JD, I'm with you on the idea that Suzanne most likely wasn't planning to go right back to her apartment. What tips the balance for me, and I assume for you, are two separate events that, in and of themselves we could sort of explain, but the combination is odd.
As I reported, the walk from Suzanne's apartment to Phelps Gate is about 5-7 minutes. Add dropping off the keys (another minute to enter into the police substation, deposit the keys in the receptacle under the window, and exit), and the entire round trip would have taken 12-15 minutes. 20 minutes if we really stretch it. Suzanne spent at least that much time at her apartment after parking the borrowed car.
As Janice pointed out, turning on your computer, logging onto the internet, checking e-mail, responding, etc. takes time. It also takes mental preparation. Do I have the time and energy to read and respond... right this second? Can it wait 20 minutes after I run an errand and return home... when I'll have much more time and perhaps be much more relaxed? It just seems logical Suzanne didn't think she was going to be coming right back. Whether she knew exactly where she was going is another story.
The second odd event was when Suzanne walked through Phelps Gate instead of retracing her steps. She was seen "walking north on college street" by a friend (at least that's what 20/20 and other newspapers refer to this witness as). She wasn't described as standing in front of the gate nor was she described as wandering around looking for something, like a car that might be picking her up.
Again, it's not just one of these events that makes me agree that Suzanne probably didn't plan to return home, it's both of them.
So now we have her heading out somewhere... but where?
We could posit that the reason why she checked her e-mail was to see if she had confirmation of a meeting with someone. If this were indeed the case, there would be past e-mails to indicate this (unless you want to speculate a) the Yale e-mail server didn't have copies and b) Suzanne not only deleted such evidence from her own computer but used software that wipes the area clean... very doubtful), which would obviously lead the police right to that person's door with compelling evidence. Nope. Didn't happen. This is important. This means Suzanne was most likely not in any hurry.
As I've also stated, if someone were going to pick her up it would make the most sense for her to just say 'park in front of my place'... 'park around the corner if you don't want to be seen', etc. Phelps Gate is not a place you want to meet someone in secret! I see no reason why Suzanne would choose to meet a ride a few blocks away from Phelps Gate instead of at her apartment.
OK, now let's toss in the fact Suzanne didn't have her wallet on her. If she were meeting someone to go out for, say, coffee, or planned to go out on her own, she'd have brought along a wallet. Recall it was a Friday night and there were parties on and off campus. It could be that Suzanne just felt like stopping in at one of them. She was dressed appropriately. Maybe the dollar bill crumpled in her pocket was a routine action in case she needed change to make phone calls. Perhaps we're overthinking things by assuming something more sinister than that!
- Jeff |
