Obsession

Suspect: Chapter 36

The letter had left Gabriel in a state of unrest and distress all evening. He had barely caught a wink of sleep even though Jeremiah had taken the liberty of snapping a picture of the letter and sending it to Regina, explaining to her how they came upon it.

The contents of the letter was equally as disturbing, and Gabriel could not wait for morning to clear. Regina had asked them to bring the original letter into the precinct so that they could make a copy of it and capture the stencilled lettering of Gabriel's name.

Bright and early the next morning, Gabriel and his father arrived at the precinct before the hour of nine. They told the officer at the front desk who they were here to see and within less than a minute, Regina came to meet them. She led them inside her office where she carefully handled the letter they brought, reading the contents of it first as if she could not believe what she read from the screenshot the night before.

She had read it numerous times and still could not seem to fathom the words.

The letter read:

Hello Gabriel.

It has been a while since we have spoken, and it feels like so much longer since I have written to you.

How are you?

I'm doing well, if you were wondering, though I cannot imagine the same for you or that you are happy to hear from me. I will not apologize for my actions. It has never been my intention to cause you distress, but you needed to learn. You needed to learn of the betrayal I felt. But no matter. You have made up your mind and chosen Julian, but it does not mean that I have given up on you. I will continue to fight for your affection until you see me.

I am not angry, at least, not with you.

But I have a confession to make. I wanted your attention, so I got you a present. I left it at Dudley Park on Friday evening. And to think my gift was so great it garnered media coverage...well, it turned out better than I expected.

But did you like my present, Gabriel? Was she not a beauty? Now, Lyssa Isaacs will never again say another word against you. It is alright if you do not accept my gift. I understand that it can be a bit much for some people.

I only wanted you to know of my affection. I wanted all of Shaw to know, and to know how far I would go for you.

Love,

Your Secret Admirer

When Gabriel had first read the new letter, he had no idea what to make of it. But that creeping sensation of fear had once more taken up residence in his mind and heart. His feelings of insecurity within his own home had returned with vengeance and so, he had lain awake throughout the night, and on numerous occasions, gotten up to pace up and down the house like a restless ghost.

The contents of the letter unnerved him a great deal, the same way it unnerved his father, and the same way it unnerved the Sherriff. Regina had read the content over and over again, and now that the original was in her hands, she had decided that she would keep the original. Gabriel did not want the letter anywhere near him or his home, and so, he told her she could do whatever she wanted with it.

Gabriel had watched as she slipped the letter into a Ziploc bag, ripped off a piece of paper masking tape and labelled it as evidence.

"I'm taking this to the crime lab. Whoever wrote this letter confessed to the murder. If we could get the lab to run prints off of the paper, then we might be able to narrow down our search."

Gabriel was interviewed once more. His case that had started off as a possible stalking had taken a turn for the worst and had now become tangled up with murder. Regina could no longer treat Gabriel's case as she had done before and had even suggested that he have a police escort following him around town each time he left the house.