Val thought for a minute. “Let’s look at the kitchen. And then Adam’s room. That will tell us just how truly neat and clean this house is.”

“Slippery move, Val. Get some more information before you commit yourself to a wrong answer.” Jack smiled again.

“Wrong answer? Ha! I don’t think so. Never underestimate your student, Jack.”

Val moved to the kitchen. Jack was right behind her. A small light gave some illumination but overall the room was dim. Val pulled out her phone and used the flashlight feature. There were no dishes in the sink. Not even a coffee cup.

“On the morning they disappeared, Gabrielle had time to clean up any breakfast dishes?” Jack asked.

“Maybe she did. Or maybe they didn’t eat.”

“Or maybe she cleaned up because she knew she wasn’t coming back?” Jack said. “For all the circumstantial evidence found so far, murder and then suicide in this case is still highly probable, Val, you can’t lose sight of that.”

Val knew Jack was right. She glanced around and then opened the fridge. “Oh my, would you look at that.”

Jack looked over her shoulder.

“The refrigerator is full.” Val sniffed. “Doesn’t seem to be anything spoiled in here.” She picked up a container of milk. The expiration date was tomorrow and the carton was unopened. “She must have bought all of this just before she disappeared. If she was planning on disappearing and killing both of them, why fill the fridge?”

Jack stepped back. “Excellent point. No dishes in a sink we can explain with many plausible answers. A full fridge is not so easy. But…”

“But?”

“Minor facts like this need to accumulate. You have to have a number of them to create some reason to pursue an investigative course that lies at odds with bigger facts that exist in the case. I’ll stress again, Val, your evidence is overwhelming that Gabrielle committed suicide and took her son to the great beyond with her. We have tidbits that point otherwise. Two steps forward and three back, only takes you back. Now, let’s check out Adam’s room, let’s see if more small facts exist and I say ‘small’ because if there was a smoking gun in this house, your friend Detective Gavin would have found it.” Jack turned his back and walked down the hall.

Val caught the sarcasm in his voice and decided to leave the comment about her friend the detective alone. But the minor facts in this case were adding up

Jack stood in the doorway to Adam’s room and said, “Tell me what you see in here. This is your next test.” He stepped aside to let her enter.