Chapter 13:
„I found her!"
Faith gave Sully a big smile when he came over to address her. She'd been here since yesterday afternoon, riding a desk all day and – as she said – scanning through the files to find a connection to Judith Mandell. She looked exhausted and overtired – probably she stayed here all night, frantically scanning the amounts of paper in front of her. But she found something or she hoped so, he wasn't sure of that.
She turned the file around and pointed at the entry she meant to show him what she'd found.
"There it is. Judith Sanders, daughter of Melinda Sanders!"
She was so exited about actually finding something. It had been a long, long night of reading, searching, hoping and being disappointed over and over again. She'd hoped and prayed to find something, but by the time dawn approached this morning she was almost willing to give in, to give up, to accept that there was no hint and she was wrong. She'd felt so hollow when the thought came to her and so heartbreakingly sad. She almost didn't find what she was searching for, due to her emotional state – she had difficulties in concentrating.
But then the name suddenly jumped from that file and she knew it was her. She felt so exited and relieved, she didn't even have words for it. She'd been frantic, eager, almost hysterical when she found out and now her suspicion was approved by some more background information.
Sully wasn't sure what she was up to. Yeah, she found someone with the victim's name, but what made her believe it was her? He just hoped she hadn't ran into something completely outta hand. It would hurt just more if she was disappointed and needed to realize. So he tried to convince her.
"But the victim's name isn't Sanders, Faith, her name's Mandell!"
"Yeah, I know, I know. But look at this: her mother's birth name – Mandell! She took her mother's name. I was right!"
"You got an address or a picture?"
"By now? It was in the midst of the night, when I found out about it and she's not previously convicted. No, I don't have a picture. I'll call her former high school today. She doesn't have a current address, looks like she just came back from some foreign country or something. But neither does the girl have a current address! The one she gave us, is of a friend's house."
"So even if you're right, what's her motive?"
Faith flipped through the file to show him something else.
"Her mother died, killed herself, jumped off a building. We were there, talking to her, trying to convince her not to do it, but it didn't work. I'm not sure, but I think her daughter was here, wanted to talk to us, wanted to know if she had any last words, if she'd given us a message for her. I probably tried to calm her down, but – you know Bosco – perhaps she felt attacked by his reaction, maybe she was hurt and with the pain she already had about losing her mother, maybe she was angry."
"There's only one thing in your line of evidence that doesn't make any sense – why should she wait that long? It's more then six years ago! What took her six years to get back on him, to seek revenge?"
"I don't know, Sully. She was just a teenager than. Maybe she wasn't sure of doing it, maybe she tried to forget in first place. Or she needed the time to develop a plan. A plan that would work and it would only work if we wouldn't remember her, otherwise there would've been a connection."
"Six years, Faith?"
She swallowed hard and gave him a sad look.
"If you hate enough – six years aren't that much of a time. It's the final result that counts!"
„I found her!"
Faith gave Sully a big smile when he came over to address her. She'd been here since yesterday afternoon, riding a desk all day and – as she said – scanning through the files to find a connection to Judith Mandell. She looked exhausted and overtired – probably she stayed here all night, frantically scanning the amounts of paper in front of her. But she found something or she hoped so, he wasn't sure of that.
She turned the file around and pointed at the entry she meant to show him what she'd found.
"There it is. Judith Sanders, daughter of Melinda Sanders!"
She was so exited about actually finding something. It had been a long, long night of reading, searching, hoping and being disappointed over and over again. She'd hoped and prayed to find something, but by the time dawn approached this morning she was almost willing to give in, to give up, to accept that there was no hint and she was wrong. She'd felt so hollow when the thought came to her and so heartbreakingly sad. She almost didn't find what she was searching for, due to her emotional state – she had difficulties in concentrating.
But then the name suddenly jumped from that file and she knew it was her. She felt so exited and relieved, she didn't even have words for it. She'd been frantic, eager, almost hysterical when she found out and now her suspicion was approved by some more background information.
Sully wasn't sure what she was up to. Yeah, she found someone with the victim's name, but what made her believe it was her? He just hoped she hadn't ran into something completely outta hand. It would hurt just more if she was disappointed and needed to realize. So he tried to convince her.
"But the victim's name isn't Sanders, Faith, her name's Mandell!"
"Yeah, I know, I know. But look at this: her mother's birth name – Mandell! She took her mother's name. I was right!"
"You got an address or a picture?"
"By now? It was in the midst of the night, when I found out about it and she's not previously convicted. No, I don't have a picture. I'll call her former high school today. She doesn't have a current address, looks like she just came back from some foreign country or something. But neither does the girl have a current address! The one she gave us, is of a friend's house."
"So even if you're right, what's her motive?"
Faith flipped through the file to show him something else.
"Her mother died, killed herself, jumped off a building. We were there, talking to her, trying to convince her not to do it, but it didn't work. I'm not sure, but I think her daughter was here, wanted to talk to us, wanted to know if she had any last words, if she'd given us a message for her. I probably tried to calm her down, but – you know Bosco – perhaps she felt attacked by his reaction, maybe she was hurt and with the pain she already had about losing her mother, maybe she was angry."
"There's only one thing in your line of evidence that doesn't make any sense – why should she wait that long? It's more then six years ago! What took her six years to get back on him, to seek revenge?"
"I don't know, Sully. She was just a teenager than. Maybe she wasn't sure of doing it, maybe she tried to forget in first place. Or she needed the time to develop a plan. A plan that would work and it would only work if we wouldn't remember her, otherwise there would've been a connection."
"Six years, Faith?"
She swallowed hard and gave him a sad look.
"If you hate enough – six years aren't that much of a time. It's the final result that counts!"