“Here’s a sandwich, love. You really must eat something,” Gwen said.

I shook my head and the world swam. Artie wrapped his arm around my shoulder to keep me from falling apart. Gwen set the assortment of tiny sandwiches next to the flyers for Tommi’s memorial candlelit virgil on my coffee table. Tommi, my bestie, murdered. Her killer still free.

“let me at least make you a cup of tea,” Gwen said, heading to the kitchen.

All of Grandview College was reeling from Tommi’s murder. Struggling to come to terms with the shock and violence, Tommi’s family was overwhelmed. My apartment had become a de facto headquarters for mourning my friend on campus. We were drawing on each other for strength but some days were harder than others. Today, Tommi’s viewing, was one of those days. I picked up one of Tommi’s memorial flyers. We’d selected one of Tommii’s self-portraits. With my index finger I traced my best friend’s face. She was so talented.

Evan, Tommi’s ex, sat beside me on the sofa and with one look we both burst into tears. We held each other. Evan’s back shook from crying. His arms held me tight. I had ordered some food trays. The Delta Phis had brought in extra supplies and Gwen had set up everything. Half of the college must have passed through my apartment to pay their respects.

“Part of me is waiting to wake up and see this was all a horrible nightmare,” Evan said rubbing at his wet face.

“No it’s real, too real. The cops pulled me in. Talked to me for hours about Tommi. Like I would do anything to—“ Artie said before getting choked up.

“The police have to look at everybody close to Tommi, Artie, if just to eliminate suspects. Think about the Golden State Killer, active from the late sixties to the early eighties, while forensic genealogy solved the case the police had to eliminate hundreds of suspects to recognize the killer’s pattern and tie together the crimes across the decades,” Layla said.

We all turned to face my roommate Layla. She shoveled an entire mini tuna sandwich into her mouth. Layla was well Layla. I had hoped she would go home for Tommi’s wake, but no such luck.

“Look, nobody has time for your true crime bogeyman stories,” Artie snapped.

Suddenly, Gwen was there with a tray of mugs of tea. Breaking the tension, Gwen handed them to each of us.

“Drink up I made them extra sweet to keep you from flagging. I know the stress of grieving can play havoc with your blood sugar. Makes you cranky,” Gwen said, “Someone brought a pie. How does apple pie sound?”

Nodding, I patted Gwen’s arm as she passed. Gwen had been Tommi’s friend and lab partner and she had become my rock after Tommi’s murder. I don’t know how I would have made it through the last week without her.

“Speaking of bogeymen, some researchers attribute Jack the Ripper’s crime to an avenging angel sent to punish Whitechapel’s vice. Of course those in the know know it was a Masonic cabal. True facts,” Layla said blowing on her tea.

Evan groaned. Artie cursed. The air in my apartment felt close. Barely able to breathe, I pulled at my black dress’ collar. A couple of Sigma sorors showed up to hug and cry. The rest of the evening slipped away as half of Greek row came and went. Artie, after finishing a six pack, passed out in the easy chair. I covered him in a blanket and then went to help Gwen clean up. Layla ate the rest of the pie while giving a deep dive on the Lonelyhearts Murderers versus the Moors Murderers. I threw her a look.

“I’m just saying while historically men are more prone to violence women murder. Female murderers are often overlooked, their motives going unseen,” Layla said.

Squeezing hard, I hugged Evan good night.

He whispered in my ear, “I hate to leave you here alone with Miss Thrill Kill.”

“No worries, Gwen is staying over. She’ll be a good buffer.”

“I’m glad. Your cousin is so nice to come up and help you through all of this,” Evan said.

“Gwen’s not my cousin. She was Tommi’s lab partner. I thought you met her before.”

Evan scratched his chin. “No. I’m so tired. i must have heard her wrong.”

I watched Evan walk down the hall. Suddenly I was exhausted. I was determined to ignore Layla and get some sleep. I wanted to sleep forever. All I could think was how much Tommi would love to have so many people around her. Laying in bed, all I could think was Tommi never told me she had a lab partner. She never said she had even taken a Biology class. In fact Tommi took Astronomy for her science credit. I remembered Tommi thought it would be close to Astrology and nearly failed. My eyelids were heavy. All I could think was who was Gwen anyway and how did you get to be such a big part of my life

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