Chapter 24 – November 23, 1993 – Sergeant Aileen Taylor
Sergeant Taylor did not have any recent events to connect her suspect to any crimes in the country, but she persisted in finding as many answers as she could in order to finally lock down and close the Bruce Miller assault case.
Thankfully, she now had the blessing of the lieutenant once she was able to convince him of her theory that the girl Bruce met was a missing person. More nails in the coffin for her state-line-crossing suspect, and further fuel to the fire in her unintentional hobby case.
Once she had a mental break on how she could prove this theory, Emil had floated the idea that they look at missing person cases for young women who matched the description Bruce provided.
Sergeant Taylor was too wrapped up in how to charge Erich; she originally put it on the back burner.
Lucky for her, Emil was examining in all the right places and took that part of the case personally.
They had taken refuge in her office as they watched the clock tick closer to their scheduled call from Mississippi. Emil’s forehead glistened with beads of sweat, and Sergeant Taylor tapped on her desk impatiently as they waited for the phone to ring.
They needed confirmation that the mystery girl could possibly be the Chambers heiress who went missing in May of 1993.
They had no idea if she was still alive.
Or where she was. But the pieces fit together once Emil found a black-and-white newspaper picture from the Belham Chronicles, dated June 1993.
A delicate woman with thick, dark hair sitting on a wooden chair next to a fireplace.
Her heart-shaped face was pale, and her shy smile was breathtaking.
Not quite the panicked “Missing person” announcement from the front page Sergeant Taylor expected, but a quiet, third-page column confirming “Camille Chambers” was missing from Belham, Mississippi.
The narrative was a “Happy 19th Birthday” message pleading for the woman to come home, and not so much a detailed retelling of how the woman went missing in the first place.
Bruce was barely helpful when asked if it was the same woman, but he confirmed the similarities despite his memory being fuzzy.
The trill of the phone ringing broke the silence of the room, and Sergeant Taylor pounced to pick it up as Emil jumped and straightened his posture next to her. “Norwald Police, you’ve got Sergeant Taylor,” she answered before hitting the button to put the phone on speaker for Emil.
“Sergeant Taylor. Thank you for being flexible. My apologies for not being able to take your call yesterday.” The man on the other end spoke clearly and confidently. Emil’s eyes darted from Sergeant Taylor to the phone’s coiled wire as he listened.
“Absolutely no problem, Mr. Chambers,” Sergeant Taylor responded, clicking her pen to take notes.
“I’m sorry we’re catching up so much later than I would like.
This case has turned us down so many different paths, and now that we’ve got the connection to your sister, I’m glad we’re finally able to speak. ”
Whoever was on the other line made a small humming sound before continuing. “That is hardly your fault. If it were up to me, we likely would’ve brought her home by now.”
Sergeant Taylor flashed Emil a questioning glance, receiving a shrug in response. “I’m sorry, Mr. Chambers, but can you elaborate?”
“Absolutely.” The voice continued, clearing his throat.
“My parents didn’t go down the necessary avenues for our best possible chance when she ran away.
Or was taken. We weren’t sure what happened that night.
” Sergeant Taylor jotted down some notes on her notepad as the southern drawl continued.
“They were concerned about the ransom, or rather, who would take advantage of it. That’s part of the reason my dear sister’s disappearance wasn’t national news. ”
“I see,” Sergeant Taylor answered as she lifted her gaze to the numbers on the phone’s keypad. “So what exactly was done to find her? Weren’t they worried?”
The other line went silent, and Sergeant Taylor leaned forward to hear better.
Finally, the voice spoke up. “You see, my parents both passed away recently. I’m not sure what was going through their minds.
I do know that the scandal surrounding it would’ve been devastating to Belham, so the news was contained to the state of Mississippi for about a week.
Private investigators were hired, but the trail went cold, and it was as if she disappeared into thin air.
I would’ve been blasting it from every news channel in the country if it were up to me. ”
Sergeant Taylor nodded slowly. Emil tapped her shoulder before lifting up his notepad. “Weird?” he wrote on it, and Sergeant Taylor shrugged in response before continuing the conversation. “Mr. Chambers, I’m so sorry. That must have been devastating.”
“Please, call me Reed.” The voice buzzed through on the phone’s speaker.
“Reed. Got it. So, our one witness confirmed the picture matched the woman he saw, but with how long ago this was and the fact that the witness was under the influence, this is hardly proof… Does the name Erich Zaleski sound familiar to you?” Sergeant Taylor asked before tapping her pen against her notepad again. Emil stiffened in his seat.
“No,” Reed answered, then sighed. “But the night she went missing, the bedroom window was open and her room was a mess. I believe she was kidnapped and put up a struggle. My parents likely refused to pay a ransom if the kidnapper ever reached out.”
Sergeant Taylor wrote “No connection” on her notepad next to Erich and Camille’s names. She was becoming stumped with how these two fit together, and whether this Hail Mary Emil sent her way was even the same person. “What more can you tell us about that night?”
Emil flinched as the other line became muffled with static.
Reed murmured too closely to the speaker, but it was inaudible.
His voice finally came through enough for them to take more notes.
“We were celebrating her high school graduation. She left the party early because she wasn’t feeling well and retired to her bedroom.
I went up to check on her around two in the morning when everyone was leaving, and that’s when I noticed her open window and destroyed bedroom.
Her sheets were tied into a rope out her window as well. ”
“Second story,” Sergeant Taylor commented without getting full clarification. “Could be either a kidnapping or a runaway.”
“Cami wouldn’t even ride the Ferris wheel at the county fair. I doubt she would be brave enough to climb out of her bedroom window.” Reed scoffed on the other line, and Sergeant Taylor glanced at Emil, who had his face in his hands as he stared at the floor, deep in thought.
“Any clues she was unhappy at home?” Sergeant Taylor asked.
“None. In fact, she was excited for my wedding that fall. I was supposed to marry my long-time girlfriend, Josephine,” Reed spoke. “She had just gotten her bridesmaid dress fitted.”
“Supposed to?” Sergeant Taylor asked as she jotted down the tidbit of information.
“Well, the wedding has been on hold with Cami’s disappearance and the death of my parents.” Reed’s voice grew quiet. “It’s just me now. I buried both of them in the span of a few months. I don’t want my big day to happen without my baby sister, and Josephine understands that.”
Sergeant Taylor bit her lip as Emil wiped the sweat from his brow. She shot him one glance to see if he was all right, and he nodded in response.
“I’m sorry for your loss. And I’m also sorry we can’t confirm this is your sister, but we’re doing all we can,” Sergeant Taylor replied.
“I understand, and you have my gratitude.” Reed’s voice echoed through the line, trailing off before continuing. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are the next steps here?”
Sergeant Taylor sighed, resting her chin in her left hand. “Well, we have a suspect. That’s how we started navigating down this path of the story. Once we can fit together a better timeline and confirm identities, the next step is putting a BOLO on the license plate.”
Emil shot her a warning glance. Too much information.
She had disclosed more than she should have as a cop, and the newbie seemed to know better than her.
Sergeant Taylor’s eyes widened, and she cleared her throat.
“Let’s backtrack on that, though. You have my number, so please call if you can provide any other information in the meantime, and we’ll stay in touch. ”
Sergeant Taylor and Reed exchanged the best ways to reach each other before hanging up the phone, and Emil cleared his throat before groaning in frustration.
“That was risky, Sarg. You better hope he isn’t the type to take matters into his own hands before we catch the guy.
What were you thinking, giving him the man’s name? ”