Chapter 20
Thursday late morning
JP sat at his desk, the Hannah Caldwell file spread open. The papers had that faint yellowing around the edges that came with time and too many hands flipping through them.
He looked first for the crossing guard, Frank Deluca. JP tapped the notes with his finger. Observed minor enter dark-colored vehicle. Unable to identify driver.
Below that the police report read: Consistent with suspect timeline.
He flipped back a page, then forward again. It was the same thing every time; Deluca’s statement didn’t prove it was Hayes. It also didn’t contradict the suspicion.
Ten minutes later, JP had an address. DeLuca was still in the same neighborhood.
JP grabbed his hat, settled it into place, and headed out.
~~~
Twenty minutes later, JP parked in front of a small, single-story house with a faded blue door and a yard that had seen better decades.
It had a chain-link fence, one chair on the porch, and a wind chime that didn’t quite catch the breeze.
The home was three blocks from the elementary school where Hannah had last been seen.
JP walked up the path and knocked. When the door opened, Deluca stood there, thinner than his file photo, but steady. He looked to be in his late sixties or early seventies, but his eyes were sharp.
“Are you Frank Deluca?” JP asked.
“That depends. Are you selling something?”
JP gave a half smile and handed him a card. “My name is JP Torn. I’m looking into an old case you were part of.”
Deluca glanced at the card. “What case?”
“Hannah Caldwell.”
Deluca opened the door wider. “Come on in. I got time.”
The place was simple, clean, and smelled like coffee.
Deluca waved him toward a chair at a small kitchen table. “You want some?” he asked, lifting a pot.
“I’m good.” JP took a seat.
Deluca poured himself a cup and sat across from him.
“Are you law enforcement?”
“I used to be,” JP said. “Now I help people take a second look at things.”
Deluca gave a small nod. “That one didn’t need a second look. They got their guy.”
“They got a guy,” JP countered.
Deluca sipped his coffee. “Are you here to tell me it was the wrong guy?”
“No,” JP said. “I’m here to ask what you saw.”
“I told them what I saw.”
“I want to know what you remember. Did the girl get in the car willingly?”
Deluca’s eyes narrowed. “She didn’t get in right away.”
“It doesn’t say that in the report.”
“No,” Deluca replied. “No one ever asked that question. They wanted to know about the car and what the guy looked like.”
“Walk me through exactly what happened.”
“School let out,” the ex-crossing guard said. “The kids came out in waves, the same as always. Hannah came out with the others, then stopped near the curb.”
“Like she was waiting for someone?” JP asked.
“Yeah,” Deluca said. “That’s what I thought, that she was waiting for the other kids she walked with sometimes. At least that’s what they told me after. At the time, I just saw a little girl standing there.”
“Then what?”
Deluca’s eyes drifted, focusing on something years gone. “She didn’t go to the corner right away.”
“The corner was where you were?”
“Yes,” Deluca said. “If she was walking home, she would come past me.”
“But she didn’t?”
“No.”
“What did she do?”
“You have to keep in mind, I was looking back and forth because I was watching other kids.”
“Why did she come to your attention?”
“Because she was alone, and she stayed back, a couple steps off from the others. Then a dark sedan pulled up. It wasn’t new, but it wasn’t junk either.”
“Where?”
“Just past the pick-up line,” Deluca said.
“Not where parents usually stop. It was a little off. But she didn’t get in right away. It looked like he said something to her, but I couldn’t hear what it was. Then she looked around. I would’ve walked over to her, but I had too many kids trying to get across the street.
I kept an eye on her though.”
“And then?”
“She got in.”
“Like she knew the person?”
“That’s what I thought at the time,” he said. “A kid doesn’t get in a car like that unless they know who’s driving.”
“But?” JP prompted.
Deluca’s jaw tightened. “She didn’t run to it,” he said. “She didn’t smile or wave when she saw the car. She walked slow and careful like she was trying to decide.”
“That part wasn’t in your statement,” JP said.
Deluca gave a dry huff. “I tried,” he said. “The cop writing it down wasn’t interested in my perceptions. He wanted yes or no.”
“And you gave him yes.”
“I had to. She got into the car.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “But she didn’t shut the door right away.”
JP’s attention sharpened. “What do you mean?”
“She sat there a second with the door still open. Then the driver reached over and pulled it shut.”
“You’re sure?”
Deluca met his eyes. “Yeah. That part stuck.”
“Could you see who was driving?”
Deluca shook his head. “No.”
“Not at all?”
“Not clearly,” he said. “The angle was wrong. The sun was coming across the windshield. I saw movement, not a face.”
“But you thought it was someone she knew?”
Deluca shrugged. “The kid didn’t fight. She didn’t run. That’s usually someone they know.”
“Usually,” JP echoed.
Deluca gave him a look. “Are you here to tell me it wasn’t?”
“I’m here to figure out what you actually saw, not what it looked like later,” JP said. “Your statement says the timeline matched Victor Hayes.”
“It did,” Deluca said. “From what they told me.”
“But you couldn’t identify him?”
“No.”
“If you had to say for certain now, was that Victor Hayes?”
“I couldn’t see him then,” Deluca said. “I can’t see him now.”
JP stood. “I appreciate your time,” he said.
“If you find something different, I’d like to know, if you don’t mind.”
“Will do, but so far it’s all still pointing toward Hayes.”