Free All Murders Final! by Sherry Harris

bleeding.” CJ planted his hands on his hips.
    I touched the bump gingerly. A pain seared through my head that made my eyes water.
    â€œYou winced,” CJ said.
    â€œI’ll just have the EMTs take a quick look before they leave.”
    I pushed by CJ and went into the living room. A few officers stood around, chatting in low tones. Juanita sat on my couch, with EMTs on either side of her. She looked pale but otherwise okay. It seemed she, too, was refusing to go to the hospital.
    â€œI’m so sorry,” I told Juanita.
    â€œI’m the one who’s sorry,” she said. “I don’t know where he came from. Like thin air. I didn’t hear him on the stairs behind me.”
    CJ held up a hand to stop her from talking. He grasped my arm and led me toward my bedroom. I smiled at Juanita as I left the living room. Her brown eyes looked tired and sad.
    â€œWhat? Why’d you bring me in here?” I asked when we reached my bedroom. “I want to talk to Juanita.”
    â€œWe need to take her statement. Check her out.”
    â€œYou think she had something to do with this?” I shook my head and winced again. It felt like a spring thunderstorm had taken over my brain. “She was attacked, too.” I replayed the assault over in my mind. It made me shiver. I wanted to pull the throw off my bed and wrap it around me, but I didn’t want to look like a victim.
    CJ picked up the throw and settled it around my shoulders, as if he’d read my mind or maybe it was the shivering. “I’ll be right back.” He returned with one of the two female EMTs. “Check her out,” CJ said. “Talk her into a quick trip to the hospital.” He stepped out of the room.
    â€œCJ, wait.”
    Instead of answering me, he closed the door. The man could be completely frustrating.
    The EMT sat down next to me, and she started a concussion examination. She talked in a calm, soothing voice as she ran through questions and checked me out. She told me what to watch for. “You don’t have signs of a concussion, but you really should go to your doctor. Your blood pressure is slightly elevated.”
    â€œI’m fine. My blood pressure probably has more to do with my ex than anything else.” I flicked my head toward the door and regretted it as another bolt shot around in my head.
    As the EMT was leaving the room, CJ and Pellner walked in.
    â€œPellner will take your official statement,” CJ told me. “We can do it here or down at the station, wherever you feel more comfortable.”
    â€œHere, please,” I said.
    CJ left the room and closed the door behind him again.
    While my bedroom wasn’t that big, it wasn’t uncomfortable. I gestured toward the only chair. Pellner eyed it.
    â€œIt’s sturdier than it looks,” I said.
    I had found it on the side of the road last fall and had re-covered the seat with a delicate blue-and-white toile fabric that complemented my blue-and-white comforter. Airy white curtains hung at the single window, which overlooked the town common and the tall white Congregational church. The bare branches of the trees waved frantically in the wind, and the sounds of the church bells seemed more like clangs than rings today.
    â€œYou don’t want me to hear what Juanita’s saying, do you?” I asked. “Do you think one of us is lying?”
    Pellner sat on the chair and pulled out a notebook. I perched on the end of the bed.
    â€œHow do you know Juanita?” Pellner ran a hand through his military-short dark hair.
    It was obvious Pellner wasn’t going to answer any of my questions, so I gave up. “She’s a member of the virtual garage sale site I run.”
    â€œSo you don’t know her personally?”
    â€œI do now.”
    Pellner frowned at me. “Walk me through what happened, starting with why she was here today.”
    I scooted back on the bed and leaned back