“I don’t know. I’ve talked to Pastor Wallace. To people who knew her, and there’s no indication that she might have. But she seemed to have changed too, around the time her parents died. She seemed more withdrawn, less like herself. She canceled her wedding plans without warning.”
“Grief strikes different people different ways. If you don’t have more to go on than that, I wouldn’t think it was very likely she killed herself. Sure, it’s possible, but I don’t see any indication of it, and I’ve dealt with all kinds since I’ve been in this line of work.” He put his hand over hers. “Look, for whatever reason, the bottom line is that she’s dead. Not just gone, but long gone. Why does it matter whether or not she killed herself?”
She moved her hand away from his and stood up. “How about some coffee? I know I need some.”
“That’d be great. Thanks.”
She took her time filling the cups, replenishing the sugar bowl and the little stoneware cream pitcher Gram had always used, and then putting everything on a tray. Why did it matter how Susan had died? Why did it matter why Susan had died? Why couldn’t she move on? She carried the tray back into the living room and set it down on the table in front of Roy.
“Ah, thank you.” He picked up a cup and took a sip. “That’s good.”
“Thank you.”
She drank from her own cup, not saying anything for a long moment.
“You know, Roy, it’s a good question, and to be honest, I don’t know why it matters. Maybe it just bothers me to see someone so completely disappear without knowing more about what happened to her.” She let a little bit of a smile turn up her mouth. “My grandmother used to own this house. She always told me I was more stubborn than a snapping turtle when I wanted to know something. I guess that hasn’t changed after all these years.”
“Your grandma’s place, huh?” He looked around the room, nodding in approval. “Must be nice to have a family home, something that’s been around a long time. I’ve always moved a lot, but at my age you get a little tired of that. Stony Point seems like a good place to settle down.”
“You’re not from this area?”
“Nah. I was born in Tucson, and I’ve lived all over. Never did find the right place, or the right person.” He glanced at her. “Till now.”
“Stony Point’s a good town. Lots of good people too. Can’t argue with the choice, even though I may not be staying long.”
“No?”
“Once I get the house fixed up and cleaned out, I’ll probably head back to Texas.”
“But what about your friend? You still haven’t really found out everything you want to know.”
She shrugged. “Maybe, as you say, there’s just not anything more to know.”
“There’s those notes you got.”
“Yes. And that does bother me.”
“See? If you’re a snapping turtle like your grandma said, you’ll have to find out who left those for you before you can leave.”
“Have you ever had a case with anonymous notes like those?”
“A time or two. Most of the time it’s pretty obvious who’d send something like that.”
“But not now.”
“No,” he admitted. “Not this time. Susan didn’t have any family. The only one she left behind is that boyfriend of hers.”
“Fiancé.”
“Fiancé then. But he’s about as far from here as you can be and still be in the continental U.S. Pretty unlikely that he’d be slipping by here to leave you little love notes.”
“Then who could it be?”
“Who knew Susan when she lived here?”
“Not that many people, as far as I can find out. And after she came back from school in New York City, she wasn’t here long. And she drowned way down in South Carolina. If there was something suspicious about her death, what would someone here have had to do with it?”
Roy drained his cup and returned it to the tray. “You have to consider the cranks out there, too, you know. Peggy’s been talking up this whole thing about Susan Morris for a while now. Maybe somebody in town just doesn’t like the idea of a busybody, if you’ll pardon the expression, digging up the past. Especially if that busybody is an outsider.”
“True enough. I guess you’ve gotten a little of that ‘outsider’ treatment yourself since you’ve been here, haven’t you?”
He grinned. “Not so much I can’t handle it. I figure once people get to know me, they can’t help being smitten.”