Once outside, they walked along the side of the house, up the driveway, which had not been plowed, again making Val wonder why. She eyed the detached garage, which was about twenty feet behind the house. “Jack, stop.”

He came to a halt. They were both ankle-deep in snow and the drifts going to the garage were only worse. “What is it?”

“Gabrielle didn’t use the garage. I want to see why, what’s in it.” Val trudged through the snow to the side of the garage, no problem in her knee-high Cougar Canada, waterproof, thermal snow boots. Nonetheless, being outside, especially in the snow, she knew she only had a short amount of time before her leg would start to bother her and she picked up the pace. Jack was moving a little faster too. His boots were trendy leather lace-ups, barely higher on his leg than ordinary shoes. His feet must be soaking by now. There was a window on the garage wall and she placed her gloved hand around her eyes so that she could peer in. “I can’t see anything.”

Jack turned the handle on a door next to the window, which opened easily. “There’s no lock. When there’s no lock, you should always try the door.”

Val held her tongue as she stepped inside. Her jaw dropped open. “Drywall? Lots of drywall. Why would she have drywall stacked inside the garage?”

“There’s lumber in here too. Framing wood. Building or redoing a room in her home? That’s what it looks like.”

“A home renovation? Is that something someone contemplating suicide would do?”

“Small fact, Val. They keep adding up,” Jack said. “Do you know what kind of car Gabrielle drove?”

“Good question. She left it, or someone left it, in the church parking lot where she and her son were found.” Val pulled her phone back out. I’ll see if it’s in the report. After a few seconds, Val had her answer. She nearly dropped her phone. “Mercedes GLE.”

“High-end Mercedes SUV?” Jack said. “Wonder where she got it from.” His last sentence had a sarcastic ring.

“Daddy could have gotten it for her. Or maybe she walked into the dealer and bought one with her own money…” Val smiled.

“Or she got it from Exclusive Auto from her neighbor, Ron?” Jack grinned. “Is Jennifer Ballard the only witness to see Gabrielle the morning she disappeared?”

“Yes.”

“Is she the only one to give an account of what happened that morning?”

“Yes, again.”