Adopting a look that reminded Alyssa of a kicked puppy, Sandra’s gaze darted around the room. ‘This is crazy. You all realize that, don’t you? She’s finally lost her mind. You’ve all seen it coming after what happened with her brother.’

Cord yanked on Sandra’s arms, eliciting a squeal out of her. ‘This would be a good time to shut your mouth,’ he warned.

‘In the meantime,’ Alyssa went on as if Sandra hadn’t spoken, ‘you insinuated yourself into the investigation by showing up at the crime scene – with wet hair, as I recall, so fresh from cleaning yourself up – and then, realizing what a perfect opportunity it was for you to stay up to date with the case, you somehow managed to manipulate Captain Hammond into inviting you to work with my team, and we were happy to welcome you on board.

‘But let’s back up a moment, shall we? When we were finally able to fit the pieces of this puzzle together, I had to stop and ask myself, how in the hell could a sociopath like you pass the psych exam for joining the police force? But recent events reminded me how frighteningly simple it is for someone like you to fool the system.’

This time Sandra rolled her eyes. ‘You sound like a lunatic, you know that? You can’t prove any of this, and do you know why? Because you’re wrong. And you know it. I guess Mack Kensington was right after all when he accused you of finding a scapegoat to take the fall for your inability to solve a crime.’ She craned her neck until she could see Captain Hammond. ‘Are you really going to stand there and let her get away with this? Is she so valuable that you’re going to let her make this shit up? Is that how all your cases get wrapped up so prettily?’

Hammond matched her glare for glare, but aside from the clenched jaw and the flared nostrils, gave no indication he’d even heard.

‘When things first started to unravel, you concocted a plan that involved Holly.’

Tony’s neck snapped in Alyssa’s direction so fast that she actually heard it pop. At the same time, Joe breathed out his understanding. ‘The pictures, the threats. It was a ploy to distract you, throw you off your game. And she had access to the evidence room. You were right, Lys. Not a bad idea knowing how protective you—’

Beside him, Hal’s hiss and blistering glare directed his way caused Joe to throw his hands up in the air. ‘Whoa, keep your weapon holstered, man. I didn’t say I agreed with or liked it.’

Hal snarled something unintelligible in a tone completely at odds with his usual charming personality.