Chapter 19

19

"You found these notebook pages inside of a mystery novel?" Foley asked.

"I did," I said.

He scratched his bald head. "I can't believe it. I can't believe you found potential evidence in the one place we didn't look during our search of the house. How'd you get in? Or do I even want to know?"

"If you're worried I busted a window or something, I didn't. I have a key."

"Where'd you get it?"

"My, umm … my mother gave it to me."

Foley sighed. "I should have known."

"While I would love to take credit for stumbling upon the notes myself, it was the comments her sister had made that piqued my interest. I figured I'd look inside a few of the books, and that turned into looking inside all of them."

"I still can't believe you found what you did."

"Given Cordelia was a bit of a nosey person in her younger years, I was banking on the fact she was still spying on people."

Foley pointed at the notebook pages and said, "Aside from these, no other notes were found to suggest she'd been keeping an eye on anyone else over the years, right?"

"Right. Maybe she stopped keeping tabs on people during her marriage to Marlon. When he died, I expect she was bored, looking for a distraction, and her old hobby fit the bill."

"You looked through every single book?"

"I did. I hit a point where I almost stopped, and I told myself I was wasting my time. At that point, I'd flipped through most of the books, so I made the decision to keep on going. I'm glad I did. If her murder is connected to these notes, they're our best lead so far."

Foley patted me on the shoulder. "Well done, Georgiana."

Whitlock, who'd been leaning against the wall listening to our conversation, perked up. "I can't say I'm surprised. It's like I've always said—you have talent for this stuff. Always have."

"After reading through Cordelia's notes, what are we thinking?" Foley asked.

"The way I see it, one of the neighbors knew she was having a little look-see into their lives. Maybe she threatened to go to the police. Maybe she confronted them, told them she knew about their dirty laundry, and she was prepared to air it."

"Makes sense."

"If physical abuse is involved, it seems to me someone may have wanted to shut her up before she had a chance to speak her truth," I said. "I questioned both neighbors who live on opposite sides of her. I tried speaking with them, anyway."

"Define tried ."

"I had a conversation with both wives. Rosalyn's husband was at work, and when Kayla's husband came home and saw me there, he didn't want anything to do with me."

"Why not?"

"I'm not sure. I got the impression he may have mental health issues, though I hesitate to suggest it. I'd feel awful if I'm wrong."

Foley tapped a pencil to the edge of his desk. "What did the wives have to say?"

"Before I go over those conversations, I want to set the scene and tell you what I could see from inside Cordelia's house. The view into each neighbor's home is different. From Cordelia's bedroom window, I had a perfect view into Rosalyn and Eddy's bedroom."

"What about Kayla's?"

"There's no view from the bedroom, but through one of the living room windows, I had a somewhat obscured glimpse inside Kayla and Seth's house. If I had binoculars, it would be an even better view."

"I see," Foley said.

"Rosalyn and Kayla both said the notes Cordelia took weren't about them."

"Denial, eh? It's to be expected, don't you think?"

"I do."

"The first person I spoke to was Rosalyn. I talked to her earlier this morning, before my discovery, and then a second time after. During both conversations, she seemed nervous, but she strikes me as a nervous person in general. Whether she has something to hide, I don't know. All I can say for sure is my gut is telling me she does."

"What did she say to you?"

"It wasn't so much what she said as what she didn't say. I asked her when her husband would be home from work, and she said she didn't know."

"Why not?"

"He works odd days and odd hours, I guess."

"Doing what?"

"He's an environmental scientist for a company called Eco Earth."

Foley jotted down the name of the company. "Never heard of it."

"If someone came to my house with notes suggesting they'd been staring at me through their window and had witnessed possible abuse, I'd involve Giovanni right away. Rosalyn could have picked up the phone, sent her husband a text message or given him a call, and she didn't."

"Good point," Whitlock said. "Or maybe she was waiting for you to leave first."

"Either they have a lack of communication in their relationship, or she didn't want you to know when he'd be home," Foley said. "If it's the latter, the question is … why ?"

"Maybe Rosalyn is being abused, and she's afraid to speak up about it. I did notice a bruise on her wrist and a cut over her left eye. Anyway, at the end of our conversation, she pointed a finger at Kayla and Seth, and she mentioned they're going through a divorce."

"We're aware," Foley said. "We talked to every person who lives on that street the morning after the murder."

"So you met Eddy, Rosalyn's husband?"

Foley looked at Whitlock.

"Well, no," Whitlock said. "I was the one to talk to Rosalyn. The husband wasn't home, and I took down a note to circle back with them later so I could speak with him. I haven't gotten around to it yet."

Foley quirked a brow at Whitlock. "The point is, none of Cordelia's neighbors had much of anything to say, nothing that gave us a good enough reason to follow up … until now. Talk to me about your visit with Kayla."

"Kayla was easy to talk to, and she seemed open to answering any questions I had," I said. "She seemed transparent, and I didn't get the impression she was trying to hide something from me."

"Did she say anything about the divorce?"

"She did."

"What reason did she give for it?"

"She said they're not compatible."

"In what way?"

"He's a homebody who doesn't care much to be around people. She's the opposite. She likes to get out, get involved, change things up instead of enduring the same monotonous routine day after day."

"It's the same thing she told me," Whitlock said. "When she spoke of the divorce, she teared up a few times. It seems it wasn't an easy decision."

"It doesn't fit the usual reasons people get a divorce," Foley said.

"I agree," I said. "She still loves him, I can tell. Even though they're splitting up, she has compassion for him. I witnessed it when he came home. She speaks to him like he's a wounded bird, and she's his safe place."

"She was his safe place," Foley said. "I don't imagine she will be once they're divorced. You said he didn't want anything to do with you. Any idea why?"

"He wasn't thrilled to find me in their house, and from that moment on, he was agitated. He was running his hands along his pantlegs, pacing the room. He didn't entertain any conversation about Cordelia. All he wanted was for me to leave."

"What makes you think the husband has mental health issues?"

"The way he acted when I was there wasn't normal. It was irrational, if anything. I'm the last person who should diagnose anyone, but I'll just say it was a feeling I had when I witnessed his behavior."

"How did the conversation end?"

"I didn't want to upset him any more than I already had, and he'd asked me to leave more than once, so I did."

Foley reached for the cup of coffee sitting on his desk, took a sip and winced, like it had gone cold. He set it down, rejecting it.

"After speaking to both couples, what are your takeaways?" he asked.

"I haven't had enough time to process everything they said to me yet. I'm thinking they both need a follow-up visit with someone who has a little more finesse than I do at times."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Whitlock should speak to both wives again, and to their husbands. Afterward, we can reconvene and share notes. Between us, I think we might have a better chance of figuring out if one of them is hiding something."

Foley paused, as if giving the suggestion some thought. "I like it. I like it a lot."

"I like it too," Whitlock said. "I think they've been through enough for one day, so I'll stop in and see them tomorrow. Maybe, just maybe, between the four of them, we'll find some answers."