Authors: Trisha Grace
Joanne laughed. “I will. Now that I know you’re not going to stop me, I will.”
With that, all the guys wished her well while Dan dived into his own interrogation, prying all the details from Joanne.
When everyone was done with breakfast, Joseph helped Ryan back to his room, and Lydia left for her own house. Dan lingered in the kitchen; he wasn’t through with Joanne.
“Going to the office today?” Evelyn asked Kate.
“Yup.”
“All right. Tyler can drop you off, right? I’m going to head off first,” Evelyn said and strode out of the kitchen.
Kate made no objection, but Dan saw how her eyes bored into Evelyn’s back. Kate wasn’t the sort who’d pry information out of people, but she’d definitely be keeping a closer watch on Evelyn.
Since he wasn’t able to do so, he was glad someone would be watching Evelyn’s back.
Lydia stood outside a small diner and squinted her eyes to take a good look inside. She hitched her handbag up onto her shoulder and checked her watch for the fifth time. She knew she was early, but her nerves were escalating her impatience.
Again, she peered into the diner to make sure that Suzanne Harrison hadn’t slipped by her or entered through other entrances. Tapping her feet against the concrete floor, she looked away from the diner and scanned her surroundings.
Since the last dinner that Lydia had at the mansion, she’d been propelled into a new aspect of her investigation. Mr. Sawyer had noticed that no one was speaking to her and tried to engage her in a conversation.
The short conversation between them caused light bulbs to go off in her head.
She had been looking at her parents’ case through the lens of it being a simple, straightforward murder, and had focused her investigation on Detective Cooper, the detective in charge of her parents’ case. After going through it for months, there weren’t any new leads for her to follow, and all she could do was go through the information she already had.
Despite going over the evidence repeatedly, Lydia couldn’t find anything to go on.
Then, Mr. Sawyer’s words gave her a new perspective.
When Lydia told him that she intended to pursue a career as a public prosecutor, Mr. Sawyer casually mentioned the hazards that many public prosecutors faced, the possibility of threats brought about from the job.
It was certainly reasonable, and she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought about that. Her father was a public prosecutor; perhaps it wasn’t just a random homicide. It could have been an attempt to stop her father from prosecuting the case he was on.
The moment she got home that night, Lydia worked on her computer and combed through the Internet, searching for information. Then, she hit the library archives, gathering as many newspaper clippings as she could. Years of studying law had honed her research skills. Within weeks, she was able to sift out the possible suspects, and after some cross-referencing, the main suspects quickly became clear.
The information she found wasn’t good enough. She wanted to make sure of things herself. Since the fire incident, she’d learned it was better to stay away from the main suspects until she had something concrete. This time, she was taking the roundabout route.
Lydia didn’t know why Detective Allen was helping Tyler, but she managed to pester him into helping her find some of the people involved in the case her father was working on before his death.
Peering into the diner again, Lydia sighed and wondered if Suzanne Harrison was ever going to show up. Just as she was about to begin pacing, she noticed the petite, middle-aged lady who was hastening toward the diner. She was clad in the same cyan uniform that the other waitresses in the diner were wearing.
Slipping her hand into her bag, Lydia took out her phone and opened the PDF file she had stored in it, double checking that she had the right person. She broke into a smile as a younger version of Suzanne’s face popped onto her cell phone’s screen. “Suzanne Harrison?” She called out, stretching her hand toward the woman. “I’m Lydia Mitchell.”
Suzanne hesitantly took her hand and gave her a look over.
She could see the blend of confusion and suspicion on Suzanne’s face. “I’m a law student. I’m working on a report for a cold case, and I’d like to interview you to find out more about it.”
It was clear that Lydia didn’t have to elaborate or point out the particular cold case she was working on. Once the words ‘cold case’ left her lips, she could see Suzanne blanch and take a small step away from her.
“Please, just some questions to clear up my queries.”
“It happened a long time ago. I don’t remember anything. I don’t know anything.” Suzanne’s words came out in a rush as she took a side step, trying to move away from her.
“You can just tell me what you remember.” Lydia moved and walked by Suzanne’s side.
“I’ve got to work.”
“I understand. I can come back later, after your shift.”
Suzanne stopped and stared straight into Lydia’s eyes while her fingers reached out and formed a vice-like grip on her arm. “Please, I don’t want to get involved in anything about the case,” Suzanne said in a harsh whisper.
The fear in her eyes revealed so much more than Lydia had anticipated and indirectly answered the questions she had in mind. “I understand. I’m sorry to disturb you.”
Evelyn and Kate strolled along the corridor to Lydia’s apartment.
“You all right?” Kate asked, her eyes looking right ahead.
Evelyn continued walking, twirling her cell phone in her hand. “Yeah, why?”
“I don’t know. You’ve been rather weird lately.”
“Weird?”
“You’ve been disappearing a lot.”
“No, I haven’t.”
Kate rolled her eyes and stared at Evelyn. “Seriously, what have you been up to? Are you seeing someone?”
“I’ve been up to nothing, and I’m not seeing anyone,” she answered as she stole a peek at her phone’s screen.
They stopped in front of the door and Kate rang the bell. “If there’s anything, you’ll tell me, right?”
“Of course.”
Liar.
Evelyn turned away from Kate, looking at her phone again. “You told Dan to pick you up later, right? I haven’t been feeling too well, think I’ll get some gastric pills then head home after this.”
She felt Kate scrutinizing her face.
After a long pause, Kate finally said, “Yeah, I did.”
Evelyn tapped her feet against the floor and stared at the door.
Come on, Lydia. Open the door.
When no one came to the door, Kate pulled out her cell phone from the bag and called Lydia. From outside the door, they could hear the phone ringing. Since they were already standing outside, Kate opened the door using the spare keys that Lydia had given her and stepped in gingerly.
Evelyn entered after Kate and immediately heard the water running. “Showering,” she said and followed Kate into the living room.
Kate shook her head as she took in the sight of the incredibly messy room. “Look at this place.”
Though they were sisters, Kate and Lydia couldn’t be more different. Kate was an excellent housekeeper. She kept her house spick and span, never having to worry if anyone dropped by her house unannounced.
Lydia was the complete opposite; Lydia was like her.
Clothes and shoes were strewn all over the place, half-eaten food was on the table, and a pile of unfolded clothes sat on the couch, taking up two seats on the three seater.
Lydia would make the perfect roommate for her, and together, they would be the ultimate nightmare for the landlord.
She grinned as she glanced around at the reflection of her own house, her eyes stopping on the gigantic whiteboard standing in the middle of the room. Even with all the clutter in the living room, it was way too prominent to be missed.
With a frown, she approached the unusual piece of furniture. At first glance, the whiteboard was another mess that matched the state of Lydia’s living room. Thick nylon strings were sprawled across the board, leading to different pictures and Post-it notes.
Right in the middle of the whiteboard, the origin of all the nylon strings, was a picture that Evelyn had seen before. The picture inside the locket that Kate used to wear.
Kate’s finger skimmed down the side of her mother’s smiling face.
“You all right?”
“Yeah.” Kate nodded and moved on to study the rest of the board. Her finger followed the thick nylon string linking the complex web of information on the board. On one side of the board, pictures of the threats that Kate received not too long ago.
Kate’s finger trembled lightly when she saw the picture on the aftermath of the fire, the charred remains she almost became part of. She forced her eyes shut and her fingers moved to fiddle with the angel pendant on her neck.
Evelyn gave Kate a gentle squeeze on her arm before she took over and traced another thick nylon string, leading to the name David Morgan. From his name, several branches shot out, stating several different years along with various sexual crimes. One particular year was circled with a red marker.
1997.
Beside the year stood the words,
Rape & Murder. 6.
1997, the year their parents were murdered.
Evelyn continued down the links to another Morgan, Richard Morgan.
“Richard Morgan…it sounds familiar,” Kate said, her brows furrowed.
A sudden gasp sent both their heads turning.
Lydia stood, wide-eyed, looking at them. “What…Why…” she fumbled for words.
“You promised to keep me updated on whatever you were doing on this case.” Kate stood with her arms akimbo.
“Yes, I know that,” Lydia said, finally regaining her ability to form sentences, albeit a short one.
“Then what’s this?” Kate asked, tapping on the board, pointing to the name
David Morgan
.
Evelyn rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help feeling annoyed at Lydia. Even after the fire, Lydia was still adamant about solving their parents’ murder. She had apologized, but apparently their almost-death weren’t good enough reason for her to stop the investigation.
Raising her palms, Lydia took a step back. “I only found out about this when you left for your honeymoon. I was waiting for you to come home and settle in before I dump this on you.”
“Who is this David Morgan?”
“Rich young heir. Son of Richard Morgan.” Lydia moved over to the coffee table and switched on her laptop. “David Morgan had been accused of several different sexual crimes. Sexual harassment, attempted rape, rape, and aggravated sexual assaults. In 1997, he was formally charged with six cases of rape and murder.” She paused, looking over at Evelyn then back at Kate. “Dad was the prosecutor in charge of the case.”
“That doesn’t mean he had anything to do with their deaths.”
“Yes, but listen. Out of the string of cases that involved David Morgan, only two made it to court. For the rest of the cases, the witnesses, and sometimes the victims, backed out or disappeared before the trial began. Of the two that made it to court, the witnesses recanted their statements, claiming that the police forced them to appear on the stand and threatened them to feed a story to the court or they’d be arrested.”
“If they could make witnesses disappear or change their words, I suppose they’re rich, or they have some serious connections,” Evelyn said.
“Rich, very rich.” Lydia turned her laptop over to face them.
“My point is.” Evelyn turned the laptop back toward Lydia. “Please don’t do anything stupid.”
“Your present.” Kate waved the bag she held in her hand and placed it down by the table. “And please, be careful.”
“That’s a polite rendition of what I just said, but your sister meant the same thing.” Evelyn turned toward the door. “You waiting here?”
Kate checked her phone. “Dan’s already here,” she said. “Make sure you tell me everything that’s going on. No more lies.”
Evelyn opened the door and stepped out, waiting for Kate.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You sure you can’t join us?” Kate asked Evelyn when Lydia closed the door.
“Yeah, I want to get some rest.”
“Eve…”
“Don’t start with me,” Evelyn snapped before Kate could continue. Evelyn knew Kate had been dancing around the subject since she came back. “Nothing is wrong with me. Nothing is wrong between Dan and me. We were friends and we are still friends.”
She saw Kate reaching for her necklace.
“I’m sorry. I’m just…Nothing is wrong, all right?”
Kate nodded, then turned toward Dan’s car.
“See you tomorrow.” Evelyn turned from Kate and walked toward her own car while Kate got into Dan’s black Dodge Dakota truck.
Dan watched Evelyn walk away as Kate entered the car. Not once did she turn to look at him.
He turned away from Evelyn’s disappearing figure and looked at the frown etched between Kate’s brows. “You all right?”
“Yeah,” she said softly, her hand reaching over to her necklace. “Before you guys stopped talking, was she receiving some calls?”
“I only saw one of those phone calls.”
Kate’s head bobbed up and down as she stared ahead. “She never walks away from me to answer a call. Not until now. Something is up with those calls.”
He pulled out of the lot and drove toward the mansion. “Did you ask?”
“Not about the phone calls specifically, just asked what she had been up to.”
“And?”
“She said she was up to nothing.” Kate sighed softly. “If she doesn’t want to discuss something, she won’t.”
He knew that well from personal experience.
“Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s like what she said, she just hasn’t been feeling well,” Kate continued.
“Gastric?”
“Yeah.”
“She’s been looking tired, maybe it’s the nightmares.”
Kate took her eyes off the road and looked at him with raised brows.