by Becky Durfee
“Let me start by telling you what I learned about Patricia. I read an article last night that confirmed the remains at the lake did belong to her, but due to the conditions they had no way of knowing how long she’d been in the water. But, based on the clothes she was wearing, it seems she was murdered during the cooler months; she was wearing a turtleneck and jeans.”
“She went missing in October,” Jenny replied, still struggling to shake the sleepiness from her foggy brain, “but she even used to dress like that in the summer to hide her bruises.”
Rod looked disappointed, but he continued nonetheless. “The article went on to say that the police are looking into the possibility that Brian had committed that murder as well. They’re portraying him as a mentally unstable young man with a propensity to kill.”
Resting her chin on her hand, Jenny said, “Yeah, we knew they were taking that approach already. They were hinting at that when they interviewed Patricia.”
“Well, now it’s apparently official…Brian Morris is on the suspect list.”
This was not what Jenny wanted to be hit with first thing in the morning.
“On another note,” Rod continued, “I researched the Zeiglers to see what I could come up with. They were a married couple who were killed in a car accident twelve years ago. They were apparently on their way back from a wedding when a drunk driver swerved into their lane, hitting them head on. Both of them were killed at the scene.”
This was not getting any better.
“Their obituary said they left behind a sixteen-year-old daughter, Amanda, and an eleven-year-old son, John. A little math tells me that the eleven-year-old son is now a twenty-three-year-old man. And take a look at this.” Rod spun his tablet around so Jenny could see the picture of the deceased couple from the newspaper. “Do either of those people look familiar to you?”
Taking a minute to focus, Jenny looked first at the wife. She was a pretty woman with an easy-going smile and dark curly hair. Jenny always hated seeing pictures like this—of people who were completely oblivious that their untimely deaths lurked right around the corner. Casting that thought aside, Jenny looked for traits that she recognized, but she didn’t find any. Moving her attention to the husband, she quickly noticed that he seemed very familiar. She lifted her gaze to meet her father’s. “He looks just like Slim.”
“Exactly. I think it’s safe to conclude they were his parents and that Slim is actually John.”
Rubbing her eyes, Jenny said, “I wonder what the Zeiglers could have wanted.”
Rod returned the tablet to face him. “I guess we need to find out.”
Jenny sat back in her chair. “Wow,” she said. “I’ve never had two unrelated contacts at once before.”
“This may make things a little more difficult to sort out. If you have a vision, it might be hard to discern who is contacting you.”
“Well, it was a good call of the Zeiglers to lead me to their headstones. At least now I know exactly who they are, even if I don’t know what they’re trying to tell me.”
“I guess spirits can be smart,” Rod said with a twinkle in his eye.
Incapable of twinkling that early in the morning, Jenny simply said, “I guess so.”
“So,” Rod said as he switched gears, “what did you and Zack find out from the journal last night?”
“Nothing we didn’t already know,” Jenny admitted. “It was just disturbing to hear the first-hand accounts of it all.”
“Do you think there’s enough in there to establish Aaron was abusive?”
“Oh, most definitely. She left no doubt about that.” Glancing at the clock on the microwave, she added, “In fact, I’d like to get this journal over to his lawyer as soon as possible. I’m sure he’d like as much time with it as he can get before the trial begins. I think Zack must have it downstairs. I hope he was able to get through all of it last night.”Jenny looked sheepishly at her father. “I wasn’t able to stay awake long enough to finish it.”
Rod shrugged. “Well, there’s only one way to find out how far Zack got.”
Taking the cue, Jenny got up from the table and headed downstairs. She expected to find Zack asleep, but instead he was sitting at a desk with his laptop, hard at work.
“Hey,” she said with surprise. “I didn’t think you’d be awake. What are you up to?”
“I’m scanning the pages of the journal,” he replied, causing Jenny to look onto the desk to see the journal face down on his printer screen.
“That’s genius,” Jenny noted. “Did you find anything worthwhile in there?”
“Actually, I did.” Zack removed the journal from the scanner and flipped to a page near the end.
He started to walk the book over to Jenny, who held her hand up and said, “I don’t want to go near that thing. The smell is overpowering. Can you just tell me what it says?”
“Well, this entry is very telling,” Zack began as he walked back over to the scanner, resuming his seat. “It talked about how Patricia was so tired of seeing Brian in a constant state of depression. Apparently, after Derrick left his life, Brian spent a good deal of time moping around. She recognized that Brian was gay, and no amount of beating the queer out of him was going to change that.” Zack raised his eyes to meet Jenny’s. “It seems she planned to stand up to Aaron; she wasn’t going to put up with any more of his abuse. Not toward her, and not toward Brian.”
With wide eyes and an uneasy feeling, Jenny asked, “When was that entry dated?”
Zack looked sadly down at the floor. “The day before she went missing.”
“We found Patricia’s journal,” Jenny announced over the phone.
“Really?” Darlene replied, her spirits clearly lifted. “Where was it?”
“The less you know about that the better,” Jenny confessed. “Let me just say Patricia led me to it.”
“Did she implicate Aaron in it?” Darlene sounded as if she was at the edge of her seat.
“Yes, ma’am, she did. I plan to give the journal to the lawyer within the hour, just as soon as we’re done scanning it. We want to keep a record of it so it doesn’t mysteriously disappear or anything.”
“Can I read it?” Darlene asked.
Jenny scratched her head and twisted her face. “Honestly, I’d prefer if you didn’t, and I say that with your best interest at heart. I think you will find parts of it very disturbing, and considering there’s nothing you can do about it now, you may be better off not knowing. It will only haunt you.”
Darlene remained quiet, so Jenny continued. “Besides, Patricia didn’t tell you what was going on for a reason. She didn’t want you to know.”
After a long silence, Darlene conceded. “I guess you’re right. She would have wanted it this way.”
“I’m glad you agree,” Jenny said sincerely. “I will say that this journal does show promise for getting Brian out of a murder conviction, which I’m sure is the reason Patricia wanted it found. If I give it to the lawyer, then it can serve its intended purpose.”
“Well, get it there quick, then. The trial starts in a few days.”
“That’s my plan,” Jenny said glancing over at Zack, who continued to scan the last few pages.
“I did want to tell you there’s going to be a memorial service for Patricia tomorrow night,” Darlene said. “Kathy and Chris are flying in later today, and we wanted to make sure the service was at a time they’d be able to attend. Anyway, if you’re available, I’d love to see you there. I want to be able to thank you one more time. You’ve been instrumental in figuring out what happened to Patricia.”
“I’ll be there. Definitely,” Jenny said. She took down the information of the time and location of the service before hanging up the phone. Turning to Zack she added, “How’s it going?”
“About three more pages,” he said with a yawn. “This takes forever. I have to scan one page at a time.”
“But it’ll be worth it to have a record of it. That was very smart thinking.�
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“I couldn’t see just handing it over. No offense against the guy or anything, but that lawyer looked to me like he was in over his head. I’m not sure I trust him completely.”
Jenny felt the same way. She imagined the public defenders used some kind of rotation to determine who received the next case; poor Mike Carter seemed like he got a case he simply wasn’t ready for.
“Mr. Carter will see you now,” the secretary said to Zack and Jenny. They headed back into his office, noting he looked even more overwhelmed than the last time they had seen him.
“Hello, Mr. Carter,” Jenny said with an extended hand.
“Good morning.” He shook both Jenny and Zack’s hands. Taking notice of the journal tucked under Zack’s arm, he asked, “Is that what I think it is?”
“Yes, sir. It’s Patricia’s journal.” He handed the notebook over to the lawyer.
“Well hot damn,” Mike said, looking at it with awe.
“We’ve read through it, taking the time to mark the more incriminating pages with sticky notes. We figured you’re busy, so we didn’t want you to have to read the whole thing,” Zack told him.
Mike pressed a button on his intercom. “Miss Everson, can you please call Jordan Blakemore and tell her I want to see her as soon as humanly possible.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jenny was confused, and that must have been apparent on her face. Mike looked at her and explained, “Handwriting expert. I put her on standby as soon as you told me about the journal. I figure the first thing the prosecution’s going to do is claim that I wrote the damn thing.” He opened a drawer behind his desk, looking into it. “I’ve got some known samples of Patricia’s handwriting here. I’m hoping they match.”
“Oh, they’ll match,” Jenny assured him.
“Good,” he replied. “My case may depend on it. So you said you’ve read it. Is there anything I should be focusing on?”
“I think the last page is pretty telling.” Zack noted. “Patricia was planning to stand up to Aaron the day before she went missing. That doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me.”
“Fantastic.” The smile on Mike’s face made him look a decade younger than when Zack and Jenny had first arrived. He leaned back in his chair and asked, “Is there anything else you can give me?”
“Not at the moment,” Jenny said.
“Then if you don’t mind, I’d like to start reading this thing as soon as possible.” He held up the journal and waved it back and forth. “The trial is frighteningly close.”
“I understand,” Jenny replied. “I’m just glad we could help.”
Mike looked intently at her. “You and me both.”
Jenny handed her phone over to Zack as she drove away from the lawyer’s office. “Can you please call Kyle Buchanan and put him on speaker for me? He’s one of my contacts.”
Zack obliged, and soon enough Jenny heard, “Kyle Buchanan.”
“Hi, Mr. Buchanan. It’s Jenny Watkins again.” The sing-songy tone of her voice made it obvious that she was in need of another favor.
“Good gracious, Miss Watkins. You sure are a busy woman.”
“I know. But part of the problem is that you do such good work. I’m not willing to go to any other private investigators when I’m looking to find someone.”
“You’re buttering me up.”
“Yes. Yes I am,” Jenny said with a laugh. “Is it working?”
He let out a sigh. “Lucky for you I’m not nearly as swamped this week.”
“That’s great to hear,” Jenny replied. “Did you get the check from a few days ago?”
“Got it yesterday. Thanks for that. So what can I help you with?”
“I’m looking for another phone number,” Jenny said with a smile. “I’d like you to put me in touch with a woman whose maiden name was Amanda Zeigler.”
Butterflies danced around Jenny’s stomach as they pulled into the parking lot at Benning penitentiary. This time she didn’t have Derrick with her to do the legwork; he’d flown back to Seattle the night before. She needed to face Brian alone, and she hoped she wouldn’t undo all of the progress that Derrick had made over the past few days. The trial date was quickly closing in on them; if Brian was going to have a change of heart and talk about the day at Aaron’s house, it needed to be soon.
Her mind raced as she signed in to the prison, showing her identification and asking if she could bring her papers into the visiting room with her. After she was cleared, she walked through the series of locking doors, spending time in short hallways in between; she was always locked in, which hadn’t necessarily bothered her before but at the moment made her feel suffocated. Her nerves tingled. She couldn’t afford to blow this. The next hour was going to be critical in determining Brian’s future.
She was led to the all-too-familiar desk, once again facing the glass partition. She waited patiently for Brian to emerge, and her heart skipped a beat when the door finally opened. Brian looked eagerly in her direction, only to show an obvious look of disappointment when he realized it was her and not Derrick.
She feared he would turn around and leave, but fortunately he sat down across from her and picked up his phone.
“Hi Brian,” she said softly. “I’m sorry I’m not Derrick. He had to go back to Seattle.”
Brian nodded subtly but said nothing.
“Derrick was a very nice man,” Jenny continued. “I can see why you two were friends.”
“Is that what you came here to tell me?” Brian asked. His voice seemed less angry than it had in the past; this time it had more of an air of depression.
“No,” Jenny said compassionately, “that’s not why I came here. I came here to tell you that I found your mother’s journal.”
Brian’s eyes lowered to the desk in front of him. Jenny imagined he felt shame.
“It’s okay, Brian. It really is. I wish you’d understand that. My only goal is to show that Aaron was abusive so you can get off of the murder charge.” She smiled at him though her heart was breaking. “I really have your best interest at heart.”
Brian smiled, but apathetically. “I don’t even know you.” His voice still lacked anger.
“But I’m not the one trying to help you,” Jenny explained. “It’s your mother. She’s the one who has contacted me. She led me to the journal. And let me tell you, I risked my neck trying to find that thing. I don’t even want to tell you what I had to go through to get it. But your mother made it very clear that she wanted it found.” Jenny wished she could reach out and hold Brian’s hand. “And now that I’ve read it, I’m glad I did.”
“What did it say?” Brian still didn’t raise his eyes.
“If I tell you, do you promise not to hang up on me?”
He let out a snort. “I promise.”
Jenny tried her best to keep her voice non-threatening. “Your mother was beside herself every time your father hit you. She said his drinking was out of control, and it used to make him violent.”
Brian wasn’t moving a muscle, so Jenny tried her luck and moved on.
“She approved of your lifestyle, you know. She said she had known for years that you were gay, and she was fine with that. She loved her sister Kathy, after all.”
With that Brian’s eyes lifted to meet Jenny’s. She was encouraged by his reaction.
Jenny nervously shifted in her chair, leaning her weight forward. “Your mother’s last entry in her journal was written the day before she went missing.”
Brian’s eyes stayed glued to Jenny’s.
“She said she was going to stand up to your father. She’d had enough of him beating the two of you, and she was going to tell him so. She wanted you to be happy, Brian, and she saw how depressed you’d become with Derrick out of your life…” Jenny stopped herself. “Well, here.” She held up a copy of Patricia’s last journal entry, printed from Zack’s scanner, and pressed it against the glass. “Why don’t you read it for yourself?”
Brian squinted as
he made out the words. Jenny noticed his expression soften gradually until he looked as if he could actually start to cry. After a few moments, he lowered his eyes and nodded slightly, indicating he was done reading the passage.
Jenny put the paper back on her desk. “I think I know what went on that day, Brian. That horrible October day. Well, I may not know every detail, but I believe I know most of them. I was actually hoping you could connect some of the dots for me.”
Though he said nothing, Brian remained on the phone, so Jenny continued to feel encouraged.
“She stood up to your father, and she paid the ultimate price for that. Your father drowned her in a little marshy pond, didn’t he Brian?”
Brian closed his eyes but didn’t respond.
“And then he made you be his alibi for the afternoon.” She looked intently at him through the glass. Her heart broke for him as she considered the horrible situation he’d been put in at such a young age. “Did he make you help cover it up?”
He looked sad to the point where he could have easily crumbled. With a barely perceptible nod, he let Jenny know she was correct.
“So what happened?” Jenny whispered.
Brian didn’t say anything. He looked as if he was considering hanging up.
“Do this for your mother, Brian. She loved you desperately, and clearly still does.” Jenny held up the printed journal entry. “She gave her life so that you could be happy.” She looked at him imploringly; if sheer will could have made him open up, he would have done it a long time ago.
The wheels were clearly turning in Brian’s conflicted head. This moment was critical for him; if the words came out they could never be unsaid. If they didn’t, he could spend the rest of his life in jail. He placed his head in his free hand for a moment before looking up and quietly stating, “I’m honestly not entirely sure what happened that day. Not between my mom and dad, anyway. I only know what happened afterward.”
Jenny remained quiet, allowing him to continue.