Part One: VIII. Jennifer

A few days later, Neil visited Jennifer again.

“I spoke to some of Alicia’s classmates,” he said.

“This Bradley and Ida you mentioned. But also a few others. Did you know that Alicia wrote poems?”

“Oh, yes,” Jennifer said. “Even as a young child. Always reading and writing small poems. Uncles, aunts, cousins, everybody got a poem for their birthdays. But I wasn’t aware she still did.”

“Her fellow students were quite impressed with her poetry,” said Neil. “And that means something, all being linguistic students.”

Pleased, Jennifer poured him another cup of coffee; she felt taken seriously by Neil’s efforts.

“Do you know anything about a laptop computer Alicia had?” he asked.

“No idea, I’ve never seen it, but yes, she must have had one. As a student you can’t do without it, I would think…”