Murder in Vein (2010) by Sue Ann Jaffarian

sharpest tool in the shed, nor one of the prettiest, but she had
been one of the nicest.
    Mike, in front of the council, had questioned Madison about
Evie's life, such as boyfriends, family, or any customers who
might have bothered her. When the police identified her, they'd
learned she'd worked at Auntie Em's. That led Mike right back to
Madison. Madison didn't have much to tell them. She knew Evie
and had worked with her, but because their shifts were different,
she hadn't learned much about Evie's personal life. Madison only
knew that during the week she worked as a secretary for one of
the Culver City studios-not one of the big ones like Sony, but
one of the minor studios that seemed to crop up like weeds in
the shadow of the giants. The weekend gig at Auntie Em's had
only been to earn some extra money. She had been there just
under a year.
    "So you two weren't friends," Stacie had asked, questioning
Madison in her blunt attorney style.
    "We weren't enemies," Madison had shot back. "We were
friendly coworkers, but we didn't hang out or anything like that. With Evie working two jobs and me on days and going to school,
our paths didn't cross very often."

    "When did they cross?" Stacie pressed.
    Madison shrugged, trying to give helpful answers while working through the trauma of seeing Evie dead. "If someone called
in sick on Friday or Saturday nights, sometimes Kyle-he's the
owner of Auntie Em's-would ask me to work a double shift.
Then I might work with Evie." Madison thought of something
else. "I'm also the one who trained Evie when she first started."
    "Are you sure she didn't have a boyfriend?" asked Kate. "Or
maybe a former one who didn't treat her right?"
    Madison looked at Kate when she answered. "You're looking
for a reason not to connect Evie's death to the others, aren't you?"
    "We're looking at all possibilities, Madison," Samuel answered.
"Before moving forward, we need to make sure this wasn't something else entirely, like a lover's quarrel."
    "Angry lovers don't usually drain off their girlfriend's blood,
do they?" Madison asked the question of Notchey, her voice
tinged with anger.
    Instead of answering her question, Mike said, "Answer the
question, Madison. Do you recall Evie having a boyfriend?"
    Madison turned back to Kate. "She never said anything specific to me, but I got the feeling she didn't date much. She was
kind of quiet and shy-a good waitress, though. She did say she
was saving her money to travel. I got the feeling from Kyle that
she'd quit to do just that."
    She turned in her seat to address Mike Notchey again. "Aren't
these the same questions the police will be asking?"
    "Yes, pretty much," the detective told her. "At least in their
official capacity. And I'm sure Mr. Patterson will fill them in on everything concerning Evie that he can." Mike rubbed a hand
up and down his face in exhaustion. "Thing is, now we believe
you were taken by accident-that it was probably Evie the killer
was after, and Bobby Piper screwed up and grabbed the wrong
woman, especially since you changed shifts so recently. While
you and Evie look different, you both have long dark hair, the
same build, and are about the same age. If Bobby was just given a
description, he might not have known he had the wrong person.
When Bobby failed to show up with Evie, someone else might
have tracked her down."

    Madison had another thought. "The guy that the police are
holding-the one who's confessed to killing the earlier womenwhat about him? If Evie's death is connected to those other
women and to my kidnapping, won't the police realize they have
the wrong guy? That the killer is still on the loose?" She looked at
Mike.
    "Right now," Mike answered, "they think it's a different matter or a very bad copycat, because the neck cuts are different."
    "Madison," Samuel said from the far end of the table. "The
police will, of course, be looking into the death of this unfortunate girl, and I'm sure