The Price of Candy (7 page)

He closed the file and set it aside. “Abigail
Olin doesn’t know who she shot. No one other than you has mentioned
a man named Toby. She doesn’t know any Toby and didn’t know for
sure who was out there in the dark. But when the man started up her
back porch, she shot him. All the facts seem to support her prowler
story. We’re charging her with manslaughter and releasing her on
her own recognizance this morning. If her story checks out, we’ll
drop all charges against her.”

“Have you tested her for drugs?” She was half
joking.

“Will you mind your own business? Miss Reid,
we’re reviewing possible charges against you. I’d love to prove you
somehow butted in and caused this entire dangerous situation to
occur.”

“You’re saying somehow I was the cause of a
prowler shooting which you say was accidental? Make up your mind.
Was it accidental or did I cause it? I’m telling you Abby knows the
Toby guy she shot. So don’t just drop charges because she claims
he’s a prowler. Geez, at least investigate whether or not she knows
him.”

He stood to signal the conversation was
over.

She continued, “They’re into something
together. I don’t know why she wanted him dead. I believe she asked
him to come over and use the back door so she could shoot him. She
yelled his name as she fired. The daughter has seen him. He might
even be Abby’s boyfriend. Can you shoot a boyfriend in this state
and get away with it?”

“You no doubt could, you’re the trickiest gal
in town. Don’t worry. We’ll check it all out.”

“Well, check it out before you let her loose.
Hey, let’s ask the daughter. I’m supposed to pick her up this
morning. She stayed overnight with her friend, Izzy.” Sandy took a
small notebook from her handbag and punched in the number. Someone
called Jamie to the phone. “Jamie, you all right?”

“I’m okay. Where’s Mom. Can I go home
now?

“Toby, the man your mother shot, died. She
says he was a prowler. She’ll be in jail for a few more hours.”

“Mom killed him? Awesome. Isn’t that
serious?”

“It depends on why she did it. I’ll explain
later. Got a question for you. Was Toby your mother’s
boyfriend?”

“I don’t know. They went out once. He was at
the house several times.”

“They went out together? Say that again,
Jamie, louder.” She held her phone out so Moran could hear.
“Thanks, Jamie. I’m coming over now to pick you up.”

“You can’t. Izzy’s mother says I can’t go
with you. It might be dangerous, or something. She said too much is
going on. She won’t let anyone but my mother pick me up.”

“Very smart of her, Jamie. I’ll come over
there now and talk with her.”

She clicked off, stared at the state
attorney, and waited.

Moran sat back down. “Okay. The kid’s no
doubt lying again. We’ll look into it. I’m still letting her mother
out while we investigate. What’s this Toby’s last name?”

“You’re asking me his last name? I’ve no
idea. You have the body. Why don’t you turn him over, take out his
wallet, and look at his driver’s license? His name will be printed
on the license just above his address.”

Moran tried to ignore her, but his face was
getting red. “There’s some confusion about his ID.”

“Toby is quite likely a nickname. I suppose
that could really confuse you.”

“Take your wisecracking mouth out of my
office!”

She left the county courthouse and drove out
to Izzy’s house. Her house was six blocks north of Jamie’s house.
Jamie had said white with blue shutters. As Sandy stopped in the
driveway, a young woman ran off the porch to meet her. “Are you
Sandy? I’m Izzy’s mother. Jamie’s not here. Izzy said she just got
on her bike and went looking for you. Why are you involved in this
anyway? You’re butting in and causing trouble. Why don’t you leave
Jamie alone?”

Sandy tried to shake off the sudden chill of
learning that Jamie was missing. She backed out of the driveway at
Izzy’s house and with tires screeching headed down the block to
Abby’s house. Yellow police tape remained stretched around portions
of the back porch area where the shooting had occurred. She ran to
the front door and pounded. She was surprised when Abby opened
it.

“You’re out on bail already?”

“Personal recognizance. No big deal shooting
a prowler in this state.”

“Is Jamie here?” Sandy shouted.

“No,” Abby said, “and you couldn’t see her if
she was. I just got here. Most likely she’s down at Izzy
Palmer’s.”

“She isn’t there. She took off on her
bike!”

“Oh, okay. So she’ll be home.” Abby started
to close the door. “Will you get out of here? I don’t want to talk
to you.”

“But what about Jamie? We need to look for
her.”

“She’ll show up when she gets hungry enough
or it gets dark enough.”

“Are you sure? Has she done this before?”

“Before? Hell, this is her life. I don’t know
where she goes. She’s in her own little world.”

“She shouldn’t be.” Sandy stifled the urge to
shake the woman by the shoulders.

“Butt out, Sandy. You’re absolutely screwing
things up. Especially with all that corny porn shit.”

“You’d have gotten away clean with killing
Toby if I hadn’t been there.”

“Looks like I have gotten away with it.” Then
she frowned. “How’d you find out his name?”

“You yelled it out just as you fired.” She
remembered Jamie had also told her his name, but no sense in
getting her in trouble. “You knew that wasn’t Bruce Banks out
there.”

“Might have been.” Abby smiled.

“What do you mean might have been? Did you
contact Banks after I told you where he lived? I think you just
wanted emails from him to support your story of being stalked.”

“Now, wouldn’t that have been clever of
me?”

“You were expecting Toby. You were ready with
the gun. Why did you want him dead? Maybe I’m mistaken and it
didn’t have anything to do with porn, but you two are involved in
something”

“It has nothing to do with nothing. Now get
the hell out of here. My lawyer says State Attorney Moran is
definitely buying the prowler bit. So get lost and stay away from
Jamie.” She slammed the door.

Sandy walked slowly back to her car. Jamie
had mentioned child porn. Was she mistaken or did she lie to get
her mother in trouble. Full of hostility for her mother, she might
have lied. Sandy must not have connected with Jamie as well as she
thought. Now she was in the middle of Abby’s personal squabble with
Toby. And where was Jamie?

She remembered Jamie had walked home from
school that day when she first went to Abby’s house. She drove in
circles around blocks and found the school. She drove around the
playground several times. Angry one minute and worried the next.
Looking for a tricky little ten-year-old on a bicycle. When found,
would she yell at her or hug her?

She expanded her search into the surrounding
area. Driving slowing through neighborhoods, around blocks. Driving
and looking. Now far from Jamie’s neighborhood. She pulled to the
curb, leaned back against the head restraint, and closed her eyes
thinking. Jamie might have thought that if she wasn’t permitted to
go with Sandy, she’d leave Izzy’s house on her own and meet Sandy
somewhere. After all, hadn’t she told Jamie to trust her? Izzy’s
mother had it right; Sandy was butting in and causing trouble.

She needed help. Help from Abby or help from
Izzy as to where Jamie might go. Neither would likely talk with
her. But they’d have to talk with the police, wouldn’t they? She
found Detective Triney’s card, phoned, and explained the
situation.

“So, how long has the child been
missing?”

She checked her watch. “Over an hour.” As
soon as she said it, she realized how ridiculous she sounded.

“That long huh? And riding around on her bike
as well? You know what I’m going to say.”

“You’re right. I just thought you could force
everyone to help me. I thought you could wave your hand and make
everything right again. Thanks anyway.”

She hung up, hit Dial #1, and explained it
all to Chip.

“You know I’m a city cop. I can’t mess with
county stuff,” he said. “Look, I’m not off until late afternoon.
I’ll call you then. Meanwhile, you calm down. If she’s still
missing, I’ll go out there and try to stir up things.”

He was right, she wasn’t thinking clearly.
She was overreacting. The youngster had probably been riding around
and was back home by now. If not, Sandy would tear down her door
and choke that conniving Abby until she cooperated.

Sandy headed back toward Abby’s house. She
drove slowly. Just past the school, alongside an overgrown vacant
lot, her eye caught on something shiny glinting in the sun,
reflecting red. Something under a ficus hedge. She braked abruptly
and stopped in the middle of the street. She jumped out leaving the
car door swinging.

Even before she ran up to it, she knew it was
a girl’s bicycle thrown under the bushes. Her own words crashed
back into her mind:
Trust me Jamie, I know how to handle these
things
.

Sandy stepped carefully backwards away from
the bicycle. She stood staring at it from the sidewalk while she
phoned Triney again. “Now don’t give me any of that wait
twenty-four hours crap. I found her abandoned bicycle in the
bushes. I just phoned her mother and she cut me off short. So, then
I phoned Izzy’s mother. She gave me a description of what Jamie was
wearing and described Jamie’s bike perfectly. Blue with a bent
basket and one handle grip missing, red reflectors front and back.
That’s what I found, Triney. Someone has grabbed her. Isn’t that
enough?”

“We’re a long way from kidnapping here. Kids
under twelve are usually right around the house or out playing. Was
she kidnapped or merely missing? Did someone see her being carried
away?”

“I don’t have a ransom note in my hand if
that’s what you’re asking. But she’s not out playing somewhere. She
told her girlfriend she was going out to find me.”

“And you jumped to the kidnapping conclusion.
Look, believe me it’d be different if she left home for school and
never arrived. That’s very scary and we jump right on those cases.
But you’re talking about a kid out playing who hasn’t come
home.”

“Look, Abby and Toby were obviously involved
in something. I’m willing to believe it wasn’t child porn. But
Jamie’s a bright kid and she knows something wrong is going on in
that house. She might have thought up the porn angle to get back at
her mother. But I’m betting she’s being straight with me, and is
just somehow mistaken about the actual situation. It’s something
serious enough to make Abby want Toby dead and want me involved as
her witness. This morning I was willing to drop it and butt
out.”

“Good idea,” he offered.

“Later, Jamie turns up missing—too much of a
coincidence. I’m convinced something criminal is going on.”

“Okay, seeing as we had that shooting last
night, I guess I can break procedures somewhat. I’ll send a deputy
over to the house. He can write up a report and help the mother
search the place.”

“What do you mean? He’s going to look under
the bed?”

“You’re damn right. As a first step, he’ll
conduct a complete search of the house. Including under the beds,
in closets, and in the garage.”

“Can you send Detective Pomar?”

“Pomar is suspended from duty pending an
investigation into why the two of you were outside Abby Olin’s
house last night.”

“Oh God, I’m sorry about that. So you’ll send
a deputy to the house. You’re talking minutes here, not hours,
right?”

“It’ll take time. If he doesn’t find the girl
at home, then the deputy will call his supervisor for instructions.
Next step would be to check with friends, neighbors, relatives,
acquaintances, playmates, classmates. It’s going to take time. I’m
telling you, ninety-nine times out of a hundred someone knows or
has a good idea why a child is missing.”

“One super-cop is going to do all this?”

“Well, that’s how we’ll start.”

“You’ve got it wrong. You don’t need cops
over there at the house. They should be over here where her bike
was found.”

“I don’t think we can do that.”

“For chrissake, the crime scene is over here!
I just know it is. I’m not leaving this spot until someone
intelligent—wearing plain clothes—gets here. He better be an
experienced detective and CSI better be right behind him.”

“Sandy, be reasonable.”

“Okay, I’ll be reasonable. I really hate to
threaten you, but I’ll give you only one hour to get a crew over
here canvassing this neighborhood and securing this crime scene.
You need to find someone who saw a man leading away a little girl
and putting her in a car. You must do this immediately. One hour,
then I phone the newspaper and a TV reporter.”

“Oh, Christ. Where are you? I’ll come over
myself. Am I intelligent enough for you?”

“You’ll do fine. Now how do I start an Amber
Alert?”

“You’re not going to get one. They use Amber
Alert usually when a car is involved. So with no evidence of a car
being involved I doubt if they’d do it this early.”

“Sure, no car was involved. He tossed her
over his shoulder and sauntered down the sidewalk with her kicking
and screaming. We’ll talk when you get here.” She snapped her phone
shut.

She was still pumped and couldn’t just stand
there doing nothing. She phoned Chip and told him what happened.
Could the city police do anything?

“Slow down, you’re talking too fast.”

She went on to explain about finding the bike
and phoning Triney.

Chip said, “I hear someone honking their
horn. What’s going on over there?”