After a few minutes, Alicia came back into the living room with coffee and some cookies.
“Oh my. Those smell fresh out of the oven.” Izzy eyed the plate of chocolate chip cookies until her mouth started to water.
Alicia laughed. “Go ahead and dive in while they’re still warm. I’ll be right back.” She returned armed with cream and sugar and a bowl of fresh fruit.
“Alicia, you didn’t have to go through all this trouble for me.”
Alicia shook her head. “It’s no trouble at all. I’m always fiddling around in the kitchen.” She took a sip of her coffee and then set down the lavender cup. “So, as much as I want to believe this is purely a social visit, catching up with a friend, I have a feeling there’s something else going on.”
“Have you seen the news?” The details of the sergeant’s death had finally become public. While not everything was out there, it was enough that anyone who kept up with the news would have seen it.
“I think you’re referring to the murder of Sergeant Tybee, right?”
The sound of his name made Izzy feel sick, but she pushed down the emotions that were becoming far too prevalent these days. “Yes. That’s what I’m here about.” She readied herself for the conversation. “I want to be fully transparent with you. You were always a good friend to me.”
Alicia’s eyes warmed. “I really appreciate that. Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it.”
“Well, there’s actually a couple of issues. First is that the detectives with Arlington PD identified me as a potential suspect in the murder.”
Alicia’s eyes widened, and she didn’t say anything for a moment. “You can’t be serious. How in the world would they come to that conclusion? How could you be a murder suspect?”
Here was where the conversation would start to get tough, but Izzy knew no way around it. At this point, she figured the truth would get out anyway and spread further than she could imagine because of events she had no control over. “They think I’m a suspect because the sergeant assaulted me.”
“Izzy, I had no idea.” Alicia took her hand. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Izzy bit her bottom lip as she considered how much detail to provide. “I never reported it. I know I should have, but at the time, I was so freaked out, ashamed, and totally naïve.”
Alicia shook her head. “No way. Don’t you dare put this on yourself. If he assaulted you, that’s completely on him. Where did this happen? When did this happen? Was I still at Arlington PD?”
Izzy steeled herself as she recounted the story once again. It was becoming all too familiar. Memories that she’d boxed up and put away were now coming to the light of day. “That’s how it all played out. Now you understand why I had to leave Arlington PD. There was no way I could work there with him after that. Just the thought of him even now makes me ill. He violated me and took away my choice, my power. I’m trying my best not to be a victim. I have moved on with my life. But, of course, there’s no way I would have killed him, even if I would have liked to.”
Alicia nodded. “You have every right to feel that way. What can I help you with now?”
“Here’s the thing. Arlington PD zeroed in on me because evidently the sergeant had some type of shrine to me in his house.”
Alicia raised an eyebrow. “That’s creepy. Thank goodness you’re okay.”
“Yeah. The thinking right now is that he might have been killed in self-defense, but I’m not ruling anything out. I know you worked there for quite a few years. I’m hoping to see if you have any intel on potential enemies the sergeant might’ve had, or anything else you think might be helpful.” Izzy paused, reluctant to ask but figuring she needed to. “And I also want to know if you had any negative experiences with him. I want to see if I was a one-off or if there’s a pattern I can establish.”
Alicia looked down and clasped her hands in her lap. “Nothing like what happened to you happened to me, but the sergeant was definitely highly inappropriate multiple times. Trying to ask me out or making comments about my body or what I was wearing. Sometimes I just blew it off as part of the world women have to face in male-dominated law enforcement. Like you, I never said anything about it to anyone. And now, hearing your story, I’m so sorry I kept quiet. Maybe if I had spoken up, he wouldn’t have been in his position by the time he attacked you.”
Izzy’s mind felt jumbled as she put together this new information. “There’s no way you could have known. And look at me—I didn’t tell anyone either. I don’t hold it against you. But the fact that something did happen to you makes me believe we are only the tip of the iceberg.”
“And that means there are probably other women he assaulted or harassed. Maybe one of them is the killer, right?”
Izzy took a deep breath. “Yeah. I’m not looking to get any other woman in trouble, but I am trying to protect myself from prosecution. There are elements of this case that don’t look good for me, so I want to defend myself the best way I can. We can at least bring up alternative theories and put some doubt in the detectives’ minds. Even those questions and doubts would be helpful. Are you willing to talk to the detectives about what happened to you with the sergeant? I know it’s a lot to ask, and I hate to do it, but I’m kind of in a desperate situation.”
“Of course I’ll help you. I stayed
