To My Dearest Enemy

The Short Suspect List

September 23

Alana, Ethan, and Stella stood up at once when they saw Matt exit the room with a detective. Ethan bit his lip to stop himself from grinning when he saw the bruise on Matt's jaw.

"You are all friends of Hayden?" Detective Cardone asked.

"Yep." Alana said.

"Detective Cardone, I'm handling the case. I'd like to speak to Stella Fraser first." Detective Cardone said. Ethan, Alana, and Jill looked at Stella.

"Let's get this over with." Stella said, before following the Detective into the room. She sat down across from him.

"You were fighting with Hayden in days leading up to her disappearance. Why?" He asked. Stella knew that if Matt had already spoken to him, he'd already know. He just wanted to confirm it.

"She hooked up with my boyfriend." Stella stated.

"Who is your boyfriend?" Once again, he knew the answer.

"Matthew Bellisario is my ex-boyfriend." Stella said.

"You two talked and made up after he left the party and went to your house. He said you forgave him." The detective said.

"Just because I forgave him doesn't mean we're back together." Stella snipped. She knew she had to act normal so she wasn't accused of something she didn't do, but she was so furious at Matt and couldn't help herself but to act snippy.

"What did you do after Matthew left?" He asked.

"I was asleep I didn't even know he left until I woke up." Stella stated.

"Were you home alone?" He asked. Matt had to have said Ash was home.

"My sister Ashley was home. My parents were away on business." Stella said.

"Did you see Jillian DeVitto at all last night or this morning?" He asked.

"She came over for an hour, but that was an hour before Matt came. It was before he even went to the party. If you think Jillian had anything to do with this, you're insane because she's the girl sitting out there in the leg brace on crutches with the wrist brace because she was hit by a car over a week ago." Stella snapped. She was making it very hard to prove her innocence.

"What time did Matthew leave your house?" He asked.

"I don't know, I was asleep. Maybe instead of questioning my alibi you should ask Matthew where he got that bruise on his jaw." Stella sat back in the chair.

"That'll be all for now. I'd like to speak to Jillian DeVitto." Stella jumped out of her seat and left the room. Matt was gone now.

"Have fun, Jill." Stella snapped as she sat down. Jill got up and walked in.

"What happened?" Ethan asked.

"I fucked up and put myself on the suspect list." Stella stated.

---

"Where were you last night and this morning?" He asked. She knew what to expect from her Criminal Justice class that she and Hayden took together.

"I went to Stella's house around seven last night and stayed until eight. We drank wine because that's what we do when we're stressed." Jill explained.

"Were you stressed about Hayden?" He asked.

"Yes." Jill stated.

"Why were you stressed?" He asked.

"She slept with my ex-boyfriend and had told me he kissed her and that was all that happened." Jill said.

"How did you find out she slept with him?" He inquired. She froze. She wasn't planning on that question. She couldn't say she was sent a video.