Detective Shaw returned just after sunrise.<\/p>\n
The sky outside had turned pale gray, exposing the ordinary details of our street with almost insulting clarity. Mailboxes. Damp pavement. A child\u2019s bicycle left on its side two houses down.<\/p>\n
Nothing looked capable of containing what had happened overnight.<\/p>\n
Shaw sat across from me at Mr. Peterson\u2019s table.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to go to the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI will after you tell me what you found.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t a negotiation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
She placed a small notebook on the table.<\/p>\n
Not Dererick\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Her own.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe located prescription medication and several controlled substances in a concealed storage area.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich drugs?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPreliminary labels include sedatives and compounds commonly used for anesthesia and procedural sedation. We need laboratory confirmation before I tell you exactly what may have been administered.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hands tightened together.<\/p>\n
\u201cCould they cause memory loss?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome can.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConfusion?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLong unconscious periods?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould they kill someone?\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw did not soften the answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward the window.<\/p>\n
My house stood across the street.<\/p>\n
The bedroom curtain was still slightly open.<\/p>\n
I could see the corner where Dererick\u2019s side of the bed would be.<\/p>\n
For years I had thought danger meant something entering a home.<\/p>\n
A broken window.<\/p>\n
A stranger at the door.<\/p>\n
A shadow outside.<\/p>\n
It had never occurred to me that danger could make tea.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about the identification cards?\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw turned one page.<\/p>\n
\u201cFive driver\u2019s licenses.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many women?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFive different women.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere they in the folders?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve confirmed two names so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJennifer Collins and Patricia Webb.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heartbeat quickened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to them?\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw held my gaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cJennifer Collins was reported missing eighteen months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words seemed impossible.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the photographs\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey continued after that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw became very still.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw dates in her folder. Some were less than a year old.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw wrote quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cCould metadata have been altered?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould the date labels have been something other than capture dates?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe. But Dererick organized everything by month.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re right, those files may show Jennifer alive after her disappearance report.\u201d<\/p>\n
A strange relief moved through me.<\/p>\n
Then disappeared.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr they could show when she died.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw did not answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatricia?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has not officially been reported missing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Michelle?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the licenses belongs to a Michelle Harper.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou recognize the photograph?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw turned the notebook toward herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichelle Harper\u2019s status is not clear yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re locating family.\u201d<\/p>\n
My frustration rose.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were five licenses. Who are the others?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne is a woman named Renee Caldwell. The other is Laura Bennett.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere their folders on the laptop?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t see those names.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t mean they weren\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw studied me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long were you on the computer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe forty minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou remember the structure well?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI design things for a living. Layouts stick in my head.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould you reproduce what you saw?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n
She slid her notebook toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDraw it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sketched the folder hierarchy as well as I could remember it.<\/p>\n
ARCHIVE.<\/p>\n
Years.<\/p>\n
Months.<\/p>\n
Names.<\/p>\n
Client communications.<\/p>\n
Current.<\/p>\n
I marked where my folder appeared relative to the others.<\/p>\n
Shaw watched closely.<\/p>\n
When I finished, she asked, \u201cWas there anything labeled storage?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTransfer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGraduation?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly in messages.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExact phrase?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGraduation Services. And Graduation candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCapitalized?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw wrote it down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you think it means?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to guess.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you have a theory.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have several.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her refusal angered me, but I understood it.<\/p>\n
A theory from a detective would become fact in my frightened brain.<\/p>\n
She knew that.<\/p>\n
Price entered from the hallway.<\/p>\n
He handed Shaw a page.<\/p>\n
She read it.<\/p>\n
Her expression barely changed, but her eyes sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
She glanced at Price.<\/p>\n
Then at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe located Patricia Webb.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Relief came so abruptly that I nearly cried.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout two hundred miles away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes she know Dererick?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t spoken to her yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how do you know she\u2019s okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRecent employment records and a verified address.\u201d<\/p>\n
I exhaled.<\/p>\n
One alive.<\/p>\n
One confirmed.<\/p>\n
That mattered.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you contact her now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother agency is handling that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Jennifer?\u201d<\/p>\n
Price answered this time.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer case is active.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did she disappear?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at Shaw before responding.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a hotel near the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n
A chill moved over my skin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich airport?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same one your husband uses for work travel.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEighteen months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did police think happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe left the hotel unexpectedly. Personal belongings remained behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas she alone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to the report.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCamera footage?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLimited.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome areas covered, some weren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid anyone see Dererick?\u201d<\/p>\n
Price shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered the messages on the laptop.<\/p>\n
Customers.<\/p>\n
Appointments.<\/p>\n
Payments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if Jennifer wasn\u2019t a customer?\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if she was like me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA victim.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is one possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would her driver\u2019s license be hidden in our bedroom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s something we\u2019re trying to establish.\u201d<\/p>\n
I leaned back.<\/p>\n
The kitchen chair felt suddenly hard beneath me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you find passports?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCredit cards?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot in that compartment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJewelry?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAny blood?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnna.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n
The wording did not comfort me.<\/p>\n
Nothing obvious.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about the notebook?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recovered it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw the entries?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is significant evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means we are treating your allegations seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere you not before?\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw\u2019s expression softened slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were. Now we have corroborating physical evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward Mr. Peterson, who had been standing near the kitchen doorway.<\/p>\n
He had barely spoken since the detectives returned.<\/p>\n
His face looked older in daylight.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I ask something?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Shaw nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat white van I saw. Does that plate help?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPartial plates generate possibilities, not answers.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked dissatisfied.<\/p>\n
Shaw added, \u201cBut the date helps.\u201d<\/p>\n
That reminded me of something.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bright light.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Peterson said the bedroom looked bright that night.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw equipment on Dererick\u2019s laptop. He photographed me. Maybe there\u2019s video from that night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw wrote again.<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you access the laptop?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe secured it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo open it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow?\u201d<\/p>\n
She gave me a level look.<\/p>\n
\u201cDigital evidence is handled carefully.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of court.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAmong other reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hated how slowly justice moved compared with fear.<\/p>\n
Dererick could drive home in an hour.<\/p>\n
Evidence required forms.<\/p>\n
Authorizations.<\/p>\n
Imaging.<\/p>\n
Documentation.<\/p>\n
Shaw seemed to read the thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a bulletin out on his vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you arrest him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need probable cause for specific offenses.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found sedatives hidden in our wall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found missing women\u2019s IDs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw the notebook.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that isn\u2019t enough?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not say that.\u201d<\/p>\n
I went quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens if they find him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll deal with that when they do.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone, now in an evidence sleeve because detectives wanted to preserve the messages, vibrated on the table.<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at it.<\/p>\n
Another message from Dererick.<\/p>\n
Shaw put on gloves and turned the screen so we could read it.<\/p>\n
I know Peterson talked.<\/p>\n
Mr. Peterson\u2019s face drained of color.<\/p>\n
The next message arrived immediately.<\/p>\n
He always watches too much.<\/p>\n
Then another.<\/p>\n
Ask him what happened on April 14.<\/p>\n
Mr. Peterson stared at the screen.<\/p>\n
Shaw looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened April fourteenth?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wrote something on the calendar?\u201d<\/p>\n
He stood abruptly and pulled it from the counter.<\/p>\n
Pages flipped.<\/p>\n
April.<\/p>\n
His finger stopped.<\/p>\n
The square was blank.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wrote nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThink.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
He sat down slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was an ambulance.\u201d<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour house.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would remember an ambulance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou weren\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt came in the afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Dererick was home?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI assumed somebody got sick.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cDescribe exactly what you saw.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Peterson swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmbulance came around three. No siren. Two paramedics went inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUniformed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarked ambulance?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat agency?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long were they inside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe fifteen minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid they remove anyone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My throat closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat woman?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t see her face.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConscious?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Peterson looked at me with horror.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The kitchen went completely still.<\/p>\n
\u201cStretcher?\u201d Shaw asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCovered?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBlanket up to her shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDererick accompany them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStood in the doorway.\u201d<\/p>\n
I could hear the refrigerator compressor humming.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat time did I get home that day?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Mr. Peterson rubbed both hands over his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered April.<\/p>\n
Barely.<\/p>\n
There had been a week when Dererick insisted we have the carpets professionally cleaned.<\/p>\n
He had told me to work from Clare\u2019s apartment because of chemical fumes.<\/p>\n
I had stayed away almost the entire day.<\/p>\n
When I returned, the house smelled aggressively clean.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was she wearing?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Mr. Peterson thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cLight-colored sweater.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hair?<\/p>\n
\u201cDark.\u201d<\/p>\n
Age?<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t tell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detective Price was already on his phone.<\/p>\n
Shaw asked, \u201cWas the ambulance number visible?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLogo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBlue maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything written?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dererick\u2019s next message appeared.<\/p>\n
He remembers her.<\/p>\n
I felt cold from scalp to feet.<\/p>\n
Who was she?<\/p>\n
Another message came.<\/p>\n
You should ask why he didn\u2019t call the police then.<\/p>\n
Mr. Peterson stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat son of a bitch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSit down,\u201d Shaw said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s trying to make this my fault.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSit down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Peterson obeyed.<\/p>\n
His hands shook.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was real. It looked real.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw\u2019s voice remained controlled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat may have been the point.\u201d<\/p>\n
A final message arrived.<\/p>\n
Anna, come home alone and I\u2019ll explain everything.<\/p>\n
Shaw read it aloud.<\/p>\n
Then she looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are not responding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
But as I stared at those words, another realization took shape.<\/p>\n
Dererick had not simply monitored me.<\/p>\n
He had anticipated discovery.<\/p>\n
He knew what Mr. Peterson had witnessed.<\/p>\n
He knew which date mattered.<\/p>\n
And he was confident enough to keep communicating.<\/p>\n
That meant he still believed he controlled something we did not understand.<\/p>\n
Detective Shaw returned just after sunrise. The sky outside had turned pale gray, exposing the ordinary details of our street with almost insulting clarity. Mailboxes. Damp pavement. A child\u2019s bicycle … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13647"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13671,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13647\/revisions\/13671"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}