by Cindy Bell
Jason picked up on the third ring.
“Hey Suzie, how are you doing?”
“I’m okay, thanks Jason. I found something that I think might help the case.” Suzie launched into her description of what she had seen and the location where she had seen it, then shared her theory of what it meant as well.
“This is really good information, thanks Suzie. I’m going to send some crime scene investigators out there to process the scene. We might just get lucky and find some physical evidence related to the killer.”
“Great. I hope you are able to find something.” Suzie paused. “Any other updates? Have you been able to find Sophia? Or Jessica?”
“Unfortunately, we still haven’t located Jessica or Sophia. We are still following up on a few leads.” Jason sighed.
“Jason, you sound exhausted.” Suzie frowned.
“I know, I’ll rest when the killer is behind bars.”
“Speaking of that, I thought maybe the killer might have had a boat stowed at the dock, or a car waiting at the end of that path. Ever since it’s been built, I use it all the time to cut through to see Paul.”
“Yes, that’s a good idea. I’ll check with the harbormaster to see if there are any records from that morning, and also whether anyone noticed anything suspicious. In the meantime, stay safe, Suzie.”
“I will, Jason, and try to get some rest.” Suzie hung up the phone, then stared down at the screen. Yes, they had a few suspects, but Monroe was the only one they could locate. It was proving difficult to investigate the murder, when she couldn’t speak to the suspects.
“Here you go, Suzie.” Mary set down a cup of tea beside her.
“How did you know?” Suzie looked up at her with a warm smile. “This is just what I needed.”
“Oh, I can tell.” Mary sat down beside her. “I can also see those wheels turning in your head. What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking we need to find Sophia. I know she was there that morning. Yes, Jessica came for a tour under a false name, but that was a few days before Amelia died. Sophia was there that morning and acting very suspicious. I want to know why. The fact that neither of them are anywhere to be found is another indication that they both have something to feel guilty about. But is one of them feeling guilty about committing a murder?” Suzie shook her head, then took a small sip of her tea. The heat singed the tip of her tongue. She blew across the surface of the caramel shaded liquid, then looked up at Mary. “The only way we’re going to help solve this is if we find one or both of them. I think our best bet is to go after Sophia. We already know that Amelia had a restraining order against her.”
“How are we going to find her? Jason hasn’t been able to track her down. We haven’t been able to find out anything either.” Mary glanced up at the ceiling for a moment, then looked back at Suzie. “What about the mother?”
“The mother?” Suzie shrugged. “What do you mean?”
“Sophia’s mother was the reason that the two women were fighting. She is the main connection between the two women, other than them being cousins. Maybe if we back track from the mother and follow what we can find from her to each woman, we might come across something of interest.” Mary pulled out her phone. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re brilliant, Mary, but that doesn’t surprise me in the least. Let’s see what we can find.” Suzie picked up her phone. “I have the name of Sophia’s mother, and her father, though he passed away when she was young.”
“I’ll track the father, we might be able to find some information that way, too.”
The two sat in silence for several minutes, only speaking up when they came across something interesting. As Suzie began to connect the dots between Sophia’s mother and her financial history, something caught her attention.
“I think I might have found something.” Suzie held out her phone to Mary. “A property, only a few towns over. Sophia’s mother owned it for many years. Sophia inherited it.”
“Is it the property that Amelia and Sophia were fighting over?” Mary peered at the address.
“I don’t think so. That was listed with a different address, out of state, and was worth quite a bit more. This one is being transferred into Sophia’s name. It’s still in the process of being changed over, it’s possible that Jason didn’t turn it up in his search. It’s about an hour away from here. If Sophia was going to hide out anywhere, my guess is that it would be here.”
“Should we let Jason know?” Mary frowned. “He might be able to have the place searched.”
“That’s what I’m concerned about. If she sees the police coming, she might run, and we might never have the chance to speak with her. But if she sees a regular car pull up, someone she probably doesn’t recognize walking around, that hopefully won’t be enough to spook her. Plus, it may be a dead end, and then more of Jason’s time and resources will have been wasted. I think one of us should take a drive out there, just to see what’s going on. We don’t have to speak to her this time, but if we find out that she’s there, then we can call Jason and let him know. What do you think?”
“I see your reasoning.” Mary nodded. “It makes sense to me. What about Monroe? If he’s going to try to see Jessica, tomorrow would be the day. It’ll take quite some time to check things out at this property.”
“I agree. That’s why I’m thinking it might be best if we split up, one of us trails Monroe to see where he goes, and the other one checks out the property.” Suzie drank more of her tea.
“Following Monroe could be touchy. Jason did warn us away from speaking to him again.” Mary pursed her lips.
“I know, but we won’t speak to him. It’s just about seeing where he goes, and again reporting back to Jason what we find. If you don’t think it’s a good plan though, it’s okay, you can tell me the truth.” Suzie patted the back of her friend’s hand. “I don’t want you doing anything that you don’t want to do.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to do it, it’s just that I wonder if we do find something, what will we do then? What if he meets up with Jessica and they’re both about to take off? Shouldn’t I stop them?”
“No.” Suzie looked sternly into her eyes. “I mean that, Mary. The risk is too great. You’re not to interfere with anything they are doing. If you see him with someone you believe is Jessica, call Jason right away. He will get someone out to you quickly, but do not do anything to keep them there, or alert them to your presence. If anything ever happened to you, I could never forgive myself.”
“Just keep in mind that the same applies to you.” Mary placed her hand on top of her friend’s, which still rested on her own. “Are you going to be just as careful?”
“Don’t worry, Mary, I will be careful.” Suzie gave her hand a light squeeze.
Chapter 11
Early the next morning, Suzie and Mary prepared travel cups of coffee and headed out for their separate tasks. Just before Mary got into the car Suzie gave her a warm hug.
“Remember what I said, keep your distance.”
“I will. And you be careful, too.” Mary gave Suzie a light poke on the shoulder.
“I probably won’t find anything other than an empty house, but I’ll keep you up to date.” Suzie waited until Mary was out of the driveway before she started the car up. It was nerve-wracking to see her drive away on her own. It wasn’t that Suzie didn’t think she was capable of handling things herself, she knew she was, but she cared about her so much she couldn’t help but be protective of her.
On the drive to Sophia’s property, Suzie rolled the facts that she knew through her mind. She was certain that the murder had to be motivated by something in the book. It was obvious the book revealed the truth about something that several people didn’t want aired. But what could be so bad that someone would be willing to murder over it? The time slipped by as she continued to mull over the possibilities. No matter how she spun it she couldn’t quite make the pieces fit. Something was still missing. Was it Sophia?
&nb
sp; Suzie might show up at the property only to discover that there was no one there at all. A part of her wished she was back in Garber with Mary, tailing Monroe. At least then they would be together. But her instincts told her that Sophia would be there, or at least had recently been there, and might have left a clue for her to follow to her closest location.
As Suzie navigated through the last few turns that led to the house, she discovered that the house was located at the end of a very long country road. It would be the perfect hideout for anyone attempting to dodge the law. She decided to park near the end of the driveway and walk up, as she was sure that the sound of the engine would alert anyone who was inside. When the locks clicked shut on the car, she realized she was also making herself very vulnerable. It would take some time for her to get back to the cover of the car if she faced any danger.
As Suzie approached the house, she began to lose hope that anyone was inside. It was two stories with a large attic that could have served as a third story. The windows were tall, wide, and barren of any sign of human life. The wood on the porch hadn’t been treated in a long time, and one section of the railing that led up the stairs was detached. What once had likely been majestic gardens, were just piles of crumpled brown remains. It looked as if it hadn’t been lived in for years. Despite the neglected appearance, all of the windows were intact. There didn’t seem to be much damage to the exterior of the house. It was likely livable with a little cleaning. She could picture how beautiful it must have once been and wondered why anyone would leave it to rot away.
Cautiously, she walked around the property. When she tried a doorknob on the back door, she found it locked tight. She walked back around to the front, past wilted gardens and dried up grass. When she reached the front she decided to knock, just to give whoever might be inside some warning. She didn’t want to startle them. After a few solid knocks she realized that no one was going to answer the door. If there was someone inside, they obviously didn’t want company. However, that wouldn’t deter her from trying to find out the truth. Her best guess was that there was no one in the house at the moment. She simply didn’t sense the presence of another person. Of course, that didn’t mean that no one was there, but she decided to trust her instincts. After finding the front door was locked up as tight as the back, she took another walk around the house to see if there was another way in. Every window she tried was also locked. She noticed that the locks appeared to be fairly new.
Why would anyone replace the locks if no one lives here? Maybe to keep vandals out. Suzie considered that as she neared the backyard again. A house as isolated as this could easily become a residence for squatters. Perhaps the new locks were just a precaution to prevent them from getting inside. Or maybe, it was to keep other people out, people like her, that might come snooping.
Suzie was nearly to the other side of the house when the tip of her shoe caught on something solid beneath a pile of vines. Upon closer inspection, she realized that the vines had been gathered there, they didn’t just grow naturally. She pulled the vines back and found that they moved easily. Beneath them was a pair of sloped metal doors. Clearly it was access to a basement of some kind. She also discovered that the dirt around the frame of the doors had been scuffed and overturned recently. Someone had been there, someone had moved the vines, and she guessed, someone had opened those doors. To her surprise the doors were the only entrance to the house that didn’t have a lock. She gave one of the doors a tug and found it swung open easily, though a disturbing groan did escape the hinges.
Beyond the entrance were narrow, stone steps that led down into thick darkness. She flicked on the flashlight on her phone and directed it down the steps. From what she could tell there was no one in the basement, but there were tell-tale signs of a recent presence. Muddy footprints on the steps, a few bags at the base of the steps, and a lantern that hung just a few inches from the entrance. At the moment, she assumed that no one was inside as the loud door would have likely alerted anyone hidden there to her presence.
Suzie’s heart pounded against her chest as she considered heading down inside. She had come here to find out the truth, hadn’t she? If the truth was at the bottom of those steps, she needed to know. However, there were very few things more frightening than the dark basement of an abandoned house that might just belong to a murderer.
Suzie held her phone tightly in her hand and began down the first few steps. The glaring light illuminated a pile of paper plates, a grocery bag full of non-perishable items, and a blanket and pillow tossed across a cot. Clearly, someone had been living here. Was it Sophia? A few more steps brought her to the cement floor of the basement. Something small and quick darted past just outside of the beam of the flashlight. The movement took her breath away, and her guess that it was likely a rat didn’t exactly settle her nerves. However, she continued to investigate. If she noticed anything strange, she would run right back up the steps. She was sure she could easily escape anything that jumped out at her. However, what she didn’t expect was the sound of footsteps on the stairs just behind her.
Suzie spun around with the flashlight in her hand, and her heart in her throat. As the figure reached the bottom of the steps, she seemed just as startled to see Suzie.
“What are you doing in here?” The anger in her voice caused it to become high-pitched.
Suzie grew dizzy with fear as she realized she was trapped, as far as she knew there was no other way out of the basement. If there was a door that led into the house, she had no idea where it was.
“What are you doing here?” The woman’s voice shook as she stared at Suzie from a few steps up.
“Sophia?” Suzie froze, her heart in her throat. The woman had plenty of advantage. She could easily attack her with any weapon she might have concealed in the purse that hung over her shoulder.
“How do you know my name?” Sophia descended the last few steps, her eyes narrowed. “Wait, I know you.”
“You do?” Suzie’s heart pounded. She had no idea if Sophia had gotten a good look at her the day of the murder, before she ran off down the beach.
“Yes, and I know why you’re here.” Sophia paused about a foot away from Suzie. “You think I did it, don’t you?”
“I don’t think anything. I was just curious about this place. I thought it was empty. I thought I might make an offer on it.” Suzie cleared her throat. “You’re the owner, aren’t you?”
“Don’t do that, please, don’t make things up.” Sophia sighed. “I’m so overwhelmed already. I can’t take any more.”
“Sophia, I’m not here to make things harder on you.” Suzie did her best to relax her expression and her muscles. As frightened as she was, she could tell that Sophia was even more afraid. Was she terrified that she was about to be found out? “I just want to know what really happened to Amelia.”
“So do I!” Sophia gulped back a sob and threw her hands into the air. “That’s all I want. Don’t you see? That’s why I’m still here. I can’t leave without knowing what happened to Amelia. But I knew, I knew you saw me that morning, and I knew that the police would be after me. So yes, I’ve been hiding, but not because I did anything wrong.”
“I know that when you lost your mother she left the property to Amelia, and Amelia refused to sell it to you for the amount you could offer. I can only imagine how frustrating that must have been for you.”
“At first, yes, I’ll admit I was upset. It was so unfair of her to want to keep that property from me. It’s special to me, and all she cared about was getting enough cash to help fund her book.” Sophia rolled her eyes, then shook her head. “But I would never do anything to hurt her. I tried to warn her that writing about that kind of stuff would have dire consequences. She didn’t want to listen to me. She said she had an obligation to reveal the ins and outs of the industry and the truth about what was going on at the company, no matter what the cost was.”
“That was quite noble of her.” Suzie backed up a step, but kept her voice lo
w, and soothing.
“Noble? No, she just wanted the attention. She had a rough time of it, you know.” Sophia frowned. “Poor Amelia.”
“It must have been hard for you to watch her spiral the way she did. To go from a good career to typing out a conspiracy story.”
“It wasn’t a conspiracy. It was the truth, that much I know. She didn’t tell me exactly what it was about, but I know it was true. But yes, she was obsessed with it. Even while my mother was very ill, her focus was only on that book. My mother, who practically raised her, was dying, but she couldn’t be bothered to look away from that book. Yes, I was upset.” Sophia’s eyes widened as she looked into Suzie’s. “But I didn’t kill her, I would never.”
“You’re right. I saw you there that morning.” Suzie’s heartbeat quickened as she knew that revealing that tidbit of information might put her at a higher risk of attack.
“I know, I saw you chasing after me.” Sophia bit into her bottom lip, then shook her head. “I know how it must have looked to you, how it looks now. But I was only there to try to reconnect with her. She didn’t want to have anything to do with me.”
“Why would you want to reconnect with someone who took a restraining order out against you?” Suzie crossed her arms as she studied the woman. Her sorrow seemed genuine, but her reaction was chaotic. Was she sad because her cousin was dead, or because she had killed her?
“Amelia and I were like sisters growing up. We would spend every summer together here with my mother. It wasn’t until we were adults that we grew apart. We just got busy with our lives. Then, when my mom got sick, and Amelia wouldn’t help me with her, I got angry. The inheritance was just another reason to be upset with her. I lost it, I’ll admit it. I was calling her all the time, and following her, just trying to get her to listen to reason.”
“But she wouldn’t listen.” Suzie glanced past her at the stairs. She wasn’t sure that she could make it past her, or that it would be wise to try, but she felt as if she needed to have an escape planned.
