Killing Kate: A Novel (Riley Spartz Book 4) by Julie Kramer Page B

against the office wall. As the book hit the floor, the binding appeared to tear. She repeated the exercise with three more paperbacks before calming down.
    I picked a book called Beyond Passion off the stack and held it in her face to make my point.
    “Laura, this information about Kate could be vital to the homicide case. What if this ends up being an important clue to finding her killer?”
    “How could that happen?”
    “You can’t ever tell where an investigation might lead,” I said. “But not letting the cops in on this development could hold back justice for your sister.”
    Laura was quiet. She seemed to brood over my words. Then, without looking up, she mumbled, “Fine.”
    Years of interviewing people has taught me that saying something and meaning it are very different. And avoiding eye contact with me was evidence that Laura was still not completely swayed.
    “What are you going to tell the police?” she asked.
    “Me? No, I think it best if you’re the one who goes to the cops first. Show them the check and the books. They can take it from there.”
    That’s when she told me that she’d had enough of the police. She’d already talked to them plenty about her sister’s murder. This would just lead to more questions she couldn’t answer.
    “You don’t understand, Riley. She was more than my sister. She was my closest friend. It’s hurtful she deceived me like this. I don’t want to have to discuss it with them.”
    She flung two more “Desiree Fleur” books against the wall. Because of the tears on her cheeks, I resisted the temptation to remind Laura that I once considered her my closest friend.
    “Laura, those are feelings you’re going to have to come to terms with eventually. In the meantime, if her publisher confirmsKate Warner and Desiree Fleur to be the same person, that’s not something I can sit on. I’m breaking it as a news story.”
    She glared. “Well, I’m not going to do any media interviews—not even with you, Riley.”
    That didn’t matter. I could tell this story without interviewing Laura. The script would be simple, and I warned her the police would probably contact her after it ran.
    ((ANCHOR LEAD))
NOW WITH AN EXCLUSIVE UPDATE
ABOUT THE LATEST MINNEAPOLIS
MURDER IS CHANNEL 3
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER RILEY SPARTZ.
    ((RILEY STANDUP))
MURDER VICTIM KATE WARNER . . .
WHO LIVE AND DIED IN THIS
HOUSE LAST WEEK . . . LED A
SECRET LIFE.
    The word “secret” is always an attention getter. The newscast producer would probably fight me to let the anchor read that line, but I was determined to hold firm. After all, it was my story.
    ((RILEY VICTIM PIX))
SHE HAD AN IDENTITY NOT KNOWN
TO THE POLICE, HER NEIGHBORS,
OR EVEN HER FAMILY.
    I suspected if the cops had known such a juicy tidbit, it would have leaked out already. Or they would have released it publicly, in hopes of tips.
    ((BOOK COVER PIX))
KATE WARNER WAS A BESTSELLING
AUTHOR OF EROTIC FICTION
UNDER THE PEN NAME “DESIREE FLEUR.”
    Then the director would probably cut to a double box shot of me and Sophie and Sophie would ask what erotica was and I would essentially explain the facts of life to her—and all of Channel 3’s audience. Sophie would blush. And the producer would order news control to go black. Then Noreen would storm onto the set.
    I shook that scenario out of my mind, admonishing myself to concentrate on the problem in front of me: Laura.
    “I have to report this anyway, Laura.”
    “I’m not surprised, Riley. All you care about is news.”
    I ignored the dig on how our relationship ended, reminding myself that our discord was her fault, not mine. I also reminded myself to be skeptical of what she told me because she had proved capable of lying before.
    Then I walked over to the books scattered on the floor, picked one up for an on-set prop, and left. But not before admiring what a nice job the biohazard team had done cleaning and repairing the living room. If I didn’t know it, I never would have