I guess I’ll start from the day I last saw her.

We met for lunch at the café down the street. It was her favorite floral dress she was wearing. She waved upon seeing me and I saw a ring on her finger that I haven’t seen before. I noticed she smiled more radiantly than usual, and her eyes sparkled.

I knew they were together. But she was always crying and he was always gone, and I thought– wait, you don’t need that in your investigation, do you?

He proposed just the night before. He has changed, she said. He promised her he would change. She smiled at me and I remember thinking it was the happiest I’ve seen her in a long time. What did I say? Well, what would a good friend say? I told her I was happy for them. You can imagine how I felt, knowing she was already engaged… but again, you don’t need that information, do you?

I haven’t seen her since then. I take the blame for the first few days, though. I was too busy getting drunk. You know how we young people are, officer. Anyway, I tried calling her after a week. She wouldn’t answer her phone and wouldn’t leave messages either. I dropped by her apartment. She wasn’t home. Neighbors said she hasn’t been home for awhile, and that she told them she’d be staying with her fiancée for some time.

So I drove to his home and had to wait a long time before someone answered the door. I told him I came to visit her, and showed the basket of apples I bought along the way for her. He smelled of brandy. His words were slurred when he told me they fought and she left the night before. He took the apples before slamming the door in my face.

I was about to leave when I spotted her car in the backyard, the cloth covering it slightly askew. I didn’t understand why she left her car there, but then I…