“Oh my God!” she gasped. White-faced, she turned to Connor. “Connor…” He reached for her arm and grasped it firmly, as if he thought she needed to be held up. “Ms. DiPietro, I’m so sorry to have upset you,” he said gently. “We had no idea…” The dead woman’s niece said tearfully, “It was such a horrible way to die, and she was such a sweet woman. Why would anyone do such a thing? Where would someone even get the idea to do something like that?” Connor had thoughts on that, but didn’t think now was the best time to share them. Lily turned to Daria. “I can see I’ve shocked you. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been so blunt. I just should have said she was killed during a break-in and left it at that.” “No, no,” a still-pale Daria insisted. “I’m glad you told us. It’s important that we know.” “Why?” “Because I can enter the killer’s MO into our computer and see if there have been similar murders,” Connor said before Daria could open her mouth.
