Now Miranda suspected she knew why.
But Monica had stayed with her mother and Lesley when Luther had taken the five younger children and moved across state lines. She wanted an explanation for that.
“What’s this about?” Luke asked. He had an infant in his arms and had already apologized profusely for not being able to leave his youngest at home, as his wife was working, and her family had the older two children. The infant was far too young, Luke had said, to leave with a sitter.
He held his daughter lovingly and seemed like a very competent father. The baby fussed lightly, he soothed her, then held her out to his sister. Olivia took the little baby expertly. She’d held her brother’s child before. Kayla was tending to her father, reassuring him that they’d take him for pizza after the meeting was over. Marnie was making faces at her niece.
They were a family. A close one. There wasn’t any tension between the four of them that she could sense at all. Luke pulled a small bottle from his bag and took his daughter back.
Miranda took it as the signal to begin.
Lesley would be there shortly. He’d been processed and arraigned and would be brought upstairs for this meeting before being released on his own reconnaissance.
Pauline was in a cell in the basement. In case Miranda had to ask her a question quickly. Dr. Appell waited with the deputy assigned to guard Pauline, cell phone at the ready for those questions.
“Thank you all for coming in today. We know you have questions. First, has anyone been able to get ahold of Mon—Diane? I’m sorry. I remember you all by your previous names. It may take me a minute or two to remember. If I call you by the wrong name, just remind me, ok?”
“Of course,” Olivia said. She and Luke were the obvious spokesmen for the family. The protectors. Kayla rarely spoke at all. “We just want answers, too. I don’t remember much about my grandmother, but to be honest, what I do remember isn’t pleasant. But if something happened to her, we all want to know. No matter what the answers are.”
Before Miranda could respond, a knock came at the door.
Knight tensed at the knock, though he suspected it was Lesley Beise. The tightness in his shoulders increased when his supposition was confirmed. Lesley was definitely the black sheep of the Beise family. Even cleaned up for his court appearance, he still looked shabby, especially when next to his brother. They resembled each other, but whereas Luke Beise wore casual business dress easily, the suit and tie Lesley wore made him look even more uncomfortable. The Beise sisters were in casual wear, as well, and looked neat, clean, and attractive. Even Luther had clean clothing that was in good condition, though old, that was well-kept. No doubt his children checked in on him routinely.
Luther had been making noises about making flower planters for his daughter Kayla, who apparently liked to garden and worked for a florist part-time while working toward her nursing degree.
He was promising to be home for the weekend and having his older daughter program the reminder into his calendar app on his phone. She told him twice to check his messages at bedtime, so she could remind him of his schedule for the next day.
He had strategies to deal with the short-term-memory issues, apparently, and functioned very well in his life and as a member of his core family group.
Then the man turned to his second son and reached out. For his granddaughter. Luke passed the infant without hesitation, bottle and all. Luther held her comfortably. Easily. Like he’d held her many times before.
Luther Beise was a better father than people had thought he’d been before.
These people belonged to each other. The only one who seemed ill at ease was Lesley.
Lesley, who kept eyeing Miranda warily.
Knight shifted, crossed his arms over his chest, and stepped closer to her. He barely resisted the urge to snarl his teeth at the other man.
He smirked instead. Humans were animals. He was no different. The subconscious part of him knew there was a threat to the woman he was attracted to—the beast part of him wanted to react with aggression. To run the other animal off completely.
Lesley looked at Miranda. “Sorry about the other day. Didn’t mean to hurt you. I just panicked.”
“We won’t mention it. We’re here to discuss what happened that day fourteen years ago, instead.” Miranda’s tone hadn’t cooled at all. Strictly professional and almost welcoming in a way. In charge. “Please take a seat. We’re just trying to get a timeline of what happened that day.”
“We’ve told you what we know,” Luther said. “Where’s Pauline? Shouldn’t she be here? It’s her mother, after all.”
Knight tensed again. Miranda shot him a look out of those green eyes. Usually those eyes told him exactly what she was thinking, but her face was carefully blank now. When she turned back to the Beises, her tone hadn’t changed. “Pauline has been arrested, Luther. She admits that she struck her mother that day, wrapped her in a quilt, and asked Jim Hollace to bury her in the barn. Jim confessed to his part and corroborated everything. The two of them together killed Helen.”
Knight expected a huge outcry.
They got silence. Stark silence. Even the baby was quiet.
Everyone turned to stare at Miranda. Knight fought the urge to drop one hand to her shoulder and make it clear to all of them that she was protected.
He had to get himself back in gear. He’d come to a resolution about the woman late into
