The Woman in the Letter

PART 40

IAN

Her hands were wrinkled and full of spots. She has fallen into a void. You could tell by the look on her face what she was thinking. What will I do now?

Ian had seen these helpless looks many times before.

He looked at Sam first. Ian did not want to be the first to break the silence in the room. He couldn't find a word to say to the old woman. But he also knew that he had to start somewhere before it is too late.

"No matter how much we understand your loss, we will never really understand how you feel right now," Ian finally dared to talk to Katherine's mother. Ian was always very careful with older women. They are fragile. He always paid attention to what he said when he spoke to them, thinking that they would be broken by a wrong word. "But I can promise you we'll find her killer."

Seeing her body trembling as she breathed, Ian was afraid she would say something wrong.

"What will this change?" she said. The old woman was still staring at the ground with her head down. "Nothing will bring my daughter back"

Ian did not say anything.

Katherine's mother asked, "How can I help you?", placing her hands on her knees. Her hands were still shaking. There was a noticeable squeak in his voice but didn't bother anyone.

"Is there anyone you think is a suspect in the murder of Mrs. Katherine?"

"We are not important people to have an enemy, son. We lived on my daughter's salary and my pension. I can not doubt anyone. But the only enemy can be a divorced husband. But..." she opened her hands. "If he wanted to kill my daughter, he would have done so long ago. And as far as I heard, he seems to be in Turkey now... I don't know"

"Who else could it be? Any relative or acquaintance who does not like Katherine or has something in common with Katherine?" Ian asked.

"We have no relatives. I have one daughter and me. And now I have no one" Her lips were trembling. "They took her from me". When she began to cry, Ian took the napkin from the table and handed it to the old woman. The sparse white hair fell in front of her forehead in sweat.

She wiped away his tears and took a deep breath. After waiting for her to calm down, Ian asked the next question:

"So .. Paul... What about Paul Abrams? Did Ms. Katherine know him? "

"Paul?" The woman's eyes widened. "You mean the boy who died a few months ago?"

"Yes." Ian rolled his eyes and looked at the woman. "Did you know him?"

Katherine's mother's glance changed. She started looking at the wall, not Ian.

Ian waited patiently for the old woman to gather herself.

"Mrs. ..." he said, trying to get the woman's thoughts back into the room. "Did you or your daughter know Paul Abrams?"

She remained silent for a moment and said, "No ... No. My daughter was acquainted with him in the scope of work. I heard his name several times, but I didn't know him personally. "

Katherine's mother's answer was not sincere to Ian. It was as if the woman had refused for some reason.

"I'm sorry. Now I ask this question because I think your mind is distracted. Are you sure you don't know Paul? "

This time the woman said firmly, "Yes. I don't know. As I said, he was one of my daughter's acquaintances. After her death, my daughter told me that they knew her from work. He seemed to have committed suicide. My daughter also told me that he did not look like someone who would commit suicide. "

Ian knew that it was wrong to say anything to a woman without clarifying it. He also felt that the woman did not give him the necessary answers and hid something.

"But in general, haven't you felt anything different lately?"

"Like what?"

"For example, Katherine has been different lately or I don't know... Didn't she behave strangely? Didn't you notice any change in your daughter? "

The old woman thought for a moment. "I would say no. But lately, she seemed a little thought but just as active. She had fallen a lot after her divorce. She had no desire for anything. But lately, she was like resurrected. She was very exciting. Like She was constantly thinking about something. But that didn't seem like a disturbing thought"

"What about any change? Or do you remember any unusual event that he told you?"

"Katherine shared very little with me. She was closed inside. She was afraid to express his emotions. He always liked to draw boundaries between people "

"Didn't you ask your daughter about this change?"

"Katherine was a girl who lived in her inner world. It was very difficult to tell whether it was good or bad. And wherever she went, I always knew where she would be" There was a sad smile on her face when she looked at the space. "it was enough for me to secretly look at her agenda," she said.

"Which agenda?"

"Little notebook, she used to write down the meetings, places she has to go or tasks she has to do"

"Can we look at that notebook?" Ian asked eagerly.

"Of course," she said, trying to get up. Sam quickly approached and helped the woman. Not long after, the woman returned with a big blue book in her hand. Ian got up, took the notebook from the woman's hand, and began to turn the pages eagerly.

"Sometimes it seemed that when I said I would be home late, I would look at this notebook and it would say where she was"

Ian reviewed the writing on the page. He was looking for Paul's name on any page. It started from the beginning. He was impatient to quickly review all the short notes he had written.

14:45 beauty salon, 16:00 Aytaj's birthday, 09:30 quickly passed the records as a pediatrician.

Sam asked, "Why she would write in a notebook, not on the phone?"

"Katherine was very forgetful. She wrote in such a notebook that she knew that there was such a thing that she has to look at. She always looked at the notebook before nightfall. There were things she forgot when she recorded on the phone or elsewhere. "

When Ian reached the last pages, he could not find Paul or anything related to him.

"I don't think he'll say anything here," Sam whispered under his breath.

Ian finally stopped flipping through one of the pages.

November 16 at 12:00 p.m.

"This ... This date" Ian whispered.

Samir approached him a little and tried to understand what he was saying.

Ian took the phone out of his back pocket and quickly dropped it on the call list. When he stopped on November 16, the fatigue on his face suddenly disappeared. Her voice trembled when she looked at Sam and said, "It can't be."