Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
Crooked Creek Police Department
Ellie texted Deputy Landrum and asked him to come to her office.
She offered Hazel and Clara a sympathetic smile. “Let me report this license plate to my deputy so he can get on it, then I want to talk to you a little longer.”
Hazel and Clara both agreed, and she stood and went to her office door to meet the deputy.
“What do you need?”
“I have the make, model and license number of the car Minnie used.” She introduced him to Hazel and Clara. “Minnie was living with this woman, Hazel, and told her she was taking Iris to the park but never came back.”
Heath pulled his phone and Ellie texted the information.
“Hazel said she drove by the park and Minnie’s car wasn’t there but check around the park area and surrounding streets to see if it was left nearby.
Also issue an APB for the vehicle. If we can locate it, we might find evidence of who allegedly killed Minnie and allegedly abducted Iris. ”
“On it.” Landrum turned and headed back to work, and Ellie rejoined Hazel and Clara.
“Minnie wouldn’t have killed herself,” Clara said emphatically.
“Do you think whoever killed Minnie took Iris?” Hazel asked, her eyes wide with fear.
Ellie offered the woman a compassionate smile. “I don’t know. I’m afraid it’s possible, but we’ll do everything we can to find Iris and make sure she’s safe. Her sister gave me the name of one of her high school friends and a boy she had a crush on. I intend to question both of them.”
Clara leaned into the plump woman, and Hazel rubbed the girl’s arm to console her as tears rained down Clara’s cheeks.
Suspicions rose in Ellie’s mind as she remembered her encounter with the Bentons. Ellie hadn’t liked the father and it was possible he’d lied. “Minnie’s sister, Beth Ann, also mentioned that her father claimed Minnie had a drinking problem. Do you know if that was true?”
Hazel’s eyes flickered with unease. “Not while she lived with me. That’s one of my rules. No alcohol, drugs or smoking while the girls reside at Sanctuary House.”
Clara sniffed. “She did have issues with alcohol before she came to live there though. One night she told me she was drunk when she got pregnant but once she realized she was pregnant, she got help. She attended AA meetings regularly for months and was still going.”
“Do you know where that meeting takes place?” Ellie asked.
“At Mystic Church around the corner from Sanctuary House.” Clara glanced at Hazel with a questioning look then Hazel nodded.
“She might have met a guy there. She wouldn’t tell me his name, but she mentioned connecting with someone.
” Clara shrugged. “I figured she needed to keep his ID secret because of the anonymity of the program.”
Ellie considered that statement. “That’s possible,” Ellie said. “But I’ll still look into it.”
“I’ll go there tonight and see what I can find out,” Clara offered.
Ellie’s stomach tightened. “No, Clara. That’s brave of you, but if in fact Minnie was murdered and met her killer at that meeting, you’d be placing yourself and your unborn baby in danger.”
“But she was my best friend and now she’s gone, and we love little Iris,” Clara cried.
“Hush now, darlin’.” Hazel pulled Clara into another hug.
“Detective Reeves is right. Let the police handle this. You have to think of your own baby now. That’s what mamas do.
They protect their children with every fiber of their being.
” Hazel blinked back tears. “Besides, I don’t want to lose you, too. ”
Ellie gave Hazel a tender smile. Hazel obviously loved the troubled teens, and they were lucky to have her as a mama bear to guide them. “This is a difficult question, but I have to ask. Do you think Minnie would have taken Iris somewhere and left her, or that she’d hurt her?”
“No way,” Hazel insisted. “Minnie lived for that baby girl.”
Clara nodded. “She did. She was devoted to being a better mother than her own.”
Ellie contemplated her statement. If Minnie loved her daughter, she might have died trying to protect her.
“Hazel, I need you to do something for me.”
“Of course,” Hazel agreed.
“I need a picture of Iris. Also bring me something of Iris’s, perhaps her toothbrush or hairbrush, even a soft stuffie. If we get her DNA, that might lead to the father.”