23
Max sat back and let Noelle handle their second interview of Hayden Hall.
His job was to stare stone-faced at Hall, making him occasionally squirm when he glanced Max’s way.
He didn’t feel up to contributing much more to the interview; his day had drained him.
Believing you’re about to pull a murdered five-year-old out of the water will do that to a person.
“I told you I don’t know the name Layla Holder,” said Hayden, leaning forward to emphasize his point to Noelle. “Who is she? Why would I know her?”
“You don’t think you might have worked with her?” asked Noelle.
Hayden raised his brows. “It was a customer? You think I can remember every customer’s name after fifteen years in this business?”
“Not a customer. A coworker.”
“Oh.” Hayden sat back. “Definitely not. I can count on one hand the women plumbers I’ve worked with. None of them with that name.”
Max studied the man’s face and paid close attention to his tone.
He still doesn’t give liar vibes.
“Layla worked for Sherman Plumbing about a year ago,” said Noelle. “That help?”
“A year? Doing what? She wasn’t a plumber. So she would have worked in the office or warehouse.” He shook his head. “I don’t remember that name.”
Noelle slid a large photo across the table. “This help?”
Max didn’t take his gaze from Hall.
The man studied the photo of Layla Holder, which Noelle had pulled from her social media. “Pretty. But no, I don’t remember her. You gonna tell me now why you keep asking?” He looked from Noelle to Max. “I’d like to go home. I work early tomorrow.”
It was nearly 9 p.m. Max would like to go home too, but he and Noelle had a meeting with the task force after they finished with Hall.
“Layla Holder was identified today as one of the other bodies at the same spot as Sydney.”
Hayden went rigid in his chair, his eyes wide.
“Holy shit. And you asked me to come in because I have a weak connection to her from work?” He ran a hand over his face and rubbed his jaw.
“I don’t remember her. Honestly, I really don’t.
I understand how this makes me look to you. What are the odds? Fuck!”
Noelle said nothing.
“Have you identified the others?” Hall asked warily. “Any more surprises you’re gonna throw at me?”
“Not yet,” said Noelle.
“What about Belle? Anything on her? When I was asked to come in, I’d hoped it was because you had some news. I was worried it’d be bad since you wanted me in person.”
“I’m sorry, but nothing on Belle yet.”
Energy drained from the man. “That’s not good.”
Max silently agreed.
“We done here?” Hall asked quietly. “Unless you have a reason to arrest me, I’d like to go home.”
Noelle pushed to her feet. “Yes, we’re done. I appreciate you coming in.”
A touch of resentment shone in Hayden’s eyes as he stood. “Don’t jerk me around next time,” he told them in a calm voice, but his eyes flashed with anger. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me.” He strode out of the room.
Noelle turned to Max. “Well?”
“I believe him.”
“Yeah, I do too. Dammit.” She rubbed her eyes. “I need coffee before we go to the meeting.”
“Someone brought in one of those big hot coffee carriers from the place down the street,” said Max. “I saw it in the conference room when I went by.”
Noelle pushed in her chair. “Let’s go before it’s all gone.”
Minutes later they each had a cup of steaming coffee in hand as they took their seats for the task force meeting. Usually Max would have avoided caffeine at this time of night, but he didn’t think anything would prevent him from sleeping tonight. The exhaustion had soaked into his bones.
He nodded at a few of the team members in the room but didn’t engage in conversation.
Across the table Mercy lifted her coffee in greeting to him.
Her eyes were tired. She’d been out chasing leads from NCMEC all day.
The group was rather quiet for the number of people present.
Compared to last night’s meeting, the energy level was low, a big change in just twenty-four hours.
Max studied the whiteboards while they waited for Evan to show up and start the meeting.
Multiple photos of Layla Holder had been added, along with a notation on the timeline that the ME was currently listing her death as having happened in April or May.
More accurate results would be available after lab tests. She’d been a pretty woman.
His gaze rested on the photos of Belle.
I failed her today.
A new file of tips from the NCMEC had arrived thirty minutes ago.
Max planned to go through it before he slept, hoping something sounded good.
They needed to find that needle in the haystack.
At least the deputy had tracked down the remaining three women from the Playground Posse.
All were aboveground and their children just fine.
One less thing for him to wonder about.
Evan entered the conference room, a laptop under one arm and a bulging file folder under the other. “Let’s get started right away,” he announced to the large group, setting his things at the head of the table. He looked as run-down as Max felt.
We’ve got to keep the momentum going.
“We’ve eliminated a lot of the tips from NCMEC,” started Evan.
“I know it feels as if we’re not making progress because we haven’t found Belle, but every tip we cross off moves us closer.
We’ll assign more tips overnight after Max and I review the latest file.
Everyone stay on top of your email to check for assignments.
” There were a few silent nods. “You all know we’ve identified Layla Holder.
I just sent out a press release. That should bring in some more leads overnight. ”
More leads to sift, separating out the bullshit.
“We’d limited the number of dental comparisons to missing people in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and Holder was our only match.
We’ll be expanding the parameters to more Western states tomorrow.
I’ve also released some general information from the medical examiner about age ranges and heights of the victims to the press.
That might bring in some leads on persons who maybe haven’t been formally reported missing. ”
Noelle leaned forward. “Is there an autopsy report on the male victim? I left before Dr. Lockhart got to him today.”
“Should be in our database by now.”
She opened her laptop and frowned as she read the report.
“Does anyone have—” Evan started.
“Evan, I’m sorry to interrupt,” said Noelle, raising her hand as if she were in school.
“But the male victim’s age, size, and possible date range of death all check the boxes to possibly be Gage Chambers.
I haven’t been able to find dental records anywhere for him.
I’ve got his fingerprints from prior arrests, but the ME says those are useless at this point. ”
Evan paused, waiting for her to continue. She didn’t. “What are you saying, Noelle?”
“I want to ask Emma for DNA for comparison to see if it’s her father, but . . .” She gestured futilely with one hand.
People shifted in their seats. Including Max, knowing he’d put the thought in her head.
“Emma’s an adult,” Evan said, understanding in his tone. “And I think she’d want to know.” He glanced at the rest of the group. “If you’d wanted DNA from any other person, Noelle, you wouldn’t have brought it up here. You would’ve simply asked them for it.”
That’s about as gentle as a reprimand can be.
“You’re right. I’m tired. But it’s been weighing on me since this morning,” said Noelle wearily. “I don’t want to put her through any more trauma. Today was hard enough on her.”
“She’s a tough kid,” said Max, wanting to put his arm around Noelle but holding back. They’d agreed to keep things professional in public. “Are there more dental comparisons of missing people to do on the male victim?”
Noelle shook her head. “Lacey—Dr. Harper—has run them all. But I’m sure she’ll have more after we expand to more states.”
“Are there any other reasons you suspect this could be Gage Chambers? Other than his size and possible date range of death?”
“No.”
She primarily wants answers for Emma.
“After Dr. Harper does the expanded range of dental comparisons, make a decision about asking Emma for DNA,” said Evan.
“Okay, we’ve got leads on Layla Holder to follow up on—her friends and previous employers.
What we don’t have are any leads on Sydney Beason’s roommate.
If you hadn’t heard, the Playground Posse was unable to help us there.
No one knew of a roommate or a mom that fit her description. Where else can we look?”
The room was silent.
“Come on, people. Give me some more ideas.” Evan ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up. “We’ve created a DNA profile from the hair left behind, but until we have someone to compare it to, it’s not a lot of help.”
“Did anyone check the mail?” asked Mercy. “Was it all addressed to Sydney? I mean, I know none of what was found in the house was addressed to Elise, but the mail hasn’t stopped being delivered, right? Maybe there’s something for Elise. She’d been there a month; I would have forwarded my mail.”
“Good idea,” said Max.
Evan nodded. “I know we’ve collected some deliveries that came to the door, but they’ve all been for Sydney. Has anyone checked the actual mailbox?”
“I’ve had a deputy check daily,” said a woman. “It’s all been addressed to Sydney.”
Damn.
“How about using Elise’s first name to check the post office or one of the private mailbox stores for a recent box rental?” suggested Noelle.
“I’ll do that tomorrow,” said Detective Shults, nodding as she made a note. “I’ll request a warrant, but while I’m waiting on that, I’ll see if the USPS will help out of the goodness of their heart.”
“You’ll have better luck asking nicely at the mailbox rental stores,” said Mercy.
“What about her job search?” asked Max. “Hall said she was looking into a job at Sydney’s school district. I think they’d cooperate and give us a name.”
“Another good idea,” said Evan, making a note.
“And the job search websites?” asked Noelle. “Would they work with us? There can’t be a lot of Elises looking for a job in the area.”
“I’ll ask about a warrant for that too,” said Shults.
“I think Elise has Belle,” Max said abruptly, a little surprised he’d spoken out loud. “Or at least she is with Belle.” Everyone turned toward him. “We all know it’s a possibility.”
“But why would she take Belle?” asked Mercy.
Max shrugged. “We don’t know what’s going on in her head. Maybe she took her to protect her from whoever killed her mother. Maybe she wanted a kid and took a special liking to Sydney’s daughter.”
“That strengthens the theory that she has something to do with Sydney’s murder and the rest of the deaths,” said Evan.
Do we have a female serial killer?
Rare, but not unheard of.
“One woman doing all that?” asked Noelle. “I think she’d have help.”
“I have a team watching Hayden Hall in case he’s snowed us and is actually involved,” said Evan. “His credit cards and cell phone records weren’t helpful, right, Maxine?”
“Correct,” said Detective Nelson. “And Trey Beason’s employer and some friends have been interviewed.
Everyone says great guy, loves his kid, yada yada yada.
He’s been off work since we notified him.
Like with Hayden Hall, I reviewed his credit cards to track his whereabouts for the past few weeks.
Nothing out of the ordinary. Cell phone tracking from his wireless provider lines up with that and shows he’s simply been around Bend. Mostly at his parents’ home.”
If Trey killed Sydney, what did he do with Belle?
What if he accidentally killed his daughter? And killed Sydney to cover it up?
It didn’t explain how Sydney had ended up with the other victims. Unless Trey killed them too—or maybe he knew about the burial site for some reason and put Sydney there to mislead investigators. So another killer was out there.
The possibilities made Max’s brain ache.
“Note from the medical examiner,” said Evan, looking at his phone. “She also recovered bullets from the last two victims she autopsied. Forensics will let us know if all five of them—which includes the one from Sydney Beason—came from the same gun.”
“The three rounds I saw were small,” added Max. “We’ll know soon what they are.”
Evan scanned the group. “Anything I missed?” Silence all around.
“Okay,” said Evan. “Have a good night, and thank you for all your hard work. Let’s make tomorrow the day we find Belle.”
There was a murmur of agreement, and a glimmer of hope floated through the room.
Something sparked inside Max, tempering his exhaustion.
Maybe tomorrow.