“No. I don’t imagine you would.”
Wrinkling her brow, she hissed, “He really thought I’d just accept things. He said he’d still provide for me but that we couldn’t be together anymore. Like that would be okay with me? After all the years I’d put into him?”
“I could see why that might send you over the edge.”
Her face quivered. “Oh, you have no idea. I wasn’t going to stand for it. No fucking way was he leaving me behind.”
I could feel her hatred radiating. “So you killed him instead of letting him leave you for Janelle.”
She started to nod, but then her eyes widened, and she looked up quickly. “Wait.What?”
I hesitated. “You killed Archie so Janelle couldn’t have him.”
“I didn’t kill Archie,” she screeched. “Wha… what are you talking about?”
I frowned. “Calm down, Kimora.”
“Calm down? How can I calm down?” Her eyes were wild. “I didn’t kill Archie. How can you even suggest that? I still loved him.”
“But…” I studied her, taking in how freaked-out she looked. “If not you, then who?”
“How the hell would I know?”
I watched her closely. “You have the clearest motive.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Janelle probably killed him. She no doubt found out the truth about him, and she felt betrayed.”
“She couldn’t have done it. She was never out of sight long enough to have killed him.”
“Well, it sure as hell wasn’tme.”
Feeling baffled, I watched her. While she seemed sincerely shocked by my accusation, she still appeared to be the most likely suspect to me. Few people were as dangerous as a spurned lover.
She whispered, “Sheriff, I swear I didn’t kill Archie.”
If I was to believe Kimora, and that was a huge if, then who else would have wanted Archie dead? I leaned forward. “If it wasn’t you or Janelle who killed Archie, it had to be someone else who could get close to him. Close enough to stab him.”
She shuddered. “But who?”
“Tell me more about the other women Archie was seeing. Anything you can remember might be helpful.”
She scowled. “I’m not sure I know anything. It wasn’t like he invited me along on his sexual excursions.”
“No, but I’ll bet you knew exactly the type who would catch his eye, right?”
She dropped her gaze, her mouth a grim line. “To be honest, he wasn’t that choosy. Not untilperfect Janellecame along,” she hissed.
“You said he was still sleeping around, even when he was with Janelle, until about a month ago, right?”
She nodded. “Yes. He didn’t hide it. We had a very… open relationship.”
“He flaunted his conquests?”
“No. But he didn’t hide them either.”
I sighed, feeling disgusted. “Why did you stay with him?”
Her face softened. “Because he always came back to me. Even with Janelle, I… I just knew if I was steadfast, he’d tire of her and return to me. I knew he couldn’t really leave me behind. What we had was special.”
