Silent Rain

by Karin Salvalaggio

  The digital recorder sat on the table next to a couple of glasses of water. Grace took a quick glance at the one-way mirror. She wore a green corduroy dress, paisley tights, and red galoshes. Her hair was braided in two bunches that sat on the top of her head. She’d even taken the time to put on makeup, anything to make herself feel more confident. She turned away from the mirror and folded her hands on the table in front of her. It was weird to think that someone was back there behind the mirror, invisible and listening in on the conversation she was having with Macy Greeley, and that others were watching online. She studied the video camera mounted on the wall. Macy had told her to relax but it was impossible.

  Macy had also told Grace that she had a right to an attorney. Five minutes into the interview and Grace was already beginning to think she’d made a mistake when she’d declined. She knew she was innocent. She just wasn’t sure she could prove it. She looked on as Macy placed Taylor’s pregnancy wand on the table between them. It was still in the Ziploc bag Grace had found in a kitchen drawer. Now there was a second bag that looked official. The wand was now evidence.

  “Are you pregnant, Grace?” asked Macy.

  Grace stared at the wand. Her medical condition made it almost impossible for her to carry a pregnancy to term, but that was more of an answer than Macy Greeley required.

  “No, ma’am,” said Grace.

  “So, who does this belong to?”

  “A friend.”

  “Does this friend have a name?”

  “Taylor Moore.”

  “Why do you have it?”

  “I was worried so I went to her house to try to figure out where she’s been for the past few days.” Grace pointed at the pregnancy wand. “I found it in the trash in the bathroom. I really don’t know why I took it.”

  “How long has Taylor been missing?”

  “Since Thursday.”

  “Why didn’t you file a missing person’s report with the police?”

  “I spoke to her ex-boyfriend and he said Taylor had gone to see her parents in Colorado.”

  “Ex-boyfriends often don’t get told the truth.”

  “At the time I couldn’t see why she would have lied to him.”

  “I take it you’ve tried to reach her on her cell phone.”

  “Yes ma’am, but there’s been no reply. I have her parent’s address in Denver but their number isn’t listed so I couldn’t call them.” She handed Macy her cell phone. “I’ve entered it into Taylor’s contact details. I’m really worried about her. Could you find out if she’s there?”

  Macy made a few notes on a blank piece of paper, which she handed to an officer who met her at the door. They spoke in hushed tones. When Macy returned to her seat, she looked a little sad.

  “Was Taylor Moore in a sexual relationship with Peter Granger?”

  Grace stared at the pregnancy wand. She didn’t like where the conversation was going. Hannah was alive, so someone else had to have died. Grace pressed a tissue to her eyes.

  “Grace, I need you to answer the question.”

  Grace spoke softly. “I’m not really sure what was going on. There were rumors, but Taylor had a boyfriend. Until last Thursday she was with Alex.”

  “I’m not doubting that she was with Alex, but that wouldn’t have necessarily stopped her from being with someone else at the same time.”

  Macy placed four Polaroids on the table. Each one was encased in a separate plastic sleeve. They were similar to the ones Grace had found hidden in Lara’s room. All of the women were masked and naked. She felt light-headed. This time she knew who they were.

  “Grace, have you ever seen these before?”

  “Lara only told me about them today.” She looked up at Macy. “There are more.”

  Macy asked where the rest of the photos were.

  “Lara has them. She thought she should be the one to give them to you, to explain herself.”

  “Your friend has a lot of explaining to do. She should have brought them to the police when she found them.”

  “She didn’t believe Peter was capable of doing something like this. Their relationship was complicated.”

  “What do you mean by complicated?”

  “I think she was in love with him, but then again, I think we all were at one point.”

  “Had Lara and Peter ever had consensual sex?”

  “I honestly don’t know. You’ll have to ask her that.”

  Macy made some notes. Grace couldn’t help herself. She kept talking. She wanted Macy to understand.

  “But just because it may have been consensual in the past doesn’t give someone the right to take advantage of someone in the future.” Grace’s hand hovered over the photo of Lara. “Lara says she was drugged when this photo was taken. She didn’t think anyone would believe her. She was hoping Hannah would say something to stop Peter from doing it to anyone else.”

  “Grace, are you confirming that this photo is of Lara Newcomb?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I need to know if you recognize the women in these other photos.”

  “It’s not easy to look at them,” said Grace.

  “I know it’s difficult, but it’s important that we identify the women. They may need our help.”

  Clare had started losing her hair six months earlier. It had once been long, blond, and wavy. One of the photos was of a woman lying back on a chair. Her blond hair hung past her shoulders. Grace forced herself to look closer. There were several bracelets looped around her wrists and a silver band around her index finger. Grace closed her eyes for a second.

  “It’s Clare Stokes,” said Grace.

  Macy placed the photo facedown next to her and quickly wrote down Clare’s name.

  Grace picked up to the next image. She was sorely tempted to scream.

  “It’s Pippa Lomax,” said Grace. “She’s not well. Her parents need to know that something happened to her.”

  Macy made some notes in her book. Her hand looked like it was shaking. Her voice caught.

  “We’ve already been in touch with them about the fire. We’ll make sure they’re informed.”

  Grace couldn’t bring herself to look at the last image properly. Taylor had always been careful to hide the damage she’d done to her body beneath long-sleeve shirts and jeans. She often joked that she was destined to live in a cold climate. Under the harsh light of a camera’s flash, the white scars that crisscrossed Taylor’s bare skin glowed.

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” said Grace.

  Macy rushed Grace to the women’s restroom and waited outside the stall while Grace braced herself over the toilet. She was shivering when she finally emerged. Macy pulled off the sweater she was wearing and wrapped it around Grace’s shoulders.

  “This shouldn’t be happening to you again,” said Macy.

  “It didn’t happen to me this time. There aren’t any photos of me.”

  “Are you sure you don’t remember Peter Granger doing anything inappropriate?”

  Grace splashed water on her face. “When he drank and took drugs he’d get really physical. I didn’t trust him so I learned to steer clear. I should have said something to the others. They’re far too trusting.”

  “Was the woman in the last photo your friend Taylor?”

  Grace said a quiet yes. “She’s dead, isn’t she?”

  “I’m afraid it looks that way. The woman who died in the house with Peter was also pregnant.”

  “Was the baby Peter’s?”

  Macy nodded. “Some tests will have to be done before everything is confirmed, so I’d like you to keep this to yourself for now.”

  A policewoman appeared at the bathroom door with a small carton of orange juice. She didn’t look much older than Grace. She smiled kindly as she handed the bottle to Grace.

  “I thought this might make you feel better.”

  Grace thanked her.

  “I understand if you can’t continue with the interview. It’s been a lon
g day,” said Macy.

  Grace turned away from the mirror.

  “Are there anymore photos for me to look at?” Grace asked.

  “No, we only found these four.”

  “Are you sure there were none of me?”

  “I can’t be sure of anything. These are the only ones we had,” said Macy. “Do you think something happened?”

  “No.”

  “Then why did you ask whether there was a photo of you?”

  Grace didn’t have an answer for that. She’d sometimes had disturbing dreams but couldn’t be sure where they stemmed from. Her childhood was full of nightmares.

  * * *

  Macy was sitting across the table from Grace again.

  “Had Taylor ever spoken to you about suicide?”

  Grace looked up at the video camera. “No, never.”

  “We know she’s made attempts in the past.”

  “I don’t know anything about that. I just know what she was like when I was with her.”

  “Why do you suppose she self-harmed?” asked Macy. “Was there anything in her life that she found particularly upsetting?”

  “Her mother was very disapproving. Her father more so. I don’t think there was a lot of love in her household. “

  “Then why would you think she’d run home to her parents if she was in trouble?”

  “I couldn’t face the alternative. I’ve been worried ever since Hannah showed up alive.”

  “Were you jealous of her relationship with Peter?”

  “No, ma’am. By the time she’d started spending more time with Peter I’d gotten over him completely. Ask Clare and Lara. We talked about it. “

  “Don’t worry, I will be speaking to your friends. We also need to talk about what you said in the letter you addressed to Peter Granger. I—”

  Grace interrupted Macy. “The letter was never meant to be seen by anyone but me. It was just some stupid way to get back at him for how he treated me.”

  “Hannah Granger says you were kicked out of Peter’s writing workshop because he felt you were stalking him. There seems to be some truth to that. In early July you were found sleeping on the Granger’s sofa. Peter Granger claimed that you’d broken into the house in the middle of the night.”

  “I admit it was a stupid thing to do, but it happened a month and a half after I was kicked out of his group. Not before.”

  “Why did you do it?”

  “Desperation, I suppose. Peter and Hannah were very important to me. They’d just cut me out of their lives completely. I wasn’t coping well.”

  “Why did you and Peter tell the attending officer that you didn’t know each other?” asked Macy.

  “I’m not sure. I guess I was following Peter’s lead. At the time I thought he did it because he didn’t want me to get into trouble with Hannah. If she was there I’m sure she would have asked the police to press charges.”

  “Do you admit to stalking them?”

  “The worst thing I did was crash on their sofa. I didn’t set fire to their house. I didn’t kill Peter.” Grace lowered her voice. “And I could never hurt Taylor.”

  “Why do you believe Peter Granger kicked you out of his writing workshop?”

  “We used to meet twice a week in his office. He’d said that he wanted to tutor me. I’d been flattered when he asked me to join the group but I was struggling with the high standards. After a few sessions it became something else. Looking back I should have asked how he’d figured out my real name, but at the time I was feeling grateful for all he was doing for me. He said he wanted to help me work out the issues I had with my past, but all he really wanted was for me to tell him everything that happened in Collier so he could use it in a book. He’d taped our sessions without my permission and then got angry because I wouldn’t sign a release form. I had every right to be upset with him, but he turned it around and made out like I was ungrateful.”

  “Why did we find your blood on the carpet in his office?”

  Grace looked confused. “Blood?”

  “It was next to the sofa in the seating area,” said Macy.

  “I had a nose bleed during the last writing workshop I went to. It was the day after I said I wouldn’t sign the release form. He told everyone there my real name.” Grace looked down at her hands. “Before that night only Lara knew.”

  “In this letter you admit to burning down the mobile home you lived in as a child. This would have been three years ago. Is it true?”

  Grace raised her voice. “Don’t look so surprised. You already knew about that.”

  “It was never reported.”

  “That’s because nobody cared. It’s still there parked next to that truck stop. I doubt anyone will ever bother to clean it up.”

  “In the letter you threaten to burn down Peter’s house in much the same way.”

  “I was never going to do it.”

  “You’ve set fires before when you’ve been upset. There’s precedent.”

  “There was no one living in my mother’s mobile home. It was falling down. I didn’t harm anyone. I couldn’t harm anyone.”

  “I can’t just take your word for it. Can you account for your movements on the night of the fire?”

  “I was with Lara at the K-Bar.”

  “Just you and Lara?”

  “Me, Lara, and hundreds of Elvis impersonators. Clare left earlier. Around eleven, I think.”

  “Were you together for the rest of the evening?”

  “No, I left the bar on my own a little before midnight,” said Grace.

  “You walked home by yourself even though you knew Jordan Beech had been following you.”

  “I was drunk. I admit it was a stupid thing to do.”

  “Did you go straight home?” asked Macy.

  “That was the idea, but I passed out on someone’s front lawn.”

  Macy sat back in her chair and stared at Grace for a few seconds without speaking. “You’re not exactly looking after yourself these days.”

  “I was doing better before all this trouble with Peter.”

  “How long were you asleep?”

  “Twenty minutes, maybe less. A passing fire truck woke me up. I’d lost the tiara I was wearing so I had to go back and find it. That’s when I saw Jordan’s car on the corner of Cedar and Vine. I was so scared I took off running through some backyards.”

  “Did you happen to run through the Granger’s property?”

  “No ma’am. I did speak to someone though. He offered to let me inside his house so I could call for help. I couldn’t do it though. I decided it was better to face Jordan and find out what he wanted. I’m tired of hiding.”

  “Did the guy you spoke to give you his name?”

  “No.”

  “What about an address?” asked Macy.

  “I’m not sure but I think I could figure it out.”

  “Okay, we’ll work on that later.”

  Macy pulled Grace’s firearm out of the bag.

  “Is this yours?”

  “I’ve got a license to carry a concealed weapon.”

  “Do you always have it with you?”

  “Only since Halloween,” said Grace.

  “You don’t seem to catch a break, do you?”

  “You have to believe that I wouldn’t have done this. I would have never hurt Taylor. She was one of my best friends.”

  “I want to believe you, but you threatened to burn Peter’s house down. You must see how this looks.”

  “Jordan saw me on the night of the fire. He’ll know I was running around Bolton drunk in heels and a prom dress. There’s no way I could have set that fire in the state I was in.”

  “Jordan Beech was wounded when we served a warrant for his arrest. He’s still in surgery. I’m hoping to interview him tomorrow,” said Macy.

  “He saw me. He’ll know where I was around the time the fire started.”

  “I doubt he’ll be in the mood to provide you with an alibi.”

  �
�I’m innocent. I didn’t do this.”

  “Tell me more about Lara Newcomb. I want to know what her relationship with Peter was like.”

  “Lara saw Peter as someone who could help her get published and he knew it. He was very manipulative. He’d praise her one minute and put her down the next. Lately she didn’t know where she stood.”

  “To your knowledge, had Lara ever threatened Peter?”

  “Lara would have done anything to get published. Harming Peter wouldn’t have helped her cause.”

  “Do you think it’s possible that Lara didn’t bring the photos to the police because she was worried that her professional relationship with Peter would be destroyed if she did?” asked Macy.

  Grace sat at the edge of her seat with her hands folded in her lap. Lara was outside in the waiting room and Clare was on her way to the station. It was only a matter of time before they were sitting in this chair, staring down at those photographs. Lara was strong but Clare wouldn’t be able to cope. She would be devastated when she found out what Peter had done to her.

  “Lara wouldn’t do that. I believe her when she says she gave them to Hannah because she believed the police wouldn’t believe it wasn’t consensual. Happens all the time.”

  “Okay, I take your point, but it’s one thing to hide this from the police. It’s another thing to hide this from three women who are her friends.”

  “Am I free to go?” asked Grace. She couldn’t look at Macy.

  “Yes, but you may have to come in to answer more questions. I want you to stay here in Bolton.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Macy switched off the digital recorder. She reached across the table and took one of Grace’s hands.

  “For what it’s worth, I believe you,” she whispered.

  * * *

  Grace wouldn’t be able to breathe properly until she put some distance between herself and the police station. Outside the night air was cold and lamplight puddled on the wet pavement. She felt like running but she kept her cool. The visitor’s lot was nearly empty but a couple of patrol officers were loitering near the front entrance, so it was important that she remain calm. Grace waded across the rain-soaked pavement with tears in her eyes. Lara would have to find another way home.

  It was like Collier all over again. Grace was still letting people take advantage of her. She was worried that Macy might be right about Lara’s reasons for hiding the truth from her friends. This painful realization came into sharp focus when Macy had shown her the Polaroids of Pippa, Clare, and Taylor. The fact that Lara was also a victim didn’t matter. If Peter was arrested he wouldn’t be able to help her get her precious book published. Grace had always known that Lara was ambitious. She was sure it was Lara who’d dangled Grace’s past before Peter like a prize. Grace could only imagine the full extent of Lara’s anger when Peter pushed her aside and focused all his energy on his new protégé. There must have been a time when Lara hated Grace.