Before anyone could move, he pulled the trigger and fell back against the wall. He slid down the wall until he was in a sitting position, his legs splayed in front of him. Blood poured from his nose and the exit wound at the top of his head.
All around Cassidy, people were screaming and swearing and crying out in shock. A few ran toward Glover as if to render first aid, but it was clear he was dead.
Come on! Half his head is gone, Cassidy thought, not moving. And then she had a terrible thought. Hadn't Eric said that Channel 4 would broadcast this live?
Chapter 36
Pastini Pastaria
Wednesday, February 15
Allison met Nicole outside Pastini's. "Have you seen Cassidy yet?" Allison asked.
Nicole was just shaking her head when Cassidy pulled her car up next to them. She got out, nearly getting run over in the process, seemingly oblivious to the honks and squealing brakes. On the sidewalk, she gave them each a hug. Underneath Allison's palms, her body seemed to hum. Cassidy had been through so much lately. Standing a few feet from a killer as he shot himself could not have helped her already stressed mental state.
"Cassidy, you can't park here," Nicole pointed out. "It's a fifteen-minute zone." The three of them squeezed closer to the car to let a mom with a double stroller pass by.
"I'll move it in a second," Cassidy said as she opened the passenger door and pushed the seat forward to reach into the back of the car. "Nicole, I just want to give you your birthday present before I forget. I know it's not for ten days, but with everyone's schedules being so busy ..."
Allison felt a twinge of guilt. She had been so preoccupied with catching Jim Fate's killer that she hadn't given any thought to Nicole's upcoming birthday. The two of them watched as Cassidy began to paw through the detritus that covered her front passenger seat: granola bar wrappers, a pair of Nikes, a tube of mascara, an umbrella, a crumpled McDonald's bag, and a couple of People magazines.
"It was just here," she complained, leaning in farther.
Cassidy had always aspired to be bone thin and worked hard to maintain a weight that Allison privately thought too low and Cassidy publicly felt was never low enough. But now it looked like she had given up the fight. Her narrow skirt was far too tight.
Allison turned to see if Nicole was registering the same thing. But instead of looking at Cassidy, Nicole was transfixed by something else inside the car. Allison followed her gaze. In between the seats was a cup holder that held, not a coffee cup, but a small dish of change. With something slightly larger resting on top.
"Here it is," Cassidy declared, unearthing a pink package about the size of a deck of cards. As she was straightening up, Nicole was leaning into the car.
"Hey!" Cassidy said in surprise as Nicole stood up again. All of them looked at the silver earring, shaped like a Chinese character, that now rested on Nicole's outstretched palm.
"What is this?" To Allison's ear, Nicole's voice was ominously casual.
Cassidy shrugged. "Half a pair of earrings. I don't know where I lost the other one. They're handmade, so I don't want to just toss it. I figure the minute I do, I'll find the missing one at the bottom of my purse or something."
"I've seen one just like this recently."
"Do you remember where? Because I would love to be able to wear them again."
"The one I saw is in an evidence bag," Nicole said without inflection. "Leif found it under Jim Fate's bed."
Cassidy's mouth made a small, round 0.
"Tell me what you were doing there," Nicole demanded. "And in his bedroom."
"It's not what you think." Cassidy lowered her voice, and the three of them made a tight little knot on the sidewalk, no longer noticing the passersby.
"Oh no, Cassidy," Allison said, her heart sinking. "What do you mean that it's not what we think?"
"Jim and I have known each other for a long time. He wanted me to quit Channel 4 and take over Victoria Hanawa's job."
"What?" said Allison. Part of her couldn't believe it. Part of her realized it fit everything they had learned so far.
"So we made a recording at his condo like we were doing a show together. I went back there the morning he died so I could take it off his computer before anyone else found it." She looked from Nicole to Allison, seeking understanding. "I had already turned Jim down, but Channel 4 would have fired me if they had ever found out about it. I could have lost my job for nothing!"
"And you didn't think this information was worth telling us?" Nicole's eyes were blazing. "We've been searching for the woman the neighbor told us about, the mysterious blonde who left his apartment--and it was you, wasn't it? You lied to us, Cassidy. You said you were just friends with Jim. And you never told us that he wanted you to take over Victoria Hanawa's job."
"We were just friends. Basically. Jim wanted to be something more, but I didn't, which is where the earring must have come off. And I didn't tell you that I had been there because I didn't want you to think of me as a suspect."