Page 11 of Silent Neighbor

Sheila nodded, making notes in a small notebook. "Can you tell us a bit more about Jake? What did he do for a living? Any hobbies besides climbing?"

"He worked in IT," Maya said, a ghost of a smile touching her lips. "Some big tech company in the city—Reliance something or other. I forget. He was brilliant with computers."

She sighed. "But his real passion was adventure. Climbing, base jumping, extreme sports—anything that got his adrenaline pumping. I... I tried to get him to cut back. Told him it was too dangerous. But he always said he needed it, that his weekend adventures were what made his boring work-week bearable."

"Maya," Sheila said carefully, "I need to ask you something, and I want you to understand that we're exploring all possibilities here. Is there any reason you can think of why someone might want to harm Jake?"

Maya's eyes widened, the implication of Sheila's question sinking in. "Harm him? You mean... Do you think someone did this to him? On purpose?"

"We're not ruling anything out at this stage. Jake's death... there are some unusual circumstances that we need to investigate thoroughly."

Maya shook her head vehemently, fresh tears spilling over. "No, no. Jake didn't have any enemies. Everyone loved him. He was kind, generous. He volunteered at the animal shelter on weekends when he wasn't climbing. Who would want to hurt him?"

Sheila placed a comforting hand on Maya's arm. "We're going to figure this out, Maya. I promise you that. But I need your help. Can you think of anything unusual that happened recently? Any changes in Jake's behavior, new people in his life, anything at all?"

Maya was quiet for a moment, her brow furrowed in concentration. "I... I can't think of anything specific. He'd been a little more withdrawn lately, but I thought it was just stress from work. And there was that group..."

Sheila's ears perked up. "Group? What group?"

"Oh, it's this online thing," Maya said, waving a hand dismissively. "An extreme sports forum or something. Jake was always on it, talking to other adrenaline junkies. I knew that group was trouble."

"Why do you say it was trouble?"

Maya sighed, running a hand through her hair. "They were always pushing each other to do crazier and crazier things. It was like a competition to see who could take the biggest risks. Jake would come home sometimes, all excited about some new stunt someone had pulled off. I hated it. I kept telling him they were going to get him killed one day."

The irony of her words hung heavy in the air.

"Do you know the name of this group?" Sheila asked.

Maya shook her head. "No, sorry. Jake always just called it 'the forum.' But I'm sure it's still open on his computer at home. He was always logged in."

Sheila pursed her lips. "Mind if my partner and I come take a look at that computer?"

---