Jake drew a line from Donna’s name to a rectangle box centered at the top where he had written “Baileys.” Under her name was a timeline tracking Donna’s location from the last time her landlord and co-workers had seen her. After her lunch with Alyce, they were unable to track Donna’s movements. The whiteboard looked very empty.
“I don’t like to see all that empty space.” Robinson frowned from the doorway. “Any action on her ATM card?”
“Nothing yet.” Although Donna’s wallet had contained credit cards, her bank did confirm she had an ATM card which had yet to be located.
Frank rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. “You think that board looks anemic, try staring at these tapes from the restaurant. Nothing but loud drunks during Donna’s shifts. Would have helped if that asshole manager had written dates on the damn things.”
“What about the DNA from the cigarette butt?” Robinson nodded toward the entry on the board listing the items found at the dump site.
“Suey said this isn’t CSI. He doesn’t get results during a commercial break,” Jake replied.
“So Rob the bar manager/ex-boyfriend is our best bet.”
“Except we don’t have an exact day or time of Donna’s death. Back to square one.” Frank popped out the CD, and shoved in another one.
<><>
Sam wasn’t sure if this was such a good idea. It felt so intrusive listening in on other people confessing their inner most fears and worries. Forrest had wanted Sam to sit in on their support group meeting. He thought it would give her a better perspective. Of what exactly, Sam wasn’t sure. Forrest had introduced her to Grace Hunt, the group leader, and although Grace said she was more than welcome to sit in the group circle, Sam preferred to hang back by the refreshment table. A cup of hot tea sounded good about now with temperatures outside plummeting to forty, not to mention the cakes and cookies sitting out in trays that were screaming her name. She dragged a chair next to the table to make her presence as obscure as possible.
Grace forced a teen named Luke to put his cell phone away. He responded by sulking and crossing his arms. An elderly woman, however, wasn’t forced to put away her crochet needles and yarn, probably because she was able to talk and pay attention without looking at what her hands were doing. But more pouting and pointing from Luke forced Grace to ask Velma to put her crocheting away.
Sam wasn’t sure how valuable a support group could be. Abby would probably say talking always worked wonders. She felt for Ben, the former Marine who had lost a close friend and fellow Marine to post traumatic stress disorder. Sam wasn’t even part of the group but already she was depressed. She lost count of the number of cookies she ate as she listened to each of the members talk about what was new in their lives, how they were coping. And then Grace turned the evening over to a young woman whose twin sister had died just before her wedding. She vaguely remembered Forrest mentioning her.
“It feels like it happened yesterday,” Carrie started. She was sitting to Grace’s right so Sam had a clear view of her from where she sat. Sam grabbed another chocolate chip cookie and wished she had brought a Zip Lock bag. “She had just come from the dressmaker’s several hours beforehand. Carly had a final fitting for her wedding dress. She was so excited. Her next appointment at one o’clock was at the hairdresser’s. She was going to take her headpiece and experiment with hair styles. Everything was going as planned. And then…” Carrie paused and swiped at her eyes. “My mom is still having a hard time dealing with it. She wants the police to question Sean more. She still feels he had something to do with Carly’s death. But I just don’t see it. He is so broken up over her death.”
“So was that Peterson guy who killed his pregnant wife,” Velma offered. “He was even talking to his girlfriend on the phone while at his wife’s funeral. How weird is that?”
“Sean wasn’t like that. He was devoted to Carly.”
“So was that Peterson guy.”
Sam had to agree with Velma. No matter how well you thought you knew someone, they sometimes do things that are completely out of character.
“Maybe you wanted him for yourself.” Luke scowled from beneath bangs in need of a trim.
Carrie gasped and turned on the youth. “How can you say that? You don’t know a thing about me.”
“I know you are quick to anger. Look at you now. Pretty quick to anger if you ask me.”
“I am not.”
Grace straightened in her seat and flashed a stern look at the youth. “Luke, you are just lashing out because your parents thought you ridiculed your sister too much. Not one of us knows what went through our loved ones’ minds when they decided to take their own life. There’s no reason why we should lash out at each other. Now, Carrie, tell us about the police investigation. Did anything turn up?”
“Nothing. They checked her financial background in case she was being blackmailed. They checked any records of stalkers, health problems. They practically turned her life and my family’s lives upside down before concluding it was a suicide. That and the fact that witnesses saw her undress and walk into the lake. Not one person was near that she could have been arguing or fighting with. Didn’t even have her cell phone on her. She had left it at home after her call.”
Sam stopped in mid-bite. Didn’t Beast say Marti’s cell phone records showed she received a call right before walking out of the condo and jumping off the overpass? She jotted down notes as Carrie’s voice changed to nothing more than white noise. Sam had to get Carrie alone to ask her more questions.
Twenty minutes later the session broke up. Sam waited for most of the people to leave before approaching Forrest and Carrie. “Would you two like to go somewhere quiet for coffee? I need to ask both of you some questions.” They agreed to meet at Round the Clock, a twenty-four hour restaurant.
Ten minutes later they were huddled in a booth by the fireplace. Although they had arrived in separate cars Sam had the feeling there was a bonding happening between Carrie and Forrest. Whether it was shared grief or something deeper, Sam wasn’t sure. Forrest explained to Carrie that he had hired Sam to find out the truth behind Marti’s death. A waitress came by and took their orders. Forrest asked for coffee. Carrie and Sam each ordered hot chocolate with whipped cream.
“Carrie, could you explain exactly what happened the day Carly died? I want to know every detail, the time of day, who else was in the house, what she was wearing, what were the last words she spoke and whom she was talking to.” Sam set her tote bag on the table and rummaged around for a pen.
“Wow, Sam. Do you always carry?” Forrest nodded toward her gun which was just visible inside her bag.
“Hubby’s orders. Don’t leave home without it.” She tucked it back safely into the tote bag.
Once the waitress deposited their orders Carrie spoke. “Like I said, I haven’t lived at home since I graduated from college. But my mom has repeated the story so many times that I practically have it memorized. Carly was up at seven. Mom was up at six with Dad. She made him breakfast before he went to work. Mom and Carly had breakfast together at seven-thirty. They were going over the seating arrangement for the reception.”
“Did your mom and sister get along?” Sam asked.
“We all did. I didn’t move out because Mom and I fought, if that’s what you’re asking. I wanted to live closer to the train station. I work in Chicago so a friend and I rent an apartment together.”
“Male or female?” Sam asked as she jotted notes. She saw Forrest’s eyebrows jerk up. “I’m just trying to get a picture here.”
Carrie waved her off. “Female. Don’t worry. The cops asked the same question.” Carrie ate the whipped cream off of the hot chocolate with a spoon, then took a sip before continuing. “Carly and Mom left at ten-thirty for the final fitting. Carly was so thrilled she was able to lose twenty pounds for the wedding. The dress fit perfectly. Later she was going to go to the hair dresser to try out different hair styles with her head piece. She was a fanatic about details.”
“Would you call her obsessive compulsive?”
“Oh, no. Only with the wedding. She wanted everything just right but Mom was really good at keeping Carly centered.”
Sam felt as though she were back in yoga class but bit back a retort.
“Mom made Carly understand that things were going to go wrong. It’s Murphy’s Law so she shouldn’t sweat it. It might rain on her wedding day. The flowers might wilt, the limo could break down. Mom was one stress-free lady so if you are asking, no, Carly was not despondent because someone cancelled at the last minute and it threw off the seating arrangements.”
Forrest sat back and listened. Sam could see in his eyes he was reliving Marti’s last day, how her morning routine might have worked. He pushed his cup closer to the edge when the waitress zipped by with the carafe.
“What time did Carly plan to leave for the hairdresser?”
“About twelve-thirty. Thing is, Mom wanted to go with. Around noon Mom was in the kitchen reading a book and Carly was in the living room going through more RSVPs. Next thing Mom knew, she heard the door close and saw Carly’s car backing out of the driveway.”
“You had mentioned a phone call during the session.” When Sam mentioned this, Forrest suddenly looked up.
“Right. Mom said she heard the phone ring. It wasn’t the home phone, it was Carly’s cell phone. When Mom walked into the living room to ask who had called, that is when she saw the car backing out of the driveway. Carly left her purse with her driver’s license and her cell phone on the couch.”
Sam thought Forrest was going to launch himself over the table. His body kept rocking back and forth. “Do you know who called?” Forrest asked.
“We didn’t think about it. The police checked phone records but didn’t find anything. They said the call never connected or some such thing.” She looked from Sam to Forrest. “Why? Is that important?”
“Marti received a call, too,” Forrest replied. “At least according to the phone records it lasted four seconds. The call was from a disposable phone.”
“Like something drug dealers use?” Carrie looked at Sam. “Carly wasn’t into drugs.”
“Neither was Marti, but it certainly makes me suspicious when two people receive a call and soon after they commit suicide. Did your mother catch any words of the conversation?” Sam asked.
“No. She didn’t hear Carly say anything but hello and then Mom heard the front door close.”
“What does it mean?” Forrest asked.
“I’m not sure but I don’t believe in coincidences.”