Page 49 of Little Empty Promises

“My, umm … my mother gave it to me.”

Foley sighed.“I should have known.”

“While I would love to take credit for stumbling upon the notes myself, it was the comments her sister had made that piqued my interest.I figured I’d look inside a few of the books, and that turned into looking inside all of them.”

“I still can’t believe you found what you did.”

“Given Cordelia was a bit of a nosey person in her younger years, I was banking on the fact she was still spying on people.”

Foley pointed at the notebook pages and said, “Aside from these, no other notes were found to suggest she’d been keeping an eye on anyone else over the years, right?”

“Right.Maybe she stopped keeping tabs on people during her marriage to Marlon.When he died, I expect she was bored, looking for a distraction, and her old hobby fit the bill.”

“You looked through every single book?”

“I did.I hit a point where I almost stopped, and I told myself I was wasting my time.At that point, I’d flipped through most of the books, so I made the decision to keep on going.I’m glad I did.If her murder is connected to these notes, they’re our best lead so far.”

Foley patted me on the shoulder.“Well done, Georgiana.”

Whitlock, who’d been leaning against the wall listening to our conversation, perked up.“I can’t say I’m surprised.It’s like I’ve always said—you have talent for this stuff.Always have.”

“After reading through Cordelia’s notes, what are we thinking?”Foley asked.

“The way I see it, one of the neighbors knew she was having a little look-see into their lives.Maybe she threatened to go to the police.Maybe she confronted them, told them she knew about their dirty laundry, and she was prepared to air it.”

“Makes sense.”

“If physical abuse is involved, it seems to me someone may have wanted to shut her up before she had a chance to speak her truth,” I said.“I questioned both neighbors who live on opposite sides of her.I tried speaking with them, anyway.”

“Definetried.”

“I had a conversation with both wives.Rosalyn’s husband was at work, and when Kayla’s husband came home and saw me there, he didn’t want anything to do with me.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not sure.I got the impression he may have mental health issues, though I hesitate to suggest it.I’d feel awful if I’m wrong.”

Foley tapped a pencil to the edge of his desk.“What did the wives have to say?”

“Before I go over those conversations, I want to set the scene and tell you what I could see from inside Cordelia’s house.The view into each neighbor’s home is different.From Cordelia’s bedroom window, I had a perfect view into Rosalyn and Eddy’s bedroom.”

“What about Kayla’s?”

“There’s no view from the bedroom, but through one of the living room windows, I had a somewhat obscured glimpse inside Kayla and Seth’s house.If I had binoculars, it would be an even better view.”

“I see,” Foley said.

“Rosalyn and Kayla both said the notes Cordelia took weren’t about them.”

“Denial, eh?It’s to be expected, don’t you think?”

“I do.”

“The first person I spoke to was Rosalyn.I talked to her earlier this morning, before my discovery, and then a second time after.During both conversations, she seemed nervous, but she strikes me as a nervous person in general.Whether she has something to hide, I don’t know.All I can say for sure is my gut is telling me she does.”

“What did she say to you?”

“It wasn’t so much what she said as what shedidn’tsay.I asked her when her husband would be home from work, and she said she didn’t know.”

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