Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
Moments later, I’m on the road heading to Susan Bright’s house.
It’s some distance away and with the traffic, it takes me almost two hours to get there and I find police cruisers, their lights flashing, blocking the street.
A cop standing in the middle of the road waves me away but I lean out of my window.
“I’m heading for number eighteen. It’s my aunt’s house. ”
“Park over there.” The cop waves me to a space alongside the curb.
After I park and turn off my engine, I see a man dressed in plain clothes—who I assume is a detective—walking toward my car with the cop. I shut my window, push open my door and step onto the road. “Will you be able to allow me to walk through to visit my aunt?”
“Not at the moment.” The man in plain clothes shows me his badge. “Detective Warner. Can I have your name please?” He writes down everything in a small notebook. “What’s your aunt’s name and address?”
I give him the details and he looks at me for a long moment. “I’m very sorry to inform you that your aunt is dead.”
Astonished, I stare at him unable to comprehend what he said. “Dead? What do you mean dead? What happened to her? She seemed fine when I spoke to her yesterday.”
“We have reason to believe she was murdered.” Detective Warner opens my car door and gently pushes me into the seat. “I know this is a shock. Did she mention anything to you about being in fear for her life or any threats?”
I shake my head. Dead? How could she possibly be dead?
I’d only just found her. “No, not at all.” I lift my head to look at him.
He has a very kind expression and one of those sad faces that tells me he’s seen one too many homicides in his life.
I feel I need to tell him everything I know.
“I’m adopted and I’d been hunting down my birth mother when I discovered that she had died some years ago.
I’d only just traced my aunt and was coming to see her for the first time.
She had a secret to tell me about my mother and was very excited I’d contacted her.
She did mention it wasn’t something we could talk about over the phone.
That was the only time I’ve spoken to her. ”
“I see. You may be her only living relative. The neighbors, who she knew well, said she never mentioned any family.” Detective Warner leans one hand on the roof of my vehicle and looks down at me as if trying to discern if I’m telling him the truth.
“We believe someone broke into the house and murdered her sometime during the night. I don’t have any other details I can give you.
I suggest you go home because the forensic team will be here shortly and it’s not really good to see the body coming out.
It’s not the way you want to remember your aunt even if you didn’t meet her.
” He pulls a card out of his inside pocket and hands it to me.
“If you require any more information, you can contact me. I’ll call you when the medical examiner has released the body.
” He wipes a hand down his face. “She never mentioned you to her neighbors and yet you said she knew about you.”
I shrug. “I didn’t know about her before yesterday when I contacted the author of a newspaper story concerning my mother’s death.
He hunted her down at the time and gave me her information.
My first point of contact was speaking to her yesterday afternoon.
I guess whatever she had to tell me about my mother died with her.
” I look at him, trying to discover if he knows anything.
“If you find a journal or anything that might help me, will you let me know?”
“Unless it’s evidence. As next of kin, you’ll likely be contacted and can look yourself.” The detective straightens. “Okay, you can leave now.”
I turn my vehicle around and head back home.
So many thoughts are flashing through my mind it’s difficult to think straight.
It’s as if I’m driving on autopilot and just following instructions on the GPS, without taking in my surroundings.
What was the secret Susan had been keeping for all these years?
Did it have any influence on why she was murdered?
Did the person who murdered my mom murder her too?
I chew on my bottom lip. The deeper I delve into my past the murkier it becomes.