Page 35 of Half Baked

“You’d be surprised. It’s worth checking out.” He took the bag and laid it on the console. “What’s next?

I grabbed the next envelope. It was slightly bigger with similar markings. Inside was a torn piece of lined notebook paper with chunky handwriting.

Meet me in your room at 8:30, and I’ll tell you everything.

I turned it around to show Noah, my heart beating rapidly. I felt like I was going to throw up. “This was premeditated.”

His lips pressed together as he read the note. “Not necessarily, but it’s compelling. For what it’s worth, I’ve always suspected as much, but this helps solidify my suspicions. I don’t suppose you recognize the handwriting?”

I shook my head and handed it to Noah.

There was one last envelope. I pulled it out and saw a chunky gold chain with a bird pendant. The clasp was still attached, but the chain had broken. Dried blood covered some of the links.

My mother’s blood.

I swallowed the bile rising in my throat.

Noah gently placed a hand on my arm. “Maddie, it’s only going to get harder from here on out.”

I couldn’t look at him, my gaze was locked on the broken chain. “I know.”

“You don’t have to be involved in everything,” he continued. “I can investigate on my own and keep you updated on what I find. I won’t hide anything from you, I promise.”

I was tempted to accept his offer. This was harder than I’d expected, although I wasn’t sure why. Of course I couldn’t investigate her death as a neutral observer. She was mymother, the person who’d held me when I was little, snuggled with me in bed, and orchestrated movie nights and dance parties. I had countless happy memories with her up until a few months before her murder.

I’d gone so long with nothing, and now I finally had evidence literally sitting on my lap. It was killing something in my soul, but as much as it hurt, I couldn’t walk away. I owed it to my mother to be part of this investigation, and also to myself. After so many years on the see-saw of uncertainty, I needed closure. I had to know who killed her and why. And while I knew Noah was dedicated to solving her murder, no one could be more dedicated than me.

I lifted my gaze to his. “No, I’m not walking away from this.”

He studied my face, then tipped his head in acknowledgment. “Okay, but if it’s ever too much, or even just part of it is too much, don’t hesitate to tell me you need to sit it out.”

I didn’t respond, and he added, “I won’t hide things from you, Maddie. I know everyone who’s been part of this investigation has kept things from you. I won’t do that.” Resolve filled his eyes. “I’m in this with you. But if this skinny man freaked out Bergan and Pitcavage, you should be afraid of him too.”

“But not you?” I countered.

“I’m respectfully cautious,” he said carefully. “I don’t intend to rush into anything. We have these pieces, but we still don’t know how they fit together.”

He was right. We didn’t have an obvious next step.

“Don’t get discouraged,” he said. “We’ll figure it out.” He glanced at the dashboard. “For now, I need to get you back to your car so you can get home.”

My gaze followed his to the radio. It was close to six, and I hadn’t told Mallory I’d made this field trip to Galena. I pulled out my phone and sent her a quick text telling her I was going to be late and would explain everything when I got home.

I put the first two bags back in the box as Noah pulled away from the shoulder, but I couldn’t bring myself to let go of the bag with the necklace.

We drove in silence until we were almost to Cockamamie. I was mulling over what we’d discovered, trying to imagine how my mother’s blood had gotten on the chain.

“I’m going to make some calls tomorrow morning,” Noah finally said as we approached the Cockamamie city limits. “I’ll see if the crime lab has anything from your mother’s case.”

“What about DNA?” I asked. “Surely there’s some of the killer’s DNA on the necklace.”

“True, but there’s no chain of custody, and we only have Bergan’s statement saying it was found in your mother’s hand. We both know he’ll never admit to it. And even if hedidadmit it, it would never hold up in court. DNA could have been planted. And even ifthatcould be overlooked—and it couldn’t—I’d have to get the case reopened before I can send it off for analysis. This case is nineteen years old, and it would take months to get the DNA results back. That’s if the state approves the expense. I think we’re better off leaving it closed so we can find out as much as possible before I make a case for reopening it.” He paused. “Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah, but what about one of those mail-in tests?” I asked. “You know, like 23andMe?”

“I doubt the killer’s the kind of guy who’d use something like that,butit could help narrow the results down to his family. However, there are a couple of problems…” He ran a hand over his head. He looked exhausted in the dim lighting from the dashboard. “One, they use saliva, and we have blood. I’m not sure they’d run it. Second, they’d have to isolate his DNA from your mother’s, and they’d have to get it off the chain. That’s if his DNA is even on there. I suspect most of the blood is your mother’s.”

“Yeah,” I said, swallowing bile and trying not to think about the fact I was holding an evidence bag with my mother’s dried blood in it. “You’re right.”

---