Page 76 of Little Last Words

“I don’t know. She didn’t say. All she said was a guy she’d met at the restaurant she worked at. When I thought back on it later, I realized there was a black truck parked on the street by her house, and Zachary drove a white one at the time. I felt awful about what I’d done. She’d always been so kind to me. I couldn’t believe I’d gotten it so wrong.”

“You’ve answered some of my questions, but not all of them,” I said. “Why didn’t Penelope go to college? Why did she end up traveling instead?”

“Penelope didn’t go to college because we were supposed to be roommates,” Vanessa said. “After what happened at the lake, she no longer wanted to be friends. For years, I tried to reach back out to her and make things right.”

“Did she ever allow you back into her life?” I asked.

“Not before she moved back to Cambria.”

“Had you spoken to her since she’d been back?”

“I tried reaching out.”

“Reaching out how?”

“The week she moved back, I sent her some flowers.”

Flowers.

I thought of the notecard I’d found.

I reached into my bag and pulled out the baggie I’d planned to hand off to Whitlock before I left. I showed it to Vanessa.

“Did the flowers come with this card?” I asked.

Vanessa nodded.

It’s great to have you back. I missed you. It’s time to put the past behind us. Let’s talk.

I’d assumed the note had been sent by a man.

I was wrong.

One mystery solved.

Was I about to solve the second?

Had Vanessa murdered Penelope?

I was certain she was capable of it.

“What happened after she received the flowers?” I asked. “Did she reach out to you at all?”

“I ended up running into her at the grocery store the next day. She came up to me, we hugged, and we made plans to meet up.”

“When?”

“We were supposed to have lunch together the day after she died.”

How convenient.

Whitlock, who had stepped outside to take a call, came back inside, and shooed me over. He whispered something in my ear about Foley wanting him to bring Vanessa and Zachary down to the station right away. Fine by me. I was just about ready to head out. Before I did, I had one last question.

“You never told me why Penelope ended up in Canada, Vanessa,” I said.

“Penelope may have attended college with me if things hadn’t gotten messed up with us, but she never wanted to go to college right away. She wanted to wait a couple of years and take time to explore the world. She just didn’t know how to tell her parents. Come to think of it, what happened between us gave her the push she needed to do what she’d always wanted.”

Vanessa made it sound like some good had come out of what she’d done, like she’d done Penelope a favor.