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“Yeah.”
“You’re, like, the sheriff now?” Juliette asks, smiling. It’s a patronizing smile.
“Deputy sheriff.” Poppy doesn’t add that it’s the lowest rank on the force.
“We heard there were bodies in the car they pulled from the lake. Is that true?” Juliette asks.
Poppy’s old boss told her you never interview people in a group. They act differently. Their stories tend to morph together. But there’s probably no harm here.
Poppy says, “In light of the vehicle being discovered, we just need to follow up on a few things.”
“Do they think MRK had accomplices?” Juliette asks.
Chrissy adds, “Or are they wrong about him doing it? He confessed to killing the others, but always denied killing Ali.”
Maybe Poppy should separate them; Ruby might never get a word in edgewise.
Time to take control. This isn’t high school anymore.
“How can we help you?” Ruby asks again, sensing Poppy could use an assist. She seems slightly embarrassed by her friends.
“I know you’ve been interviewed before. Although Benedict Cromwell remains the official suspect, since he was killed, there’re still a lot of questions. We’re awaiting DNA tests for the two men found in the car. We think they were in their late twenties or early thirties. Can you think of anyone Alison knew who fits that description?”
Now they shake their heads in unison.
“It’s a tough thing to ask,” Poppy says, “but was she into drugs?” Poppy has racked her brain trying to think of why a teenager might associate with older men, assuming Alison knew the men at all. “I’m not judging.”
All three woman shake their heads again.
“She hated drugs,” Juliette says. “She barely drank. And you remember high school—that was rare. Not much else to do in this town.”
“Another hard question, but I hope you can be honest with me? Did Ali have any secrets? Something you may not have felt comfortable telling the police back then?”
“Secrets?”
“We all have them,” Poppy says. For instance, these women probably don’t know Poppy was thrown out of the military.
“No,” Juliette says, again taking the lead. Still the Queen Bee. “Ali was a Girl Scout.”
“No bad habits?”
More headshakes.
“Anyone she had trouble with? Anyone she might be afraid of?” Poppy’s mind goes to the note: If something happens to me.
“Not that I know of,” Juliette says. “Have you spoken to Ryan? They were inseparable back then.” She says this with a tinge of annoyance. Like she didn’t appreciate being in competition with anyone for attention.
“I’m having a hard time locating him. Have any of you kept in touch?”
They shake their heads. “People weren’t exactly kind to him,” Ruby says, finally speaking up. She gives Juliette the side-eye.
Picking up on it, Juliette says, “Everybody thought Ryan did it, before they caught MRK.”
“Some people still do,” Chrissy adds.
“Yeah?”
“You know how people are,” Ruby says.