Chapter 5 - The Man in the Hallway
Rebecca went with me to the police station Monday morning.
Brooks met us in a room with gray walls and a table scarred by years of use.
He said they had identified the second person in the hallway recording.
It was a woman named Linda Price.
I knew the name immediately.
Linda was Kate's closest friend from college.
She had recently started selling cosmetics online and visited Kate often to demonstrate products.
"Why was Linda at my apartment?" I asked.
Brooks slid a still photograph across the table.
Kate stood outside my door holding Paige.
Linda faced her, one hand on the diaper bag.
Even through the grainy image, I recognized the bright pink polish on Linda's fingernails.
"We're working to establish that," Brooks said.
Rebecca asked whether the audio had clarified what was said.
The detective did not play it.
Instead, he asked me whether Linda had any professional training involving infants.
"Not that I know of."
"Did your sister ever mention trouble at home?"
I considered the question.
Ryan had grown increasingly controlling over the past year.
He corrected Kate in front of other people and kept their bank accounts on his phone.
Once, he had taken Paige from Kate's arms during dinner because he said she was holding the baby wrong.
But Kate had laughed off every awkward moment.
I told Brooks what I knew without turning assumptions into facts.
When we left, Rebecca told me that a medical review might establish an approximate window for the injury, but it would not necessarily identify who caused it.
"Don't make a timeline more precise than the evidence allows," she said.
At home, I found a paper envelope wedged beneath my door.
There was no return address.
Inside was a photograph of Kate and Linda standing in the parking lot of a cosmetics supply store.
The picture had been taken Friday evening.
Someone had circled a white shopping bag in Linda's hand.
On the back, in cramped handwriting, were six words.
Ask what they bought for Paige.
I called Rebecca before touching anything else.
She instructed me to photograph the envelope in place and let Detective Brooks know.
For the first time, I was no longer the only person asking questions about Kate's story.
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Someone else knew more than they were saying.
