Wordle by Wordle: Day 36
Monday, Feb 5, 2024
Wordle #961 - REPEL
“They think it might have been a mugging gone wrong,” Bree says and sets her cup of tea aside. “Roy’s wallet and phone were missing. Oh, and his Apple Watch.”
“You said earlier today that there hadn’t been any recent charges to his bank account, right?” Strange, if he had been mugged and his credit cards stolen. Unless the culprit thought there’d be too much heat on a dead man’s cards, took the cash, and ditched the rest.
“That’s right,” Bree says. Her eyebrows stitch together and she frowns, like she realizes there’s more to what I’m asking but can’t quite put it together. She looks like she hasn’t slept for days. “I guess I should cancel his cards?”
“Maybe. The police might want you to keep them open, to look for suspicious activity. You’d better ask them.” I honestly don’t know. I’m a private investigator, not a homicide cop.
Bree falls quiet and I take a drink of my own tea, though it’s gone tepid. With my lips still against the edge of the mug, I ask, “Did Roy go to Golden Gate Park often?”
“Did.” Past tense. No more…
“He would go jogging there, in the mornings, sometimes.” Bree’s voice is clipped. She seems to be getting annoyed by my questions, and she squints at me like I suddenly repel her. Or maybe her contact lenses are just dried out from all the crying.
A good friend wouldn’t press her further. A good friend would refill her tea and give her a reassuring hug and offer to walk Lola or something. I’m not sure what I am.
“So, had he been jogging at the park, this morning, when he was—”
“No, he wasn’t wearing his workout clothes,” Bree cuts me off. “And the police said that, when they found his body, he’d already been dead for at least twenty-four hours. Maybe even forty-eight.”
This is the answer I’d anticipated. Roy had gone missing two days ago, after all, so the time of death checks out. But for every question that’s answered, even more sprout up, like a goddamn hydra.
“If he was killed in the park days ago, then surely someone would’ve noticed the body before this morning, right? But if the body was moved—"
“Cecilia, you are not helping!” Bree erupts, launching herself up from the couch with a dramatic slap of the cushions. “I know you’re a PI or whatever, but I don’t have the answers you’re looking for, okay?! I don’t have any answers! I have no idea what’s going on, my husband’s dead and I just—”
She sobs. “I just need a friend right now, okay?”
Need to catch up? Visit the Wordle by Wordle archive to read the story so far.