Nun Too Soon (A Giulia Driscoll Mystery Book 1) by Alice Loweecey Page A

already covered, if you’ll bear with me. Did Mr. Fitch or Ms. Gil have any enemies that you knew of?”
    A snort. “You serious? Loriela stepped on a bunch of heads to get to the top of Accounting. Roger’s broken a bunch of hearts and pissed off a lot more. I heard he dumped one of his pieces when she got pregnant, but he’ll deny it.”
    “I’ll check into that. Thank you. Would you consider any of those people capable of murdering Ms. Gil out of revenge or out of a desire to frame Mr. Fitch for the killing?” Giulia didn’t move when she asked this crucial question, just like she’d kept still in Geranium’s apartment.
    The sluggish eyes dropped their glaze and came into tight focus on her. Giulia kept her own camouflage in place: The precise, pedantic investigator, checking off points on her invisible list.
    “That’s what you think?” Tulley said. “Or is that what his lawyer thinks?”
    “I’m exploring every possible angle. We have less than two weeks until the start of the trial.”
    “Damn, you’re twisty. Roger told me you were a pushover because you used to be a bleeding-heart nun.” His grin turned hard. “I think I’ll let him find that out for himself.” He stood. “All right, Ms. Driscoll, point to you. Here’s who I’ve got money on: One, Loriela’s ex—the bartender, not the actor. Two, Roger’s apocryphal baby mama. Three, Roger’s hotshot lawyer. Four, Roger.”
    Giulia stood and pushed in her chair. “You surprise me.”
    “No smoke without fire. Did you know that Roger and his lawyer went to high school together? Big sports rivals, but all friendly and best buds. That is, ’til they got to fighting for the last starting position on the basketball team. They’ll say they’re over that high school rivalry now, but what man ever lets go of the sports glory he thinks he should’ve had?” Tulley pointed to his knees. “I was second string All American. All set for the NFL draft ’til I blew out both knees. Trust me when I tell you I’ve never forgiven the bastards who ruined my career with a deliberate below-the-belt tackle.”
    He opened the door on another ex-jock type whose finger stopped short of the bell.
    “Dude. Gimme a ride?”
    “Sure. Come in for a minute.” Tulley shook Giulia’s hand. “Roger and his lawyer haven’t forgotten it either. That lawyer’s big on justice and second chances and all that, but you ask him about the season Roger got the last starting position and the lawyer warmed the bench.”
    He closed the door on her.
    Giulia took a deep breath and walked straight to her car. She opened the voice memo function on her phone and talked. 
    Fifteen minutes later, she saved it and sank back against the headrest. “I need an extra-large glass of red wine.”

Fifteen

      
    Red wine and driving being incompatible, Giulia drove to her last appointment instead.
    Cottonwood was a mere twenty minutes from Pittsburgh, on a good day. A good day not at rush hour. Giulia maneuvered the Nunmobile off bumper-to-bumper route 376 much too soon for the GPS on her phone, which shut up in the middle of a word. Giulia stuck her tongue out at it.
    Her detour saved her eleven minutes. She reached Cassandra Gil’s apartment building four minutes early and found a narrow slot labeled “Compact Cars Only” in the parking lot.
    Theories and interview plans spawned by Tulley’s quick-change revelations jostled each other for headspace. This interview would be a waste of her time if her mind wasn’t clear.
    Last year, Sidney discovered Kundalini yoga. Giulia had let herself be dragged to a few sessions, but she preferred attacking an elliptical machine or a circuit training session. She did find the breathing exercises quite useful. Sitting in a bucket seat was pretty much the worst position, but Long Deep Breathing was what she needed.
    She closed her eyes and corrected her posture as much as possible. Inhale...fill the abdomen...expand the chest...fill the