rush it and miss some of the finer details. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but results, especially in a situation like this, take time.”
“I understand,” I said. “Is there anything you can tell me now?”
“Not much, I’m afraid. The back of her hand has a black ink stamp on it about an inch in diameter. It’s barely visible, but it’s there. Guessing she got it when she entered one of the nightclubs, but it’s too faded for me to make out which one.”
It was a simple, minute detail. Even so, it was better than nothing.
CHAPTER 9
The bride-to-be lived in Edge Hill, a suburb of Cairns. After ringing the doorbell without success, I pounded on the door a few times, and we waited. There were three cars in the driveway.Someonehad to be home. A woman with blond hair loosely braided down her back cracked the door open and blinked at Maddie, Nick, and me, as if she were too tired to bother with verbal pleasantries.
She rubbed a hand across her tear-stained cheek, and said, “Hey.”
“Are you Layla?” I asked.
“Nope, I’m Val.” She tipped her head at Nick. “I’m guessing you’re Marissa’s husband, right? I recognize you from her photos on Facebook.”
Nick, who seemed disinterested in engaging in pleasantries as well, said, “Yep.”
“I’m Sloane,” I said, “And this is Maddie. We’re Nick’s friends.”
“Layla’s this way.”
She turned and shuffled down the hall, scraping the bottom of her slippers as she went. The slippers made an irritating scratching sound, one of my biggest pet peeves.
Pick up your damn feet when you walk. It’s not that hard.
We followed her to the kitchen and found two more women sitting on barstools. Each had a glass of red wine in hand. Two more half-full glasses were sitting on the counter along with four empty wine bottles and a fifth that was about ten percent away from being polished off. I glanced at a round, metal, red clock on the wall. It wasn’t even two o’clock yet. To their credit, all of them looked worse for wear, and I assumed they’d been crying over the news of Marissa’s death and relying on alcohol to cope. I didn’t blame them.