The Whole Truth

Chapter Six: Adele, 2011

Rose and Adele needed mindless entertainment. Something to while away the hours until the nightmare went away. They watched Netflix and tried to forget about everything. They were only a couple of episodes into How I Met Your Mother when Rose's phone buzzed.

Rose looked at it with a wrinkled brow, as though she didn't recognize the number. Shrugging, she answered. "Hello?" After listening for a bit, she said, "Who?" And then, a moment later, all of the color drained from her face. "Oh my god. Mrs. Rodriguez, I'm so sorry. I didn't recognize the area code."

None of this made sense to Adele, but she watched Rose curiously. Apparently whoever was on the other end of the line had something to do with the murder. Nothing else would rattle Rose that much. Normally she was cool as a cucumber in December, having to calm down Adele's anxiety. But now she was so worked up that she was actually shaking.

"Are you okay?" Adele mouthed to Rose, who turned away.

"They wouldn't tell you anything?" Rose demanded angrily. "Why on earth not?"

A few moments later, she said, "That's ridiculous."

She listened for a little bit longer, and then turned to Adele, her blue eyes widening as if something was just dawning on her. "Um, Mrs. Rodriguez? I know someone who might be able to answer some of your questions."

"No," Adele said too loudly, connecting the dots, and Rose held her finger to her lips.

"Adele, my friend. She's actually... a witness," Rose said into the phone, and Adele wanted to wring her neck. "My friend, Adele. I think I could talk her into speaking with you."

Adele threw her hands up in frustration.

"Three o'clock? Okay, sounds good. Bye, now." Rose hung up the phone and looked at Adele guiltily. "It was Marie's mom."

It was as Adele guessed. Marie had been Rose's "little sister." It was Rose's job to teach her all the ways of the sorority. They spent one whole day tied together at the ankle to build trust. Adele remembered asking Rose how they went to the bathroom, and she said they just tried not to drink anything. They were both dehydrated at the end of the day, but they knew a lot more about each other. Probably more than they needed to.

Rose hadn't divulged all of Marie's secrets, but Adele knew that Marie had a single mom who was most likely dying to get some answers from the police. Adele guessed from all the mysteries she'd read that police wanted to keep some information close to the vest so they could trap the killer into divulging some identifying information when they had him in custody. It seemed strange, though, given the fact that Adele had already seen it all.

"Oh, Rosie," Adele said, moving closer to Rose and putting her arm around her friend's shoulders. "I'm so sorry."

Rose's eyes filled with tears, and Adele knew she had no other option than to go with her to meet Marie's mother. Everyone was in so much pain, and Adele was the closest one to what had happened. She had a duty to talk to Marie's mom. No one else could.

"I just... miss her," Rose said. "She was really going to do something good with her life. Studying science. She wanted to change the world, make it a better place."

If Adele's mind hadn't been made up already, those words did it. Adele hadn't done enough to get to know Marie in life, partially because of jealousy over her growing friendship with Rose, but she could help now.

"I'll go," Adele said, getting up from the bed. She searched her closet for a jacket. Having already showered and changed out of her clothes from that morning, she felt slightly less scurvy.

Slightly.

They walked to the cafe up the street. It was in the opposite direction of the sorority house, and every step Adele took, she ended up feeling a little further away from the nightmare.

When the girls entered the cafe, Adele saw a woman with Marie's dark hair and eyes sitting in the corner, an untouched cup of cappuccino sitting before her. When she noticed them, she half-raised her hand. "Rose!"

Rose awkwardly hugged Mrs. Rodriguez. "I don't know what to say. I just can't believe it."

"Neither can I," replied Marie's mother, shaking her head sadly. Then it seemed she noticed the second girl. She stuck out her hand. "You must be Adele."

Adele gave her a tight smile. "I must be."

The three sat around the table quietly until the waitress took the girls' coffee orders. Adele got the sense that Mrs. Rodriguez didn't want anyone to overhear their conversation. When the waitress went away, she leaned forward.

"What can you tell me about my girl?"

Adele's mind went back to what she saw, the girl with the smashed head and the torn earlobe. How could she expose Marie's mother to that image? Adele knew she would never be able to get it out of her head. How would Marie's mother?

It seemed kinder to lie.

"She was just lying there," Adele said. "She looked peaceful."

Mrs. Rodriguez glared. "Peaceful? Is that what they're calling murdered in a basement these days?"

"N-no," Adele stuttered. "I just meant that she looked like she died quickly. No pain."

(Lies. All lies.)

Turning her gaze to Rose, Mrs. Rodriguez asked, "Why did you bring this girl? She has nothing to tell me. I want answers. I want to know what happened to my baby."

Adele felt for the woman. She really did. But there was no way she was going to tell her how Marie's face was smashed to bits. All Adele could say was what she knew about the killer.

"I don't know what happened," Adele said. "But I saw the guy who did it."

At this, Mrs. Rodriguez perked up. She leaned forward, her eyes wide. "What did he look like?"

Adele shrugged. "He was young. I thought he was wearing a Beta t-shirt, but the police showed me pictures of all the current and recent members. I didn't see him in any of those."

"Beta," Marie's mother said under her breath, then more loudly. "That was Jason's fraternity when he went here."

"Jason?" Rose and Adele asked at the same time.

"My... my ex," she said, looking down at her lap. "We met here in college. Marie wanted to pledge the same sorority I was in. She was always kidding about how she was going to meet her baby daddy, just like I did." Mrs. Rodriguez snorted to show how ridiculous she thought that was.

The story sounded strange to Adele, considering that Marie's parents weren't together, but okay. Respect for the dead. The little tidbit seemed meaningful to Adele, though. There must be some sort of connection. Marie's father had been a Beta member, and the killer was wearing a shirt with the same letters. Were they talking? Did they know each other? It didn't make sense.

All of these questions were swirling around in Adele's mind as they finished their coffee and bid their adieus. They agreed to get together sometime, but it was one of those things where they knew they never would.

Still, something gnawed at Adele as she left the coffee shop with Rose.

Something about Mrs. Rodriguez seemed wrong.

Like she knew more than she was saying.

The encounter left Adele cold.