"She didn't tell you?" Cal looked genuinely surprised. "I figured you knew everything about each other."
Kelly shook her head slightly. "We talked about a lot, but... I guess not everything."
Ben found this interesting. The Lori that Cal described seemed at odds with the confident, settled person in Kelly's stories. The disconnect was worth exploring.
And if Kelly didn’t know that Lori was planning her wedding to Cal, what else didn’t she know?
"She was under a lot of pressure," Cal said. "Her parents, cheerleading, keeping up appearances. Bergen isn't kind to people who don't fit the mold."
"No, it's not," Kelly agreed, her voice tight.
"After my football injury, I understood better what she was going through. When your whole identity is tied to one thing, and then that thing changes. Shit, it’s hard,” Cal replied, taking another sip of his coffee.
Ben noted the unexpected depth from someone Kelly had described as a "cocky jock." People changed, of course. The arrogant teenager had grown into a thoughtful adult.
He wouldn’t bet the farm or his life, but this guy didn’t seem like a killer who would strangle someone he cared about and then dump her body in a ditch.
But what do I know? Ted Bundy was charming, too.
"We weren't right for each other," Cal admitted. "I was too focused on myself, and she was trying to figure out who she was. But I cared about her. When she died..."
"It hit everyone hard," Kelly finished for him.
"What was she like those last few weeks?" Ben asked, keeping his tone casual.
"Different," Cal replied after a moment. "Quieter. More serious. I thought maybe she was just stressed about classes and Homecoming."
Ben glanced at Kelly, wondering if this matched her recollections. The restless, uncertain girl Cal described wasn't quite aligned with the Bergen royalty Kelly had talked about. People were complex, of course, presenting different sides to different people in their lives. But the discrepancy was worth noting.
"Do you think she was hiding something?" Ben asked.
“What would she be hiding? There aren’t any secrets in this town."
There were always secrets, some could be hidden for a long time, and others for barely a few hours.
"Did she tell you about any issues before she died?" Kelly asked, her voice cutting through the friendly chatter. "Was she worried about anything?"
"She was worried about her health. You remember, right? She quit drinking or eating junk food. Wouldn't even have a beer at parties." Cal shrugged. "Said she needed to take better care of herself."
"I remember that. She’d had that horrible stomach flu that she just couldn’t shake,” Kelly remembered, nodding in agreement. “She was always queasy and tired.”
“She kept canceling plans on me,” Cal said. “She was always saying she was exhausted and didn’t feel good. But I don’t think that’s why someone killed her.”
"Cheerleading, school, games. It was a lot,” Kelly replied. “I think that stomach flu just took everything out of her, and she didn’t let herself take enough time to really recover.”
Ben kept looking back and forth between Cal and Kelly, waiting for one of them to come to the same possible conclusion that he already had, but so far neither of them had gone there.
Maybe I’m out of order here.
Ben's mind had connected a few dots. Lori’s sudden health focus. Fatigue. Nausea. He filed this information away, careful not to jump to conclusions but recognizing its potential significance.
"When exactly was this?" Ben asked.
"Maybe a month before she..." Cal trailed off, unable to say it. "You know."
"Did she see a doctor?" Ben asked.
"I don’t know,” Cal said. “Kelly, do you remember Lori going to the doctor?"
