Page 59 of The Fragile Ones

“Katie?”

She stopped and turned to see John standing there. “Hi.”

“I have duplicates of the small photo album pages that ended up in the evidence from Rock Creek,” he said, and turned back into the exam room.

“Oh.” She moved closer to the entrance and waited.

“Here you go. I thought it might help with things.”

“Yes, thank you,” she said, taking the manila envelope.

“See ya,” he said, and disappeared into the forensic lab.

Suddenly revived, Katie burst into the office, tossing her stuff on the desk. She tore open the envelope and pulled out photocopies of the pages in the album.

“Hello is usually acceptable,” said McGaven.

“I’m sorry, hi.”

She opened the file inside, tossing the folder to the side.

“What is that?”

“John gave us copies of the photo album. Grainy. The brightness and contrast are okay.”

McGaven moved closer.

“I knew it,” she said.

“What?”

“Look at this.” She put the paper flat on the desk so he could see. “It appears that Mrs. Mayfield wrote on the photos the names of the people she recognized, just like we asked.”

“Yeah. And?”

“It’s all in capital letters, but her suicide note was in cursive and with a different slant to the letters.”

“You’re assuming thatshewrote on these photos.”

“I am. Look at the letters neat, orderly, almost exactly identical. That’s how she dressed and kept the house. It just fits her.” She looked at McGaven then sighed. “You’re right, we need to have this writing compared to something else that she had written. Okay.” She got up to pin the photos to the board.

There were four photos with Mrs. Mayfield’s writing:

Tessa & Megan Mayfield(smiling sisters)

Mr. & Mrs. Mayfield 2009(the couple looked happy but Mr. Mayfield turned his face towards Mrs. Mayfield to give her a kiss making it difficult to see him clearly)

Mack and Cyndi Mayfield 1992 (grandparents; since deceased)

Housewarming Party Guests (ten years ago) Me, Chief Ricky Osborne, Brad Mason, Darren, and ?(unknown).

Katie strained to see Whitney Mayfield clearly, but it was tricky. When they ran his background, nothing came up. Mayfield was clearly an alias, not his real name.

“Does it bother you that the chief is in this photo?”

“Maybe it was him who moved the album and had his officers include it as evidence?”

“But why?” she said. “To cover something up? Throw us off the trail? Or to help us without others knowing?” Frustration filled Katie.