The detective said, “Here’s what I think, Bri. I think that Tinsley found out that Mara was a scammer. Complex phishing scams, bribery… It only makes sense that she would ask her cousin’s future sister-in-law who works in computers to help her dish out a little payback. I bet you could create viruses and hack into people’s computers in your sleep, Bri. I did my research too. You graduated with the highest distinction. Your mother might not be overly impressed with your job, but you’ve got quite the reputation online. People think you’re a computer genius.”

Bri couldn’t help herself from smiling. But then she straightened her face, tried to return the detective’s knowing look with a blank stare.

“What’s your point?” she asked.

“I already know it was you, Bri. I just don’t understand why you’d help Tinsley. Or why you thought murder was the answer here…”

“I didn’t kill Mara,” Bri said, through clenched teeth.

The detective was silent, waiting.

Finally, Bri took a deep breath and went on, “As far as Tinsley goes… I don’t know her well. But you’re right. She did reach out to me. And there’s nothing I hate more than a scammer. I know it’s hard to understand, but family means everything to me. I love my mother and my brother, and I would do anything to protect them. Rosalee might not be my cup of tea, but as long as she’s part of this family, I’ll protect her too. My family has a lot of money, detective. I wasn’t going to let Rosalee, or my brother, get scammed by that stupid little bitch, Mara.”

“But that’s exactly what happened, isn’t it? Only it was you who was her victim. You found out she was involved with the hackers who ripped you off last year.”

“You don’t know that,” Bri snapped.

“No, I don’t. Not yet. But I will. And it’s not hard to figure out. You were scammed by someone, and Mara is a scammer. She might have been good at tricking people, but she wasn’t a whiz kid like you, was she?”

Bri kept silent.

“So, you hacked her accounts and drained her money. Tit for tat. Someone had recently wiped out all her accounts and stolen her identity, that’s what her roommate said. You gave her a little karma by hacking her. Then what?”

Bri threw up her hands. “Then nothing. That’s all I did. I paid her a little lesson. Mara got what she deserved.”

“Tinsley confronted Mara when the lights went out and Mara nearly killed her, beating her over the head with a book. You must have known that she was dangerous. How could you be so smart and also so stupid?” the detective challenged her.