Page 39 of Eden

“Anyway, you didn’t answer me,” Louise said, and Bethenny lifted her eyes.

“Pardon?” Bethenny asked, her eyebrows weaving together. Hadn’t they been talking about her son?

Louise nodded toward Lachlan again. “What’s he like?”

“Oh, he’s a good detective. He’ll find Jessica’s killer,” Bethenny said, and she believed every word.

Louise looked at her for a long second. “Good,” she said, then looked away. It seemed she had finally run of things to talk about.

Bethenny returned her attention to the grass. She walked the fence line multiple times but didn’t see anything unusual. She stepped onto the deck and looked over the fence. She could see into Jessica’s backyard now and, interestingly, straight into the photography studio window.

“Were you home on Saturday evening?” Bethenny asked.

Louise tilted her head to the side, her eyes narrowing. “Yes, I was here alone,” she said. “Why?”

“Did you hear anything unusual?” Bethenny asked, even though she knew the neighbors had already been questioned by police.

“No. She had music blaring, as she always did. That’s the only thing I heard. Didn’t see or hear anything,” she said, dismissively.

Bethenny nodded, her attention returning to Lachlan, who was looking rather closely at the fence.

She moved toward him, but his interest in the fence didn’t wane.

“Anything to note?” she asked as she approached.

“Yeah. Look at the dirt and dust on this fence. I’d need forensics to confirm, but I don’t think anyone has touched the top of this fence recently. That means, the killer didn’t go over the fence unless he’s an Olympic hurdler. So, he dropped the knife over the fence? Seems odd,” he said, thinking aloud, rubbing his jaw. “Maybe he did it because he knew Louise wasn’t big on yard maintenance and thought the knife would be lost forever. Seems kind of stupid, though... there are a million better places around here to hide a knife. The woods being one of them.”

“Did you notice her front yard is well-maintained, but this grass is a disaster? Even my grass has never gotten this long, and I don’t have many spare weekends to mow it,” she said.

Lachlan looked to her with a lopsided smile. “You mow your own lawn?”

“Well, not often,” she admitted, almost laughing at his amused grin. “What is so funny about that?”

He shook his head slightly, still wearing a grin. “You’re full of surprises—good surprises,” he clarified.

She felt her cheeks warm. Was she blushing? The concept was so unfamiliar to her that she couldn’t be sure. When was the last time a man had made her blush?

Lachlan’s eyes searched hers for a moment before he looked back to the fence. His gaze ran the length of it, and then he peered over it again.

Bethenny did the same, pressing up onto her tiptoes. Jessica’s backyard seemed empty. Not just physically, but spiritually. It felt dead, looked dead.

Death had a way of touching everything around it.

“I wondered if maybe a planter box—or something the killer could step on to hurdle the fence—ran along Jessica’s side of the fence, but no luck,” he said, with a hint of defeat.

“I think the knife was dropped here on purpose,” Bethenny said, listening to her gut. “The note, the knife... It’s like this is a game for the killer. He’s playing with us,” she said, her eyes lifting to the neighboring yard. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s watching us.”

Their eyes met briefly before she resumed scanning the neighboring yards, his gaze following hers.

After a few moments, her eyes returned to 10 Memory Lane.

Or maybe the killer went over the fence because that was the easiest path home.

“Mrs. White, did Jessica have any issues with any of the neighbors?” Bethenny asked, walking toward the house.

The woman shrugged. “Her music annoyed the entire neighborhood, I’m sure. But otherwise she seemed to keep to herself. She was a kind of a loner. She didn’t interact with me, much less anyone else, I don’t think.”

Bethenny nodded, making a mental note to re-interview the neighbor directly behind Jessica’s house.

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