Organized for Homicide (Organized Mysteries Book 2) by Ritter Ames Page B

considered the idea. When Sydney showed her the workroom, the teen had been very specific about wanting to pack everything herself, and nothing had been sitting handy on any of the work spaces. "No, I don't think anything like a knife would be left out anywhere. She's protective of her younger siblings, and her tools are important to her. I could tell by looking at them that they were expensive, and sharp."
    Meg took a last slurp of her drink and grinned at the noise. "Can you tell I liked the shake?" She pushed aside the jar and picked up her pen, letting it jiggle up and down in the air as she mused aloud, "So who knows about her fledgling business and knows where her stuff is kept in the house?"
    " Also, was the knife used to implicate Sydney? Or did the killer actually come to burgle the house, like everyone first assumed, and took the knife in a defensive move when Lila showed up unexpectedly?"
    " You know," Meg said. "If I can play devil's advocate for a moment, can we truly rule Sydney out as the killer? Girls get mad at their mothers all the time. Sometimes they snap."
    " But the one thing I got out of my conversation with Sydney is what a protective personality the girl has."
    " Recognized yourself in her. Huh?"
    " A little." Kate grinned. Meg knew enough about Kate's relationship with her own parents to know how she had to learn early on to be the responsible one in the family. She noticed that same dynamic between the Collier mother and older daughter. In fact, Kate had worried about the teen feeling too worried about everyone, as she also coordinated school activities for the younger children while her parents were so focused on their own corporate and environmental activities. "She's naturally protective. You saw how she stood in the self-protective stance when I introduced you both as we were surveying the bedrooms for the move. The protective way she felt about Lila was even more apparent when I saw them together the day I met with the all Colliers the first time."
    " You're sure you aren't doing any of that transference stuff about you and your own parents?"
    Kate bit her lip. "No. No, I'm sure about this. Besides, why would Sydney use a weapon that absolutely pointed to herself? Had only her fingerprints on it?"
    " It was her tool. She was comfortable using it. She would know exactly how sharp it was. How hard to bear down to make a cut," Meg explained. "It could have already been in her hand if she was in her workroom working and her mother dropped by to tell her something Sydney didn't want to hear. They argue, going through the house as her mother goes to the upstairs master bedroom to get something she left behind. Sydney follows, shouting, the knife still in her hand. Her mother goes out to the balcony, says something to tip the scale for Sydney's anger. The girl slashes her mother's throat and tosses her over the railing. She's plenty strong enough. Does weight training for her skating."
    " But what could Lila have said to make Sydney so angry?"
    Meg frowned and pulled at her lower lip. "Do you remember what Lila said right before she left us on the balcony? Something about how she and Collier still needed to talk. I don't remember exactly, but it made me think they might be contemplating Sydney not staying here with her mother. Do you remember?"
    " A little." Kate shrugged. "I remember a thought along those lines going through my head at the time, but it didn't really stick. I don't recall exactly what she said."
    Kate had too much in her own past, she knew, to try to be completely unbiased here. What Meg said made sense, and her friend had every reason to assume Kate identified too much with Sydney because of her own upbringing. She appreciated her parents' concern for mankind and the environment, but it had been a difficult life growing up in the shadow of 'for the greater good.' She wondered if Sydney felt a similar emotional pain, especially if Lila and Collier really were thinking about sending