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Authors: Diane Fanning
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‘Sarah! Sarah, what’s wrong?’
Lucinda spun around and saw Sarah standing with a hand over her mouth and a look of horror in her eyes. Then Chuck was standing beside her, an arm around her shoulders.
‘What is it, Sarah?’
Tears coursed down the woman’s cheeks. Through her sobs, she choked out, ‘I went into the office for a reason. But I couldn’t remember why I was there.’
Chuck pulled his wife tight against his chest and held her close, whispering comfort into her ear. After a couple of minutes, he eased back from her, planted a kiss on her forehead and said, ‘I do that all the time, Sarah. We all do. It was David’s phone records. You were going to get them for the lieutenant. Come on, let’s do it together.’
Lucinda watched them walk out of the room, arms around each other. Sarah leaned hard on Chuck’s side, causing them to swerve while her husband re-established their equilibrium. Lucinda wanted to say something soothing but she was incapable of speech. A lump in her throat threatened to erupt in sobs. She swallowed several times to regain her composure.
By the time the Bayneses returned with a manila folder in hand, Lucinda felt in control of her emotions but she knew it wouldn’t take much for them to flare up again. She struggled to remain calm and steady as she pulled out the plastic sleeve with the note from ‘E’.
Neither parent knew the identity of the mysterious author with any certainty. Sarah suspected Emily Jarvis; Chuck thought Elizabeth Harding. When Lucinda asked about Kev, Sarah said, ‘Kevin Blackwood, probably. They were close in middle school but I didn’t think they were in touch much lately – so maybe it’s not him.’
Lucinda asked if they knew who wanted to meet with David the night before he died. ‘He did spend a lot of time at the Walking Dog,’ Chuck volunteered. ‘A lot of the kids do. Inexpensive food and a company tolerance for kids just hanging out. It doesn’t really point to anyone specific.’
Lucinda asked the couple about David’s friends and watched the painful process as they brainstormed the names of anyone they could ever remember visiting David at the house, along with all those he’d mentioned on a regular basis. They couldn’t recall the last names of all the kids. Lucinda could only hope that Ted would be able to dig that information out of the computer.
Sarah and Chuck looked haggard by the time they finished. Lucinda looked at her notes and hoped that one of those kids would know something – anything that would lead to the person responsible for David’s death, even if it turned out that it was David himself.
Lucinda felt as if all the oxygen in the home had been consumed by their bottomless grief. She left the Bayneses holding on to one another on the sofa and let herself out of the house. On the porch, she inhaled a deep breath.
THIRTEEN
L ucinda felt devoid of energy when she slid into the passenger seat of Ted’s car. ‘It is never, never any easier. No matter how many times I do it.’
‘I know,’ Ted said. ‘It’s one thing I certainly don’t miss about my job on the force. Computer forensics doesn’t have as many adrenaline-churning moments but it also takes me out of the death notification business. Anything I need to prioritize for you in my analysis?’
‘Yes,’ Lucinda said, pulling out the legal pad with David’s list of friends and extracting a blank sheet. ‘The Bayneses did not know some of the last names for David’s friends. I am going to write down some first names. If you can pull out any indications of their identity in his email or Facebook, that would be very helpful. Also, I am trying to identify a girl with the initial of “E” who needed David’s help with some problem or other regarding someone she referred to as “Kev”, who might or might not be Kevin Blackwood, and I am interested in any references to the Walking Dog.’
‘Walking dog?’ Ted asked.
Lucinda chuckled.
Lucinda spun around and saw Sarah standing with a hand over her mouth and a look of horror in her eyes. Then Chuck was standing beside her, an arm around her shoulders.
‘What is it, Sarah?’
Tears coursed down the woman’s cheeks. Through her sobs, she choked out, ‘I went into the office for a reason. But I couldn’t remember why I was there.’
Chuck pulled his wife tight against his chest and held her close, whispering comfort into her ear. After a couple of minutes, he eased back from her, planted a kiss on her forehead and said, ‘I do that all the time, Sarah. We all do. It was David’s phone records. You were going to get them for the lieutenant. Come on, let’s do it together.’
Lucinda watched them walk out of the room, arms around each other. Sarah leaned hard on Chuck’s side, causing them to swerve while her husband re-established their equilibrium. Lucinda wanted to say something soothing but she was incapable of speech. A lump in her throat threatened to erupt in sobs. She swallowed several times to regain her composure.
By the time the Bayneses returned with a manila folder in hand, Lucinda felt in control of her emotions but she knew it wouldn’t take much for them to flare up again. She struggled to remain calm and steady as she pulled out the plastic sleeve with the note from ‘E’.
Neither parent knew the identity of the mysterious author with any certainty. Sarah suspected Emily Jarvis; Chuck thought Elizabeth Harding. When Lucinda asked about Kev, Sarah said, ‘Kevin Blackwood, probably. They were close in middle school but I didn’t think they were in touch much lately – so maybe it’s not him.’
Lucinda asked if they knew who wanted to meet with David the night before he died. ‘He did spend a lot of time at the Walking Dog,’ Chuck volunteered. ‘A lot of the kids do. Inexpensive food and a company tolerance for kids just hanging out. It doesn’t really point to anyone specific.’
Lucinda asked the couple about David’s friends and watched the painful process as they brainstormed the names of anyone they could ever remember visiting David at the house, along with all those he’d mentioned on a regular basis. They couldn’t recall the last names of all the kids. Lucinda could only hope that Ted would be able to dig that information out of the computer.
Sarah and Chuck looked haggard by the time they finished. Lucinda looked at her notes and hoped that one of those kids would know something – anything that would lead to the person responsible for David’s death, even if it turned out that it was David himself.
Lucinda felt as if all the oxygen in the home had been consumed by their bottomless grief. She left the Bayneses holding on to one another on the sofa and let herself out of the house. On the porch, she inhaled a deep breath.
THIRTEEN
L ucinda felt devoid of energy when she slid into the passenger seat of Ted’s car. ‘It is never, never any easier. No matter how many times I do it.’
‘I know,’ Ted said. ‘It’s one thing I certainly don’t miss about my job on the force. Computer forensics doesn’t have as many adrenaline-churning moments but it also takes me out of the death notification business. Anything I need to prioritize for you in my analysis?’
‘Yes,’ Lucinda said, pulling out the legal pad with David’s list of friends and extracting a blank sheet. ‘The Bayneses did not know some of the last names for David’s friends. I am going to write down some first names. If you can pull out any indications of their identity in his email or Facebook, that would be very helpful. Also, I am trying to identify a girl with the initial of “E” who needed David’s help with some problem or other regarding someone she referred to as “Kev”, who might or might not be Kevin Blackwood, and I am interested in any references to the Walking Dog.’
‘Walking dog?’ Ted asked.
Lucinda chuckled.
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