LIVING ON THE EDGE

CHAPTER: 7

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: that 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 the three theories, suggesting the reason for Adriana's murder, really pushed the right buttons on for Sharon. But she thought that the infidelity angle was worth looking at.

It is possible to be madly in love with someone who likes you enough to stay, but who has no problem lying to you. The tears and anguish Chase Reed had shown had seemed real, but who was to say that the Adriana he knew was the only one that had existed? Maybe there was some drug-dealing or stolen car-wheeling guy who had satisfied Adriana's primal urges. Since becoming a private detective, the bulk of Sharon's work had been focused on infidelity cases. Humans are capable of a high level of deceit. Adriana could have got herself involved in a deadly affair; and then perhaps her lower-class boyfriend had demanded money or had been blackmailing her, and she had refused, following which she was murdered.

Before the night was over, Sharon had researched some basic facts about Adriana Reed. She had attended Spring Hill High School in Maury County, but no graduation date was listed. She had also spent two years at Hampshire Unit School but never completed a degree or certificate. At the time of her murder, she was 30 yrs old and a stay-at-home mom by all accounts, just an average suburban wife. Her life before marrying Chase was a little less certain. Her work record was spotty. She had been a Certified Aerobics instructor for a while, and a substitute teacher, but neither career had lasted long. She had taken classes in Early Education in college, but they had not amounted to much. Some people do take time off between high school and college for jobs or to travel, but Adriana did not seem to be a part of the working world until she was twenty-two. That seemed odd, but not completely out of the question. Some people are shirkers.

Sharon ran Adriana's name through the online white pages and found addresses in Maury County, Huntsville, Nashville, and even Sweetwater. The dates indicated that she had lived in Maury County as a child, in Huntsville as a teenager, and in Sweetwater and Nashville during her adult life. It was strange that she had lived in Huntsville, and it was even odder that she had lived there as a teenager, but then online white pages are known to be notoriously inaccurate. The listing probably had another woman with the same name mixed in with Adriana's address results.

Sharon also checked Adriana's social media pages, but there was not much to see. Perhaps she had made sure to keep the security on her social media pages tight, and strangers were not able to view the bulk of her information. Sharon could not be sure, but Adriana's list of friends was rather sparse. Her page had a picture of Chase and the kids, while she was not there in it, and she had thirty friends. She had not posted anything there since 2017, two years before she was murdered. Of course, social media had peaked up steam around that time, so it was not too strange that she did not have much information, but it did arouse Sharon's interest.

Posting on social media and having friends is by no means a sign of normalcy, but for a stay-at-home mom in a posh suburb, it would be a great place to boast and possibly brag about one's world. Adriana was beautiful, married to a doctor, had two kids, a very good residence in a posh locality... all the surface things that people think produce happiness. Of course, Sharon knew from experience that the more people you include in your life, the more difficult it is to be happy. Perhaps Adriana had come to a similar conclusion and decided to keep her life private. Or maybe she had turned to an outside source for some type of release.

Sharon scrolled through the few posts on Adriana's page and found minimal, very guarded information. There were no thuggish-looking folks on her friend's list. Next, Sharon checked a newspaper website for articles on the murder. She read a summary of the crime and read a few statements from one of the detectives on the case, Mike Jackson. After a few hours of scouring the internet, her vision was blurred from too much time in front of the computer. She closed the laptop, grabbed her phone, and called Stuart.

"Adriana was hiding something," Sharon said, as soon as he picked up the phone.

"Why do you think that? Oh, and Merry Christmas," Stuart said. Sharon could hear the muffled sound of a video game in the background.

"Adriana's social media pages were sparse. There was a single solitary photo of her... the rest were of her family, but none of these photos had her in them. She was never with the family because she was different.," Sharon gave all the details to Stuart.

"How was she different?" Stuart asked Sharon.

"I don't know, but she is different from them," Sharon replied.

The noise in the background stopped. 

"Tomorrow, I will set up appointments with Chase, Adriana's best friend Melanie, and the store owner. I want to see where Adriana lived. After the holiday break, contact her former coworkers. She taught at Mt-Pleasant High School for a year. Talk to the principal and any teachers who worked with her. I will also call the Maury County Police, and then the Nashville Police Headquarters and get in there to see the case file," Sharon said to Stuart.

"You think Adriana did something that led to her being killed?" Stuart asked her.

"I think that there is something her husband does not know that contributed to her murder. Probably some hidden secrets. I know how it is to have secrets," Sharon said.