LIVING ON THE EDGE

CHAPTER: 6

Sharon had learned that staying busy and productive was a great way to suppress loneliness, but there are times when even being busy fails to distract from the truth. Even so, she was going to do her best to let this new case consume her. As she stuck her key in the front door, she began to organize a plan of action to find out who killed Adriana Reed? 

She headed to the kitchen and tossed half a box of pasta into a pot. In a second pot, Sharon mixed Parmesan and cream cheese to make a simple though adequate Alfredo sauce. She poured herself a glass of white wine, tossed the pasta and sauce together, and sat down at the long glass table for a silent dinner. After that, she sighed and faced reality. The night was not over yet, so she had better start getting herself in order.

Midnight Mass was the last place she wanted to go, but since it was Christmas Eve, it would be a stop along her lonely Christmas journey.  There was nothing quite like Midnight Mass, but one doesn't remember that until one walks through the door of the church. The inclination to curl up with hot cocoa and read a book, a particular one that she had shortlisted on Dreame App. The book was 'Survival Instinct' by Author SALEHA_M. She was tempted to stay home, but as usual, once she would arrive at the church, she would remember why she went there every year on Christmas Eve. She was drawn by the smell of Frankincense and myrrh weaving through the air, the flickering flames of candles lit as an offering to God, and the collective warmth of the people in the overcrowded church, many of whom have not been there for Mass since Easter, or the previous Christmas Eve. Sharon never wanted to go until she got there, and she never accepted that truth, up until she arrived at the church. So the book would have to wait a bit more.

She took a shower before slipping on a cardigan, a long pleated blue skirt, and boots. As she waited for the clock to move closer to midnight, she started to review the preliminary questions that precede all murder investigations. Who wanted Adriana Reed dead? Who had the means to kill her? How did she end up in a vulnerable position that allowed her to be killed?

The issue of who wanted Adriana Reed dead was important but not as important as how she ended up being vulnerable to murder? Some people are not likable, or they make enemies along the way. There might be a few people who would like to see them dead, but it is only very few enemies who would be acting on that impulse, actually. Also, a complete and total stranger can kill you if you end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, so there was a chance that Adriana's murder was purely accidental. She was in one of the worst neighborhoods in the country. Getting murdered in Maury County was easy, but being in Maury County was not. So, the first question was; how did she end up in a time and place that allowed her to be killed?

Since it was Christmas Eve, there was little research that could be done. She wrote her three essential questions on a piece of paper, took it to her home office, placed it on the desk, and forced herself to close the door. Life is more than work, she told herself.

The snow continued to fall throughout the evening. At about a quarter to twelve, Sharon reluctantly headed out into the bitter, wet cold. She arrived at the church moments before the procession started. Just about every seat was taken and the air was full of incense. Warmth emitted from the packed seats. Sharon slid into a small space on one of the back pews, next to a family of five. The toddler was bouncing on his mother's lap and yelling with delight. Sharon flipped down the kneeler and said a few prayers before the music for the procession started.

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Christmas Day dawned with a cold, empty silence that left her distracted and aloof. A light, wispy snow was falling, and the temperature continued to drop throughout the day. Sharon skipped her run that morning and curled up on the couch with a cup of tea, and her favorite book, 'Survival Instinct' alternating between her bed and the beige recliner in the sitting room. Her breakfast and lunch consisted of soup that she had made from her Thanksgiving turkey. In the evening Sharon felt restless and decided to find a movie to watch. After about forty minutes of watching a movie, she stole one last look and turned off the television. She knew it was time to do something constructive.

Being a Police Inspector is difficult because you are in law enforcement, but you don't have the perks that regular cops do. She had access to public domain information on the internet, but she could not just tap into a database and pull up interesting tidbits about a victim. Instead, she must find evidence the old-fashioned and least reliable way...by talking to people. She did not think anyone would appreciate her interrupting their Christmas dinner to ask questions about a homicide, so she decided to do the cyber-sleuth thing.

The first question about the case was; what the hell was Adriana Reed doing in Maury County that is one hour and fifteen minutes away from Nashville, Tennessee, where she resided? Living had two simple rules: know your place and stay there. Adriana was a white female from Nashville and not one from the working-class suburbs of Maury County. There was really no legitimate reason for her to have been in the southwest district of Tennessee. There were not many businesses in that area except for liquor stores, grocery, and even those are sparse. It is a safe assumption that people who live in Maury County stay in the area and rarely if ever, venture out of the neighborhood. Someone living in Nashville's upper-class township would not end up in the southwest lower-middle-class suburbs of Maury County. 

Someone living in Nashville, Tennessee would end up in Maury County if they were searching for something they had trouble getting in their neighborhood. Even so, they would have to know someone in Maury County. Who did Ariana know in that area? How would she have met them? Initially, Sharon had thought that drugs might have beckoned Adriana to that place in Maury County, but an article posted a few months after her killing said that the autopsy report showed she did not have any drugs in her system. Chase Reed had already told Sharon about the second theory: Adriana was a desperate housewife looking for a thrill with some young have not? And, the third one: of course, it was that Chase himself had murdered his wife. None of these theories really pushed the right buttons on for Sharon. But she thought that the infidelity angle was worth looking at.