Chapter 11
Lauren and Eva went about their day as normal on Wednesday. Audra thought that it would be OK for Mattie to be left alone—she was doing very well, and she had the cell phone—so Eva went to school and Lauren went to work. They always found it difficult not to be able to share what was going on with their close friends. Obviously, Audra knew, she was Lauren’s best friend, but they couldn’t share what they were doing with anyone else.
Lauren couldn’t share everything with Audra, but she did know that Lauren had done this before, so they did share the knowledge to a certain extent. Eva faced harder difficulties with not being able to share anything with her best friends at school. They both had to go on with their days as if nothing was going on.
Lauren was at work, having just roomed a patient for Audra when the receptionist came back, telling her there was a detective there who would like to talk to her. “Me?” Lauren asked. “Did he say what it was about?”
“Yes, he asked for you. He didn’t say anything other than he wanted to ask you a couple of questions.”
“OK,” Lauren stated, feeling Audra glancing at her briefly. “Can you show him into the conference room and let him know I will be right there?”
“Sure,” the receptionist turned away. Lauren didn’t want to look like there was anything wrong. So she walked over to Audra and told her about the patient she had just roomed, giving her the details she needed before she went to see the patient. She put her laptop down at her station, asking a coworker to room the next patient if she wasn’t back in time. She went to the conference room. She walked into the room to see a man standing by the windows, looking out. “Can I help you?” she asked.
He turned toward her, Lauren realized that this was Mattie’s husband, recognizing him from the news reports. “My name is Detective Allen Davis. I was hoping to ask you a few questions if I could. ”
“Of course, would you like to sit down?” She tried to keep her face from showing that she recognized this was Allen, Mattie’s husband.
He took a seat and pulled out a notebook from his jacket pocket. “You are Lauren Mitchell, correct?”
“Yes, I am,” she replied.
“Do you drive a red van?”
“I do. What is this about, Detective? Has something happened to my van?” she asked.
“No, not at all. I’m just following up on leads on a missing person report. Were you at the grocery store Monday morning?”
“Yes. I had Monday off, so my daughter and I did a few errands in the morning. Picking up groceries was one of the errands.”
“Did you happen to notice this car sitting in the parking lot?” He pulled a picture out of his pocket. Lauren took it, looking at it.
“I’m not sure. It might have been there, but I really didn’t pay attention to cars.”
He took the picture back, pulling a different photo out. “How about this woman, did you see her?”
This brought Lauren a moment of fear. Did they catch her and Eva on a camera in the parking lot helping Mattie? If she lied to him, if he had video evidence that she talked to Mattie in the parking lot they would be in a lot of trouble. “No, I’m sorry. I don’t recall seeing her. I recognize her from the TV though, she is missing, isn’t she?”
“Yes,” Allen said. “You were identified on the camera in the store as being there that day. We are questioning everyone that we are able to identify as being at the store during the time frame she disappeared.”
Lauren was watching him while he spoke. He was not showing any signs of emotion. He never identified himself as Mattie’s husband. You would think that he was devastated that she was gone. He was acting like he was just a detective investigating the case of a stranger. So cold, callous even. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember seeing her there.”
“Where did you go from the store?” Allen asked.
“Let’s see,” Lauren thought, “oh yes, we went to the courthouse to renew the plates on my van, then stopped at the drug store to pick up a prescription for my daughter’s allergies. After that, we went home.”
“What is your daughter’s name?” he asked .
“Eva,” Lauren stated.
“I would like to talk to her if possible.”
“That is up to her, but I don’t think she would have a problem speaking with you. She is in class right now at the university.”
Allen asked Lauren a couple more questions, then said, “Here is my card. If you remember seeing anything or have anything you think might help, no matter how insignificant it may seem, please give me a call.”
“I will, Detective,” Lauren wondered how much she could push the subject. “Detective?” He had gotten up and was headed to the door, but he turned to her “I was just wondering, I saw a news report that said she was thought to have been killed. Is it normal policy to keep investigating after the missing person has been ruled dead?”
For a moment or two, Lauren thought she had gone too far, she could see the cold anger in his eyes briefly. “Her body was not recovered. We are just covering all the bases before closing the case completely.” With that, he turned and walked out the door.
Lauren knew she needed to just get up and go right back to work, like it was no big deal so that others did not become suspicious. She wished she could call Eva to warn her that Allen was on his way to question her, but she couldn’t risk being overheard by others in the office. Lauren and Eva had discussed this type of situation many times, so she believed that Eva would be able to handle the situation smoothly. It would be better if it appeared like Eva was not expecting Allen’s visit.
***
Eva was on her way to the library after class to do some research for a paper she had to write for one of her classes. She was walking with a couple of her friends. They were discussing the class they just left and the next assignment for it. When they got close to the library, one of the friends went on to a different class while Eva and her remaining friend headed into the library.
They found a table near some windows, sat down, taking out their laptops, discussing the assignment for the paper. They discussed several possible ideas, bouncing ideas back and forth. Finally, they both settled on what they wanted to write about and started to do some research on their laptops. They sat in silence for about an hour, taking notes and making a list of references they wanted to look at in more depth.
“Excuse me,” a male voice said. Both girls looked up to see a guy standing at the end of their table.
“Can we help you?” Eva’s friend asked. It was obvious she thought he was very attractive, trying to flirt with him.
“I’m looking for Eva Mitchell.” Not showing the slightest bit of interest in Eva’s friend.
Eva and her friend glanced at each other. Eva looked at him, “Who are you?”
“I’m Detective Allen Davis. Are you Eva?” Eva had recognized him, but she managed to hide that from him.
“Yes, I am.”
“I’d like to ask you a couple of questions if I could.” Eva’s friend was looking at Eva with a questioning look, still disappointed that the detective wasn’t interested in her.
“Questions about what?” Eva asked.
“I’m investigating a missing person case,” Allen stated. “I just need a few minutes of your time.”
“Have a seat,” Eva stated. “This is my friend. Is it OK if she stays here?”
Allen pulled a chair out from the table and sat down. “That’s fine with me.”
He proceeded to ask Eva the same questions he had asked her mom earlier, showing her the same pictures. Eva pretty much answered the same as her mom had done. He handed her his card, asking her to call him if she thought of something. She agreed to do so. She watched him walk away, then pretended to lose interest going back to her research. Her friend shrugged her shoulders, deciding not to think anything of it, and went back to her report also.
They worked on their reports for another hour until the librarian came around to let them know the library was closing in a few minutes. They gathered up their stuff and walked out to the parking lot. They chatted for a little bit by their cars, then climbed into their cars to drive home. On the way home, Eva wondered if Detective Davis had talked to her mom. She had wanted to text or call her, but that might have made her friend suspicious.
She watched for cars as she drove home that could possibly be following her, but she never saw anything that made her suspicious. She arrived home shortly after her mother did. She took her backpack to her room and heard her mom in the kitchen getting supper started. She joined her mom in the kitchen and sat down at the table, telling her mom about the detective questioning her at the library.
Lauren told her daughter that he had questioned her at work as well. They compared notes, both agreed that they had handled the situation well and that Allen did not seem suspicious that they knew anything at all. They then discussed whether they should share the information with Mattie or keep it quiet.
“What do we gain by telling her that we talked to her husband today?” Eva asked. “I think that she would become super stressed, and she doesn’t need that.”
“I agree,” Lauren said. “But is it fair to her to not tell her? I am thinking that maybe I will call Audra and ask her opinion of it.”
“That is a good idea,” Eva commented, “But I do feel it would cause her a lot of stress for no reason. If he believed us, then he would not think twice about us. Not to mention that she will probably be on her way the day after tomorrow.”
“I know,” Lauren sighed. “I am torn between telling her because she has a right to know or protecting her from this.”
“Exactly. I do understand your point.”
Lauren’s phone rang. “It’s Audra,” she told Eva.
Eva stood up, taking over at the stove for her mom while she walked to her office to answer the phone. Lauren taking these types of calls in her office was protocol for these situations. Lauren and Eva shared almost everything, but if there were things that it was better that only one of them knew, in order to keep the other safe, then these conversations were held in private.
Eva set the table, pulling supper off the stove. Soon Lauren was back. Eva looked at her questioningly. Lauren explained that Audra felt it would be in Mattie’s best interest to not share the interviews unless she asked. They should use their best judgment. They sat down to eat supper, agreeing not to tell Mattie unless absolutely necessary.
Eva then asked Lauren when they expected to learn more about the plan to get Mattie to safety. Lauren said she would call their contact this evening after supper to see if there were definite plans yet. They chatted for the rest of the meal about their day. Lauren told Eva about a funny incident that happened at work. Eva shared the new research paper she was working on and how excited she was about it.
She thought it was a very interesting topic. Pretty soon, they cleaned up from supper, Eva stated she needed to work on some homework for her classes the next day. Lauren went back to her office to call their contact. Before she called, she grabbed a sheet of blank paper and a pen, so she could take notes. Taking notes was necessary to keep details straight, but she knew they also had to be careful.
She knew better than to write on a tablet as what was written could show up on the page below by shading over it with a pencil. By taking a single piece of paper, they could burn it or flush it; then the evidence of it would be gone. In order to know the details of where to go and what time they needed to make all this happen, she had to take some notes. Once she had the details of the plans, she left her office, heading to Eva’s room. Eva was sitting at her desk and working on her laptop.
“Eva?” Lauren said from the doorway. Eva looked up at her mom.
“Hey, Mom, did you find out the plan?”
“Yes, I’m going to go discuss the plan with Mattie, want to join us?” Eva nodded, standing up. She followed her mom to the basement door and Lauren knocked. Pretty soon they heard Mattie unlock the door.
“Come in,” Mattie said, letting them by her. They all proceeded down, taking seats in the living room.