Lisa glanced at her murder board over the rim of her coffee mug.

“Motive,” she murmured, taking a cautious sip.

She desperately wanted to rule out Cathy, her next-door neighbor. Yet, according to the police statement released the previous day, Cathy had the highest motive and was at the top of their suspects list.

Lisa suddenly froze. She felt a prick on the back of her neck, as though someone was watching her. Goosebumps crawled over her skin.

Was she actually being watched?

Or was it a fragment of her imagination? Again?

Lisa slowly turned around. The blinds across the only window in her study were still shut. Could there possibly be an opening in the blinds enabling someone to see inside?

Or a hidden camera in the room perhaps? Lisa shuddered. She hated the idea of being watched.

“You’re alone,” she whispered to herself as the feeling of being watched went away as suddenly as it had come.

Placing her coffee mug back onto the table, she picked up a newspaper clipping from the previous week.

“Prominent Businessman Files for Divorce Amidst Wife’s Unexpected Inheritance,” she read, “In a rather surprising turn of events, prominent businessman and owner of Thompson & Co.  Jared Thompson has filed for divorce from his wife, Advocate Cathy Thompson, shortly after she inherited a substantial fortune from her late mother’s estate. The couple, who have been married for over a decade, have been the subject of widespread media attention following the inheritance, which is rumored to be worth several million dollars.

Legal experts indicate that if the divorce proceeds, Cathy will be required to split her inheritance with Jared, potentially awarding him up to one-third of the newly acquired wealth.

As the case moves forward, it is expected to garner significant attention, particularly in legal circles, given the complexities surrounding marital assets. Jared and Cathy Thompson, once seen as one of the city’s power couples, now find themselves at the center of a legal battle that could have far-reaching consequences for both parties.”

Cathy had a motive. Both the news article and the police investigations had proven it. Lisa, however, wanted her investigation to defy the police statements.

She believed Cathy would definitely have mentioned the divorce to her. What reason would she have not to? She had told Lisa about the inheritance, and her plan of investing it in a coffee shop with Jared. She had spoken about the shop a great deal. Neither Cathy nor Jared had ever mentioned the divorce to Lisa, although they had been over to discuss the financials with her for their coffee shop the week before Jared’s lifeless body had been found, two days after he was officially reported missing by his wife.

Lisa’s research into Cathy’s past revealed that Cathy had recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Lisa had known Cathy for the longest time, and yet hadn’t suspected for a second that Cathy could be schizophrenic. The police either hadn’t found this out yet or had chosen not to make an official statement on it.

Thinking about it after her discovery, Lisa recalled how Cathy would sometimes call out to her imaginary child. At the time, Lisa had assumed it was Cathy’s way of dealing with grief of being childless after many failed IVF attempts.

Lisa felt a grumble in the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t eaten for ages. Taking a deep breath, she let the news clipping fall to the table. It was time to break for a meal. Rubbing her eyes, she half-smiled at the teddy bear sitting on her shelf as she walked out.

Lisa froze.

She didn’t own any teddy bears.

How would a child’s teddy bear suddenly appear in her study?

Panic rushed through Lisa’s veins.

An object not belonging to her meant someone had access to her study.

Someone had seen her murder board.

She marched to the bear and picked it up, closely examining it. The bear felt hollow. With a fresh wave of panic, she realized the bear had been stripped of most of its stuffing. She put the bear closer to her ear. A distinctive ticking sounded. As she turned the bear around in her hand, an expensive-looking watch slipped from a tear under the bear and fell with a soft thud on her carpeted floor.

With sweating palms, she picked up the watch. Her mouth opened wide as a silent scream escaped.

Jared’s watch.

Lisa had given this watch to Jared on his birthday a few months back.

How did a dead man’s watch enter a child’s toy and eventually find its way onto her shelf?

A cold sweat broke out on her brow.

Lisa glanced at her murder board.

Someone knew what she was up to.

She was in danger.

Pinching her lip, she tossed the bear into the bin.

A meal could wait. She had to figure this mystery out.

“Breathe in, … breathe out,” she told herself, trying to calm herself. She shut her eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

Lisa habitually picked up a pen from her pencil holder and peeled a sticky note off her stack.

She pasted the sticky note on a section on her board to note down the finding of the watch.

The pen felt different in her fingers.

An icy hand gripped her heart as she looked down at the pen now resting on her sweaty palm.

This pen wasn’t hers.

It was a pen she had always wanted. A pen that doubled as a fancy shell, hiding a microphone and a tiny camera inside.

The room seemed to close in on her, making her feel claustrophobic. Fear and panic collided with horrific thoughts in her mind.

Who could possibly have placed the pen in her study?

Lisa threw the pen on her carpet and stepped on it. Again, and again. With a loud crack, the pen broke into two pieces. She kicked both pieces in opposite directions.

Her heart raced.

Panting, she locked her study door from inside. The feeling of being locked in a room seemed to calm her. Even if someone entered her house now, they’d never be able to get into her study.

Lisa switched off the lights in her study and turned on her lamp. The soft, golden glow slowly brought her pulse back to normal.

“You’re okay,” she told herself, “You’re by yourself and the door is locked. Only you can open the door now.”

Lisa felt sure she had all the clues.

Her suspects were all on the murder board, although she had solid alibis for some of them. The major and minor clues were all pinned to her board.

She took a deep breath and turned on her lights. She had to figure this out now.

Lisa let her eyes follow the red strings, until she reached the section she had crowded with sticky notes.

“Missing wedding band,” she read aloud from one of her sticky notes as she picked her coffee mug. Jared’s band had not been on his finger when his body was found. When questioned, a shaking Cathy had sworn Jared always had had ring on. “He never took it off,” she had sobbed, “Except to clean it.”

She knew that wedding band perfectly. She’d helped Cathy pick it out herself. Lisa shut her eyes as the memory came floating back. They had both graduated on the same day and had coincidentally dressed in similar outfits. Calling themselves ‘Soul sisters’, they struck off. Towards the end of the day, Lisa had coaxed a nervous Cathy into talking to her. Cathy had told Lisa how she needed to pick a ring for her wedding but doubted her own fashion sense. Lisa had helped Cathy pick out a beautiful band. Cathy, being so touched by the gesture, had asked Lisa to be her maid of honor at the wedding.

The sudden ringing of her doorbell jolted her. Lisa cursed. She’d poured coffee on herself. Quickly unlocking, then bolting the study door behind her, she rushed to her room to change.

“Hang on a sec, Cathy!” she called out.

Of late, Lisa always assumed Cathy was at her door every time her doorbell rang. Cathy had been a total wreck since she had been called in for the official identification of Jared’s body and had been over to Lisa’s almost every day for support.

Lisa had been glad to be of assistance to Cathy, however, she was also having a hard time hiding her findings from Cathy, who had seemed to become rather nosy. Lisa was having an increasingly difficult time dealing with Cathy generally. She would constantly break down and wail for hours. Lisa, thinking of the schizophrenia discovery, silently wondered if Cathy was being genuine.

She quickly pulled a blouse over her head, messing up her neat ponytail. Panting, she ran over to the door and jerked it open. There was nobody out. Probably one of the neighborhood children again, ringing the doorbell for the fun of it. Lisa cursed again. She hated being bothered unnecessarily.

As she was shutting the door, she noticed an envelope on her doormat. She picked it up and turned it around in her hand. The envelope was blank, save for a tiny smear of red ink. She tore it open and peeked inside. A piece of paper had neatly been folded into the envelope. Lisa placed her thumb into the envelope and slowly slid the paper out. She opened it up. Eight printed words ran across the paper.

Stop what you’re doing before it’s too late.

Lisa gulped. She looked out at the empty road, adrenaline rushing through her veins. The sudden clattering of metal on her wooden floor made her jump. Lisa was now breathing in uneven bursts. A ring had fallen from the torn envelope that was still in her hand.

With a shaking hand, she bent down and picked the ring off the floor. It was a slim golden band with two overlapping hearts etched on the inside with the initials J and C in each heart.

Jared’s wedding band.