“Did he break up with her, or she with him?” May asked.
“Well, they broke up twice,” Mrs. Darlington said. “The first time, she said she was tired of being pushed around and she promised that she wasn’t going back to him, but of course she did. Then a few weeks later, he dumped her. And to make it worse, he started dating one of her friends, Candace Holliday.”
“Go on,” May said.
“Candace actually ended up being prom queen. But that’s beside the point. The point was that Alyssa felt mad about the whole situation. She thought she’d been treated unfairly. She thought he was a user, and that others needed warning about that."
May thought this was interesting and important.
"Did she ever talk about that to you? Was she planning to do anything or tell anyone?"
"She just said he was a jerk and that he should get what was coming to him. I warned her that revenge can be a double-edged sword, and she then said that was true and she agreed, because if he knew she’d caused trouble, he would make sure there was payback."
May caught Owen’s astonished glance at her, out of the corner of her eye. This was very significant. Had there been payback?
"Did she say anything else?" May asked.
"We didn’t speak about it again. She didn’t always tell me what was going on in her life, although we were fairly close. I think she would have left it. But now, I am wondering."
"Did she suspect he might be violent? Did she ever mention to you that he had been violent or abusive, or threatening, to her?"
“She mentioned something one time about his past. We were having a mother-daughter argument at the time because she’d gotten back home way after her curfew. And I can’t remember exactly what she said, but it was something along the lines of how I should just back off because she was doing just fine, she was staying out of trouble, she hadn’t messed up in life the way Miles had.”
May thought, from what Mrs. Darlington was saying, that there might be more to this.
“Was there anything else troubling Alyssa in the past couple of weeks? Anything that she told you, or didn’t tell you, or that you picked up?”
Mrs. Darlington thought carefully about that.
“Nothing comes to mind at all,” she said.
"Thank you," May replied. "I really appreciate that you’ve been able to tell us so much.”
She never knew what to say at the end of an interview like this. Even the most heartfelt words of sympathy were surely going to seem empty compared to the extent of the bereavement this mother was coping with. But even so, she had to try.
“We’re all so torn up about this. I can’t imagine what you’re enduring. Please understand we are going to work as hard as we can to solve this crime and find out what happened.”
"I appreciate that," Alyssa’s mother said, now in tears all over again thanks to May’s kind words.
They got up and walked out, quietly and respectfully. May blinked hard when she was outside in the bright sun again. This emotional interview had been important. It had presented them with a potential killer, who might have had a motive for revenge, and might also have past issues that were relevant.
Miles Taylor had reason to resent Alyssa. There had been complicated issues between them, probably more so than she knew, especially if Alyssa had made good on her threats of payback.
On prom night, seeing his new girlfriend crowned as prom queen, there was a definite chance that Alyssa might have done what she promised, and disaster could have followed.
Miles Taylor was a strong suspect and she and Owen needed to speak to him as soon as they could.
CHAPTER SIX
Sadie Croft walked along the track by the lake, pulling her thick, auburn hair over her face, wanting to hide from the world.
She felt hungover, tired, and shocked after the murder at the post-prom party which she'd heard about as she had left.
She hadn't known Alyssa well, and could not imagine what could have happened to cause this, or how it had felt for her. She felt sad for her, and terribly guilty, too.
What if someone had gotten high on her stash and that was why they'd done what they did to that girl? Had Sadie's actions at the party put Alyssa into an early grave?
She felt cold suddenly, and goose bumps prickled on her skin.