Chapter 55

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Lavender Jones was sitting at the table in the interview room, both palms pressed against the surface. Huge rings bearing gemstones hugged every finger, and bangles glittered on her arms where she'd rolled up her jumper sleeves. Dark hair dip-dyed like strands of caramel framed a pretty, ageing face with pearly lips and a tawny skin tone.

I pushed the door open and entered the interview room. "Lavender Jones?"

The smile that pulled her mouth was tight, but there was a friendly light in her hazy eyes. "Yes. Are you Inspector Rames?"

"I am. This is Sergeant Sullivan."

We sat down together on the other side of the table. Lavender appraised Alex with a slightly wider smile, and I couldn't help but do the same. He was a tall and well-built man, his dark suit snug on him as if it had been custom made. Yet he had an edge of ruggedness too, in the stubble lining his jaw and the mischievous amusement waiting to shine in his eyes.

I cleared my throat and dragged my gaze back to Lavender. "We were told you wanted to speak with us...?"

She did the same, looking down at the table. "Yes, Ethan called. He told me about Iberia and Ruby." Her voice softened. "I was Iberia's wedding planner."

My ears pricked up. "So you'd been working with her closely over the past few months?"

"The past year, actually." She shook her head sadly. "It's still sinking in. This whole day was supposed to be revolving around her -- I would have been at the venue by now, keeping everything in check. But she's...gone." She leaned forward. "As soon as I heard the news, I came. I liked Iberia, and I've learned a lot about the girls. So if there's anything you need to know..."

"I need to know everything." I clasped my hands together on the table. "Introduce the wedding party to us. I'd like to learn about them in detail from an outsider's point of view."

"All right, then." Lavender sat back and thought for a moment. "I suppose I know the most about my clients, Iberia and Ethan. Iberia, in particular, I worked with a lot. As I'm her wedding planner, she can contact me any time she likes." Lavender hesitated. "Late last night, she called me in floods of tears because she was worried that Ethan wouldn't want to go through with the wedding."

"Do you know why?" Alex asked.

Lavender spread her hands. "She just said they'd had an argument. I tried to calm her down, reminding her that he hadn't actually called off the wedding."

"So she gave no indication at all as to what had come between them?"

"No. Sorry."

"You weren't aware if either party had cheated on each other?" I asked.

"Cheated?" She blinked at me. "No, they wouldn't do that. They were in love. According to Iberia, they met at secondary school and started dating when they were thirteen. They stayed together all the way until the end of college, and then they split up when they attended university. Ethan went away to New London while Iberia stayed here. But when he graduated and came back, they reconnected again very quickly. True love always finds a way."

"Right." I didn't want to taint her perception with the truth yet. "When did they get engaged? Just before they started planning the wedding, or a while before?"

"Last year. So that was roughly a year after they'd got back together."

Alex shifted in his seat, his leg brushing against mine. "How often did you actually meet Iberia and Ethan face to face?"

"Oh...too many times to count."

"What about the rest of the wedding party?" I asked. "Did you get to meet them?"

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