Free Secret Keepers and Skinny Shadows: Lee and Miranda by Mary A Russell Page B

couldn’t make up her mind when in reality she was focused and choosey.
    “I was hoping,” Lee said, “to hear what your thoughts were on Lillian and the letters.”
    “You need to read what I have so far. I did a lot of research, but not a lot of investigation. I thought I’d wait to do that with you.” Miranda shifted from one foot to the other and turned around and faced Lee. The tone in her voice changed.
    “Here’s what I think so far. The letters to Elizabeth are a journal of Lillian’s struggles seeking the truth about Bert Grayson’s murder. She was trapped in a marriage with a man who ruled with an iron fist. He hit her and shoved her around when he was drunk. To me, the letters revealed this woman’s journey through a not so forgiving world, trying to change hearts and minds in a desperate attempt to seek happiness.”
    “Oh come on, I read the letters too. It sounds like you’re agreeing with her even before we find out if she’s telling the truth or making up all that stuff we read.”
    “Not at all. As a woman I can empathize with the situation she found herself in.”
    “Now what do you mean by that? Are you saying as a man I can’t empathize with her?” Lee squared his shoulders.
    “Yes and no. As I read each letter she sucked me into her world by exposing her raw feelings, explaining how each person, place and event changed her life, driving her to the actions and reactions of the narcissistic, disturbed person she in the end became.”
    His eyes widened in surprise to hear her talk about feelings in such a natural tone.
    “So… are you saying you think she was nuts?”
    A frown formed at the corners of her mouth. “That’s not nice. Make no mistake about it, I wouldn’t say she was as disturbed and confused as she appeared to be. I think she was a victim of events manipulated by a corrupt police department, mafia figures, and the other people involved. I think cold calculating men worked to cover up the truth that Lilly knew and they tried to silence her by making it look like she was a crazy woman.”
    He shook his head. “If what you’re saying is true why didn’t these people just kill Lilly?”
    She gave him a half smile.
    “I thought about that as well. The conclusion I came to was, there were already too many bodies piling up. Any more would attract the attention of the federal government. Nothing brings in the FBI faster than an extraordinary amount of murders in a given time period in any town. They track that kind of information.”
    He nodded in agreement, “you would know that better than I would.”
    “At the time Joan gave me the letters, she said the people in her family didn’t think Lilly actually knew her Uncle Bert. The family unjustifiably accused her of being one of those nut cases who read about a murder, then would try to get involved with it somehow. Joan said her family knew the woman was a mental case.”
    Lee took a couple of steps in Miranda’s direction. “I don’t think you should just assume that what this woman says is true. She could very well be crazy.”
    She took a couple of steps back while holding his eye contact.
    “In my opinion as an FBI profiler, I think all of the incidences she mentions worked together to drive Lilly to live on the edges of her own psychosis. I think it’s evident as you read each letter.”
    He smiled and touched her elbow. “So you’re saying that she drifts in and out of reality?”
    “I know after all these years it’ll be difficult to prove what she says, but what kind of detectives are we if we can’t dig up the evidence?”
    He nodded.
    “I have to run or I’ll be late for my appointment at the gym, you should have enough time to look at that material while I’m gone. It’ll be interesting to hear what you think.”
    “One thing before you go, after I read the newspaper clippings and letters, I placed a called to the Bridgetown police to make an appointment with someone to go over the case with me.