Aunt Louisa looked scandalized. “I did not.”
Bledsoe, the butler, entered ready to announce who’d had the nerve to come to the Forrester mansion uninvited.
“Bledsoe?” Aunt Louisa said. “Spit it out. Who’s at the door?”
“Detective Belmonte, ma’am.” His eyes darted to Rosa. “For Miss Reed.”
Rosa felt all her blood pool in her knees. After their encounter at the library, Rosa had hoped for at least a full day to recover. She patted her mouth with a cloth napkin, then pushed away from the table. “Excuse me, please.”
Not above a touch of vanity, Rosa peered into the mirror hanging in the hall. She patted her chestnut hair and, having a tube of lipstick tucked in her dress pocket, quickly applied a fresh coat of cherry red to her lips—smacking them with a sense of satisfaction.
She found Miguel and Detective Sanchez waiting, hats in hands. Miguel’s expression was serious. Definitely not a social call.
“Miguel?” Rosa said, feeling a sense of dread. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m afraid we’re here to fetch your cousin. I wanted to give you the courtesy of a warning.”
Oh dear. Everything Rosa had been fearing was coming to pass.
“Gloria?”
“I’m afraid we have to ask Miss Gloria Forrester to accompany us to the police station for questioning concerning the murder of Victor Boyd.”
Rosa held in a nervous chuckle. “You can’t be serious.”
Marjorie’s suggestion that Gloria had hated Victor Boyd more than anyone came back to Rosa now, and her stomach dropped from within her.
“What about the Lobster Bar?” Rosa had hoped Gloria’s alibi was a sure thing, but Miguel answered with one slow shake of his head.
Gloria stepped into the fray. “Rosa? Is everything all right?”
Before Rosa could relay the bad news, Aunt Louisa, Clarence, and Grandma Sally had filed into the foyer. Rosa let out a frustrated breath. The Forrester family members were drawn to drama like rowers to the River Thames.
Miguel repeated his request. “We’re here to ask Miss Gloria Forrester to accompany us to the station for questioning.”
“How ridiculous!” Grandma Sally sputtered.
Aunt Louisa eyed Miguel with eyes of fire. “You’ve always been trouble, Mr. Belmonte.”
“Aunt Louisa?” Rosa felt faint with humiliation. Aunt Louisa wasn’t going to bring that up, was she? Not now.
Aunt Louisa turned her disdain on Rosa. “I don’t know what you ever saw in him, and now that you’ve come back, he’s determined to shame our family name once again.”
“Aunt Louisa!”
Rosa dared a glimpse at Miguel. His eyes, ordinarily warm pools of coppery brown, were dark and determined, his mouth a hard, straight line. He breathed hard through his nose before meeting Rosa’s eyes.
“I’m sorry, Rosa.” Then to Gloria, “Miss Forrester, please come with us.”
Gloria swallowed, her eyes glassing over with fear.
Rosa took her hand. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll be right behind you.”
“I’ll have your badge, young man,” Aunt Louisa snapped, as Gloria stepped in between Miguel and Detective Sanchez. Then almost as an afterthought she added, “We have the best lawyers, Gloria. Don’t worry!”
18
In front of the police station, Rosa brought the Bel Air to a skidding stop right behind Miguel’s police cruiser and jumped out. Detective Sanchez opened the back door of the cruiser and assisted Gloria as she stepped out of it.
Gloria’s eyes watered when she saw Rosa was already there. “Oh, Rosa! I don’t know what’s happening.”
“It’s all right,” Rosa said, feeling not at all like things were all right. “I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding.”
Miguel flashed her a warning look. “I’m afraid you’ll have to refrain from speaking for the time being.”
Rosa protested, “Miguel!”
“It’s not personal,” Miguel said gently. “Delvecchio is a stickler for protocol, and in this situation, I have to agree.”
Rosa begrudgingly admitted to the wisdom of that. Otherwise, Aunt Louisa might have a leg to stand on, Miguel could lose his job, and worse, things could go terribly wrong for Gloria. Rosa hadn’t felt this miserable since the moment, halfway down the aisle in St. George’s Church in London, when she was struck with a moment of clarity and knew she couldn’t go through with her nuptials.
Gloria repeatedly looked over her shoulder at Rosa as they made their way inside and through the precinct. Rosa tried to keep her face from showing panic and simply offered her cousin a smile and a nod each time she looked back. Miguel guided Gloria into an interrogation room, the same one Rosa had sat in with Jimmy Thompson less than twelve hours before.
Miguel held up a palm and shook his head. “You know you can’t join in on this one, right?”
“Of course, I know. Just, you’ll have to wait for her lawyer, won’t you?”
“I’m certain one is on the way.”
“Yes, right, but—”
Miguel stepped close and spoke into Rosa’s ear. “You can watch through the mirror. Just don’t draw attention to yourself.” He walked away without looking back at her, and Rosa felt immense gratitude.
Confirming that the coast was clear, Rosa eased open the door to the room on the other side of the one-way mirror and slipped inside. She watched as Miguel offered Gloria a half-smile. A second later, a wooden speaker mounted on the wall crackled to life and through it, she heard him ask, “Can I get you coffee or water?”
Gloria, sitting stiffly in one of the hard wooden chairs, nodded. “Water.”
Miguel gave Detective Sanchez a quick nod, and the officer left on what Rosa presumed was a run for water. She tapped on the mirror.
Both Miguel and Gloria turned toward the sound, Gloria looking perplexed and Miguel looking cross. As she hoped, Miguel excused himself and joined her behind the mirror.
“Rosa?”
“I just need to know what happened at the Lobster Bar. Her alibi didn’t check out, did it?”
Miguel suddenly looked very tired. Rosa thought he was about to dismiss her, but then he said, “The manager of the Surfside Lobster Bar, a Mr. Richard Hollick, is well acquainted with the Forrester family. He
