That was the most tragic thing of all, the finality of it. Meg missed her so much, and she’d only been gone a few days. Without exaggeration, she could honestly say that her life would never be the same.
With all the introspection, Meg felt herself tearing up. She headed off to the bathroom to try and get a hold of herself. That’s when she spotted something odd out of the window. Of all people, Paige’s boyfriend was leaving the wake. Where was he going? He was the first person to make an exit, and he seemed to be in a hurry. This didn’t make any sense. Most of the other guests were too busy to notice his departure, but it stuck out to Meg, particularly because of how strange it was.
After all, what was more pressing in his life than being at his girlfriend’s wake? In Meg’s mind, that should be the most important thing of all. It should be a day solely devoted to mourning Paige’s death. Apparently, he disagreed. The question was, why?
Did it have anything to do with the stranger that he’d gotten into an argument with after the funeral? Or, was it something else entirely? Considering this was the second time he’d exhibited curious behavior today, it was rather jarring. Especially compared to the rest of the attendees at the wake. For example, Meg was so emotional she could barely keep herself from crying. Tyler’s eyes looked as dry as could be.
The mystery-loving part of Meg’s brain was going into overdrive. She couldn’t help it. It was just how she was wired. If there was a loose end, she wanted to tie it up. Most of the time, mystery novels satiated her innate curiosity for puzzle-solving. She usually read two mysteries a week. This was different because this was real. A true-life mystery. Then again, maybe she was making a bigger deal of this than it was. Everyone mourned in their own way. Perhaps, she was hyper-focusing on Tyler’s strange behavior as a way to distract herself from the tragedy at hand.
Before she was able to piece together an answer to any of this, Hillary Martin approached her and told Meg she wanted to her to come with her to Paige’s apartment.
Chapter Four
Meg had no idea what she was walking into, but she wasn’t looking forward to this in the least. Paige had killed herself in her apartment. That made it the last place Meg wanted to set foot in. If it were up to her, she’d only keep the good memories of their past in her mind and not have them tainted by images of her dark last few days. That wasn’t going to be possible.
Hillary Martin had the unfortunate task of cleaning out her daughter’s possessions from the apartment before the landlord was going to re-rent the unit. Apparently, there was something in the place that Hillary wanted Meg to have.
As they made their way from the parking lot to the three-story brick apartment building off La Brea Boulevard, something caught Meg’s eye across the street. Paige’s boyfriend, Tyler Watson, was in the passenger side of a parked car in a heated discussion with a black-haired woman she didn’t recognize. So that’s where Tyler had gone when he left the wake early. But why was he parked outside Paige’s apartment building? And what was he discussing with the black-haired woman that made him so hot and bothered?
Meg didn’t have time to find the answer to any of those questions as Hillary led her into the building and down the hallway to Paige’s apartment. Her whole body stiffened up as Hillary put the key in the lock. A queasy feeling came over her. Before she knew it, her stomach was in knots.
Things didn’t get any better when Hillary opened the door. An eerie feeling washed over Meg as they entered the apartment. The place was in pristine shape. It looked like it had recently been cleaned. As if Paige was expecting visitors and wanted the place spotless.
That seemed very strange. Meg had taken an intro to psychology course in college and knew that when a person became highly depressed, they often withdrew from the world and lost their interest in keeping up their appearance and surroundings. So for Paige’s apartment to look spotless was very atypical.
Then again, nothing was typical about this entire situation, and not just because of the suicide. One thing had been nagging at the back of her mind ever since she found out Paige had killed herself. Finally, it came to a head. She’d gone over the events in her mind ad nauseam since she found out the news, yet no matter how much she wrestled with the facts, she just couldn’t make sense of this. It would have been one thing if Paige had died in a car accident or had a brain aneurysm. But for her to commit suicide, it just didn’t add up with the friend she’d known most of her life. Mostly, because of Becky Thornton.
Becky was Paige’s college roommate who had killed herself by overdosing on pills when her high school sweetheart broke up with her during winter break of their freshman year. Paige took her roommate’s suicide hard. Sure there was the initial shock, but what stuck with Meg the most was Paige’s outrage. She was mad at her friend for what she’d done. To Paige, suicide was the coward’s way out. An unbelievably selfish act. One she didn’t believe was ever the right action to take under any circumstances. Paige had been very firm on her stance.
Now, a person’s beliefs sometimes changed over the years, but rarely did they do a complete about face. For Paige to rail against suicide, then kill herself years later was more than just ironic. It was unbelievable. That’s why no matter what Meg did, she couldn’t get things to add up in her mind.
Hillary knew about her daughter’s prior beliefs about suicide as well. Given that, Meg couldn’t help but wonder her opinion on the matter. At the same time, it couldn’t be a more delicate issue, one that she’d been reluctant about addressing until now. There was just no easy way to bring it up. Besides, Ms. Martin had been through so much already.
Meg thought about dropping this issue entirely. Surprisingly, her gut wouldn’t let her. Her instincts were really gnawing at her now, nagging her until she gave in. Finally, she couldn’t hold it in any longer. For better or worse, she broached the uncomfortable subject.
“Ms. Martin, can I ask you something?”
Hillary stopped and turned to Meg. “Of course. What is it?”
Meg looked into Hillary’s green eyes that were as wide as saucers. She clammed up. Meg’s mouth was open, but her tongue was tied. “There’s not an easy way to say this, but I just can’t help but wonder…”
She trailed off when she felt her throat drying up.
Hillary saw the trouble Meg was having getting the words out and put her hand on her shoulder.
“Dear, you can tell me.”
Meg got the courage to continue. “Did you have any idea Paige was suicidal?”
Hillary grimaced, clearly uncomfortable, and looking on the verge of tears. As much as Meg’s gut instinct had egged her on to ask this question, she suddenly regretted it.
Then Hillary replied with an answer that took Meg completely by surprise. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”
Quietly, Meg breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe her question wasn’t so out of line after all.
“This news came completely out of the blue to me,” Meg said.
Hillary agreed. “Same here.”
“I’ve been having a really hard time making sense of it all.”
Ms. Martin went one step further. “I haven’t been able to make sense of any of it.” She exhaled and looked off into the distance wistfully. “I never expected Paige to do something like this.”
“I know what you mean.”
“You don’t even know the half of it. She didn’t even leave a note.”
That was highly curious. Meg had never heard of anyone doing that. There was always a note. Besides, Paige was a journalist. She lived to write. So for her to go quiet during her darkest hour was impossible to believe.
“How is that even possible?” Meg asked.
“I wondered the same thing. Detective Brees told me it was not as uncommon as you’d think.”
“I think it’s very uncommon.”
“That’s not all. The same woman that had trouble swallowing individual pills her whole life went and took a whole bottle to kill herself. It would be t
he most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard if it wasn’t so tragically true.”
Meg hoped to get answers from Ms. Martin, but instead, this conversation had left her with only more questions. On top of that, it was clear she wouldn’t get to ask them. Talking about her daughter had brought the tears back to Ms. Martin’s eyes. She had to take a moment to compose herself. Meg went over and gave her a hug to try and calm her down.
“I’m sorry for bringing it up.”
“It’s not your fault. We’re just the ones trying to pick up the pieces.”
“But still--”
She wouldn’t let Meg finish her sentence. Hillary was so desperate to change the subject that she moved away.
“Come here, there’s something I want you to have,” Hillary said.
Meg started to follow Ms. Martin into the bedroom before something else caught her eye. It was a pill bottle, but not anti-depressants or anti-anxiety meds. It looked like a dietary supplement called Trim Metrics 4000. Meg had never seen it before, but then again, she didn’t spend a whole lot of time at vitamin stores.
All dietary supplements made bold claims, but this one took the cake. So to speak at least. Clearly the pills were not meant to be taken with cake. They promised to take ten pounds off in a week, without any change to a person’s diet. It sounded way too good to be true. So, why did Paige have a whole bottle of the stuff?
Ms. Martin then pulled Meg from her diet supplement fog. “Meg, are you coming?”
“I’ll be right there.”
***
Hilary took Meg into Paige’s bedroom, where she picked up a framed photo of Paige and Meg that was on her nightstand. She recognized the picture immediately. It was from a beach day they had in La Jolla a few years ago to celebrate Paige getting her big break at the newspaper. In the shot, Paige was smiling as wide as could be. Meg and Paige had a ball on the beach that day.
“I thought you’d want to have this,” Hillary said.
Meg took the frame from Ms. Martin and stared at it in disbelief. She asked herself, how could a woman with a smile that wide take her life only a few short years later?
Meg forced a smile as she glanced at Hillary, trying to keep my eyes from welling up.
“You were right. Thank you for this.”
“Of course. You two were the best of friends. When you think about my daughter, I want this to be the way you remember her.”
“I will.”
“Good.”
Meg found herself getting emotional again. It was hard not to, given the circumstances. Surprisingly, just as she felt her heart getting heavier, they were interrupted by a knock at the front door.
Chapter Five
Hillary and Meg walked back out to the living room, where they saw Tyler Watson standing in the open doorway to the apartment.
“Hello,” he said.
Hillary looked confused. “Tyler, what are you doing here?”
“I hate to bother you at a time like this, but I didn’t know when the movers were coming, and I left something important here.”
“The movers are coming tomorrow,” Hillary replied.
“Good. I’m not too late. Can I look around for it?” he asked.
Tyler’s priorities seemed to be completely out of whack. Timing was everything in life, and he couldn’t have picked a worse occasion to come here scavenger hunting. It was actually quite jarring seeing him stop by like this just to pick up an item, rather than to comfort his girlfriend’s mother. Then again, during the few brief instances that Meg had seen him today, his behavior had been completely erratic.
He certainly knew how to make a lousy impression. Meg was waiting for him to apologize for coming off as so rude, but luckily, she wasn’t holding my breath.
Instead, she took a different tact. “What could be so important that you came here on the day of your girlfriend’s wake to get?”
Tyler seemed thrown off guard, both by Meg’s presence, and her straight talk approach. “It’s uh, a keepsake I gave her that belonged to my grandmother.”
He clearly hoped that would put an end to Meg’s questioning. That was far from the case. His answer begged for a follow up in her mind. “But if you gave it to Paige, why do you want it back?”
He tensed up, trying not to look annoyed in front of Ms. Martin. Hillary might have been too emotionally distracted to notice, but Meg sure saw the unease on his face.
Ms. Martin didn’t care about the rationale behind him wanting the keepsake back. She was concerned about other matters. “Now isn’t the best time, Tyler.”
“Ok, I can come back later then. I’m uh, sorry for bothering you. It’s a tough time for everyone,” he said.
After a rough start to the conversation, Tyler seemed anxious to put on a good face for Hillary. In Meg’s mind, it was a little late for that. Then again, it wasn’t up to her to decide.
“Speaking of, have you met Meg Walton?” Hillary asked.
“No, not officially. Paige talked about you a lot,” he replied.
“Same with you. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for a while. Just under different circumstances.”
He exhaled. “Yeah.”
For a guy whose girlfriend had just killed herself a few days before, he sure had dry eyes. He was trying his best to look grief-stricken, but it came off looking forced at best. Meg didn’t know what was behind all his curious behavior, but she wanted to get to the bottom of it.
She knew this was her best, if not the only real chance to get answers. By putting him on the spot in front of Hillary, he’d also probably be on his best behavior. Of course, his actions had surprised Meg a number of times already, so she proceeded with caution.
“Given the grim circumstances, I can’t help but ask you, how long was she depressed?” Meg said.
That seemed like as straight forward of a question as she could ask. The fact that he squirmed as he answered took her by surprise, as did his general uneasiness about being part of this conversation.
Tyler stammered as he replied. “Um, it was fairly recently.”
Meg followed up. “Was she getting any medical help?”
“I think she was kind of hoping it would blow over,” he replied.
Hillary jumped in. “But if she needed help, why didn’t you push her to get it? Something like depression doesn’t just go away.”
“You spent more time with her than anyone else recently. Didn’t you notice that she was getting worse rather than better?” Meg said.
Suddenly, he had no response. Remorse came to his face. For the first time today, he actually looked the part of a mourning boyfriend.
In the awkward silence, Meg could see Ms. Martin feeling guilty about peppering him with so many questions. She replied with a gentler approach.
“I just can’t help but think, what if there was something one of us could have done to save her?” Hillary said.
Tyler bit the corner of his lip. “There’s nothing I could have done. Trust me, if there was, I would have done it. The fact is, she was having a lot of problems with her job.”
That made for a good change of subject. It definitely threw the focus off him. Meg had more questions that were practically begging to be asked.
“Do you think her depression might have been a side effect of the weight loss supplement she was taking?” Meg said.
Tyler furrowed his brow. “The weight loss supplement?”
“I saw a bottle of Trim Metrics 4000 in her kitchen,” Meg replied.
He looked guarded. “I don’t know anything about that.”
“That’s funny. You’d think she would have told you if she started taking a supplement that promised a ten-pound weight loss in as little as a week,” Meg countered.
Tyler became visibly frustrated with Meg the more she questioned him. “That’s not necessarily true.” He switched gears. “All I know is, her job was really getting her bent out of shape.”
“What was it about her job specifically?” Meg said.
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He finally reached a breaking point and snapped at Meg. “Look, I don’t have all the answers.”
Both Ms. Martin and Meg were taken aback by the way he lashed out. Seeing the wide-eyed look on their faces, he tried to apologize.
“I’m really sorry about that. It’s been a very emotional day, and I’m still trying to piece everything together myself.”
“So am I. For example, who was the guy you were arguing with at the funeral?” Meg asked.
“Do you really think this is the right place for this discussion?” he replied.
Meg sure did. If Tyler was this snippy in front of his girlfriend’s mother, she shuddered to think how hostile and evasive he’d be if they were alone.
While Tyler was having trouble keeping a lid on his emotions, Meg remained calm to seem more rational in comparison. “I just thought it was really peculiar that you got into an argument with some stranger at the funeral.”
“He wasn’t a stranger. He was Paige’s ex-boyfriend, Isaac Reed,” Tyler said.
Things were getting more interesting by the moment. “What were you two arguing about?”
“I told him he wasn’t welcome at the funeral,” he replied.
Ms. Martin took Tyler’s side on that one. “He sure wasn’t. Not after the way he broke my daughter’s heart.”
He used that small victory as an opportunity to end the conversation on a high note. “Anyway, I should be going. I’m sorry again for your loss, Ms. Martin.”
Tyler then turned around to walk away.
Meg stopped him. “One more question first. Who is that woman I saw you talking with before you came up here?”
Witch Cozy Mystery Nine Book Set Page 18
