The next question is whether she was planning to do something or meet someone. For now, let's
continue to focus on the latter; who might she have been planning to meet?
Here are the general categories:
1. A friend
2. A lover
3. A professor
4. A relative
5. A stranger
1. If she were meeting with a friend, either to go on to a party or just to go to friend's apartment to watch TV, she might well have told Peter Stein that. (Unless, of course, she though he might ask to go along and she didn't want him to.)
2. A lover: well, as I've said before, this would offer an excellent reason for her not to have told anyone about her appointment. She had a boyfriend, but he was away. As I said earlier, we don't know anything at all about their relationship, which I find odd. I also find it odd that she lived alone. Most college students who live off-campus share apartments with other students, or with their lovers. Why didn't boyfriend live with her? It would have made sense. You'd imagine that at least he'd have spent weekends there, or that she'd have spent weekends at his place. Any evidence of this?
Of course, if she'd been involved with a married guy, she'd have needed a place of her own. If he lived in the area, they couldn't have been seen in public together, and he could scarcely have taken her to his house. So he'd have wanted her to have her own apartment. How long had she lived there? What was it like? How big? How much did it cost?
3. As noted, I think if she were meeting a professor with whom she wasn't romantically involved, it would have been for a discussion about her work, in which case she'd have taken along necessary materials.
4. No indication that she had any relatives living nearby. If someone had made a trip to New Haven specifically to see her, she'd probably have mentioned it to someone, and she'd probably have changed into "dressier" clothes. Also: a meeting with an out-of-town relative would probably have entailed dinner, and we presume she'd already eaten at the pizza party. (Though of course she may not have done; this could be checked. And in fact I think it IS an important point to check: if she'd planned to meet someone later, and dine with him, then probably she wouldn't have touched the pizza.)
5. At this point we're assuming the meeting between Suzanne and her killer was planned, but planned at the last minute. If so, then she went home deliberately, either to pick up a message or to make a call. That's my take, anyhow. Had the meeting been planned well in advance, she'd probably have made it for a more convenient moment. And she'd probably have been eager to get away from the pizza party as early as possible, and not offered a ride to a friend. At the very least, she'd have told someone at the party that she was in a hurry, I think. |
