Page 71 of Little Hidden Fears

“Why do you think Noelle went out of her way to find Dawn? I’m assuming she didn’t do the same for any of the other women.”

Another glance out the window and then, “No, she didn’t, and I’ve asked myself the same question many times. The situation with Dawn was unusual.”

“In what way?”

“When she first got here, Noelle thought she’d seen her somewhere before.”

“Even if that’s true, it still doesn’t explain why she’d hire someone to find her.”

“I agree, and I should add, part of me suspected there was more to it—something Noelle wasn’t telling me.”

It made me wonder whether Noelleknewwhere she’d seen Dawn before, and for whatever reason, hadn’t admitted it.

“What made you feel Noelle was keeping something from you?” I asked.

“Most of the time, when Noelle tried to get one of the women to speak their truth, admit who was hurting them, she did so in a calm, nonaggressive way. With Dawn, she pushed a lot harder.”

“Do you think it was because of how badly she’d been beaten?”

“Maybe, I don’t know.”

“The private investigator she hired should have given Noelle a file folder with his findings, even if he didn’t locate Dawn. You wouldn’t happen to have it or know where it is, would you?”

She interlaced her fingers over the top of her desk, giving the question some thought. “I don’t know anything about a file he may have given her, but since you’re here, let’s go check Noelle’s office.”

We stood and walked across the hall.

Barbara unlocked the door, and we stepped inside. She closed her eyes, breathing in a lungful of air. “I haven’t been inhere since ... you know, prior to Noelle’s death. I still remember the last time I was in here, talking to her. It was the day of the murder. She stopped by to grab something she needed for Zoey’s engagement party.”

“When people die, I always find rooms like these to be like time capsules. You almost don’t want to touch or change anything.”

“We won’t, not right now. As far as I’m concerned, this is still her office.”

Barbara walked to the other side of the desk, pulled the top drawer open, and riffled through it, taking things out and setting them on the desk. On her fifth try, she said, “Hey, I think I found something.”

She pulled out a file folder out and opened it, nodding.

Sure enough, it was a summary of the investigation.

“Here you are,” she said, handing it over. “I hope this helps.”

CHAPTER 27

I was standing in the office kitchen, talking to Simone and Hunter about where we were in Noelle’s murder investigation.

“If any of the guests who were still there at the end of Zoey’s engagement party are involved in Noelle’s murder, I can’t find any proof of it,” Simone said. “No one I’ve talked to seemed suspicious to me, at least.”

“Have you spoken to everyone?” I asked.

“Yep, and they all seemed fine to talk to me about what they remembered from that night.”

“Were there any new details, anything someone remembered that we didn’t know before?”

“None whatsoever.”

It wasn’t what I was hoping to hear.

“Did you take a look at the photos I gave you?” I asked.

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