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"We don't know yet," Morgan said, her tone gentle. "That's what we're trying to find out. But we need to know everything you can tell us about Melissa – her activities, her routines, her friends. Anything that might help us piece together what happened."
Tessa nodded, slowly regaining some control over her emotions. "Okay, I'll tell you everything I know."
"Can you tell me when you last saw Melissa?" Morgan asked.
"Last night," Tessa whispered, fighting to maintain her composure. "She said she was going out to take photos for some project she was working on."
"What project?"
"I don't know the details. I didn't ask her a lot about her work. She was such a sweet person, just a little...odd sometimes, but who isn't? She was into some strange things, though. Her photography could be downright creepy."
"Creepy, how?" Morgan probed, leaning forward slightly.
"Dark stuff," Tessa replied, shuddering involuntarily. "She loved capturing morbid images – abandoned places, taxidermy animals, that sort of thing. It freaked me out, to be honest."
Right. Derik had mentioned that.
"Can you show me some of her photography?" Morgan asked, curiosity piqued by Tessa's description.
"Sure," Tessa said hesitantly, pulling out her phone. She quickly found Melissa's social media account and handed the device to Morgan. "Here, this is her page."
Morgan scrolled through the images, her eyebrows furrowing as she took in the disturbing scenes. There were photographs of taxidermy animals positioned in eerie tableaus, decaying buildings with a sense of foreboding that seemed to reach out from the screen, and other haunting images filled with darkness. Even though they were just pictures, Morgan felt a chill run down her spine.
Derik mentioned her photography, but seeing it like this... Morgan mused, wondering if this macabre imagery had anything to do with Melissa's murder. She handed Tessa back the phone. "Thank you for showing me this, Tessa. It might help us understand more about what happened."
"Of course," Tessa replied, looking relieved to have her phone back in her possession. "I just hope you can find who did this to her. She didn't deserve any of this."
"Did Melissa have any stalkers or people she was uncomfortable with? Anyone who might have fixated on her because of her photography?" Morgan asked, considering the possibility. "You mentioned something about 'superfans.' Was there anyone specific who bothered her?"
"Not specific, no," Tessa said. "Mel said there were some superfans of her work who'd DM her or even try to meet her. She didn't post what she looked like often, so even though she was really pretty, she seemed to avoid those kind of stalkers, you know what I mean..."
Morgan shuddered. She knew exactly what Tessa meant; the type of men who hunted and preyed, or created delusional fantasies in their minds, parasocial relationships with those they didn't know in real life.
"But she had major fans of her work," Tessa went on. "I don't know, though, she never mentioned feeling unsafe with her following or anything like that."
Morgan considered Tessa's words, realizing that finding a connection between Melissa's online presence and her murder wouldn't be easy. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something lurking beneath the surface.
"Would you mind if I take a look at Melissa's room?" Morgan asked, hoping to find any clues that might help her understand the victim better.
"Sure, I guess it doesn't matter now," Tessa said, leading Morgan down a short hallway and opening a door. The room felt like stepping into a different world, with its unique artwork adorning the walls and eclectic mix of furniture pieces. The air held a certain energy to it, as if the artistic chaos was a reflection of Melissa's own mind.
Morgan scanned the room carefully, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. She examined each piece of art, noting the dark themes that seemed consistent throughout. It made her wonder if Melissa's fascination with morbidity had played a role in her death, but she knew better than to jump to conclusions too quickly.
As she continued her search, she checked for journals or diaries, hoping to find some insight into Melissa's thoughts and relationships. However, she found nothing useful – just more evidence that Melissa was a normal twenty-four-year-old woman with a passion for strange photography.
As Morgan was about to leave the room, her attention was drawn to a small notebook on the desk. It appeared to be a sketchbook, filled with drawings and notes in Melissa's handwriting. Curiosity getting the better of her, Morgan picked it up and opened it to the first page.
It was filled with intricate sketches of decaying buildings and taxidermy animals, just like the photographs on Melissa's social media. As she continued flipping through the pages, she noticed a shift in the style of the drawings. They were still dark and somewhat macabre, but there were also pictures of a couple – the male figure with a shock of unruly hair and the female with a shy smile and long red hair. Morgan assumed it was Melissa and her boyfriend, but something about the way the drawings were done made her pause.
The drawings of the couple were obsessively detailed, with the male figure in particular standing out. It was as if Melissa had been studying him in minute detail, capturing every nuance of his appearance – the curve of his jaw, the way his hair fell in his face, the shape of his eyes. It made Morgan feel uneasy, and she wondered if Melissa had been fixated on this man in some way.
More unnervingly, as she looked at another page, she saw a picture of the man, doodled next to a bird of some kind--a bird with an array of colored feathers, including orangey red feathers.
Morgan's mind instantly went back to the crime scene, recalling the feather left in Melissa's hair, the one that perfectly matched her hair color.
"Do you know who this might be?" Morgan asked Tessa.
Tessa came over, a frown between her brows. "Oh, that... that's Chet," she said. "He's a bartender up the road. Melissa said she had a crush on him, but I didn't know she was this... obsessed."
