Dear Tressi [✓]

36

"We have to get to Rothan's," Tressi stated.

Tressi and Des hadn't spoken a word to each other in the half hour that had passed since the police had left. Des stood staring out the window while Tressi sat on the couch: each wondering what the best course of action would be.

"Des?" she called. He hadn't turned around when she'd addressed him.

In her mind, it was clear. There was only one course of action—confrontation. She was going to go and ask Mrs. Peren why she'd lied. There was a possibility that Dala was the one who'd lied, and knowing her, it was entirely probable. But either way, the answer was at Rothan's.

She got up from the couch and walked next to Des, who continued to stare out the window. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she asked, "What do you think we should do?"

Des let out a sigh. The folded arms across the chest fell to his sides. "I don't know, Tressi. I'm trying to think but I'm coming up blank. But I doubt Rothan's is the answer."

"What about Patty's death? The timing is too close. How can it be a suicide?" Her voice rose an octave higher.

Des clicked his tongue, and turned to face her. Removing his glasses, he leaned closer. "Didn't you listen to the inspector? It was an overdose. So if it was someone else who'd convinced her to take it, it must have been someone she was close to. Someone she trusted. But Patty was nasty to everybody. Nobody particularly liked—"

"But what if it was blackmail?" Tressi cut him off.

"What?"

Tressi was animated. She'd been thinking about it since the police had left. "Patty was a notorious gossip. But what if there was something that she didn't want anybody to know? What if someone had forced her to kill herself, threatening to make it public?"

"Possibly." Des shrugged. "But we don't have any proof or evidence that suggests that Patty even had anything to hide. We can make conjectures all day, Tressi. But we don't have anything concrete to base it on. Nor do we have the time to investigate any of this. Let's leave it to the police. And don't forget, she'd just gotten fired. Not only that, she was getting kicked out of the place that she'd called home for ten years. That's more than enough motivation for someone to take their life."

Tressi didn't agree with him. It was all too much of a coincidence. However, her husband's logic was unassailable, and not having any facts to counter it with severely hampered her argument. But she did agree with him on one thing—no matter how suspicious Patty's death might seem, it really wasn't their concern. Their hands were more than full when it came to mysterious deaths.

But that didn't mean Rothan's was out of the equation. Tressi still wanted to talk to Igna. She had to know if it was her mother who'd lied or the warden, and currently they didn't have many other options to clear it up, apart from a face-to-face confrontation.

*

Slick roads are a driver's nightmare. Add in an unpredictable vehicle, it was all the more worrisome. Tressi could see Des's brows furrowed in concentration as he kept his eyes on the road, careful not to lose control. The temperamental car dangerously skidded, even as Des tried to maintain a steady hand at the steering wheel.

After debating what they should do next, Des had given in to Tressi's plan to go to Rothan's.

The ivy covered building loomed ahead of them through the mist. Des wiped the inside of the windshield with his shirt cuff. It had suddenly fogged over completely.

"Where did all this mist come from?" he asked, as Tressi took over for him and wiped the glass with a cloth that she'd found on the dashboard.

"Oh, that's a Lanula," she said matter-of-factly.

"What's a 'Lanula'?" Des asked, laughing.

"It's a local name. It's what we call it when there's a sudden onset of mist, like this. I don't know where it comes from actually."

Des shook his head, a half-smile gracing his features. Tressi looked at him and it hit her like a truck. She loved him. No matter their fights, their differences of opinions, their misunderstandings, he was her constant. A support system she could never live without. He was willing to go to any lengths to give her some peace. So she decided. She wouldn't get sidetracked anymore; it's what she owed him. They only had four days left.

They parked the car at the same place as the previous evening. The déjà vu made Tressi shudder. Hopefully, Patty's death would be the last they would have to encounter while they were here. Des pulled out the umbrella that they'd managed to remember this time. Even though there was no rain, there was a heavy mist, and instant dew drops formed on their skin the moment it came in contact. Des held Tressi tightly by his side and they walked across the lawn to the brick archway at the entrance.

They walked along the now familiar narrow corridor, and stopped outside the warden's office. Knocking on the door, they were surprised when a male voice asked them to enter, instead of Igna's.

Inspector Darlow was at Igna's desk going through her files, while Officer Hayes took pictures as evidence. The warden was nowhere to be found.

"Mr. Gemira?" His eyebrows rose up in surprise looking at the couple. "What brings you here?"

"We were hoping to talk to Mrs. Peren," said Des.

"Mrs. Peren has been taken to the station for questioning. I'm not sure when she'll be back."

"Oh," said Tressi, shocked.

"But it's a good thing that you're here," the inspector said, looking at Des. "Maybe you could go with Officer Hayes to identify the pills Mrs. Peren gave Mrs. Waldam? We would like your confirmation. It'll be taken down as part of your statement."

Without actually stopping to hear Des's answer, the inspector nodded at his subordinate, who immediately walked over to the door, holding it open for Des. Des left with him, throwing a reassuring glance at Tressi.

Tressi was unsure what to do with herself, but she knew she didn't want to wait in the office, under the watchful eyes of Inspector Darlow. The man made her uncomfortable for some reason. With a parting smile, she left the office and walked along the corridors aimlessly. The whole place was a maze of corridors and if she went too far, she would be lost.

Just as she was deciding to go back and wait near the car, somebody roughly grabbed her from behind and thrust her into a storage room. She heard the door lock behind her with a click.

Turning around, she came face-to-face with her mother.