Page 63 of Little Stolen Memories

Why?

Valerie was going out of her way to cover herself up.

Why?

I thought about the bruises Aubree told Cora she’d seen on Jackson’s shoulder and back.

Had he been abused by Ray?

If so, had Valerie also suffered from abuse, and was she being abused now?

My mind was teeming with various possibilities.

Perhaps Ray hadn’t wanted Simone in the house because he worried she’d see signs of his violent behavior. I imagined photos strategically placed on the wall, photos that covered up the places where Ray had used his fist to take out his aggression.

My mind wandered even further.

Was Valerie wearing sunglasses because it was sunny out? Or were the sunglasses in place to conceal a shiner, and the clothes covering almost every inch of her body to hide bruises, signs she was a battered woman.

“Georgiana, are you listening to me?” Simone asked.

Hearing my name snapped me back into reality.

“Sorry, I got a bit fixated on your description of Valerie,” I said. “Keep going. I won’t lose focus again.”

“I was saying we talked about basic stuff at first. I figured it would be easier to talk about the heavier stuff if I tried to get to know them and what their life has been like over the last twenty years. That’s how I learned about the car dealership and Ray’s role in the company. In his words, he said the last twenty years have been the best of his life.”

“Did you believe him?”

“I believe they may have been the best years of his life, but I doubt it’s been the same for her. Jackson was an only child. He was two years old when his parents divorced. Ray and Valerie met about ten years later, and they’ve been together ever since.”

That would make Jackson twelve years old when Ray entered their lives, and no doubt changed the course of it forever.

“Once you got the initial conversation out of the way, were you able to talk about the investigation?” I asked.

Simone reached for her coffee. “For a few minutes. I asked if they had an opinion about the person responsible for the cabin murders.”

“And what did they say?”

“Ray wasted no time throwing Xander’s name out, saying he always thought he was to blame. He said the whole town knew Xander was a suspect. There were rumors swirling around town about Xander and how he’d been teased at school by some of the boys on the football team.”

“I wonder if they knew about Xander being tied to the tree?”

“If they did, they didn’t mention it. They knew about the prank calls some of the girls in school had been receiving.”

It was possible what had happened to Xander in the park wasn’t public knowledge. He’d downplayed it after it happened, making me wonder if the police had also decided to keep it quiet. It made sense. Had everyone in town known about the incident, I had no doubt they would have pushed for Xander to be blamed for the murders whether he had an alibi or not.

“Is there anything else I should know about your visit?” I asked.

Simone gave the question some thought. “I asked if there were any details they may have forgotten to mention during the initial investigation. Ray said no.”

“You said Ray did most of the talking. Did Valerie say anything?”

“I was just about to tell you … toward the end of the conversation, Valerie asked Ray to get her a glass of water. He was reluctant. I could tell he didn’t want to leave her side, but he did. As soon as he was out of sight, I slipped her our business card and told her to call us any time, for any reason. She thanked me.”

“Did she say anything else?”

“She said she loved her son, and that she missed him. She started to say something else, but before she could get the words out, Ray was back with her glass of water. Got himself one too. Nothing for me, though. Jerk.”

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