Oath Bound

Chapter 2

"We have a few questions relating to Miss Hayes, if you have the time," Detective Burke said.

"Of course," Mira said.

Ana appeared with a tray. "Mira, here's your tea, and I wasn't sure what you'd like," she added, turning to the detectives, "but this is black coffee. We also have a station over there if you'd like to add cream or sugar."

"Join me at the table in the corner when you're ready," Mira said before either of them could protest.

Sitting at one of the few tables in the store, Mira watched the detectives while she made sure she was mentally prepared for questions about Sally. There had been many interviews over the past few weeks, and very few details released about what happened beyond the fact that Sally had been stabbed three times and her body was found in the park.

A month later, and they still didn't have the killer in custody.

It wasn't until Detective Burke moved toward the table that Mira realized he looked familiar. Had she met him earlier on the case? It was unlikely she would forget anyone that looked like Detective Burke, but Mira didn't remember a lot about the few days following Sally's death.

She gripped her cup as the detectives sat down at the table. "How can I help?"

"First, we wanted to say that we're sorry for your loss," Detective Burke said. "You were close to Sally, correct?"

"She was one of my best friends," Mira said, frowning. Were they going to ask the exact same questions all over again?

"How long had you been friends with her?" Detective Burke asked.

"Since high school, but you all know this already." She hadn't meant to say it out loud, but she was glad she had.

Detective Burke nodded, but it was Detective Flint that replied. "We needed to confirm a few things."

Mira tried not to look dejected. Could asking the same old questions bring about anything new?

"What can you tell us about her relationship with Martin West?" Detective Burke asked.

"Not a lot, really," Mira said. "She was happy with him. They'd been seeing each other for around five months."

"And they were living with each other?" Detective Burke asked.

"Yes." Her eyes narrowed as she mentally dared him to turn that into something negative about Sally.

"Did Sally and Martin appear to have any trouble once they moved in together?" Detective Flint asked.

Mira move her attention to Detective Flint, trying to relax. "No."

"You sound very confident about that," Detective Flint said.

"I am." Mira's thoughts turned inward as she thought of her friend. Sally was... had been... happy with Martin, Mira was certain about that.

"You're positive she would have told you if something was wrong between them?" Detective Flint asked.

A sad smile turned up as she remembered Sally's past experiences with dating. "Sally would have told Della and me. When she wasn't getting along with someone she was pretty vocal about it."

"Would Martin have known that?" Detective Flint asked.

Mira sniffed and tried to drag her thoughts back to the present. "I have no idea."

"We understand that Sally kept a routine appointment one evening each month or so," Detective Burke said. "What do you know about those appointments?"