“And it is your belief that Nolan took your phone from your desk—where you were sleeping—and locked the house from the inside before disabling the smoke alarms.”
Lucian rubbed at his tired eyes. “That’s the only logical conclusion I could draw, considering my phone was gone when I woke.”
“What woke you?” Taylor asked.
“The sound of the fire.”
“And can you describe to me what happened then?”
“My first instinct was to get to Gypsy.” Lucian looked at me, flinching as he recalled the events of that night. “But when I got to our bedroom, the fire blocked my entry to her.”
Taylor’s eyes scanned over the previous notes, probably checking to make sure that the story was the same. “And what did you do at that point?”
“I gave Gypsy instructions to shut the door and hold tight, so I could come in from the outside.”
“But you didn’t make it outside?” Taylor looked up.
“No.” Lucian shook his head. “I didn’t make it to her, but she got out on her own.”
“Because you encountered Nolan in the hall at that point?” Taylor questioned.
“Encountered isn’t the word I would use,” Lucian responded in a low voice. “He hit me in the back of the head with a gun.”
“And then he left you there?”
“Yes.”
“But you managed to get outside on your own when you regained consciousness?” Taylor asked.
“Yes,” Lucian repeated.
“At which point of the house did you exit?”
“The front door.”
Taylor paused to check the notes. “And then you tackled him to the ground where a fight for the gun ensued, which ultimately resulted in Nolan’s death?”
Lucian hung his head. “That’s correct.”
“It wasn’t Lucian’s fault,” I interjected. “Nolan pulled the trigger himself.”
Taylor studied me. “After the first shot, you mean?”
“Yes.” I glared. “After the first shot. Right before Nolan almost killed me.”
Lucian’s hand found my back, rubbing the tension from my shoulders.
“Okay.” Taylor nodded. “Is it still your belief that Nolan was motivated by the current state of his finances?”
“Yes,” Lucian replied quietly. “That’s the only thing that makes sense. I knew he’d struggled with a gambling addiction over the years, but I didn’t realize how bad it had become.”
“That might be the case, but it’s quite an elaborate plan to fake your death, convince everyone you were dead, and then come back to try to kill you all over again,” Taylor noted.
“Maybe he would have got it right the first time if we hadn’t been friends for so long.” Lucian scowled.
The detective ignored Lucian’s tone and scribbled down another note before he looked at me. “Gypsy, according to my notes, there were no other witnesses besides the two of you that night?”
My fingers dug into Lucian’s thigh. “That’s correct. It was just us.”