AFTER I TAKEย a few deep breaths, I head back to the break room to grab some coffee. Kim has arrived as well, cupping a mug of coffee in her hand while she scrolls through the screen on her phone with her other hand. She usually spends the first hour of the workday in the break room. And she also goes in there three or four more times during the day. Iโd estimate in a given week, Kim only does maybe one or two hours of real work.
Iโve tried to give Kim some tips to improve her sales, but sheโs not that interested. Honestly, sometimes I think sheโs trying to get fired. It will give her an excuse to stay home and let her rich husband pamper her.
โHey, Nat!โ Her eyes flick up at me. I notice the skin on her forehead is starting to peel a bit from the sunburn she got on her honeymoon. โDid you hear they found Dawn? Or at least, whatโs left of herโฆโ
I grimace at her remark. Itโs not quite a joke, but it feels very inappropriate. โI heard.โ
Kim blinks up at me. โWho could have done that to her? I mean, we all sort of wanted to strangle her sometimes, but who would actually do something like that? Itโs so awful.โ
โYeahโฆโ I slide into the seat next to hers. โListen, Kim, did you talk to that detective yesterday?โ
โOh right.โ She takes a sip of coffee. โHe was kind of hot, wasnโt he?โ
I crinkle my nose. If I ever might have found Santoro attractive, I certainly donโt anymore. โNot really.โ
โHe seems like he knows what heโs doing.โ She opens another little cup of cream and dumps it into her coffee. Kim likes her coffee light brown. โI
bet heโll catch whoever did this. Make sure they spend the rest of their life in prison.โ
For some reason, her remark makes me very uneasy. โRightโฆโ โGod, who do you think could have done it?โ
I was reading this morning about what generally happens when a young woman is murdered the way Dawn was. In cases like this, the husband or boyfriend is often the culprit. But Dawn didnโt have any significant others in her life. Unless her turtle murdered her.
โMaybe it was a burglar,โ I say.
But that doesnโt feel quite right. Aside from whatever was in that gap in her bookcase, it sounds like nothing was missing from Dawnโs house. And if she startled a burglar and he killed her, why would he hide the body? It doesnโt make any sense.
Nothing about this makes any sense.
โSo.โ I clear my throat. โWhat did you talk to the detective about yesterday?โ
She shrugs and looks down at something on her phone. โI donโt know.
He had a bunch of questions about her.โ
โDid you tell the detective I was bullying her?โ
I used to always know when Kim was lying because her face would turn pink. Unfortunately, her new suntan has made that difficult. โI donโt know. Why?โ
I want to shake her. โKim,ย did you tell him I was bullying Dawn?โ Finally, she sighs. โI mean, you kind of were.โ
โNo, I wasnโt!โ
She gives me a look. โItโs not like I blame you. Dawn was so strange. She was obsessed with those turtles. Who is obsessed withย turtles? Turtles are soย boring. You know what would be better than turtles?ย Anything.โ
I canโt help but think about the turtle I found on my desk the last three days. Or that live one I found crawling around the tank in Dawnโs house. Or the bookcase brimming with turtles. She has no idea how creepy turtles can be.
โI wasnโt bullying her,โ I insist. โI would never do that.โ
โYou said that thing about how she lost her virginity to a turtle.โ
โOh my God, that was aย joke.โ I cringe. โIt wasnโt a big deal. Everyone made jokes like that about her. If I was bullying her, so were the rest of you.โ
โWhatever, Nat.โ
โListen to me, Kim,โ I say through my teeth, โyou need to stop lying about me to the detective, okay? Because this looksย reallyย bad for me.โ
โI just told him what really happened.โ
โOh, is that what you did?โ I raise my eyebrows. โWell, maybe I should tell your new husband whatย really happenedย the night of your bachelorette party. About that guy at the bar who youโโ
โNatalie!โ Kim reaches out and grasps my hand across the table with lightning speed. โYouย promisedย you wouldnโt tell anyoneโโ
โAnd I wonโt.โ I level my eyes at her. โBut you need to stop making me look bad. Okay? This is a murder investigation now. Itโs no joke.โ
For a moment, Kim looks like sheโs about to burst into tears. โOkay, Iโm sorry. I didnโt think it was a big deal. So you messed with Dawn a little bit. We all did.โ
โRight,โ I say, โwe all did.โ
I give Kim one last long look. I feel confident that sheโs going to keep her mouth shutโshe does not want her husband to know what she did that night. Lucky for me, I had the foresight to take a lot of photos the night of the bachelorette party.
Unfortunately, I have worse problems than Kim.