Page 121 of Forever Gone

"It seems other people gave her that advice first," Selena observed.

Beneath the printed discussion sat four separate packets secured with clips.

The photograph on the first showed Karen outside a grocery store in Loyall. A red line crossed her mouth.

Ruth appeared in the second, leaving her house with a work bag over one shoulder. The same red mark covered her lips.

Linda stood beside her Corolla in the third.

Kelly drew a slow breath. “These are the victims.”

“Photograph everything before we move the pages.”

The packets contained addresses, vehicle details, printed maps, employment records, handwritten observations, and short checklists covering Carol’s preparations for each woman. Each began with fragments copied from the women’s HearthSpace posts, annotated with the details Carol had used to identify them: an employer, a vehicle, a nearby business, or a relative’s name. Karen’s, Ruth’s, and Linda’s files also recorded earlier face-to-face meetings arranged through the platform. Karen’s file contained several personal papers bearing her name and a dated note tracing her drive from Loyall to the Montgomery property. On a printed map of the route, Carol had circled the ruined church near the property and written PARK behind it. Another mark identified the rear of the cabin. Dates corresponding to each murder had been marked at the top of the first three files.

Kelly lifted the edge of the fourth packet after photographing it.

A blond woman stood outside Harry’s Print Shop. Short hair curved around her ears, and a fitted black coat reached her knees. The photograph had been taken from across the street.

Red ink crossed her mouth.

“This is like a god damned manifesto,” Selena said.

“I don’t recognize this woman,” Kelly said. “Another victim?”

Selena spread Carol’s original HearthSpace thread beside the divorce records.

“Maybe Carol believed they didn’t follow her advice,” Kelly said. “Karen left Gerry, but Ruth was still seeing Oliver and Linda considered going back to Phil. She could’ve decided they were weak.”

“I don’t think so. The dates don’t work.” It was starting to come together in Selena’s mind.

Kelly waited.

Selena pointed to the first post. “Carol wasn’t giving advice here. She was asking for it. Karen, Ruth, Linda, and BlueSkies36 pushed her toward divorce.”

“So, she blamed them afterward.”

“Not at first.”

Selena opened the later pages. After mediation, MorningGlory44’s tone changed. Carol began answering other women with the same phrases she had received.

Leave. Protect yourself. Don’t look back.

“She followed their advice,” Selena said. “Then she repeated it because every woman who left made Carol’s own decision easier to defend.”

Kelly examined the progression. “She needed it to be right.”

“Exactly.”

A folded newspaper clipping rested behind the divorce decree. Selena opened it.

The announcement showed Andrew Fen beside a smiling woman beneath a church arch. The wedding had taken place eight months earlier, four days before MorningGlory44 stopped posting publicly.

Carol had circled the date.

Kelly said, “She thinks they destroyed her marriage.”

“Carol destroyed it herself by taking their advice. She just can’t live with that.”