Chapter Nine

It took all of ten minutes for Detective Logan to drive from the police station to my house. By the time he arrived, I'd already paced the length of the house several times and was waiting as eagerly as the family dog at the door.

"Thanks for seeing me," he said, stepping inside and wiping his feet on the mat.

"I'm glad you called. I don't know what to make of Bree being wanted by the police?"

"Me neither but it doesn't look good. You said you ran an image search?"

I nodded. "That's right. The more I find out about Bree, the less I know! I decided to do an image search online."

"That's smart thinking."

I paused, wondering. "Is that what you did?" I asked.

Detective Logan nodded. "When I couldn't find any evidence of her in my system with the information I had, I took Bree's fingerprints and submitted them to the database but I haven't gotten the results back yet. While I was waiting, I figured it couldn't hurt. I guess you must’ve found the same article I did."

I took Detective Logan into the kitchen and showed him my laptop. The page was still open to the article I read. "Yep, that's the one," he said, straightening and unzipping his leather jacket. "You and I both think it looks like her."

"But it says she might have something to do with a robbery!"

"I have a bad feeling about this. I think her case might be less straightforward than a wrong place, wrong time, run-of-the-mill murder."

"Actually, there might be more of a problem than that," I told him. I reached into my purse and pulled out the envelope. "I also found this in Bree's apartment."

"What is it?"

"Take a look," I said, handing it to him.

Detective Logan shook open the envelope and the contents, now so familiar to me, fell into his hand. "Where did you find these?" he asked, glancing with visible curiosity at me. "I must have searched every square inch of her apartment!"

"They were taped under the drawer of her nightstand. She must have been trying to make sure no one found them."

"You did," pointed out Detective Logan. He opened the passport and compared it to the driver's license. "These look real enough to me but I'll have to send them to a specialist lab and get them checked out. I'm guessing Bree is short for Brittany and a nickname she regularly used."

"What about the money?"

Detective Logan turned the corners of several bills. "All the serial numbers are different so I think they're probably legit."

"I don't know if that's a good thing."

"I don't know either. Maybe she came by this money legitimately, maybe not. I'll need to take all of it for evidence."

"Of course."

"You said someone came into the apartment searching for something," said Detective Logan. "I doubt they were just looking for the passport. It wouldn't have been valuable to anyone else."

"Then what?"

"All I can say is, it's a good thing they didn't find you. I know I warned you before but I mean it this time: don't go back to Bree's apartment at all! Not for anything! I have a bad feeling about this case. I'm going to post someone at her place discreetly to watch it in the event that anyone comes back."

"I won't go back," I promised, sincerely intending not to.

"I mean it," warned Detective Logan. His eyes narrowed.

"I get the message," I told him.

"I better take these down to the police station. Is there anything else you thought of? Something you haven't told me? Anything that she might have said to you?"

"No," I replied. "But I'm not sure she would have told me anything true now."

"It seems like you're the only person who really knew Bree here."

"But I didn't. That’s just it! I know that now."

"All the same, she talked to you and you worked together on a daily basis. You were the closest thing she had to a friend and you also managed to figure out where she hid this," he said, holding up the envelope.

"There is something else," I interjected before giving him a brief explanation of the photo on her mantel. I reached for the frame, which I handed to Detective Logan. "This photo was in her apartment and she said this couple were her parents, but I just picked this frame up in the New Treasures gift shop today and Grace said the snapshots were all stock models. This exact photo is supplied to all kinds of picture frames."

"It was probably part of Bree's plan. She wanted to look normal in case anyone came over," said Detective Logan.

"I was discussing her with a few friends and they all told me a different story about her background. I don't think she ever repeated the same thing to anyone. Do you think there was even a speck of truth in anything she said?"

"Maybe. We might never know," he answered. "I wish I could give you more to go on. Give me your friends’ names and I’ll look into it."

I gave him the names and repeated what Meredith Blake had said about the conversation she overheard. "Now at least I can guess why she was on the run," I said, feeling sad.

Detective Logan looked up as he finished writing in his notepad. "Doesn't seem like that much to run from in my view. Plenty of people have incurred petty crimes that stay on their records; and if there was only the sole occasion, I doubt she would even get jail time! Take care," he said as we moved to the front of the house. He opened the door and looked up toward the sky, wincing at the latest bout of rain as he zipped his jacket and turned his collar up. "Hey, I heard you're circulating a petition to save the library. Count me in and tell me where to sign," he added.

I smiled. "I will and thank you!" Closing the door quickly, I did not care to watch his retreating back especially when the outside cold was chilling my house. Detective Logan left me with a lot to think about. None of it made Bree sound like the desperate, fearful, young woman who was fleeing from abuse or the image I had painted in my head. It was a bit fanciful for me to jump to any conclusions about her, and even though I tried, I still couldn't believe she was the petty criminal that she now appeared to be.

The whole thing was too bizarre. I couldn't imagine why any criminal would pick my sleepy, little town as a hiding place; and as I thought that, the answer dawned on me. Who would have ever suspected her coming here? No one. I wouldn't. None of my friends ever felt the least bit suspicious of her, not until after her death.

I was glad I finally unloaded the burdensome envelope on Detective Logan but now I worried about the course the investigation was taking. Detective Logan correctly pointed out that Bree lied to me, and probably lied about every facet of her life. Yet, I still liked her. She was warm and friendly, always helped me, and was someone I easily trusted. Logan was convinced she was a liar through-and-through but surely, all these months couldn't have been just a huge, exhausting act? I remembered Logan's parting words; did Bree really have to hide out after only one theft? He was right. Plenty of people had petty crimes on their records and they didn't feel compelled to run away in order to conceal them. Yet Bree not only changed her name, but also created a false history, and sought a town where no one knew her. Could she have been part of something much bigger?

Logan was still seeking a murderer. Now that Bree's suspicious past was coming to light, did he really care anymore about why someone would’ve killed her? Did he still plan to locate her family?

I wasn't sure of the answer to those questions. Not positively. Perhaps it was best for Detective Logan to concentrate on making our town as safe as possible, but that didn't mean Bree’s murder should be pushed aside.

It seemed that the only person still working on Bree’s behalf now was me. I wasn't sure if I should itemize all the lies she told, but I wanted to.

Sitting down, I reached for my notepad to start making notes. I knew Bree's full name was Brittany Johnson. I had her photo. I could easily describe the way she looked the last time I saw her, even if that description were different from her driver’s license photo. The license! I brightened. Although I'd already handed over that evidence to Detective Logan, I still had the picture on my phone, which meant I had her address.

There was a little time left before the library reopened. It was a long drive, but I could make the trip to the city. Plus, I was sure I’d be safe. If someone were looking for whatever they thought Bree was hiding here in Calendar, I would be much safer out of town.

It was too late to go there now and the idea of driving home in the dark on the highway didn't thrill me at all; but first thing tomorrow, I planned to drive to the city. I promised not to go back to Bree's apartment here in town but never said anything about her former residence. I could go to Bree's former address and ask around to learn more about her. Someone must have gotten a forwarding address for her or the person to call in the event of an emergency. It might have even been possible that Bree was still officially renting the apartment. If so, I felt sure I could talk my way inside.

There was also a huge library in the city that I wanted to visit too. A friend worked there. I was sure she could advise me on some strategies for saving the library. Plus, I knew they kept a digital stock of newspapers and I could search for more information about Bree. If anyone asked me why I went all the way to the city, that would be my cover.

Pleased at my swift decision, I decided to tackle some other things I didn't normally find the time to do. I tidied my kitchen and thoroughly cleaned the refrigerator before sorting through all the packets and cans in my cabinets. After aligning everything nicely and throwing away a few things past their expiration dates, I did my laundry and changed the bed linens. But despite how much I busied myself with the routine chores, Bree never left my mind.