Page 54 of Little Hidden Fears

It seemed to me there was something else going on with Noelle.

But what?

The facts as I knew them:

Annie had seen blank company checks ripped out of the checkbook.

She’d seen Owen wearing an expensive watch, one he hadn’t worn before.

The company books containing bank statements and so forth had disappeared.

Facts aside, it wasn’t enough to go from speculation to accusation.

“I’m confused about Noelle’s demeanor,” I said. “If she was so upset over Owen’s actions, why would she tell you to lie low?”

“It’s a fair question. She was suggestingItake no action. She wanted me to leave it to her to sort out. She felt certain she could expose Owen without involving me in the process.”

“What was her plan?”

“I don’t know, and at the time, Noelle didn’t know, either. She was going to take some time to think about it. She told me not to worry, even though it’s all I’ve done ever since.”

It was clear to me now why Noelle had discussed the matter with Zoey. She wanted to get a second opinion about what she should do.

“Do you know if Noelle ever confronted Owen or told anyone else what she knew?” I asked.

“I have no idea. When we discussed the matter, she said we shouldn’t speak of it again, to protect me and my position, and we didn’t.”

Based on my interviews with those who knew Noelle, it seemed she’d gone to the grave leaving many of the reasons for her life’s choices unexplained. I wished I could talk to her about the letter she’d written Gabe. I wish I knew whether she’d hired a private investigator to find the missing woman who’d fled the women’s center. And then there was the matter of Owen. Had she questioned him about his potential thievery?

And if so, had she been murdered because of it?

Or was everything I knew so far unrelated to her murder?

Annie stood, slinging her purse over her shoulder. “I should be getting home. You have a dog waiting, and I have three cats.”

“I know how hard it was for you to tell me what you just did, so thank you.”

She nodded and left the office. As I started to gather my things, questions swirling around in my head, the office door opened.

Annie stepped back inside, folder in hand.

“There’s one more thing,” she said. “And I wasn’t going to do this, but now ... well, now it doesn’t seem right if I don’t.”

“Go on.”

“When I was talking about Owen before, you were confused about how I was so sure that he was the one stealing from the company.”

“It’s speculation, and maybe you’re right, but I’m also still hung up on Noelle’s anger over the situation. I’ve heard she was meek in nature, kind, and soft-spoken. So tell me, why was she so riled up? What else was going on in her life at the time? There must have been something making her more agitated than usual.”

“All I can say is I’m doing this for Noelle, even though it worries me.”

“You’re doingwhatfor her?”

“I’ve already told you I caught Owen taking a blank check, and I’ve told you about the watch.”

“You have. Is there something else?”

“There is ... What I haven’t told you is, before Owen hid the books, I made a copy of the checks, to document which numbers were missing. I also made a copy of the financials, anything I couldn’t get to add up. In my opinion, it proves it was him. The handwriting matches up, as you’ll see, and I can confirm it’s his. I’ll give you these copies. All I ask is one thing in return—find the bastard who killed Noelle before anyone else gets murdered.”

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