Kaylee heard a knock on the door, and when she walked into the living room, she peeked through the peephole in the door and saw Detective Mallory standing there wearing his normal light blue suit and navy blue tie. Kaylee had on her navy blue slacks, white shirt, and blue vest.

"Detective Mallory! What brings you out on this dreary morning?" Kaylee Sue Reed asked, after she opened the door.

"Do you know anything about the body in Forest Lake?" Detective Mallory asked Kaylee.

"Body! In Forest Lake!"

"That's right! Someone found a woman's body floating face down on the water."

Detective Mallory and Kaylee walked into the living room. Kaylee set her purse and sweater on the desk in her living room, and then she walked over to her burgundy recliner. Detective Mallory sat on the light blue sofa across from Kaylee.

"Who was it?" Kaylee asked.

"We aren't sure, but even if we knew, we couldn't reveal the victim's identity until the nearest relative was notified."

"I understand," Kaylee replied. "When did it happen? Did she drown, or was she murdered?"

"It happened sometime in the night, and it looked like someone murdered her because of the bruises on her body and the bump on her head. The coroner also mentioned that he believed someone had murdered her somewhere else and moved her to the lake to make it look like she tripped and fell into Forest Lake. She did have all of her clothes on, but they were ripped some."

"What do you think happened to her?" Kaylee asked.

"I believe the coroner is right about the murder, but we don't know where she was murdered or who did it and why. We started investigating the case this morning. That's why I'm here. I wanted to know if you heard anything last night or early this morning."

"No. I usually sleep through the night. Wait a minute - I do remember hearing something early this morning. I wanted to find out who screamed, so I fixed breakfast, and then I was ready to leave."

"You heard someone scream," Detective Mallory replied.

"I thought I did, but I wasn't sure, so I decided to search outside to see if I noticed anyone lurking in the forest or around the lake."

"If you do see or hear anything, please let me know."

"Sure."

Detective Mallory left, and Kaylee picked up her sweater, so she could investigate the scene, too. Kaylee was an amateur detective and wanted to help the police solve crimes. When she arrived at the scene, which was located in Forest Woods behind her house, she saw the crime scene tape, police officers, the coroner, and the body. As she stared at the victim, she couldn't believe what she saw.

"Kaylee what's wrong? I can see something is disturbing you," Detective Mallory questioned.

Kaylee hesitated for a few minutes, and then she answered. "I know her, but I didn't know she lived in Forest Lake."

"Who is she?" Detective Mallory asked.

"She was someone I met on the Internet. We enjoyed communicating with each other and wanted to meet sometime, but we didn't know when or how."

"Did she know where you lived?"

"No, but I know this is her because I've seen her picture. We sent each other our pictures just in case we did meet, but we didn't want to reveal our location until we became more acquainted."

"Did she mention any problems she might be going through?"

"I'm not sure."

Kaylee thought about it for awhile before she spoke again.

"She did mention that she thought someone had been following her. She had received some threatening e-mails before that. She became frightened and didn't know what to do, but the following day, she told me she decided that she needed to leave for awhile."

"It's obvious she came here and someone followed her. Do you have any idea who followed her or wanted to harm her?" Detective Mallory asked.

"She was married before, and her ex-husband was really angry about the divorce. He didn't want to divorce her, but she wanted it because she loved someone else."

"What was her name?"

"Susan James. Her ex-husband's name is Robert James."

"Do you think he came after her and killed her?" Detective Mallory asked.

"It's possible, but I'm not sure."

"Do you know what he looked like?"

"No."

"I'll run a check on him to see what I can find out."

Kaylee walked back inside her house, locked her front door, and walked into the kitchen to fix her lunch. She opened up her refrigerator and took out the small carton of Seafood Salad mix and some bread, so she could fix a sandwich. She also took out an individual size applesauce, so she could have some fruit. Then, she made her sandwich and sat in front of her television to eat and watch a show. She turned on a mystery show while she ate. Kaylee was intrigued by the mystery that she didn't hear or see anything around her.

Within a few minutes, she felt the presence of someone in her house. Her body trembled with fear as she thought for a minute. Then, she stood up carefully and turned around to face her intruder. Her body stiffened as she blurted out. "Who are you? How did you get in my house?"

The intruder pointed a gun at her and told her to remain silent and not move. Kaylee's fear started to overwhelm her.

"Who are you?" Kaylee blurted out.

"Never mind that. I'm here to find out what you know about the body in the lake."

"Why do you have the gun if you just wanted to question me?"

"I use it for protection. Now, what do you know about the body in Forest Lake?"

"Why don't you question the police? They know more about the body than I do."

"I doubt that."

"Why do you say that?" Kaylee asked.

"What information does the police have about the woman?"

"I don't know. Detective Mallory just talked to me about this incident this morning. He didn't tell me much."

"I doubt that. You know more than you're telling me."

Kaylee didn't reveal anything else because she didn't want to let him know the identity of the body. She wasn't sure who he was, but she had a feeling something was mysterious about him.

Within a few minutes, the intruder turned toward the door. "Don't tell anyone about my visit, or I'll come and kill you." He opened the door, put his gun in his jacket, and dashed outside.

Kaylee rushed to the front door and locked it. Then, she made sure all of the doors and windows were locked. After that, she called Detective Mallory because she wanted some help even though the intruder threatened her.

When Detective Mallory arrived, Kaylee escorted him inside and shut the door. "Thanks for coming. I don't know who the intruder was or why he was at my house."

"Do you think he murdered the woman in Forest Lake?"

"It's possible, but I don't understand why he wanted to question me."

"He probably wanted to find out if you knew anything about the murder," Detective Mallory replied.

"Wait a minute - I just thought of something. Susan described her ex-husband in one of her e-mail letters. That will help me identify the intruder."

"That's a good idea. Where's your computer?"

"In the living room on my desk."

They entered the living room, and Kaylee turned on her computer. She opened up her e-mail and began her search for the letters. When she located one, she read the letter. She came to the section where Susan described her ex-husband. "The intruder wasn't Susan's ex-husband." Now, she was confused. "Who was the intruder?" Kaylee asked, Detective Mallory.

"I'm not sure, but I'm going to continue my investigation and see if she knew anyone else who might want to see her dead besides her ex-husband."

"Okay. I'm going to read her e-mail letters over to see if I can find out anything else."

After Detective Mallory left, Kaylee sat at her computer and started reading her letters. She came across another person. As she read the description, she realized he was the intruder and was shocked as to his identity. She called Detective Mallory.

"Kaylee what did you find out?"

"The intruder was her ex-husband."

"I thought the intruder wasn't her ex-husband," Detective Mallory replied.

"He wasn't, but he was. Susan was married to someone else before she married her present husband and divorced him. He must have killed her."

"Do you have a name?"

"Yes."

Detective Mallory wrote the name down called the station. Within an hour, he received the name and address of the intruder and drove to the address to arrest him for murder.

Kaylee was glad the murder was solved.

Janet Blaylock