Chapter 11 Blake #2
I took the few moments she was gone to grab my notebook and get comfortable. Sydney was old enough to be my mother, with graying hair and soft wrinkles lining her eyes, but she was still a beautiful woman. I could only imagine how quickly the death of her daughter aged her.
I pressed a hand to my stomach, thinking about my own child who was on the way, and what I would do if I was ever in her situation. The thought of anyone hurting my baby sent anger churning in my gut.
“Here you go.”
I took the cup, but didn’t think I could drink it right now.
“Thank you.”
“This reminds me of twenty-five years ago,” she laughed humorlessly. “There were so many days I sat across from the police, answering their questions and hoping for news.”
“I’m sure it feels like it just happened yesterday.”
“In some ways,” she said, her eyes sliding to the mantel where a picture of her daughters sat. “In other ways, it feels like I’ve been living with this pain for fifty years.”
“Then let’s start with what you remember most. Whatever comes to you first.”
“Don’t you already have all the notes?”
“I do, but I’d like to hear it from you now, and then draw my own conclusions.”
Taking a deep breath, she started in. “It was just like any other day. Jane was ten, and Dakota was barely seven. I didn’t work at the time. I stayed home and took care of the house. I had married Dakota’s father, Carl, a year before she was born.”
“Is Carl at work?”
“No,” she smiled softly. “Carl died on the job five years after Dakota’s murder.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. What did he do?”
“He worked at the mountain rescue.” She sighed heavily, her eyes moving to the mantel again. “After they found Dakota, he took every job very personally. He didn’t want anyone to ever feel what he did, so he took great risks. One too many, as it turns out.”
That was just horrible. What this poor woman had been through was just awful.
“Anyway, Carl was at work that day, and he was up on the mountain, dragging climbers down because the blizzard was moving in fast. He didn’t even know Dakota was missing until hours after I came home to find her gone.”
“Can you tell me more about that?”
Shaking her head, she pressed her fingers to her lips. “I’ll never forgive myself for leaving her alone. Jane was at a sleepover at her friend’s house.”
She took a shuddering breath and continued.
“They had predicted snow, but nothing like the system that was moving in. Anyway, I picked up Dakota from school, but Jane took the bus with her friend. I was going to go straight to the store, but Dakota kept telling me she just wanted to go home. She said she wasn’t feeling good.”
“Upset stomach or something else?”
Sydney looked surprised by the question. “Yes, why do you ask?”
“I’d just like all the facts,” I smiled.
It might be nothing, but if it tied in somehow, I had to find out.
“I took her home and locked the door behind me, and then I ran to the store. I was in there maybe fifteen minutes.”
“And how long does it take for you to drive there?”
“Five minutes at the time. The traffic at the curve is worse now, but back then, it wasn’t so bad. But the snow had already started when I left for the store. I thought I had plenty of time before it got bad.”
“How long did it end up taking you?”
“A little over five minutes there, but by the time I left, it was practically whiteout conditions. It took me at least fifteen minutes to get home.”
“So, you were gone for about thirty-five minutes or so?”
She nodded. “I got home at four-thirty. I remember looking at the clock and thinking it would be another two hours before Carl got off his shift. I grabbed a few bags and rushed to the door. I could hardly see anything with how badly the wind was blowing the snow.”
“Did you notice any footprints as you ran up to the house?”
“No, but that wouldn’t be odd even if someone had gone to the house. With how bad the drifts were…”
She shook her head to pull herself together before continuing.
“Anyway, I shoved the door open and called for Dakota to grab the bags as I brought them in. Then I went back outside and got the rest of them. I slipped a few times before I got back to the house, and when I got back to the door, I remember being really upset that Dakota hadn’t moved the bags.
“I yelled for her again, but she didn’t answer. Even then, I should have known something was wrong. Dakota always came right away when I called. But she didn’t. I took off all my winter gear and hauled all the bags to the kitchen…”
Tears filled her eyes as she covered her mouth. “I put all the groceries away before I went to find her. By then…how long had she been missing?”
“Was there any sign of a struggle in the house?”
“No. She had a few toys on the ground, but nothing else. Her bed was neatly made and her shoes from school were in front of her closet.”
“Did you have any pets at the time?”
“No. Carl was allergic to cats, so we never tried to get any animals.”
“Okay.”
Now we were getting down to the moment she realized Dakota was gone, and the next part was going to be hard.
“When you realized she wasn’t there, what did you do?”
“I ran around the house, sure she was hiding somewhere. Then I checked the front closet, and her coat was gone. So were her snow boots.”
“Did she have any friends close by that she might have gone to see?”
“She had a friend across the street. That was the first place I looked. I thought for sure she was over there, and I didn’t want to panic, so I took my time putting on my boots and coat.
Then I marched over there and knocked on the door, ready to yell at her for leaving.
But when Shelly answered the door, she looked surprised to see me. ”
I glanced out the window, looking at how close the houses were. There were a few houses sitting on maybe a half acre, but others were closer.
“Are any of these houses new?”
“Uh…yes. The one across the street was built about seven years ago.”
“And what was there at the time?”
“Trees. It was an empty lot.”
What is beyond the trees? I jotted down in my notes. I would have to check my notes again to see if anyone had looked into the empty lots around here. Maybe Dakota hadn’t died at Murky Falls. What if she had been moved there first?
It was just so odd that a little girl could wander out of the house, and yet, no one had seen a thing. The Walker house was on the edge of town, but still, someone should have seen something.
“Mrs. Walker, why did everyone assume she had wandered outside?”
“The police said there was no sign of forced entry. And since her coat was missing, it seemed most likely that she had gone out to play in the snow and had wandered too far.”
“But isn’t it just as likely that someone she knew lured her outside? She was only seven at the time. This town is very friendly. Wouldn’t she have trusted pretty much anyone around here?”
“Yes, I’ve considered that a lot over the years,” she sighed. The weight of the conversation was getting to her. I could see the tired lines etching her eyes and the slump of her shoulders. That was enough for today.
“Well, that’s a good start. How about we pick up another day?”
“Yes, that would be good.”
I stood, holding out my hand to her. “I really hope I can bring you closure.”
“Me, too,” she said, her chin wobbling as tears sprang to her eyes. “It’s been too long with no answers.”
As I headed out, the weight of the case bore down on me. When I said I would take the case, this little girl was just another face. Her parents were just another couple who had lost a child. But I lived in this town now, and I would have to deal with the outcome of what I found.
And for the first time, I wondered if it would be someone I knew.