“Jasmine’s fellow anglers on the trip said she was making a big deal about a supposed secret. Also, when she drowned, she was wearing what appeared to be an engagement ring, but no one seems to know who gave her the ring and whether there even was a significant partner in her life at the time of her death.”
Mia looked away. “I see,” she said, picking at an invisible thread on her tailored skirt.
“It would really help her gran to have these questions answered. It would help her find closure, Mia.”
“I ... I suppose, if it will help her gran”—she looked at Angie—“there was a significant other. But I don’t know who he was. Jasmine was terribly secretive about it. He got her pregnant.”
Angie blinked. “Jasmine waspregnant?”
“No—no, I mean, she was, but she terminated the pregnancy just before the trip.” She rubbed her arm, a nervous gesture. “I think Jasmine was involved with someone who wouldn’t commit, but when he learned she was pregnant, he proposed. I suspect it was his way of convincing Jasmine to go through with the abortion. His way of proving to her that he’d still be there for her afterward, that she wouldn’t be abandoned.”
“What makes you think this?”
She exhaled heavily. “I don’t know. I might be way off base, but I just had a feeling that Jasmine was worried she would lose this guy if she didn’t go through with it and that he’d be angry. Because part of me believes she wanted to keep the baby.”
Angie regarded Mia, an energy, an excitement, building inside her. Jasmine’s past—this case—was looking more and more interesting.
“Why did you fall out with Jasmine, Mia?” she asked. “Was it because of the abortion?”
She cast her eyes down. “Jaz wouldn’t tell me who the guy was. In fact, she was smug about having a secret lover. Her attitude irked me. Jaz, Sophie, and I had been tight since junior high. We shared and talked about everything. From first cigarette, to first kiss, to first sex. Her big secret lover was a slap in my face. Then, when she asked me to go with her to Vancouver for the abortion nevertheless, I put my foot down and said no. I told her she should think more carefully about her decision to terminate and to not do it simply to hold on to some secret guy. Sophie went with her instead. We never talked again.” Her voice caught, and she looked up.
“Not that we even had a chance. Jaz went and disappeared on that river. We were never able to make amends, and I’m deeply, deeply sorry for that.”
“Mia,” Angie said, leaning forward, “do you haveanyidea who the father might have been? Any wild guesses?”
She inhaled deeply. “No. I don’t. Jasmine had a ton of boyfriends over the years. She never hid them. Mostly she had sex with them, got bored, and moved on. This time was different. Whatever she was hiding, she did a damn good job hiding it.”
“If she did intend to marry this guy, do you think she would she have slept with others on her river trip?”
“Did she?”
“Possibly.”
Mia considered this. “If she did, knowing Jaz, she might have been testing herself or the parameters of her secret relationship. It wouldn’t surprise me to hear she’d engaged in casual sex after getting rid of the baby, just to prove to herself that it wasn’t the end of the world. That she could still be whoever she wanted. She could have been testing the guy himself.” Mia paused. A wry smile curved her mouth. “Then again, knowing Jaz, maybe there was never a secret-ring guy. Maybe she bought the damn diamond ring herself just to fool us all.”
Again this possibility was being raised, and Angie took note. It spoke strongly to Jasmine Gulati’s character.
“Why would she do that—pretend?”
“Jaz was like that.” Mia smoothed away the invisible thread. “The adoration of guys, and sex, was like an addiction to her. She wanted to be Ms.Mysterious, always the center of intrigue and attention.” Mia’s eyes turned sad. “She was needy. I think deep down Jasmine was empty and afraid, and I wish I’d been there to help her. Instead I pushed her away.”
Angie held Mia’s gaze and swallowed, thinking of her own issues with anonymous sex. Her own buried neediness. “Was that her first pregnancy?”
Mia blinked. “God, yes. Why?”
“Are you certain? She never carried a child to term?”
“No. No way. We shared everything. All of it. Until the engagement ring and the mystery lover, of course. Even then Jaz still shared her pregnancy with me and Sophie. Like I said, the three of us had been tight since junior high. Jaz and I go back even farther, to elementary school.”
“There wasn’t a period where Jasmine went away perhaps? For a long enough time that she could have given birth, possibly given the baby up for adoption?”
“Definitely not. She traveled to Europe with her parents one summer after grade nine. But it was for only four weeks. After we graduated, Jaz, Sophie, and I traveled around South America for five months. We were always together. Otherwise any trips Jaz took were short. Never anything to indicate the possibility of a child. Why?” she repeated, concern in her features.
“The autopsy results raised a slight possibility that she might have given vaginal birth. But it’s not conclusive. I just thought I’d ask. There was also indication in the postmortem of an old shoulder injury. Do you know anything about that—a dislocation possibly?”
Mia’s brow furrowed as she cast her mind back. “No. I ... I can’t recall anything like that.”
Angie came to her feet. “Thank you for your time, Mia. You’ve been a great help. If you do remember anything else, could you please call me?”
