“Don’t tell me you’re one of those pathetic, do-it-yourself, true crime sleuths, Piper. A good government gal like you, I figure you would leave the investigative work to the police.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Does that mean you do or don’t want to know why I didn’t go to Tokyo a few months back?” I ask.
Piper stares at me blankly, and I take it all back. Any emotion would be better than the flat way she is staring at me now.
I hurl the planner at the wall, and she jumps in surprise. It’s a second of genuine emotion before she lowers her completely transparent mask of neutrality. Below the surface, she is terrified.
“I have a right to know if a woman was murdered in your house. The house where I am now living.”
“You don’t have a right to anything. Living here is a pr
