AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Murfreesboro Road, Franklin, 10:30 a.m.
Houser was waiting at the gate when Finley arrived. She entered the code, and the two of them drove down the driveway and parked near the house. This was her way of showing her appreciation for that visit to the lab. Truth was, she would have done it anyway. Houser was one of those people whose good side she wanted to stay on.
The opportunity to witness his reactions to Cagle’s office and murder board was a fringe benefit.
“It’s hard to believe this place has been sitting here for thirteen years,” he commented as Finley got out of her car.
“I guess Louise just couldn’t deal with handling the closure. Then she disappeared. There wasn’t anyone else, so the responsibility would have fallen to some attorney, if the family had one.” Really, Finley got it. The idea, at the time, had likely felt overwhelming. The more time that passed, the easier it became to just leave everything as it was.
Houser surveyed the place. Shook his head. “I had no idea it was standing here empty.”
“Only empty of people,” Finley pointed out. “All the things that belonged to the Cagles—even the most private stuff—is still there, just like they left it.”
“That’s bizarre.”
Finley nodded. “Like a museum no one visits.”
She had been guilty of keeping her house that way for a very long time as well. Derrick’s clothes had remained in the closet. Every little thing had stayed in place—even the Fourth of July decorations they’d put up just before Derrick was murdered. It had taken more than a year for her to move on. She could see how Maureen Downey simply hadn’t been able to deal with what was left behind.
“You mind if we walk through the whole house?”
Finley pushed aside the painful thoughts. “Not at all. I have some time before my noon meeting.”
She unlocked the front door and showed him around the first level. Like her, he was surprised at the lack of clutter and said as much. Again, Finley noted how tastefully done the home was. Upstairs she did a little more looking in Louise’s and Lucy’s rooms. Not that she expected to find anything she’d missed, but it kept her busy while Houser wandered around.
When he was satisfied he’d seen everything he needed to in the house, they moved on to the garage. Finley saved the best, Louise’s home office, for last. They both spent some time going over Lucy’s car, which had been returned to the family once the lab had completed its forensic work. Then did the same with Louise’s and her husband Scott’s.
“The last time anyone saw Louise Cagle,” Houser said, “was when she left her office on Thursday, November twenty-third. The security guard remembers wishing her a happy Thanksgiving. The detectives searched her office thoroughly, went through every piece of paper and found nothing that gave any indication whatsoever of where she’d gone or why she’d abruptly left. The same was said about the house. They came, they looked, they found nothing.”
Being here, seeing all the family’s things, pained him. The hurt was palpable in his voice. He really had lived with this hanging over his head all this time. Finley hoped whatever answers they found would give him closure. No one appreciated the importance of closure more than she did.
“Come on.” Finley headed for the walk-through door that led from the garage into the backyard. “I’ll show you the really interesting part.”
He followed her to the small brick building that may or may not have been original to the property. It seemed to have been built from the same brick, but whatever its original purpose, Louise Cagle had turned it into the perfect escape for her work at home. Why had she left all the work she’d done on Lucy’s case behind as well? Had she gone off somewhere and just ended her life?
As sad as that idea was, it was the only one that really made any sort of sense.
Inside, Houser took his time looking around. As he moved into the back section of the one-room structure, he gave a long, low whistle.
Finley asked, “There was no mention of this, no photos, nothing in the case file?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. I can only assume she started the board a week or so after Lucy’s murder. The police would have already been here and gone.” He pointed to the annotation about a follower. “I wish we had more on that.”
“Me too.” Finley watched as he surveyed the board from one end to the other. He paused on the photo of his much younger self.
“Damn. That’s unnerving.”
“Why do you suppose she put your photo on the board?”
He stared at the floor a moment before meeting her gaze. “I wasn’t happy when Lucy moved on. I called a few times. Showed up at her door and spoke angrily to her.” He shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. “No one is more ashamed about that than me. I was young. Stupid.”
Full of hormones, Finley thought.
“She was smart to question you,” Finley said. “Any investigator worth his or her salt would have done the same.”
“She believed me,” he said, his eyes telling Finley he desperately wanted her to believe him too. “That’s why she didn’t give my name to the detectives on the case.”
A logical explanation. “Okay. She believed you.”
