[MD1, 3:25PM] >"Well,"Zenya started to explain "Actually I am not Mary's >friend. I am from the FBI. We are here to carry out the >investigations. " She showed her ID badge as evidence.
>"FBI?"
>"Ms Cross, I'm sorry if I intrude on your mourning, but >there are a couple of questions that I would like to ask. Are >you very close to Mary?"
>Rebecca looked at the agent, the tears again filling up her eyes.
>"I had known Mary since college. Just a few years, but there >is something that make the 2 of us clicked together. I am the >only child, and Mary was the sister that I never had. The one >that play with me, joke with me, cheer me up when I was down. >We can just spend the whole night doing nothing but talking, >talking about anything, everything. "
>Zenya looked at Rebecca closely. The woman was going to >cry again. She did some quick thinking, and then asked another >question.
>"Ms Cross, I would like to know something. Does Mary ever >had a abortion?"
>Rebecca looked at the agent, surprise on her face.
"No, absolutely not," Rebecca said, shaking her head slowly. "I don�t think she would have considered it, even if... Why do you ask?"
"I�m sorry to be so blunt, but that is one avenue of speculation we�ve been considering," Zenya said. "Is there a chance that its something she might not have told you?"
"We told each other everything." Rebecca leaned back against the tree and slowly sank to the ground. Once sitting, she rubbed her eyes, leaned her forehead on her palm and started crying again. "Almost everything," she said.
"What do you mean," Zenya asked. Rebecca looked up at her, perhaps wondering how much she really wanted to say or perhaps wondering how much she could bring herself to talk about at the moment. Finding it awkward to conduct an interrogation in their relative positions, Zenya sat down in the grass next to the distraught young woman. "Anything you can tell me could help us find the person who did this."
Rebecca nodded. "About a month before she... before she disappeared," Rebecca said slowly, "Mary told me something. It was strange because she called me and asked me to meet her for coffee. She didn�t want to talk about it on the phone, she said, and she didn�t want me to come over to her place. She told me that she thought she was pregnant."
"Was she?"
"No, it turned out to be a false alarm. What shocked me was that she hadn�t even told me that she was seeing anyone. We�d never had any secrets before. We always talked about things like that."
"Did she tell you who she thought the father was?"
Rebecca slowly shook her head. "She wouldn�t tell me his name or how they met. She said she�d known him for a year or so. Actually, she�d been writing to him. She said she�d only seen him a few times, and that�s why she didn�t tell me. She said it wasn�t serious."
"So then, how did she feel about the idea of being pregnant?"
"She always wanted a big family. She said the timing was lousy, because she�d just gotten a new job. When she found out she wasn�t, I think she was really disappointed."
"Do you know if she told anyone else about this?"
"She didn�t want anyone else to know until she was sure." Rebecca stared off into the distance for a moment, then burst into violent sobs again.
Zenya looked up to see what had caused it, and saw the coffin being carried out of the church. At the sight, she couldn�t help recalling another funeral years before. Quickly closing the door on the emotions and memories it stirred, she turned back to Rebecca. Zenya recognized from bitter experience that the girl needed more consoling than any stranger could offer, maybe more than anyone could offer at the moment.
"If you don�t mind," Zenya said, "I just have a few more questions to ask you, then you can get back to the others."
Rebecca nodded, but didn�t say anything. She also did not take her eyes off the coffin as it was loaded into the hearse.
"Can you tell me about this new job Mary had gotten?"
"She was a teacher. She�d been subbing for a couple years, and she�d just gotten her first full time teaching job. Third grade at Meadow Park Elementary School. She was so excited about it."
"Do you know if she kept a diary?"
Rebecca shrugged. "She used to. If she did, it would probably be on her computer." She watched silently for a few moments while the cars started queuing up to go to the graveside service. "So senseless," she mumbled.
Zenya nodded. She stood and offered a hand to help Rebecca to her feet. "Thank you for speaking with me," she said after taking down Rebecca�s address and phone number, and giving her the number of her cell phone in case she thought of anything else. "You�ve been very helpful."
"I hope so."
Rebecca wander off toward the line of waiting cars. Zenya pulled out her phone and dialed Vanessa�s number. After she�d given her the basics of the conversation with Rebecca, she went to look for Jordan to see if he�d found anything.
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