Page 140 of Forever Gone

Selena studied her for a few seconds. “You saved Deb and me.”

“I should’ve reached you sooner.”

“You were at the back because I sent you there. The deadbolt delayed you. None of that belongs to you.”

Kelly accepted the statement with a small nod, though Selena could not tell whether she believed it.

“What’s happening with Carol Fen?” Selena asked.

“They took her off the ventilator yesterday. She’s awake and talking.”

“Has she confessed?”

“Not formally. She admitted going to Deb’s house and said the other women deserved what happened. Then she tried to tear out an IV and struck a nurse.”

Selena frowned. “Is the nurse all right?”

“Bruised forearm. Nothing broken. Carol’s in restraints now, with two deputies outside the room. She became more violent after they told her Deb survived. I think she’s furious Deb made it.”

“She didn’t finish what she started.”

“She keeps asking whether Deb has spoken to us.”

Kelly opened the folder.

“The Commonwealth’s Attorney expects three murder charges and attempted murder for Deb. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is reviewing federal attempted-murder and assault charges for what she did to you. Both cases can move once she’s medically fit for arraignment.”

“What about the evidence?”

“The knife from Deb’s cellar is consistent with the wounds on Karen, Ruth, and Linda. The lab hasn’t finished the full comparison, but blood from all three victims was found in seams around the handle and sheath.”

Selena pictured Carol carrying the knife beneath her blouse while Deb tried to make dinner conversation.

Kelly continued, “Her laptop contained archived HearthSpace messages, searches for all four women, saved maps, and copies of property records. And get this, Karen’s stolen storage papers were in her case packet. The missing box contained divorce correspondence, old account paperwork, and a printed confirmation for the Montgomery rental. Carol used the break-in to find Karen’s new address before following her out to the cabin. That closes the burglary. The packets give us surveillance dates going back almost eight months.”

“Linda’s packet cleared up the barn, too,” Kelly said. “Carol had marked the meeting point on Talon Road, the track into the woods and the barn.”

Selena pictured the route. “She parked there before Linda arrived.”

“That’s our reconstruction. Price thinks he can match the tires of Fen’s car to some of the imprints found there.”

“And Blethan?”

“His final blood-pattern work supports Linda being attacked while she was sitting behind the wheel.”

Selena nodded. “So Carol kills her, walks back to her own car and leaves.”

“Taking Linda’s phone with her. It still hasn’t been recovered, but Carol marked the creek beside the bridge on the same map.”

“She threw it in on the way back.”

“That’s what we believe.”

Kelly turned another page. “Karen and Ruth’s phones were never recovered either. Carol must have destroyed them.”

Selena understood. “The HearthSpace messages.”

“That’s our read. The phones were the quickest route into those private conversations. Taking them couldn’t erase HearthSpace’s records, but it kept us from opening a handset and finding MorningGlory44 straight away.”