Read Online Heart of Stone by Christine Warren - Free Book Online Page B

grimaced. “To be honest, I needed a minute to myself, and I didn’t want to spend another second in Mr. Stanley’s company, even with a chaperone. The altercation had shaken me up, and I’ve always found the gardens peaceful, especially the terrace. Like I said, the gargoyle statue was my favorite, so I used to hang out there occasionally.”
    “Okay.”
    “I spent about five, maybe ten more minutes just taking deep breaths and pulling myself together. Then—” She caught herself as she recalled what had happened then. How reality had tilted on its axis and Sir Arthur magically sprang to life. But that was exactly what she couldn’t tell the police.
    She finished with a shrug to cover her hesitation. “Then I made my way through the garden and out the back gate.”
    McQuaid jotted down additions to a couple of his notes, then glanced up at her. “After leaving the garden, did you go straight home?”
    “Yes.” Hell yes. At top speed. A couple of hundred feet above the skyline.
    “How far away do you live? You take the bus?”
    Ella hesitated, then carefully edited events. No reason to make him talk to bus drivers in vain. Obviously, none of them had seen her. “Usually I take the bus. My apartment’s about twenty blocks from here, but last night I went on foot.”
    The detective looked up, his brows lifting. “What made you decide to do that?”
    Um, the monster who scooped me up didn’t give me much choice.
    “I guess I needed more time to clear my head.” Which was true, even if the rest of her statement wasn’t. Precisely “When I hit the bus stop, there wasn’t one in sight, and at that hour, I didn’t feel like waiting around. I just wanted to get home.”
    “Well, at least you made it safely. What did you do with the rest of your night?”
    “I stayed in. Got cleaned up, went to bed.”
    “And was anyone with you at your apartment?”
    “Um.” She hesitated, then nodded. “Yes. Kees stayed the night.”
    McQuaid just hummed and acknowledgment and made another note. “Anything else you can remember? Did you see anyone suspicious on the street when you left the museum grounds by the back gate?”
    Ella had been too far above the streets to notice much of anything. Even if she’d had her eyes open. And hadn’t been praying for her life. “Not that I can recall. It was late, though, and I was kind of in my own little world. I just wanted to get home and get to bed.”
    Where she could hide under the covers. Too bad that strategy hadn’t worked.
    “Okay. Well, if you thin—” A shrill chime sounded from the detective’s pocket, and he reached in for his cell phone. “Excuse me.” He poked at the screen. “McQuaid.”
    Ella watched while he listened to someone on the other end of the connection. Then he held up a finger, muttered something into the phone, and stood.
    “Gotta take this. Just give me a second.” He stepped out of the office and clicked the door shut behind him.
    She wasted half a second wondering at the stroke of luck before good sense kicked in and she grabbed the file folder off the desk. Rifling through the papers inside, she skimmed quickly through the information before she found what she was looking for. Committing a name and partial address to memory, she placed the folder back where she had found it and resumed her seat a second before the door opened and McQuaid stepped back inside.
    “Sorry about that.” His boyish grin flashed again.
    “No problem.” Ella smiled. “You had more questions for me?”
    “No, we’re finished, but I wanted to give you this.” He pulled a business card out of his shirt pocket and handed it to her. “This is where I officially tell you that if you think of anything else, you should call me at the station.”
    Ella stood and took the card between her fingers, but the detective didn’t let go. Surprised, she glanced up at him.
    His smile widened, and his eyes warmed. “Unofficially, I’m also going to tell you that if