Beyond Obsession by Richard; Hammer

Karin was in full view of everybody. Nobody commented. Mike Zaccaro noticed but, he says, “I didn’t think it was anything unusual.” Jeff Sands watched but said and did nothing. Nobody else seemed to pay any attention.
    The questioning resumed, went on for a little time more, and then Revoir and Libby left. As soon as they were out the door, Sands looked at Karin. “Karin,” he said, “I saw you take those pieces of paper and throw them away. If they have anything to do with your mother’s death, we have to talk about it.”
    Karin rose from the sofa and went to the garbage bag, reached in, retrieved the papers and handed them to Sands. He read the first page, looked up at her, then read the second page. “Who wrote this?” he asked.
    â€œDennis,” she said.
    â€œWhere did you find it?”
    â€œBetween the sheets of my bed,” she said.
    Sands reread the note. The first page said:
    To My Dreamgirl
    I will “do the deed.” I PROMISE YOU!!
    The second page read:
    Monday. 4:15 P . M .
    Karin,
    Hi dear. How was your trip? O.K . I hope. I missed you horribly. Come back soon. Listen, I’ve got a plan for this week. Almost all the details are set. We must seriously talk. It could work. I hate those pictures on your dresser. (Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be nosey.) Had a bizarre dream. Your mother was in it. If your mom goes to work tomorrow either call me at work, or I’ll pass by on my way home. I can’t wait to talk to you. Do you still love me? (I hope). I love you more than ever. Please don’t ever leave me. I see good times for us in the near future. We’ll have fun. Well, the Dud’s [the cat] been fed, we played for a while. Ring me tonight any time if you can. See you soon? Can’t wait. We’ll soon be havin’ a party, you and me. I promise. I’m so in love with you my dear. I will ask you to marry me someday—the right way. The most romantic and loving way I can. I PROMISE. See you soon.
    Love,
    Den
    P.S. I’ve been eating more lately,
    and haven’t felt sick—good?
    Sands looked up at her. “Why did you throw this away?”
    Karin said, “I was scared.”
    Sands turned to Zaccaro and Butler and asked them to leave the condo for a while because he had to talk to Karin privately. They left.
    When they were alone, Sands told her she had to turn the note over to the police immediately. The police had been in and out of the condo since Joyce’s murder. They had searched it thoroughly. They must have found that note and then put it back between the sheets to see whether she would try to destroy it or give it to them. If she didn’t turn it over, a lot of suspicion would fall on her. At the very least, she might be charged with hindering prosecution, a potentially serious crime. If she had anything to worry about, he said, he would get her a criminal lawyer.
    Karin offered little resistance. She said that she didn’t need a criminal lawyer, that she had nothing to hide, that she was just upset because the note was from Dennis. Until then Sands had never heard of Dennis Coleman.
    Sands held the note and started for the door. Karin followed. He drove her to the command post at the Naubuc Elementary School. When they arrived, Revoir was outside in the parking lot. Sands walked up to him and said that Karin had found a note in the apartment from her friend Dennis Coleman, and they thought Revoir ought to have it. Revoir led them inside, took the note and read it, with interest and a little surprise. Sands had been wrong in his surmise. As it happened, the police had not come upon the note. During their searches of the apartment they had barely looked in Karin’s room.
    Where had she found it? Revoir asked.
    Between the sheets of her bed.
    What did it mean, the deed and the plan?
    Dennis had been having problems with his stomach, she said. They thought perhaps he had an ulcer. She had one,