She turns her attention to her laptop. Opening a search engine, she types Vanessa Walker.
As before, the results are inconclusive. Nothing that pops up matches what she knows about Rick’s wife; not even when she adds the word death, or Rick’s name to the search. But when she throws in New Jersey—-bingo. Among the results, she finds an obituary whose accompanying photo shows a vaguely familiar face.
The woman’s name is Vanessa, but her last name isn’t Walker. It’s De Forrest.
That’s right, Rowan remembers now. Rick’s wife had kept her maiden name—-or was it her name from her first marriage? She can’t recall which it was, only that it bothered him that she wouldn’t take his last name. He mentioned that once, adding that Jake must be glad she’d done that when they got married.
“I’m sure he’d have been okay either way,” she said. “It was my decision.”
“Everything is Vanessa’s decision,” he replied darkly—-indicating, perhaps, that the marriage was in trouble very early on.
Rowan glances out the window. She can see Jake and Mick out by the boxwood clump near the lamppost, still trying to untangle the first string of lights. Assured that she has the house to herself awhile longer, she reads on.
Rick isn’t mentioned in the obituary; nor is the first husband. Only the names of her four children, a brother, and her mother, all of whom survive her, and her father, who does not. Basic details about her life are listed: birth date and place, graduation, job. The exact cause of death is absent, but that’s often the case in obituaries. Sometimes there’s a mention of a battle with a long illness, but not in this case. Sometimes, too, the family requests memorial contributions to a specific charity, which can sometimes serve as a clue. Again, there’s nothing like that here.
How did Vanessa die?
Rowan combs the article again, searching for some detail she might have missed.
She finds one almost immediately, and can’t believe she overlooked it the first time.
It doesn’t reveal how Vanessa died, but it reveals when: last year—-on November 30.
From the Mundy’s Landing Tribune
Weather
December 8, 2015
Forecast
Today: Mostly pleasant with bright sunshine. Light and variable wind SSE at 7 to 10 mph. High: 42 F.
Tonight: Increasing cloudiness with temperatures falling below freezing. Low: mid–20s F.
Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy with snow squalls developing by late morning. Chance of snow 80 percent. Northwest wind at 8–13 mph with gusts to 30 mph. Accumulation 1–2 inches before tapering off in early evening. High: high 20s F. Low: mid 20s F.
A look ahead: Winter storm developing over the High Plains may bring widespread heavy snow to the region Friday into Saturday.
Chapter 9
Beyond the window, the world is dark except for swirling snow in a street lamp’s glow. Dawn is still a few hours off, but Casey was prodded awake by a restless ache that hasn’t subsided the way it usually does after a successful conquest. If anything, it’s more persistent than ever.
You can’t surrender to it. You have to focus on other things: stay busy, stay strong.
Focus . . . focus . . . focus . . .
Where are my glasses?
Ah, there, next to the television. It’s on, tuned to the Weather Channel as always. There’s a blizzard brewing out West, but it’s too soon to tell the impact or even the path. Something to keep in mind, though. A significant storm could change everything.
Humming softly, Casey puts on the glasses and picks up the antique leather strop that came with the barber’s razor purchased last summer.