A Shred of Evidence (33 page)

E
llen Jones sat in her living room and gave her statement to Investigator Al Backus and Police Chief Will Seevers. The chief’s presence seemed invasive, and all she could think about was getting the interview over with.

“Anything else?” Chief Seevers said.

Ellen shook her head. “I’ve told you everything I can remember.”

“Okay. We’ll comb the area. Maybe we’ll find something that will tell us if it was the Hamilton girl.” The chief’s eyes seemed to be searching hers. “I’m surprised you were with Mrs. Hamilton again today, considering you’ve had such passionate feelings about her husband’s guilt.”

“I never implicated Julie,” Ellen said. “Actually, she called me. She was climbing the walls and wanted someone to keep her company while Ross did his psychological evaluation.”

“Sounds like you’ve become friends.”

“I’m just starting to know her, but I feel as though I’ve learned a lot about this family.”

“Has your opinion of Ross changed?”

“Well, it’s certainly mellowed.”

“Really?” Will lifted his eyebrows. “Why?”

“In addition to the fact no one has found evidence that points to his guilt in this case or any other, I was touched by his plea for Sarah Beth’s life. Plus Julie volunteered details about the deaths and disappearances that I and everyone else have been
suspicious about. There’s a surprisingly reasonable, albeit tragic, explanation for each incident.”

“Imagine that,” Will said. “The Biloxi police knew what they were doing all along.”

Ellen decided she deserved his sarcasm. “Chief, I know I’ve been an irritation to you, but my true intention was always to make sure Sarah Beth wasn’t in danger. I think we agree that what’s important now is finding out what happened to her. It might take the cooperation of the entire community, but if that little girl I saw today is Sarah Beth, surely we can find her.”

Will’s face softened and he looked at her intently. “Well at last, Mrs. Jones, I think we’re on the same side.”

Julie Hamilton moved from the couch to the Lazy Boy, then got up and went into the kitchen where Ross sat straddling a chair, his fingers nervously tapping the table.

“I feel like we should be out looking for Sarah Beth,” Julie said.

“I know. But where would we even start?”

“Well, this sure isn’t working.” She stared for a moment at the Post-it note on the refrigerator, then picked up the phone and dialed.

“Hello?”

“Ellen, it’s Julie. I just had to talk to someone. Ross and I are going out of our minds thinking that Sarah Beth might be here in Seaport.”

“Me, too. I gave my statement to Chief Seevers and one of his investigators. I’m so sorry I didn’t say something to you at the time. If only I’d—”

“There’s no way you could’ve known. Neither of us was thinking she might be here.”

Ellen sighed. “Julie, the little girl’s mannerisms were just like Sarah Beth’s. I should’ve been sharper than that.”

There was a long period of dead air. Julie wondered if it had been a mistake calling Ellen again.

“I have an idea,” Ellen finally said. “It may not work, but it’s worth a try. Can you meet me on the same corner in about an hour?”

“Okay What’re you thinking?”

“I’ll tell you when I see you. Bring a recent photo of Sarah Beth.”

Julie hung up and turned to Ross. “Ellen has an idea. She’s going to pick me up at our spot in an hour.”

“What’s she gonna do?”

“I don’t know. But it’s got to be better than this.”

Will Seevers sat in his office, reviewing the file on the Hamilton case. He yawned and opened his eyes wide and blinked several times. It made no sense that Sarah Beth’s abductor would take her out in broad daylight. It had to be a look alike. A knock on the door broke his concentration. “Come in.”

“I thought you’d gone home,” Bryce said.

“This case is messing with my mind.”

“Save your brainpower. It’s nothing more than wishful thinking that the Hamilton girl is here if she’s even alive.” Bryce sat in the chair next to Will’s desk. “Let’s keep working on McDaniel. It makes the most sense to me that RISK was involved in this. And they sure wouldn’t have relocated the girl here in Seaport.”

“Then you think it’s just a case of mistaken identity?”

“Has to be.”

“You know I went with Backus to talk to the Jones woman?”

“Yeah, I read the report. She didn’t add anything new except the location where she saw the girl.”

“In hindsight, she’s convinced it could’ve been Sarah Beth.”

“So was Kaufman. But they’re going by what, a picture they saw on the news?”

Will picked up his pencil and tapped the eraser on his desk. “Actually, Ellen Jones spent some time with the girl. That’s why she came to me in the first place—out of concern for Sarah Beth’s safety. When she gave us her statement today, she said she was struck by how much the little girl’s mannerisms were like Sarah Beth’s.”

“And a million other two-year-olds. Come on, Will, the woman was seventy-five yards away. She didn’t report it until she saw it on the news. It’s just the power of suggestion.”

Will shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe the investigators will find something at the duck pond or on the playground that will prove it was her.”

Bryce put a hand on Will’s shoulder. “Listen to me … I’ve been involved in seven of these cases. It’s much easier to look at the best possible scenario than deal with reality. But here are the cold, hard facts: there’s a better chance of you winning the lottery than us finding Sarah Beth Hamilton in this town. She’s either been relocated by RISK—or she’s fallen victim to some sexual predator, possibly her father. The sooner you accept that, the easier you’re going to handle it when we find her—dead or alive.”

Ellen saw Julie standing on the corner of Orange Blossom and Flamboyant and pulled the car over to the curb.

Julie opened the door and peered inside. “I hope you don’t mind that Ross came with me.”

Before Ellen could reply, a man in a blue cap and dark glasses left the tree he was leaning against and hurried over to the car. He squatted by the passenger door and took off his glasses, his face looking even more drawn than on TV His mustache was gone, but his eyes had the same beseeching look.

“I know you didn’t invite me,” Ross said. “Just say the word, and I’ll turn around and go home.”

“Don’t you dare,” Ellen heard herself say “I need all the help I can get.”

Julie and Ross crawled into the backseat, and Ellen looked at them in the rearview mirror. If someone would have told her a week ago that she would be helping the Hamiltons search for Sarah Beth, she would have thought them insane.

“This is awkward,” Ross said. “I’m sorry to put you on the spot. But I can’t go out looking for Sarah Beth in either of our cars or I’ll have the media tailing me.”

“It’s okay,” Ellen said. “Did you bring the picture?”

Julie reached over the seat and handed it to Ellen. “It’s a professional one we had done when she turned two.”

Ellen smiled, thinking it captured Sarah Beth’s personality. “It’s perfect.”

“What do you want with her picture?” Julie said.

“I want to make flyers and distribute them all over the city. I can make them myself at Kinko’s. With Sarah Beth’s photograph posted in high-traffic areas, surely, if she’s here, someone will recognize her and call the police.”

“What a great idea,” Ross said. “We’ll be glad to pay you.”

Ellen shook her head. “It’s the least I can do. But you can help me get them distributed. This is going to take hours and we need to move quickly.”

Gordy Jameson sat next to the phone. He picked up the receiver, then hung it up again, unsure of how to express his disgust without antagonizing Eddie’s wife. How did one Sunday dinner get so blown out of proportion? Finally, he picked up the phone and dialed.

“Drummond residence.”

“Melody, it’s Gordy Jameson.”

“Oh, boy. I am soooo sorry, I—”

“How’d you get the idea I’m engaged when I’m not even datin’ anyone?”

“You’re not?”

“No.”

“But I heard the Seevers had you over to their house for a big dinner, and that you gave Pam Townsend a ring.”

“Where’d you hear a thing like that?” Gordy said.

“I don’t remember exactly who told me.”

“Why didn’t you just ask Eddie? He knows better.”

“I did,” Melody said. “He didn’t know anything about it. But a lady in my bridge group has a friend who’s friends with a friend of Pam Townsend’s—”

“Ex mother-in-law. Yeah, I know. You ladies got your wires crossed. Now I’m the one who’s red-faced about it. Not to mention Pam.”

“Then you’ve talked to her?”

“No. But if I’m hearin’ this stuff, she must be.”

“So you’re not even dating her?”

Gordy exhaled loudly. “Look, Melody, I don’t know how to say this so it comes out the right way, but my business is exactly that—
my
business. You of all people should know how hard it’s been with Jenny gone. If and when I decide to date, I’d like the freedom to do it without all these friends of friends of friends talkin’ about me and speculatin’. It’s not right. And I’m askin’ you to put a stop to it.”

“Oh, Gordy. I am sooo embarrassed.”

“Yeah, well, that’s two of us.”

Ellen parked her car in the Publix parking lot and picked up a box of flyers. “I’m going to ask the manager if he’ll authorize his checkers to give these out with each purchase—possibly as a bag stuffer.”

“I don’t think they allow things like that,” Ross said.

Ellen caught his gaze in the rearview mirror. “Then I’ll shame him into it. I can be
very
persuasive. Why don’t you two tack some flyers on the light posts around the parking lot and on the bulletin board in Walgreen’s? I’ll talk to the Walgreen’s manager when I’m through in Publix. Let’s meet back here as soon as possible. We have a lot of ground to cover.”

Ellen went into Publix and walked up to the customer service window. “My name’s Ellen Jones. May I speak with the manager, please?”

“He’s not here this evening. I can let you talk to our assistant manager.”

“All right, thank you.”

Ellen walked over to the bulletin board and attached the flyer with pushpins, then stood back a few feet, satisfied it would draw attention.

“Mrs. Jones?”

Ellen spun around. “Yes.”

“I’m Alice Rimes, the assistant manager. What can I do for you?”

“I’m a friend of the Hamiltons, the couple whose little girl was abducted? I came to ask if you would authorize your checkers to give one of these flyers to each customer, perhaps as a bag stuffer.”

Alice perused the flyer, then handed it back to Ellen. “I can
appreciate the gravity of the situation, but if we start doing this for one, well have to do it for all.”

“I see.” Ellen’s eyes searched Alice’s. “I’m fairly new to the area. How many abductions would you say happen every year in Seaport?”

“Well, I, uh—I suppose it’s pretty uncommon. Actually, I don’t remember that it’s ever happened before.”

“Then surely you can see it in your heart to make an exception, just this once. It is a bit of an emergency.” Ellen turned the flyer around so the woman could see Sarah Beth’s picture. “She’s a precious little girl. Wouldn’t it be rewarding if by distributing her picture, you were instrumental in saving her from heaven-knows-what? Putting a flyer in a bag or handing it to a customer with a receipt will take each checker all of three seconds.”

Alice looked down at the floor and then at Ellen. “You say you know the girl’s parents?”

“Yes. And everything negative you’ve heard about Ross is either false or has been grossly misconstrued. But this isn’t about Julie and Ross Hamilton; it’s about an innocent two-year-old who can’t help herself. I’m convinced if this community pulls together in the search for Sarah Beth, we’re going to find her.”

“All right. I’ll authorize this for tonight. But I’ll have to clear it with the manager after that.”

“Thank you.” Ellen shook Alice’s hand, then gave her an entire box of flyers. “If you’re a praying woman, please say a prayer for Sarah Beth—and for her parents. This has been unspeakably difficult.”

“I will,” Alice said. “Wouldn’t it be something if they find her alive?”