I started my diary the day I learned I was inside their house.
But you know what? My imaginary therapist was right. While I might have started this diary for one reason, it became something else entirely. I did ask why, why, why. And, finally, I did drop through that trapdoor.
You helped me see my world a different way, Dear Diary.
You helped me stand my ground. You helped me fight back.
You helped me realize I no longer wish to be Anonymous Girl. Or a ghost.
Now I plan to be SEEN.
Am I frightened that I’ve gone too deep and am in way over my head? Hell yes. I’m terrified I won’t survive this. That it will backfire. That I might die.
But I’m well past the point of return. I am Thelma and Louise racing at speed for that cliff . . .
MAL
November 4, 2019. Monday.
Mal is at the crime lab. It’s early Monday morning, and Benoit is back at the ADMAC site overseeing renewed attempts to bring up the trapped body. The retrieval was called off yesterday due to a severe storm and high tide that brought powerful currents.
“We found blonde hair trace here on the back seat of the Audi where the seat joins the back support,” says Otto Wojak, lab boss. Otto is walking Mal around Jon Rittenberg’s impounded vehicle, pointing out where evidence has been found in the car.
“Was the hair dyed?” Mal asks.
“Yes. Dark roots. Consistent with the hair trace from the main bedroom at the Glass House. We also found blood on the back seat here. And a ripped velvet choker also with blood trace.”
The photo of Kit Darling with the black choker around her neck surfaces in Mal’s mind. “What about the mud on the tires and on the plates?” she asks. “Does it match the ADMAC soil samples?”
“We’ll have results on soil comparison tests shortly.” Otto crouches down and points at the tire treads. “However, these tread patterns are consistent with the tire tracks found at the ADMAC site. Same with the Subaru treads.”
“Can I see the items taken from the Subaru?”
Otto takes Mal over to a long table near the yellow Subaru Crosstrek on the other side of the lab garage.
“Everything here has been photographed and documented. This here is the wooden block found wedging the gas pedal down.” He points. “And this wallet was found in front of the car. Inside the wallet were these items.” He moves his finger over the objects as he speaks. “Darling’s driver’s license, a Visa and MasterCard in her name, a CityIntraBank card, seventy dollars in cash, coins, a gym membership card, a drugstore points card. Grocery store card. Library card. Theater tickets. A receipt from a fast-food outlet. This is the purse found in the vehicle. These items were found inside the purse.”
Mal moves along the table, studying the items. Makeup—lots of it. Lipstick in bright, bold colors. Hairbrush. Five lollipops in different flavors. They look sticky from the water, their wrappings coming off. Sticks of hot cinnamon gum. Subaru key fob. A tiny locket containing an image of a man and a woman. Mal peers more closely at the image, wondering if it could be Kit Darling’s mother and father. She thinks of the cremains urn on the floor in Darling’s room. In her mind she hears Boon-mee Saelim’s words.
Kit was pretty messed up by her mom’s dying . . . It was on the same day, right after the scattering of her mother’s cremains, that she started a new cleaning job. She’s been getting progressively weird since then.
“It’s everything a woman carries with her,” Mal says, staring at the contents on the table. “Her ID, driver’s license, credit and bank cards.” She glances up at Otto. “Where’s her phone? And the diary?”
“We carefully separated the wet pages of the journal and have them drying out separately. The words on the pages were written in a purple gel ink that runs easily in water compared to standard ballpoint ink. But it should still be legible once we’re done. And we’re working to retrieve data from the water-damaged mobile device.”
“It was sealed in a ziplock bag?”
“Yes, but the bag was punctured, presumably when the car was damaged going over the dock.”
“Would you say it’s unusual to carry your journal around in a sealed ziplock?”
“That’s your job, Detective. I just tell you the science behind what we find. But if I had to venture a guess, I’d say whoever sealed the journal in there wanted to keep it dry.”
She glances at Otto.
“We’ll photograph the pages once they’re dry, and digitally enhance them where necessary. We’ll copy the pages to your team as soon as the process is complete. We’ll attempt to access the contents of the cell phone once it’s dried out, too.”
“And the items from Rose Cottage that were brought in?”
Otto leads her through to his lab. Various white-coated techs glance up from their stations and nod in greeting. Otto pulls images up on a large monitor.
“These are the shoes found at the back of Jon Rittenberg’s closet. Mud in the lugs appears similar in appearance to the ADMAC site mud. As I said, we’re still awaiting the soil comparison tests.” He points. “We also found traces of human blood in the lugs here, and on the surface of the toe there.” His gaze meets Mal’s. “We got results from the DNA samples you sent to the private lab early this morning.”
Her heart kicks. A quiver of a grin curves Otto’s mouth.
“Christ, Otto. And?”
“The blood on Rittenberg’s shoes belongs to Kit Darling. It’s also her blood in the back of his Audi. It’s her hair, too.”
“You could’ve told me this the second I walked in here.”
He laughs a great big belly laugh and says, “And what fun would that be?”
Mal rolls her eyes, but her pulse is racing. “What else are you holding back?”
“The partial shoe prints in the blood at the crime scene show patterning consistent with the soles from the shoes from Jon Rittenberg’s closet. His blood is at the scene, too. And latents and patents from items in the living room match both Daisy and Jon Rittenberg’s fingerprints.”
Otto pulls up images of the broken glasses that were found near the upturned coffee table. “Daisy Rittenberg’s DNA is on the rim of this piece of wineglass. Jon Rittenberg’s DNA is on this whisky glass piece. Kit Darling’s DNA is on the broken martini glass, here.” He brings up another photo. “This is the carving knife retrieved from the pool.” He points. “A small amount of Darling’s blood was detected deep in the grooves of the hilt here. And Daisy Rittenberg’s prints are on the knife hilt.”
Mal stares at the images. Emilio Rossi’s words float into her consciousness.
If you do find her DNA inside, it’s because she went to lunch at Northview last Friday. She drank from glasses and handled a carving knife to cut sausage.
She thinks of Rossi’s earlier comment.
Her husband was very angry when she departed her home. He threatened her physically. He’d already had a fair bit to drink, and she suspects he began drinking again heavily after she left. She cannot vouch for his whereabouts or say whether he returned later to the Northview residence.
Mal purses her lips. This evidence puts the Rittenbergs inside the house despite their assertions they left after they dropped the flowers and pie. Plus they have motive. There are witnesses, a timeline. CCTV footage that tracks the Audi to the ADMAC site. More witnesses who saw the Subaru and rug being dumped. But it’s not quite adding up in her mind. She’s missing something.