Chapter 36
THIRTY-SIX
Crooked Creek Police Station
When Ellie arrived at the police station, Hazel was waiting. She clutched a bag in her lap and was tapping her right foot in double time.
“Thanks for coming in,” Ellie said.
“Can we talk in your office?” Hazel asked.
Ellie nodded, hoping Hazel or Clara had thought of something helpful. “Of course.”
Ellie led the way and Hazel slid onto the loveseat in the corner. “It looks like you brought some of Iris’s things.”
Hazel nodded and removed plastic bags holding a toothbrush and hairbrush from her purse. Next she handed Ellie a stuffed teddy bear and blanket, then a photo of Iris.
“Thanks so much, this will be helpful,” Ellie said with a lump in her throat at the sight of the innocent little girl’s precious face. “I’m hoping DNA will lead us to Iris’s father.”
Hazel began tapping her foot again, worry darkening her eyes.
“Is there something else?” Ellie asked.
“Someone broke into my house yesterday while I was gone.”
Ellie’s pulse pounded. “Did you call the police?”
Hazel shook her head no. “At first it was just a sense. And I… thought maybe I was mistaken.”
“Did they take anything? Or threaten you?”
“No.” Hazel worried her lower lip with her teeth. “Well, they may have taken something.”
“Go on,” Ellie said.
“You see, when the girls come to live with me, since many are pregnant, I ask each one of them to write instructions for who to contact in case something happens to them and who they want to raise their child. Last night I looked for Minnie’s directive, and it was gone.”
Ellie sucked in a breath.
“Anyway, I thought maybe I’d misplaced it, so this morning I got up and searched again but I never did find it.”
Damn. “Do you know who Minnie designated as her contact and who she wanted to provide guardianship for Iris?”
Hazel shook her head no. “I promise the girls I won’t open their private letters unless necessary. If they wanted me to know, I figured they’d tell me.”
Ellie contemplated her statement. If Minnie had listed her contact and named a guardian, she might have listed family as in her sister or… she might have mentioned Iris’s father.
And if he was the killer and didn’t want his identity revealed, he might have taken Minnie’s directives.
“Hazel, who else knew about the directives and where you kept them?”
“Just the girls,” Hazel said. “But none of them would have a reason to take Minnie’s.”
True. But if it had been stolen by Minnie’s killer and he’d abducted Iris, he had motive.