She sighed and didn’t finish the sentence.Kate finished it for her.“The picture on the mantel above the fireplace?”
Olivia nodded.“It was a family picture that my husband and I took before his final deployment.He was going to Syria, and we wanted one more picture of all of us together in case… Well, in case he didn’t come back.”
“I’m sorry.”
"Don't be.He came back, and he left the Corps.Finished his twenty years.Now he owns an off-road shop.He modifies Jeeps and Toyotas for people who want to drive slowly over big rocks instead of comfortably on nice roads."
She giggled, and the tears started falling then, leaking down her cheeks and pooling on her chin.“Umm… Anyway, we had her over for dinner the night after he was deployed, and the picture came up missing.I looked everywhere for it and couldn’t find it.I was really upset, as you might imagine.”
“I’ll bet,” Marcus replied.“Did you ever confront her about it?”
Olivia scoffed.“I never imagined she would take something like that.It wasn’t until I came here and saw it on the mantel that I realized.And yeah, we confronted each other then.The only screaming fight I ever had with my mother.She insisted the photo was hers, that she’d taken it and wanted to keep it for sentimental value.I reminded her thatIhad paid a professional photographer for the picture and showed her the receipt proving it.”
“How did she react?”
“Like aharpy.It was unbelievable.I’ve never seen such an ugly face on a woman.She just kept screaming, ‘No, it’s mine!It’smine!’She scratched at me—didn’t get me, but she meant to—and I decided I wasn’t going to get it back without hurting her.We…” She took a shaky breath.“We didn’t really talk since then.”
Kate and Marcus shared another look.“I see.Whenwasthe last time you spoke with your mother?”
“Her birthday in May.I wanted to call her for Thanksgiving, but…”
For a moment, it looked like she was going to finish that sentence, but eventually, she gave up finding an excuse and just pursed her lips together.
May.Back when Cox was still safely (or not so much) incarcerated at the Northbridge Special Management Unit.
“We found a thimble in your mother’s bathroom,” Kate said.“It was placed on the windowsill.Can you tell me anything about it?’
Olivia’s brow furrowed.“A thimble?Like for sewing?”
“Yes.”
Olivia sighed.“Well, mother never liked to sew, so it’s not hers.”
“Do you know who she might have stolen it from?”
Olivia shook her head.“No.Even when we were close, I tried to distance myself from her… habit.”She laughed, and two tears dipped over the crest of her eyelids.“I remember watching her as a child.Her eyes would light up whenever she saw anyone wondering what happened to the things that were missing.Sometimes she’d linger outside of a restaurant to see the server look around and wonder what happened to the silverware.She just… wanted them to see what was missing but not see her, I guess.”
An idea sparked in Kate’s mind.“Thank you for your time, Olivia.I think we have what we need.”
Olivia nodded.The tears were flowing freely now, and her last sentence came out in hitches.“I… I didn’t think… I mean, I stilllovedher.It’s just…”
Marcus laid a hand on her shoulder, and she leaned against his chest.In between sobs, she hitched, “She… kept calling… Trying to… make up to me… but I… I didn’t answer.She… called me a week before she died.Said she was sorry, and she’d return the photograph.I just didn’t want to talk to her.I… Oh, God!”
Marcus held her until she stopped weeping, then said, “We’ll find the person responsible for this.I promise.”
In the car, Kate shared her idea with Marcus.“It wasn’t just the objects, Marcus.It was the windows.He’s putting them in windows.He wants people toseethem.He wants to expose the sin they’ve kept hidden.”
“So he’s not just looking for thieves but for thieves that are hiding their behavior.”
“Exactly.”
“Wonderful.So how does that help us find him?”
Kate’s excitement dimmed.“I don’t know yet,” she admitted.“But unlike his victims, hewantsto be seen.He’s showing us the answer.We just have to figure out how to read it.”
She thought about Olivia, weeping for a woman with whom she could never repair her relationship.Maybe they never could have, but there would have been sweetness with the bitter.That was something Cox didn’t understand.Sin was not the only thing that defined people.Shades of gray existed in between the black and white.
Or maybe that wasn’t it at all.Maybe that was only the lie Cox told his reflection so he didn’t have to see the void where his heart should be.So he didn’t have to confront the rot that ate at his own soul.
