Chapter 9
NINE
Amanda pulled into the lot at Central, and her phone rang over her car’s Bluetooth system. Detective Briggs was showing on caller ID, and she answered after parking.
“Good morning. Before I get to my findings, any luck tracking down that family?”
“Not yet, but it’s not looking good.” She told him about the mall’s security video.
“Okay, well, I guess that removes all doubt about their willingness to disappear. You already know about the daughter’s text.”
“Yes. You received her phone from Officer Brandt?”
“I did but haven’t looked at it yet, as I’ve been focused on the mother’s phone. You need to know that I found evidence the mother was having an affair.”
So much for the marriage being a happy one… Valerie’s parents either had no clue, or they said what they had to protect their daughter. “Do you have a name?”
“Phillip Daily, Woodbridge resident. A simple background shows no criminal record.”
Amanda’s attention was stolen when she saw Trent pull in next to her. He got out of his Jeep, and she waved for him to get into her Honda. “Jacob, could you hold on for a minute?”
“Ah, sure.”
“Trent’s going to join us.” She unlocked the passenger door, and he got in. She was quick about pointing to the display showing the live call. “It’s Detective Briggs with news about the phones.”
“Hi, Trent. As I was telling Amanda…” Briggs filled Trent in on what he’d missed.
“An affair. Wow,” he said. “Is there anything to suggest there were problems in the relationship?”
“Nothing.”
Malone pulled in and parked a few spots down. When he spotted Amanda and Trent sitting in her car, he stopped walking and circled around.
She put her window down. “Morning. We’re just on the phone with Briggs.”
Malone tapped the roof of the car and backed up. “Come brief me when you’re finished.”
“Will do.” She put the window back up. “Sorry about all the interruptions, Jacob.”
“Don’t apologize. Listen, I have a lot to tell you. Should I call back?”
“Not at all. Could you send me Phillip’s contact information?
” She planned to dig into this Phillip Daily fella and get over to talk with him as soon as possible.
They might have had issues that didn’t make it to Valerie’s phone.
If the affair fell apart, things could get nasty and result in drastic action, even abduction.
“You bet. I’ll also email a list of people Valerie was in regular contact with. These were friends given the context of their messages. Lots of talk about wine and book club.”
Amanda knew that May Byrd, who owned Hannah’s Diner, loved her book club, confessing it was more about gossip and drinking than discussing their latest read.
Briggs continued. “But the affair wasn’t the strangest thing I found. That would be the last text Valerie Archer sent. All it said was ‘911.’ That got my attention, so I dug into the recipient. The number was attached to a burner phone, now out of service.”
“She could have meant to call nine-one-one instead of texting it, but that doesn’t explain why she was in communication with someone who has a burner phone,” Amanda said.
“When was it sent?” Trent asked.
“Saturday at two fifty-five.”
Just before Brooke got into the van… “If we run with the text being intentional, the only reason for such a vague message would be if there was an understanding between Valerie and the person on the other end of the number. But without being able to track it down…”
“Now, there’s something else you should know.
This wasn’t the only burner phone Valerie was in contact with over the last year, but they have one thing in common.
All of them are now out of service. I’m thinking she may have texted them too, but I can’t resurrect any more messages from her device to these numbers, or even the one she texted ‘911’ to.
Unfortunately, she didn’t back up her entire phone to the cloud, just images.
I’m going to get a warrant that will allow me to access any data the carrier might still have.
They might have texts and voicemails stored on their servers. ”
“Let’s hope they can give us something,” Amanda said. While carriers stored such things for a while, how long depended on the company.
“There was also a number that called Valerie seven times starting on Friday at noon, with the last one being Saturday at one in the afternoon. It traces back to a pay phone inside America Bowls on Crabmans Way. From the call log, it looks like this person left Valerie voicemails, but there weren’t any to access through her device.
Hopefully, the carrier will pull through on that, if there’s any to find. ”
“Seven times? This person wanted Valerie’s attention,” Trent said. “Is this pay phone anywhere near Phillip Daily’s residence or workplace by any chance?”
“No. I looked into that.”
“The bowling alley might have security video. If you could give us the times of the calls, we might spot the same person more than once. It could give us the lead we need.” It might even show them Phillip Daily.
“I’ll send that over. I’ll also get warrants to request the full history for Paul’s and Brooke’s phones,” Briggs said.
“Thank you for everything.”
“Don’t mention it. I hope all of this helps you figure out what happened.”
“You and me both.” Amanda ended the call. Valerie’s phone was a treasure trove, but would any of it lead to the family? And to them returning home safe and sound?