Chapter Twenty-eight
Kate and Cindy went home and began looking through Linda’s social media accounts. They checked email accounts and got passwords for them on a typed list given to them by Vicky.
Kate said, “I’ll start going through her email and you can look through her social media sites.”
Kate went through the email, one by one, line by line. She even went through the deleted items folder and was just as careful in her examination. They would go through her phone again. They had gone through the contact list but they weren’t looking for a lover at the time.
Kate helped Cindy pour through Linda’s social media sites. They were fairly active, with lots of photos and posts about parties and social events that showed Linda present and having fun.
Cindy asked, “Didn’t Vicky say Linda never got out except with her and her husband?”
Kate replied, “That was exactly what she said. But it looks like her social media tells a different story. She appeared to be very social and very visible.”
Cindy said, “Just look at all of the photos there of her with her husband. They looked to be very happy and she doesn’t fit the profile of the lonely stay at home wife at all.”
Kate said, “Have you ever seen someone having an affair, that left no trace anywhere. Not any text messages, no emails, no photos of her with any man except those in the blackmail envelope.?”
Cindy said, “Things aren’t adding up. We have some missing puzzle pieces. We aren’t getting the whole truth.”
Kate and Cindy looked through every social post and found nothing that showed Linda with another man, not even in a friendly form.
They were looking back through all of their material when Megan came home from school.
Megan asked, “Are you two still at it with the safety deposit box?”
Kate replied, “We have taken two steps forward and three steps back. We have found some things but are confused as to what they mean.”
Kate showed Megan what they had, what they found in the safety deposit box which indicated the affair and subsequent blackmail.
Megan looked at the photos and examined it carefully, using a magnifying app on her phone.
Megan asked, “Isn’t your victim a natural blonde?”
Kate replied, “Yes, she was a natural blonde. We went back and checked birth records and baby photos.”
Megan replied, “The woman in this photo is not your victim, she has dark hair and is wearing a wig over it.”
Kate and Cindy grabbed the photo and confirmed the woman in the sexy pose was wearing a wig.
Kate said, “Great job, thank you. How did you know?”
Megan replied, “I have plenty of friends that wear wigs to change their appearance. I can tell and it jumped out at me.”
Kate asked, “Well Megan, have you ever considered a career in law enforcement?”
Megan replied, “I figured I would just find a sugar daddy and live off of him.”
Kate said, “That’s not funny Megan.”
Cindy said, “Your expression kind of was.” Looking directly at Kate.
Kate said, “Now we need to find out who this is in the photo. I guess we need to think about going and getting some dinner.”
Cindy said, “We can go to the West on Centre. It isn’t far from the station and I have been dying to try it, since it is close to work.”
Megan said, “I am game to try it, mom.”
Kate thought she had been out numbered, but Megan helped them make an important discovery and that was worth celebrating.
Kate had everyone load up in her car and she drove back toward where she worked so they could eat virtually a block away from the station. The three women were seated and after they got their meal they sat and talked. Kate tried to keep too much discussion about a case away from her daughter but she seemed to be connected to this case like none before.
Kate said, “Vicky had to know that person in the photo wasn’t her sister. We need to compare the autopsy photos and that photo and see if we can find some differences.”
The three women ate their dinner and talked about the case. They didn’t understand Vicky’s silence nor could they figure out why Linda had the safety deposit box key. They didn’t know how any of this was related to Linda’s murder. After dinner they went back to Kate’s house and resumed looking through social accounts and evidence photos.
Kate put the blackmail photo and the coroner photo side by side and called Cindy and Megan over to look. Kate said, “Look at the difference in the fingernails, the woman in the blackmail photo is at least twenty pounds heavier, starting with her breast size. The woman in the blackmail photo is not Linda Miles. Vicky for some reason wants us to believe that it is.”
Kate said, “Maybe we should look at Vicky’s social media accounts.”
Kate and Cindy combed through the social media sites for Vicky. They noted that Vicky and Linda had a lot of the same friends. Holiday gatherings presented photos of both women together with other family members. It was what would be expected with close sisters. They could not imagine why Linda wound up dead. Motive means a lot in the crime world.
Kate said, “Of the three, means, motive and opportunity, motive is the most critical. In motives the three Ls come into play, Love, Lust and Loot. I put hate as a sub category under Lust.”
Cindy replied, “As far as Loot goes, I think the whole family had plenty of money, I don’t think that was an issue.”
Megan said, “From what I have seen and what I know, I don’t think anyone in that family is capable of love.”
Kate replied, “Okay, Lust it is. Also under lust we have to include jealousy.”
The three continued to look through Vicky’s social media postings. Megan felt like she was included and continued to help and give her opinion.
Megan called the two other women over to look at something she found. When they stood on each side of the computer, Megan said, “Look at those Halloween photos. It is some kind of party Vicky and her sister attended. Do you see Vicky there in that blonde wig?”
Kate said, “Holy crap, that’s her, that is the woman in the blackmail photo.”
Cindy asked, “Do we have any idea what it is that we have discovered?”
Kate said, “We have discovered that it was Vicky that was being blackmailed, but we don’t know why Linda is the one that wound up dead.”
Cindy said, “I guess we will need to go back and talk to Vicky again, she isn’t telling what she knows. I think we need to find as many photos of her in the blonde wig as we can find.”
There were several photos found in the Halloween posting of Vicky in the blonde wig, but they found photos from other events as well. They concluded that Vicky owned a blonde wig and didn’t just rent it from a costume shop. Kate made hard copies of the photos and added them to the folder.
Along with the photos of Vicky wearing the wig, Kate made enlargements showing the woman in the blackmail photo was clearly wearing a wig. She also made enlargements of the blackmail photo fingernails and Vicky’s fingernails, showing the bite marks on the ends.
Kate finally said, “It has gotten late but we have learned much. I suggest we all get some sleep and tomorrow we will go back and talk to Vicky.”