Page 49 of Night Falls on Predicament Avenue
“Who saw her last?” Sebastian asked.
Norah looked at him. “The pharmacist who was working that night. She said that Naomi was in good spirits when she left the pharmacy. She didn’t notice that Naomi’s car was still there when she left, but she had parked in the back of the building and Naomi had parked in the front. The police didn’t find anything in the car to point us in a specific direction. Naomi’s handbag was missing, along with her wallet.”
“Which had her library card in it?” Harper deduced.
Norah drew in a steadying breath. “Naomi never went anywhere without a book. Her library card was as important to her as a credit card to a shopaholic.”
The three shared nervous laughter.
“How long was it before she was found?” Harper’s question was gentle, respectful.
Norah swallowed around the lump in her throat. “Threemonths. A hunter found her in the woods. She had been...” Norah didn’t want to elaborate.
“It’s okay. We can read the report.” Harper exchanged a nod with her father.
Norah shook her head and braved her way through. “Naomi had been strangled. They figured she had been killed shortly after her abduction. No more than two or three days.”
Sebastian had opened a folder and pulled out a sheet of paper. He skimmed it. “No signs of a sexual motive.”
“No.” Norah had thanked God for that. “There was no evidence of assault, at least from what they could tell. She was ... well, it’d been three months.”
“You’re right about LeRoy Anderson.” Sebastian paged through one of the files. “He was a primary suspect.”
“He claimed to be Naomi’s boyfriend—which shocked all of us.” Norah’s admission dredged up the feelings of resentment she’d always harbored toward the man, who was now in his late thirties.
“Why is that?” Harper inquired.
“A few reasons. He was several years older than Naomi, and they had nothing in common. At all. He says they met at the bar of all places, but Naomi wasn’t that careless—she wasn’t even old enough to drink. But the biggest reason is, Naomi didn’t keep secrets from me. So the fact she had a boyfriend was hard for us to reason through.”
“Why was he named a suspect?” Harper’s follow-up question brought an answer from Sebastian.
“According to the file, Naomi was seen talkin’ to him on her break earlier in the evenin’. A witness said she looked upset. An’ later, LeRoy didn’t have a good answer for where he’d been that night.”
“No alibi,” Norah concluded for Harper’s benefit. “He said he was at his apartment by himself, asleep. But there was no one to corroborate it.”
“He must’ve had a motive for the cops to zero in on him.”
Norah felt the color seep from her face. She couldn’t look Harper in the eyes. She couldn’t. It was too close to home. Too real. Too awful.
“That’s gutting,” Sebastian muttered, a stunned look in his eyes when he met Norah’s.
“What?” Harper eased herself off the floor to draw closer to her father. “What is it?”
Sebastian turned the report toward Harper, and Norah looked away, blinking rapidly against the hot tears in her eyes.
“Oh...” Harper’s acknowledgment brought Norah’s face back around. “She was pregnant?” Harper whispered.
“Four months along,” Sebastian said, looking at the report again.
Norah used her shirtsleeve to wipe the wetness from her face. She choked, coughed, and then sniffed back her emotion. “The theory is that LeRoy killed her when he found out Naomi was going to have a baby. But no one could prove it. Ever.”
A low whistle escaped Sebastian, and both Harper and Norah froze at his words. “Nineteen and pregnant. Poor lass. I can see how it gutted all of ya.”
Harper looked away quickly.
Norah dropped her gaze.
There were too many parallels coming up between the then and the now. Norah knew this was going to make it even more difficult for Harper to tell her dad about her baby. It was also going to make it tough for Norah not to feel as though she were reliving parts of Naomi’s life all over again.
