Sidney turned her head and gave her a puzzled look. �With whom?�
Trisha raised a sagging brow. �With Alex Trexler,� she said and handed Sidney the folder.
Sidney opened the folder and shuffled through the various papers. Every paper had something to do with Emily Fisher�s murder. There were copies of old newspaper articles from the murder and the trial, photocopied pages from Trisha's journal, a copy of the police report, and notes from her conversation with Alex.
Trisha sat on the bridge wall and smiled proudly. �Pretty detailed, if I may say so.�
�Trisha,� Sidney said firmly and looked at her friend. �They tried and convicted Alex Trexler for her murder. He�s served eight years of a life sentence. Just let it go, okay?�
Trisha cocked her head to one side. �No, it�s not okay. He didn�t do it.�
Sidney�s mouth fell open with shock and surprise. �Trisha, his semen matched what they found on her body. We testified seeing him running from the scene of the crime.� Sidney violently shook the papers in the folder. �We helped send him to jail! How can you forget? How can you sit there and claim he�s innocent?�
Trisha didn�t flinch. Her brows were raised confidently. �You have to read those papers to understand,� she said simply. �I�m not crazy. For the first time in eight years--I�m not crazy.� Trisha slid off the wall and turned toward the bank. She pointed toward the painted rock. �Right out there--a woman was murdered,� she said and looked at Sidney. �You explain three things to me, and I�ll let this entire thing rest.�
Sidney glared at her friend with a frown. �What three things?�
�What�s the significance of the lines drawn on the rock? Why would she purposely put two vertical lines in blood on that rock? If she didn�t do it, why would someone else?�
Sidney closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. The image still burned in her mind. She opened her eyes and studied her psychotic friend.
�They found nothing on her body,� Trisha said simply.
�What does that prove?� Sidney asked sternly. �What should they have found?�
�A folded piece of paper. You said yourself that she placed a folded piece of paper in her pocket--possibly a note of some sort.�
�That doesn�t mean anything,� Sidney snapped. �You�re being completely ridiculous. She had plenty of time to throw that away. It�s just a stupid piece of paper.�
�Not a stupid piece of paper,� Trisha snapped with a cocky smile. �It was a note which she took time to carefully fold and place in her pocket. That could be the answer to this entire case right there.�
Sidney rolled her eyes and groaned. �What else?�
Trisha casually leaned against the wall and raised an evil brow. �Why did your boyfriend disappear just one week later?�
Sidney�s mouth opened slightly with surprise. �Surely you don�t think Harlan--�
Trisha bolted upright. �That�s precisely what I�m suggesting!� She folded her arms across her chest. �He was here, in the woods, when she was murdered. I believe he claimed he was photographing in the area when he heard my scream. He arrived five to eight minutes after I screamed. He knew nothing--saw nothing. Yet--Miss Fisher stopped at the press around three thirty-five, just after leaving school--looking very fine. Fifteen minutes later, lover boy leaves with his camera.�
Sidney raised a cold brow and frowned. �And I suppose that makes him a murderer? They didn�t find his semen on the body, Trisha.�
�Alex Trexler admitted having sex with her by the stone house at three forty-five--four o�clock. He claimed he left her in the woods at four-fifteen and rushed to work, returning just half an hour later. At four forty-five, he found her dead. He panicked and ran.�
Sidney shook her head and rolled her eyes. �No, Trisha. He�s playing you for a fool. Why are you letting this consume you?�
Trisha dropped her arms to her sides with a surprised look. �Consume me! I don�t sleep, Sidney! You ran away--you wanted to forget!�
�You�re damned right I wanted to forget,� Sidney shouted in anger. �She�s dead and her killer is in jail. It�s over! Destroying yourself isn�t going to bring her back. Don�t you get it!�
Both stared at each other with fire in their eyes while breathing heavily. They relaxed after a couple of minutes. Sidney placed her hand to her forehead and groaned lowly. �I never should�ve come back,� she muttered.
